Paris (AFP) - Ireland's Craig Breen coasted over the snow-covered roads to emerge as surprise leader of the Rally of Sweden on Friday.
The 33-year-old part-time Hyundai driver is still looking for his first world rally championship win.
But after topping the times in three of the second day's seven special stages he has given himself a shot at getting off the mark at the 82nd attempt.
He goes into the weekend with a slender 2.6 second lead from Estonia's 2019 world champion Ott Tanak, who replaced him at MSport Ford.
"It's definitely been one of my strongest days," said Breen.
"Last year I was usually upside down or stuck in a hedge somewhere, so it's music to my ears to be in the lead tonight.
"It's the Mad Hatter's Tea Party and we're all invited - I can't wait for tomorrow!" he told wrc.com
While Breen was beaming, reigning champion Kalle Rovanpera was counting the cost of a 12-second loss on the day's second stage, his Toyota's grip struggling being the first of the pack to set off in the loose snow.
"There's a lot of snow and it's really slippery for us," said the 22-year-old Finn who nonetheless topped the times in two other stages to lie fifth overall, half a minute adrift of Breen.
"I tried to go as fast as possible and couldn't have done any better," added the youngest ever world champion, who had led the times overnight Thursday.
His teammate, eight-time title-holder Sebastien Ogier who won the season-opener in Monte Carlo last month, is giving Sweden a miss but will be at the start of the next rally in Mexico next month.
Ogier's place behind the wheel of his Toyota was taken by Japan's Takamoto Katsuta.
He rolled his car in the fifth stage and despite his mechanics doing their best to repair the damage he was forced to pull out in the following stage.
There are seven specials on Saturday with three to finish on Sunday.
