Paolo Andreucci continues to lead Rallye Sanremo but his advantage over Giandomenico Basso has been slashed to nine-tenths of a second following the 29.03-kilometre Teglia stage.
Luca Rossetti, in an Abarth Grande Punto, was fastest on the stage, defeating Intercontinental Rally Challenge title leader Juho Hänninen by 4.2s. The Škoda Motorsport driver remains in fourth overall, 13 seconds behind Rossetti.
Frenchman Bryan Bouffier has dropped out of fifth place after losing more than three minutes with a puncture. His misfortune has promoted Peugeot UK’s Kris Meeke into fifth with Freddy Loix taking over sixth place.
Jan Kopecký lost ground with a slow front-left puncture in his Fabia.
Crews are now returning to service in Sanremo. Stage nine, the 1.73-kilometre Bajardo test, which will be shown live on RAI Sport, gets underway at 13:00hrs local time.
Overall positions after SS8:
| Pos. | Team | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Andreucci Paolo / Andreussi Anna | Peugeot 207 S2000 | 1h57m55.1s |
| 02 | Basso Giandomenico / Dotta Mitia | Fiat Grande Punto S2000 | +0.9s |
| 03 | Rossetti Luca / Chiarcossi Matteo | Fiat Grande Punto S2000 | +15.5s |
| 04 | Hänninen Juho / Markkula Mikko | Škoda Fabia S2000 | +28.5s |
| 05 | Meeke Kris / Nagle Paul | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +49.1s |
| 06 | Loix Freddy / Miclotte Fréderic | Škoda Fabia S2000 | +58.4s |
| 07 | Cunico Gianfranco / Pollet Rudy | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +2m03.6s |
| 08 | Kopecký Jan / Starý Petr | Škoda Fabia S2000 | +2m05.3s |
| 09 | Neuville Thierry / Klinger Nicolas | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +2m24.9s |
| 10 | Magalhaes Bruno / Magalhaes Carlos | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +2m32.7s |
| 11 | Travaglia Renato / Granai Lorenzo | Fiat Grande Punto S2000 | +2m54.2s |
| 12 | Bouffier Bryan / Panseri Xavier | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +3m54.2s |
| 13 | Pisi Alessio / Pollicino Marco | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +4m01.1s |
| 14 | Navarra Andrea / Geninatti Vanda | Ford Fiesta S2000 | +5m40.3s |
| 15 | Perico Alessandro / Carrara Fabrizio | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +5m41.1s |