Staykov had a strong pace since the start of the day, winning the first three stages. This allowed him to gain an advance, but Staykov is not convinced that he will be enough to finish the rally at leading position.

Dan Girtofan, on his part, said he was too timid in the "Stara Reka" stage because of the outgoing gravel and is therefore behind. His intention is to attack at the second passes of the special stages.

Orhan Avcioglu made the wrong choice of tires and that's why he did not manage to catch up with Staykov. However, the Turkish competitor gave the Bulgarian driver a credit, saying he was a very fast and powerful athlete, and that it would be very difficult for him to catch up.

Extremely interesting is the battle for the fourth position, as well as the leadership of 2wd cars category. The leading driver in the category to special stage 5 Tihomir Stratiev spined at a high speed and lost nearly a minute and a half, which sent him 9th in the overall ranking and the 5th in 2wd category. After the mistake of Stratiev, Miroslav Angelov (Peugeot 208 R2) took the leadership, but he also had problems in Special Stage 5. Several turns before the final of the stage he was into a ditch, but without losing much time. Just one second behind him is Daniel Popov (Peugeot 208 R2), who progressed with every passing stage despite the wrong tire choice. Sixth place in the overall standings is for Anton Titov (Citroen DS3 R3T), who is the leader in the RC 3 class.

At the “Bulgarka” special stage, local driver Dlyan Stankov (Renault Clio Sport) retired after accident

.Standings after SS 5 "Bulgarka":

1. Plamen Staykov / David Kvaratskhelia (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, RC2)   38:17,5 m.

2. Orhan Avcioglu / Burcin Korkmaz (Ford Fiesta R5, RC 2)                              + 24,0 s.

3. Dan Girtofan / Tudor Marza (Skoda Fabia R5, RC 2)                                     + 24,2 s.

4. Miroslav Angelov / Nedyalko Sivov (Peugeot 208 R2, RC 4)                       + 2:47,2 m.

5. Daniel Popov / Dilyan Popov (Peugeot 208 R2, RC 4)                                + 2:48,2 m.

6. Anton Titov / Dinko Georgiev (Citroen DS3 R3T, RC 3)                              + 3:20,2 m.