Nine-time world champion Loeb claimed four of the day’s six stages to turn around a 6.7s overnight deficit to eight-time champion Ogier into a 9.9s advantage heading into Saturday.
Elfyn Evans dropped significant time on the final stage of the day to slot back into third, 22s adrift.
Ogier started the afternoon 15.9s behind leader Loeb but a fightback on the final two stages of the day, including a win on stage 8, reignited his charge.
Loeb and co-driver Isabelle Galmiche may have added to their stage wins in the new M-Sport Ford Puma, but a hybrid power issue cost them valuable time on stage 7.
That stage however belonged to M-Sport team-mate Gus Greensmith, who managed to eclipse Loeb and Ogier to record a first career WRC stage win, helping the Brit to cement seventh overall.
Thierry Neuville headed Hyundai’s charge in fourth, 47.8s in arrears as the Korean marque made progress in fine tuning its i20 N as the day progressed.
There was some joy for team-mate Ott Tanak who…
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