Kiwi WRC driver Hayden Paddon sits in eighth following the opening day of Rally Germany.
Volkswagon's world rally champion Sebastien Ogier took charge winning all four of the afternoon's special stages to move ahead of VW team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala of Finland and Norway's Andreas Mikkelsen.
With eight specials completed, Ogier was 9.5sec clear of Latvala and 34.9sec on Mikkelsen.
Paddon is a minute and 31 seconds behind Ogier.
The rally continues on Saturday with a further nine stages and ends on Sunday, with the climax a 14km powerstage.