Saturday 13 September 2014 10:15, UK
World champion Sebastien Ogier took a 10.3-second lead following Saturday's four daytime stages in Rally Australia.
A time of two hours, 34 minutes and eight seconds put the Frenchman ahead of Volkswagen team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala and he's now 44 points ahead of his nearest rival for the drivers' title.
Citroen driver Kris Meeke of Northern Ireland was in third place, 23.9 seconds behind 30-year-old Ogier.
Latvala had a 4.1-second lead after the opening two stages on Saturday, but soon saw that advantage wiped out after a wrong decision on tires for the 48.92-kilometer (30-mile) third stage of the day.
Forecasters suggested rain was likely, prompting Latvala to opt for two hard compound tyres on the front of his car and two softs on the rear.
But the mostly gravel roads in northern New South Wales were dry and Ogier's option of three hard and one soft tire proved more matched to the conditions.
Clean stage
"It wasn't a perfect choice, but better than Jari-Matti, I guess," Ogier said. "The best would have been four hard tyres. We had a clean stage and avoided the small mistakes we made earlier."
Latvala said believing the weather forecast cost him.
"According to our information there was an expectation of rain showers," Latvala said "But they never came and the road was 100 percent dry, so the rears overheated."
The 20-stage Australian race, 10th of 14 events on the World Rally Championship, has two night stages on Saturday and ends Sunday with six stages through more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) of rainforest.
