Citroen's Sebastien Loeb was heading for a record ninth victory of the season after reeling off a string of stage wins in the motor rally of Britain overnight (NZ time).
However, despite the Frenchman taking six of the day's seven stages, his chances of clinching a second successive world championship
in South Wales on Sunday with four rounds to spare receded.
Loeb, the first man to win more than six rallies in a season, led Subaru's Norwegian Petter Solberg by 44.7 seconds with Peugeot's Marcus Gronholm nearly a minute and a half adrift at the end of the second leg.
The Citroen driver needs to beat Gronholm by eight points and Solberg by three to clinch the title on Sunday. If the situation remains unchanged, he will beat Gronholm by four and Solberg by two.
Loeb, who has not won before in Britain, clocked the second fastest time in the leg's closing 1.1km indoor superspecial under the retractable roof of Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.
"Now we have I think a good lead but it was a very good battle and we were pushing very hard," he told rally radio. "The stages are very nice and very fast so it's a very good feeling.
"Tomorrow there are four long stages and so it's never finished before the end. I hope I can stay in front of Petter and not make a mistake or have some problems."
Starting the day just 9.9 seconds ahead of Solberg, after picking up a 10-second penalty for arriving late at a time control on Friday, Loeb swiftly made up for lost time.
"I tried very hard today and it doesn't look very good actually," said Solberg. "Nothing seems to work properly and that's how it is ... I'm on full throttle and pushing like hell.
"They are too far away now to give it a proper fight."
Gronholm, whose team are just six points behind stablemates Citroen in the manufacturers' standings, continued to charge after falling to 17th place on Friday when he suffered brake problems.
The Finn leapfrogged Mitsubishi's Harri Rovanpera on the 12th stage when his compatriot struggled with gearbox difficulties and fell to fifth.
Citroen's Belgian Francois Duval was fourth with Peugeot's Markko Martin in sixth place.
Briton Colin McRae, the 1995 world champion making a one-off comeback for Skoda, was pushed back to 11th by compatriot Mark Higgins who was fastest in the superspecial in a privately-entered Ford.
"It's been quite tough today and the conditions have been really hard and fast," said McRae. "It's just taking a bit of time to get confidence in the car but there's a limit to how quick it can go as well.
"I think we're getting close to that limit."
After 55 successive rallies in the points, Ford were sweating after Finland's Toni Gardemeister was excluded for having an underweight car while he was running ninth. Czech team mate Roman Kresta moved up to that position.
Subaru's Australian Chris Atkinson retired from the leg after spinning and sliding down a steep slope on the day's opening stage.
French driver Stephane Sarrazin made it a double blow for the team when he retired on the next stage after sliding straight into an earth bank.
- REUTERS
Citroen's Sebastien Loeb was heading for a record ninth victory of the season after reeling off a string of stage wins in the motor rally of Britain overnight (NZ time).
However, despite the Frenchman taking six of the day's seven stages, his chances of clinching a second successive world championship
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