Ott Tänak leads 38. YPF Rally Argentina 2018 by 22.7s at the end of Friday.
The Toyota driver won five out of the seven stages after suffering a half-spin on the opening stage of the day which left him over twenty-five seconds behind at the end of stage two.
But the Estonian recovered and set a string of fast times and leads in domination fashion over Kris Meeke in second.
The Toyota driver said on his day: “A good day, apart from the first stage, but that’s how it is. For the moment I think we are performing quite well and the car is starting to suit me, I hope we can do some big things.”
Meeke meanwhile admitted he simply couldn’t keep up with the man out in front. He said: “It was impossible to follow Ott, he’s been on a blinder.”
Photo Credit: Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
Third and 5.9s behind Meeke is Thierry Neuville in the leading Hyundai with the Belgian swapping positions throughout Friday’s seven stages. A tyre gamble helped him leapfrog teammate Dani Sordo who sits fourth.
Championship leader Sébastien Ogier sits in fifth after a day of damage limitation as the Frenchman not for the first time this season was on road sweeping duty in the M-Sport Ford Fiesta. Citroen returnee Craig Breen is sixth.
Andreas Mikkelsen, leader until stage four, suffered a right-front puncture on the i20 WRC on stage six costing him time and as a result is seventh at the end of day one, while Esapekka Lappi is in eighth. M-Sport pair Elfyn Evans and Teemu Suninen round out the top 10 overall.
Jari-Matti Latvala in the third Toyota is so far the only WRC retirement as the Fin broke his suspension on stage three.
Pontus Tidemand leads WRC2 from Skoda teammate Kalle Rovanperä with Brit Gus Greensmith third in the class.
YPF Rally Argentina continues this weekend.
