World champion Sebastien Ogier of France extended his lead over Volkswagen team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen to just over a minute by the end of the third day of the Rally of Poland on Saturday.
Ogier began the day less than a second clear of his Norwegian rival, but steadily stretched his advantage throughout the day and, barring accidents, looks set to complete a comfortable victory on Sunday.
As early as the day's second stage, Ogier edged further in front, taking advantage of a mistake by the Scandinavian to go 19sec clear.
And while Mikkeslen continued to falter, notably suffering brake problems late in the day, Ogier had an almost perfect day's driving in the 10 special stages contested, and finished 1min 01.8sec ahead.
Belgian Thierry Neuville, in a Hyundai, was a distant third, 2min 20sec off the pace, ahead of three Finnish drivers.
Mikko Hirvonen, in a Ford Fiesta, was fourth, while Juho Hanninen, in another Hyundai, dropped back from third overall to fifth, while Jari-Matti Latvala's Volkswagen was sixth, but 2min 45sec adrift of Ogier after suspension problems.
The race concludes with four more special stages on Sunday morning.
Source: AFP