Meeke extends Argentina lead, despite scares

There was also a scare for Meeke straight after lunch, as he stopped for 25 minutes on a road section before the opening stage to ‘check a technical detail at the rear of the car,’ according to Citroen.

That stage, SS9, was cancelled after only a few cars had been through as Hayden Paddon crashed his Hyundai just 600 metres from the start.

Video shows his car lose control on a jump, almost roll and then plough off the road into an area with some spectators, with six reportedly being taken away in ambulances.

The loss of these ambulances meant the stage could not continue, and drivers were instructed to head to the final test of the day.

Meeke outpaced his Citroen teammate Mads Ostberg on SS10 by a handful of seconds to take a 38s lead with just two stages remaining.

But he was kept on his toes when his car stalled after a watersplash.

“I got an alarm and a sensor went off,” said Meeke. “I panicked and didn't know what to do. I had to switch it off and on again.”

Volkswagen’s Jari-Matti Latvala is 25.1s behind Ostberg in third, with Elfyn Evans' M-Sport Ford promoted to fourth when the Hyundai of Dani Sordo stopped with a mechanical failure on the final stage. His teammate Thierry Neuville is now up to fifth.

There was no better fortune for points leader Sebastien Ogier on Saturday, as he rejoined under Rally2 rules. Although he was quickest on the opening stage, his VW suffered a power steering failure, and cruised through the final test well off the pace.