Sébastien Ogier holds just a 9.2-second lead over Toyota team-mate Kalle Rovanperä after a late scare on the penultimate stage of Safari Rally Kenya.
Ogier had carried a 16.7-second advantage into the final day which he had expected would be more than safe enough.
But reigning world champion Rovanperä caught him out on the morning’s first test, when the 23-year-old Finn halved the Frenchman’s lead.
That prompted a swift reply from Ogier, who took the time he lost back – and half a second more – on the succeeding stage, losing his tailgate in the process.
However from there, things had looked to settle down between the Toyota pair until all four GR Yaris Rally1s suffered issues ingesting dust on the penultimate stage.
Rovanperä didn’t have it easy – arriving to the end of the stage with a dusty moustache and a tire off the rim.
“It was tough, proper Safari in the deep sand. Really, really deep ruts,” said Rovanperä.
The Toyotas were starved of power and Ogier was the worst affected, and was as much as 10s down on Rovanperä through the split.
But he recovered the deficit towards the end to lose just 3.8s in the end. He declined to comment at stage-end with a temperature alarm on his dash.
Toyota is still on track for a perfect 1-2-3-4 finish though with Elfyn Evans is third ahead of Takamoto Katsuta.
Dani Sordo and Ott Tänak are similarly secure in fifth and sixth positions, but there was a late scare for Pierre-Louis Loubet who encountered an alarm on his dashboard through the fesh-fesh sections so knocked his Puma into road mode.
His seventh position however is under no threat.
Thierry Neuville meanwhile has climbed up to eighth overall, overtaking WRC2 leader Kajetan Kajetanowicz.
