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Istanbul - French reigning champion Sebastien Loeb led Citroen C4 team-mate Petter Solberg and Ford Focus driver Mikko Hirvonen after the second day of the Rally of Turkey on Saturday.
A puncture for Sebastien Ogier during the 15th special stage allowed Loeb to take charge of the fourth event of the World Rally Championship (WRC) season and he will go into Sunday's final day with a 16.2sec advantage.
"It was a great afternoon, we attacked well and we managed to create a bit of a gap in the morning so we ended up in the lead," said six-time world champion Loeb.
"A 16-second lead isn't huge but it's better than nothing."
With six specials over 115km still to come on Sunday, Loeb will need to remain wary of the threat posed by Norwegian Solberg and Finn Hirvonen, who have driven superbly to remain in contention.
"With the kilometres remaining, it's far from won," Loeb said.
Frenchman Ogier, who had led since Friday morning, lost three minutes changing his tyre after getting a puncture with three kilometres remaining of the 10km 15th stage, which saw him slide to fifth in the overall standings.
"It was a very fast section at the end of the special, we must have been going 180km/h and we went too close to the edge of the road," said Ogier, the 2008 junior world champion.
"It's a shame because we were in good shape. We would have had a say right until the end."
Loeb had moved into second place after the 14th special, eight seconds behind Ogier, and galvanised his grip on the top of the standings with the quickest times in SS16 and SS17 after Hirvonven took SS15.
"I'm in a good position and I will go on the attack to catch Sebastien on Sunday," said Hirvonen.
Standings after the second day of the Rally of Turkey:
1. Sebastien Loeb (FRA) Citroen C4 2hr 19min 13.5sec, 2. Petter Solberg (NOR) Citroen C4 at 16.2sec, 3. Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) Ford Focus 17.3, 4. Dani Sordo (ESP) Citroen C4 22.4, 5. Sebastien Ogier (FRA) Citroen C4 3min 21.0sec, 6. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Citroen C4 4:37.5, 7. Federico Villagra (ARG) Ford Focus 5:10.1, 8. Matthew Wilson (GBR) Ford Focus 6:16.6
Special stage winners: P. Solberg 5 (SS1, SS4, SS8, SS10, SS13), Ogier 4 (SS3, SS5, SS6, SS12), Loeb 4 (SS9, SS14, SS16, SS17), Hirvonen 3 (SS2, SS11, SS15), Sordo 1 (SS7)
A puncture for Sebastien Ogier during the 15th special stage allowed Loeb to take charge of the fourth event of the World Rally Championship (WRC) season and he will go into Sunday's final day with a 16.2sec advantage.
"It was a great afternoon, we attacked well and we managed to create a bit of a gap in the morning so we ended up in the lead," said six-time world champion Loeb.
"A 16-second lead isn't huge but it's better than nothing."
With six specials over 115km still to come on Sunday, Loeb will need to remain wary of the threat posed by Norwegian Solberg and Finn Hirvonen, who have driven superbly to remain in contention.
"With the kilometres remaining, it's far from won," Loeb said.
Frenchman Ogier, who had led since Friday morning, lost three minutes changing his tyre after getting a puncture with three kilometres remaining of the 10km 15th stage, which saw him slide to fifth in the overall standings.
"It was a very fast section at the end of the special, we must have been going 180km/h and we went too close to the edge of the road," said Ogier, the 2008 junior world champion.
"It's a shame because we were in good shape. We would have had a say right until the end."
Loeb had moved into second place after the 14th special, eight seconds behind Ogier, and galvanised his grip on the top of the standings with the quickest times in SS16 and SS17 after Hirvonven took SS15.
"I'm in a good position and I will go on the attack to catch Sebastien on Sunday," said Hirvonen.
Standings after the second day of the Rally of Turkey:
1. Sebastien Loeb (FRA) Citroen C4 2hr 19min 13.5sec, 2. Petter Solberg (NOR) Citroen C4 at 16.2sec, 3. Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) Ford Focus 17.3, 4. Dani Sordo (ESP) Citroen C4 22.4, 5. Sebastien Ogier (FRA) Citroen C4 3min 21.0sec, 6. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Citroen C4 4:37.5, 7. Federico Villagra (ARG) Ford Focus 5:10.1, 8. Matthew Wilson (GBR) Ford Focus 6:16.6
Special stage winners: P. Solberg 5 (SS1, SS4, SS8, SS10, SS13), Ogier 4 (SS3, SS5, SS6, SS12), Loeb 4 (SS9, SS14, SS16, SS17), Hirvonen 3 (SS2, SS11, SS15), Sordo 1 (SS7)
