Sebastien Ogier bounced back from a mediocre first full day at the season-closing Rally Saudi Arabia to share the honors in Thursday's final stage and boost his hopes of landing a ninth World Rally Championship.
The Frenchman, who described the conditions as "terrible", hit the same time as M-Sport Ford driver Martins Sesks in the final stage to close the day in seventh place overall, 44.2 seconds behind leader Adrien Fourmaux.
That in turn left him two places and 41.1sec ahead of the other leading title contender Elfyn Evans who began the rally just three points ahead of his Toyota teammate, said AFP.
Ogier's strong finish gave him the lead in the provisional championship standings by a single point, a remarkable performance given that he has missed three of the 14 rounds of the championship in his capacity as a 'part-time' driver.
Evans, who had to open the road with little grip on the loose surface, struggled all day and was further compromised by a minor overshoot in the morning.
"We paid for opening and I couldn't really do any better, it's tough," said Welshman Evans. "We'll keep fighting tomorrow (Friday)."
'Settling accounts'
Kalle Rovanpera's outside hopes of a third world title diminished as two punctures left him in eighth.
"You can't see it on the classification, but we've been doing a pretty good job today," said Ogier.
"My main target anyway is Elfyn and Kalle, and on that side we have done what we had to do. We are in front of them.
"Tomorrow should be the most difficult day, the hardest. It's the last day we'll be settling accounts.
Fourmaux, meanwhile, moved to the top of the leader board after a difficult afternoon on the second pass of Khulays.
The Frenchman avoided any major problems across all seven stages to end the day 6.0sec ahead of Toyota’s Sami Pajari, with early pacesetter Sesks just 0.9sec further back in third.
"I'm really pleased with the day," said Fourmaux.
"The gaps are small, so nothing is done for sure, but it's positive to finish the day like that. The road position is important here and I'm pleased to have a good road position for tomorrow."
This inaugural visit to Saudi Arabia continues on Friday with the longest leg of the rally which features more than 130km against the clock across six demanding desert stages.
