Ott Tanak claimed the lead in the Rally Italia after New Zealander Hayden Paddon was forced to retire with broken suspension.
Craig Breen finished 44:09 down on Tanak after a difficult day that saw him spin and stall.
Dungannon man Kris Meeke was ruled out of the rest of the rally on Friday after he rolled his Citroen, which sustained bad damage.
Overnight leader Paddon went out of the event on special stage 13 - the sixth of eight stages on the day - when his Hyundai clipped a grass bank, causing damage to the suspension.
Estonian Tanak took full advantage in the M-Sport Ford despite clipping a chicane on the final stage of the day to lead by 24.3 seconds from the Toyota Yaris of Finland's Jari-Matti Latvala.
France's Sebastien Ogier, the championship leader, lies sixth and nearly three and a half minutes behind his team-mate Tanak going into the final day.
