Sebastien Ogier will be determined to avoid more Rally Italy heartache when he and Ott Tanak, who seized victory by a whisker last year, again duel in Sunday's final stages in Sardinia.
Toyota's eight-times world champion ended Saturday's penultimate leg 11.1 seconds clear of his Hyundai rival with four stages and a total of 77.7km remaining before the finish of the Olbia-based event.
Last year the Frenchman had a 17.1-second lead at the same point but ended up losing by 0.2 seconds to the Estonian 2019 champion after a puncture in the final stage - the joint closest finish in world rally championship history.
Ogier started Saturday with a 2.1-second lead over Adrien Fourmaux but the Hyundai driver rolled out on the day's fifth of six stages over rocky and dusty roads in the north of th