Jari-Matti Latvala of Finland made the best of changing conditions to lead the Rally France on Saturday, but Dani Sordo of Spain and Frenchmen Sebastien Loeb and Sebastien Ogier are still in contention.
Latvala leads Sordo by 0.4 seconds, new world champion Ogier by 1.5 seconds and Loeb by 5 seconds. Thierry Neuville of Belgium held the top spot in the morning but punctured his left rear tire to slip to fifth place, 1:10 behind Latvala.
"It's incredible the kind of fight we're having," Latvala said. "It's one of the greatest rallies I have been involved in. I was perhaps too cautious on a couple of stages but the main thing is I made no mistakes. I've dug out some little things that have been missing from my driving."
Latvala has not won any stage this week. The Volkswagen Polo driver finished second last year in France.
While pilots faced wet and foggy conditions in the morning, the road started drying in the afternoon with plenty of mud on the inside of corners before rain returned for the late stages.
