The Toyota driver increased his overnight lead over Toyota team-mate Sebastien Ogier by 9.6s across Sunday morning’s three stages to move 1m24.6 clear.
Kalle Rovanpera kept Toyota’s 1-2-3 hopes alive ending the loop in third, 1m53.1s adrift. But the battle for fourth is hanging in balance with Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi 16.2s ahead of a charging Toyota driven by Takamoto Katsuta, who leapfrogged M-Sport’s Ott Tanak into fifth.
Sunday began with crews facing another real test of skill on wet and slippery twisty asphalt roads with a threat of snow in the air.
Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville emerged as the pacesetter in the first test of the day, stage 17 (Asahi Kougen, 7.52km), which will host the rally ending Power Stage in the afternoon.
The Belgian claimed a second stage win of the rally, posting a time 2.1s faster than a hard charging Katsuta, who had his eyes fixed on securing fourth overall. The Japanese driver was however lucky to survive a wild slide towards the end of the test.
Source: Autosport