The three-kilometre Poker run, by far the shortest of Rallye Sanremo, saw Renato Travaglia take his first stage victory of the event after a quick 2:16.0 performance at the controls of his Peugeot 207 S2000.

Fellow Italian Paolo Andreucci came next aboard a similar car, while Peugeot Belux driver and reigning IRC champion Nicolas Vouilloz took third place close behind. Works Skoda Fabia driver Juho Hanninen's fourth-fastest result equalled his best performance so far at this event, but on this run it also resulted in a tie with the Peugeot handled by Freddy Loix.

However rally leader Kris Meeke recorded only the 23rd-fastest time on this run when a loss of power in his Peugeot UK car's braking system forced him to handle the curves of the twisty mountain roads with extra precaution; luckily for him this stage was a short one, limiting the damage.

Nonetheless, Luca Rossetti's seventh-quickest result allowed the rally rival to close in, coming a few seconds shy from taking over the lead once more.

In the general rankings, Meeke's hold on the top spot is under pressure as Rossetti has diminished the gap between them to only 3.1 seconds with two long stages remaining to complete; Paolo Andreucci has not said his last word either as he now stands only 2.8 seconds away from Rossetti.

Further back, Nicolas Vouilloz remains in fourth position overall but Renato Travaglia has taken over the fifth spot at Freddy Loix's expense.

The Rallye Sanremo contenders now head for the final service break before taking on the repeat passages over the long Tris and Full stages; once completed, Kris Meeke may become the new IRC champion if he succeeds in winning the race.