Sebastien Ogier held onto his lead in the Rally of Mexico on Saturday after nine specials stages with compatriot and reigning world champion Sebastien Loeb just 10 seconds adrift.
It could have been Loeb in the lead, however, were it not for a 50 second penalty he was handed ahead of Special Stage 15 which he started with a five minute delay caused by a faulty bolt in the gear selection mechanism.
This put Ogier back on top, but he too ran into mechanical problems.
"I found out that Seb had clocked in late at the finish of Ibarrilla. Even if I retook the lead it wasn't good news as that's not how I want to win," Ogier said.
"We then lost more time not because of the sweeping, but because we lost power as the ignition went on the blink. It wasn't a big problem and we managed to fix it."
Loeb kept up the pressure by winning both of the Super Specials Stages that rounded off the day.
With Mikko Hirvonen, who won the opening rally of the World Championship season for Ford in his native Sweden last month, well back in third place, Sunday looks set to be a showdown between the two Citroens of Ogier and Loeb.
Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.