[2][3] The event was based in Matosinhos in Porto and consisted of twenty special stages totalling 358.19 km (222.57 mi) competitive kilometres.

[8] Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia entered the round with a ten-point lead in the World Championship for Drivers and Co-drivers.

Paddon and Marshall had previously contested Rally Sweden before handing the car over to Dani Sordo and Carlos del Barrio for the next three events as part of a drive-sharing agreement in the team.

[11] Argentina winner Ott Tänak defeated Andreas Mikkelsen, who set fifth fastest time, in front of 30,000 fans in their head-to-head heat and topped his Yaris by 0.4 second.

Defending world champion Sébastien Ogier and his Fiesta teammate Teemu Suninen tied in second, while Kris Meeke finished fourth.

Ott Tänak first retired from the rally due to hitting a rock, which damaged his engine's cooling system.

Tyre troubles forced Kris Meeke to drive the final Porto stages with just a wheel rim on the rear left of his car and he conceded a minute.

Chances are that the Hyundai star is going to snatch the position of the championship leader from the defending world champion Sébastien Ogier, who ran under WRC-2 rule as well as Andreas Mikkelsen and Jari-Matti Latvala today, after the rally.

Mads Østberg and teammate Craig Breen, who had to clear the road today, completed the day in sixth and seventh place respectively, followed by WRC-2 leader Pontus Tidemand, Łukasz Pieniążek and Stéphane Lefebvre.

[15] Ford teammates Elfyn Evans and Teemu Suninen, who reach his first podium, finished second and third to help the team narrow the gap to Hyundai to thirteen points.

Esapekka Lappi, who took another Power Stage win, overtook Dani Sordo to completed the event in fourth in a Yaris.

[16] Mads Østberg and teammate Craig Breen finished in sixth and seventh overall, which brought some valuable points to Citroën, while WRC-2 leader Pontus Tidemand, Łukasz Pieniążek and Stéphane Lefebvre completed the leaderboard.