Neuville blasts into lead in France

The Belgian's M-Sport Ford team was the only one to base its set-up and tyre choice around an entirely dry second loop, with all rivals at least hedging their bets and including some soft compounds in their selection.

But with the weather much improved and little dampness left on the stages, Neuville took a trio of stage wins.

His victory on the long Vosges stage was particularly crucial.

At the start of the 21-mile test the top four were covered by just 4.1 seconds, but it ended with Neuville leading by 9.8s.

Erstwhile leader Loeb fell to fourth on that stage, with his Citroen team-mate Dani Sordo getting back up to second and Jari-Matti Latvala's Volkswagen slotting in between. These three drivers are still within 2.4s of each other.

Champion Ogier remains in a muted fifth place.

He confessed that he had struggled to get into gear on the morning loop following the excitement of becoming world champion on Thursday evening's superspecials.

His attempted fightback in the afternoon was stymied by an incorrect tyre choice and he is now 28s off the lead.

Neuville's team-mate Evgeny Novikov also benefited from good tyre tactics to pull clear of Andreas Mikkelsen, Mikko Hirvonen and Mads Ostberg into a comfortable sixth position.