Sebastien Loeb will take a lead of half a minute into the final day of the World Rally Championship season in Wales.
Despite Mikko Hirvonen's best efforts to close the gap, starting with a fastest time on the first stage of the afternoon, Citroen driver Loeb was able to edge slightly further away through the next two stages.
He now only has to complete tomorrow's four stages without delays to secure a record-extending sixth world title.
"I'm very happy, we've done a really, really good day, especially those two stages in the morning," said Loeb, managed to extend his lead from 3sec to 25sec in the space of just two stages before service. Now he's faster and I cannot make the same difference, but it was still a good drive with no mistakes and we will lead tomorrow."
Hirvonen had been baffled by his lack of pace this morning, admitting that there seemed to be little wrong with his Ford Focus or his driving. The team confirmed at the lunchtime service that the car had no mechanical problems and Hirvonen's pace was better on the second loop, but still he could not stop Loeb pulling away.
"It's not been a good day and I still don't understand how much time we lost in the morning here," said the Finn. "What we lost now is understandable. Tomorrow is the last day of the year, so we'll have to go flat-out and see what happens."
Dani Sordo is on course for third, with Petter Solberg having lost a little more time with a quick trip through a Rhondda ditch this afternoon, leaving his Solberg Citroen 24sec behind Sordo's factory example at the end of the day.
The remaining points positions look settled unless anyone hits trouble, with Sebastien Ogier (Citroen Junior) a safe distance ahead of the Stobart Fords in fifth and Jari-Matti Latvala too far behind the field in eighth to make much more progress – although the Finn is now much happier with his Ford after a setup breakthrough at service.
Eyvind Brynildsen continues to dominate the Production class in his new Skoda.
Leading positions after day two:
Pos Driver Car Time/Gap
1. Sebastien Loeb Citroen 2h32m21.4s
2. Mikko Hirvonen Ford + 30.2s
3. Petter Solberg Citroen + 1m20.1s
4. Dani Sordo Citroen + 1m44.1s
5. Sebastien Ogier Citroen + 4m21.6s
6. Henning Solberg Ford + 5m22.8s
7. Matthew Wilson Ford + 6m30.0s
8. Jari-Matti Latvala Ford + 8m02.5s
9. Conrad Rautenbach Citroen + 12m00.1s
10. Aaron Burkart Citroen + 16m28.2s