Ott Tanak has taken the lead of Rally Argentina after a dominant performance, while early leader Andreas Mikkelsen drops down to seventh after suffering a puncture.
Thierry Neuville headed into Friday as rally leader after winning Thursday’s evening stage, but Mikkelsen moved into the lead during the morning, with Tanak one second behind at the end of the initial loop.
Tanak was able to pull ahead of the Norwegian during the Fernet Branca spectator stage and the battle for the lead was brought to an end when Mikkelsen lost 30 seconds after his front right puncture in Las Bajadas 2.
Friday’s opening stage saw Tanak dropped down to ninth after incurring damage to his steering column, although he went on to win the following two stages despite the issue.
A further three stage wins leave him 22.7 seconds ahead of Kris Meeke in second.
Neuville sits in third, a mere 0.9 seconds ahead of Fernet Branca stage-winner Dani Sordo.
Championship leader Sebastien Ogier is on the backfoot after a day of road sweeping on the demanding loose gravel covered stages and ends Friday in fifth.
Craig Breen is in sixth after getting his car back from Sebastien Loeb, his first time in the Citroen WRC car since Sweden.
Toyota’s bad luck continued with Esapekka Lappi’s strong performance ruined after picking up a puncture on the same stage as Mikkelsen, while Jari-Matti Latvala suffered broken suspension during the morning, bringing his rally to a premature end.
M-Sport’s Elfyn Evans and Teemu Suninen round out the top ten, with Pontus Tidemand leading the WRC2 category.
