Kalle Rovanperä has pulled out a 16.7-second lead at Rally del Paraguay, but World Rally Championship title rival Sébastien Ogier is now up to third.
Ogier had been just 3.2s behind his Toyota team-mate on Friday before a puncture on the second stage cost him close to 40s.
Initially he fell to eighth, but through a combination of strong speed and misfortune for others, the eight-time champion rose to third by the end of Saturday morning.
He has fellow Frenchman Adrien Fourmaux just half a second ahead of him, with Rovanperä therefore 17.2s up on Ogier.
“I think there was not much more we could do regarding our road position,” Ogier stated. “Since the puncture we keep pushing, let’s see where we can end up.”
Rovanperä was a bit conflicted when surmising his morning: “I could have done a better job by driving, but then also there were many places that were very tricky,” he said. “So the afternoon is going to be tricky with tire wear.”
Fourmaux meanwhile has been sticking to his own strategy, refusing to get reeled in by what Ogier is up to.
“He still has to try, and many things can happen this afternoon, so let’s see,” Fourmaux said. “I’m pleased with my morning. There is still one a half days to do, so it’s OK.”
Ott Tänak had been embroiled in the battle for the podium places, but a rear-left puncture on Saturday’s second test cost him over half a minute and saw him slide to sixth.
But Elfyn Evans and Thierry Neuville aren’t far ahead – Evans in fourth is 8.1s up on Tänak, Neuville 3.7s in front.
“I think realistically we can get Elfyn and Thierry,” Tänak warned. “This afternoon we’ll have new tires.”
Sami Pajari moved up to seventh courtesy of Josh McErlean’s retirement, due to his M-Sport’s sump guard compressing through a step in the road on SS9. His team-mate Grégoire Munster retired for a similar reason but was already outside the top-10 anyway.
Yohan Rossel lost his lead of WRC2 to Nikolay Gryazin, suggesting his Citroën C3 Rally2 wasn’t able to fight with the Škodas on the really fast stages.
Gryazin’s advantage stands at 6.7s, with Robert Virves just 0.5s behind Rossel in third place. Oliver Solberg is up to fourth.
