Sebastien Ogier repelled a fierce charge from revitalised team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala to hold on to the lead of Rally Spain after yesterday’s second leg.

Ogier, who will clinch a second consecutive drivers’ title if he fin­ishes ahead of Latvala today, leads by 27.3sec in a Volkswagen Polo R, despite the Finn winning four of the six special stages in his efforts to hunt down his colleague.

After Friday’s gravel action, yes­terday was asphalt and scorching sunshine ensured a tough test for tyres and brakes as road tempera­tures reached 35°C.

Latvala’s attack was in contrast to a lacklustre day on Friday when he could not match his rival’s pace. But Ogier remained unflus­tered despite a scare in the second pass through the marathon 50km Escaladei test, which celebrated the rally’s half-century.

He drove the final 20km with a severe vibration after a tyre delami­nated and admitted his team-mate pushed him hard.

“I have to congratulate Jari-Matti because he did a good job,” said Ogi­er. “The plan was to control from the front but there were sections I didn’t control too much because I had to drive very fast to stay with him. He was flying, but my plan was to have a 20sec lead tonight and we have more than that, so it’s good.”

Apart from a small brake prob­lem, Latvala was untroubled. “I was disappointed yesterday. I wanted to fight for the win and now that seems a little too far away. I was driving too aggressively and think­ing about today’s asphalt rather than the gravel,” he said.

Mikko Hirvonen was third in a Ford Fiesta RS, 1min 18.6sec off the lead, after seeing off Andreas Mikkelsen and Mads Ostberg in their fight for the final podium place. Mikkelsen spun before stop­ping to replace a damaged tyre while Ostberg fell back to fourth.

Dani Sordo closed to 22.1sec be­hind in fifth in his Hyundai i20 with team-mate Thierry Neuville recov­ering to sixth. Mikkelsen slipped to seventh with Martin Prokop, Hayden Paddon and Yuriy Protasov completing the leaderboard.

Robert Kubica drove all morning with only front-wheel drive in his Fiesta RS after breaking a differen­tial as he warmed his tyres before the first stage. He later retired after ripping a front wheel from the car.

Today drivers face two loops of two stages covering 72.06km. The second pass through the Riudecan­yes live TV test is the Power Stage, with bonus points awarded to the fastest three drivers.