Frenchman Sebastien Loeb stayed ahead in the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally after extending his overnight lead today.
Loeb made a cautious start to the second leg as his lead was cut on the 'Pont de Clans' run, but he produced another special performance on the day's second stage, 'Puget 2', to move 46 seconds ahead of Finn Tommi Makinen.
The 27-year-old Citroen driver was more than 10 seconds quicker than Makinen, the four times world champion, on 'Puget 2' to stay on course for a maiden victory in only his second outing in the Xsara WRC.
Subaru driver Makinen held a 10.3-second advantage over compatriot Marcus Gronholm, who moved up to third in his Peugeot at the expense of Briton Colin McRae.
Ford's McRae is fourth overall, 59.5 seconds down on the leader, with his team mate Carlos Sainz a further 35 seconds back in fifth.
Norwegian Petter Solberg posted the quickest time on the day's opening stage as he continued to excel in the Subaru Impreza WRC.
But he lost around two minutes on 'Puget 2' after being forced to stop and repair a broken steering arm, slipping to eighth position from his overnight sixth.
World champion Richard Burns moved into the top six for the first time following Solberg's problems, and the 31-year-old Peugeot driver is now two minutes 17.7 seconds behind the leader.
Czech Roman Kresta was the first casualty of the second leg when he was forced to abandon his Skoda Octavia WRC on 'Puget 2', while Finn Harri Rovanpera also stopped his Peugeot during the stage.
The drivers face a further four stages high in the Alps on the penultimate leg, with the 'Coaraze' and 'La Bollene' runs being used twice to complete the day.