Welshman Elfyn Evans kept alive his title hopes as Ott Tanak claimed the opening day's honours in the Rally of Chile on Friday.
Evans needs a strong showing in this 11th round of 13 to keep in the world championship hunt as he lags 33 points behind Toyota teammate Kalle Rovanpera.
And after winning two of the three morning stages he was in the lead, but Ford's Estonian driver Tanak topped the times in the closing two specials after taking the first to emerge ahead of the day's standings.
Tanak, the 2019 world champion, goes into Saturday's middle day with a 4.2sec advantage over Hyundai's Teemu Suninen, with Evans in third, a further 8.5sec away.
Defending champion Rovanpera has work to do in fifth, 38.7sec behind Evans.
Rovanpera was hindered by having to 'open the road' on the tricky gravel surface.
"We're moving around everywhere and I can't find the right path," he said after being hampered by a half spin on the final stage.
Tanak, who last won in Sweden in February, commented: "The first one and the last one were extremely tough.
"When it's this hard base it's moving so bad that you don't find any stability. But we had a good clean run, so no trouble."
This South American leg of the calendar, making its return for the first time since 2019, proved punishing for Esapekka Lappi, who rolled his Hyundai dramatically on a fast left-handed corner on stage three.
Both Lappi and his co-driver Janne Ferm escaped unharmed from their wrecked car.
"I braked too hard and couldn't take the corner. The car's roll bar is damaged so there's no chance" of continuing, said Lappi.
Evans must finish in the top eight in Chile to prolong the title fight with Rovanpera.
"It's been pretty difficult with the low grip," Evans said in reference to the loose stones blanketing the gravel surface.
"It's really difficult to gauge how you're doing because it's so technical and the grip is so low."
The final two rounds of the season are the Central European Rally, a new addition to the calendar, in Austria, Czech Republic and Germany, in late October with Japan hosting the 13th and final leg in November.
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