Nõgene demoted four-time American Rally Association National champion Brandon Semenuk to eighth place on the powerstage by just 1.1s, though Semenuk was able to keep WRC2 regular Fabrizio Zaldívar behind him to secure ninth overall by just 3.7s.
“I know I can do a lot better than this,” said Semenuk. “But it’s been very little time in the car in the last year, so I should be fairly happy about aspects of the week.
“ERC is a really cool championship, I’d love to do it again. Maybe a bit frustrated about my driving but we can improve on things, come back and hopefully have a better show.”
Andrea Mabellini, one of last year’s title contenders, crashed out on Saturday morning and did not restart in the factory-backed Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale.
Heikkilä and Cohete Suarez, winner of the season-opening Sierra Morena rally, are tied at the top of the ERC standings with 30 points apiece. Despite his Sunday retirement Teemu Suninen is still best-placed of the full-time entrants in the championship, holding fifth place and eight points off the top spot. Mabellini is ninth, 10 points off the pace; reigning champion Marczyk is only 13th overall, albeit only 15 points behind Heikkilä and Suarez.