Sebastien Ogier completes night stages in lead

The Frenchman played second fiddle to Andreas Mikkelsen on the first stage of the evening through Dyfnant, but soon righted that by topping the final stage of the day, Aberhirnant.

Kris Meeke fell further away from the WRC champion, but identified that Ogier was not a realistic target and was happy with the day's running in second

Third and fourth fastest times on the night stages leave him 35.7s behind the leader, and likely to be keeping one eye on Mikkelsen.

The Norwegian moved to within 25s of Meeke on the final test, and still has the chance to take second from Jari-Matti Latvala in the championship.

If anything happens to Ogier, a win and a powerstage victory could elevate Mikkelsen above the Finn, who went out of the rally for a second time in two days on Saturday morning with a broken driveshaft.

Mikkelsen set his fastest time on Dyfnant despite his lights pointing up at the trees rather than the road, an incredible feat as he struggled to see the road in front.

The closest battle in the top six rages behind Mikkelsen, with Ott Tanak in fourth 14.7s ahead of Dani Sordo.

Hayden Paddon was able to continue after an earlier crash with Martin Prokop on a road section, and despite having problems with confidence in the car, holds sixth 23.6s behind Sordo.

Elfyn Evans backed up a strong day after Friday's puncture by setting the second fastest stage time on Aberhirnant behind Ogier, and could yet come into the battle ahead. He's just 6s behind Paddon heading into the final day of his home event.

Eighth-placed Mads Ostberg had a torrid day in the Welsh forests and fell further adrift of the drivers ahead on a vital weekend for Citroen, which needs his manufacturer points to fend off Hyundai for second in the championship.