Eight-time world champion Sebastien Loeb showed his class on the first day of the Rally New Zealand to hold a four-second lead over teammate Miko Hirvonen after leg one.
Fastest qualifier Jari-Matti Latvala won the day's opening stage but fellow Finn Hirvonen immediately seized the initiative to lead the field into this afternoon's final stage.
But Loeb was always right on the tail of his Citroen teammate and raced to victory to complete the day and turn a 4.6-second deficit into a 4.0-second advantage.
Loeb credited his day's racing to his choice of soft tyres, which allowed him to cope with the deteriorating roads in the middle stages.
"It was not an easy day but we are leading at the moment by four seconds," he said. "That's not much but better than nothing.
"But there is still a long way to go and tomorrow's stages are more technical than today. This is not an easy rally but we will see what happens tomorrow."
Loeb, the defending champion and current World Rally Championship series leader, claimed five stage victories on the roads around Huntly and Raglan, with a bold tactical decision by his Citroen team paying dividends.
Loeb and Hirvonen both benefited by electing to start at the front of the field, with the pair hoping the predicted rain would arrive and bring with it muddy roads and perilous driving conditions for the last cars out.
Among those cars was Latvala's Ford, as the Finn took the opposite strategy and started at the back of the field in an attempt to benefit by those before him clearing the roads of loose gravel.
Latvala's tactical gamble appeared to be justified after the day's first stage, but from there it was all the Citroens.
Hirvonen claimed the second stage and, despite finishing behind Loeb in the next three stages, still held a slim lead heading into the final three races of the day.
He increased that advantage by winning the sixth stage but Loeb took the final two to sit atop the standings.
"I am having so much fun and this is a really great battle with Seb to be exchanging times back and forward like we are," Hirvonen said. "For sure, I'm a bit disappointed maybe with the last stage but it's only four seconds now and I feel really good and really confident with the car.
"Hopefully we can have a good fight tomorrow. The stages are a little bit different so we need to think about changing it up a little bit. You have to get it right tomorrow if you want to have a chance, so hopefully we can carry on like we have."
Latvala's day turned from bad to worse on the penultimate stage when a mistake cost him four minutes and dropped him from third to ninth in the standings.
The Finn become tangled in a fence after an attempted cut on an inside corner went wrong and needed help from spectators to get going again.
"I can't remember being this disappointed for a long time," Latvala said. "The cars in front must have made a hole on the inside and the front-right wheel touched the hole and spun the car into a wire fence."
Meanwhile, New Zealand's Hayden Paddon endured a mixed day in the Super-2000 class, easily leading the field following the completion of the eight stages before suffering clutch and gearbox issues which left him struggling to make it back to the Rally's headquarters in Auckland.
"We're probably a but lucky to even get back here," Paddon said. "I think the roads will suit the car set-up a bit more tomorrow, so hopefully we'll have a better day."
Tomorrow's racing comprises seven stages set on the roads north of Auckland.
