Hayden Paddon opened up an 8.2 second lead on Friday during Rally Sardegna to head the timing screens from Hyundai team-mate Thierry Neuville.
Paddon's lead would likely have been greater had he not suffered a broken damper on his i20, with the rocky roads proving particularly difficult, claiming a number of drivers including Kris Meeke, who rolled his Citroen C3 whilst leading.
They were two of four to lead Friday's running with the top five covered by less than 15 seconds come the climax of stage nine.
Paddon heads into Saturday confident he can maintain his lead: "The priority today was getting a good road position for tomorrow. And that’s mission accomplished.
"I love tomorrow’s stages, they suit me and they suit the car. It would be rude if we didn’t give it a try."
Neuville's day could have gone better with two punctures delaying his progress, whilst Ford's Ott Tänak finished third quickest, 1.3s adrift, with a fairly smooth day bar a half-spin which cost him minimal time.
Jari-Matti Latvala was fourth quickest in his Toyota Yaris to end up 9.8s off Paddon and just 0.3s behind Tänak.
Mads Østberg fell victim to the high temperatures and his mix of soft and hard tyres slowed him down as he dropped from third to fifth.
Juho Hänninen was sixth quickest, but led at one stage before htting a bank during the final speed test, forcing him to drive back to the overnight service centre at reduced speed.
Reigning World Champion Sébastien Ogier struggled and was seventh, ahead of Esapekka Lappi, returnee Andreas Mikkelsen and Eric Camilli in tenth.
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