Defending world champion Sebastien Ogier of France took the overall lead after the opening eight stages of Rally Australia on Friday.
Ogier's Volkswagen teammate, Jari-Matti Latvala of Finland, was in second place, .4 seconds behind, with another Volkswagen driver, Andreas Mikkelsen of Norway, in third, 3.5 seconds behind.
Citroen driver Kris Meeke of Northern Ireland, who led by 2.1 seconds after six stages, was in fourth.
Ogier and Latvala need five points from the rally to clinch the manufacturers' championship for Volkswagen. Ogier leads Latvala by 44 points for the drivers' championship. Rally Australia is the 10th of 14 events in the World Rally Championship.
Ogier drove hard around the wet, treacherous, concrete-lined super special spectator stages to take the lead late Friday.
"I pushed all the way, even in these small stages. It was slippery, but we are pleased for the day," Ogier said.
The 20-stage Australian race ends on Sunday with six stages through more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) of rainforest.
It is being held on mostly gravel roads in northern New South Wales state about 525 kilometers (325 miles) north of Sydney.
