Sebastien Loeb took victory on the final stage of the day to extend his advantage over World Rally Championship rival Mikko Hirvonen at the end of day three of Rally Finland.
The four-time world champion now holds an 18.2 second lead over the Finnish Ford driver, who currently leads Loeb in the drivers' standings by a slender three-point margin, after setting fastest times on four of the day's 10 stages at the Jyvaskyla-based event.
Hirvonen had been looking to mount an early push, with Loeb's Citroen running first on the road having held the lead overnight, and he chipped three seconds off the Frenchman's advantage on the opening stage of the day at Himos to close the gap to 11.1 seconds.
But that proved to be as close as Hirvonen got as the Finn was hampered by a stall at the start of stage 20, while Loeb drove superbly to win the final stage and steal the initiative from his rival, leaving the home favourite frustrated.
'I think something was wrong with the handbrake,' Hirvonen told wrc.com. 'Something similar happened in Turkey. We just sat there and lost time before we could get the engine going and start driving.'
The 28-year-old's feelings will have been intensified by the knowledge that Sunday's running is made up of only three stages, running to a total of just 40 kilometres, leaving him precious little time to overhaul Loeb's lead.
Loeb meanwhile was pleased to have held onto his advantage, even though he admitted he was having to push very hard.
'I couldn't have done any more, it's been flat out since the first stage,' said Loeb.
'It's been a very, very tough day and at the end of it my lead has increased by less than four seconds.
'But it has been a good battle with Mikko and I have found it hard to keep him behind. But at the moment he will be behind tomorrow and I hope to keep him there until the finish.'
The leading pair's relentless pace means they now hold a lead of over three minutes over Subaru`s Chris Atkinson, who is running in third having benefited from the retirement of Stobart Ford's Gigi Galli after the Italian got it wrong on stage 16 and rolled his Focus RS into a ditch, with Loeb's team-mate Dani Sordo running in fourth.
Henning Solberg is fifth in his Ford Focus with his elder brother Petter sixth for Subaru.
