The four-time world champion forfeited a second on the afternoon’s opening loop to Neuville – who became the de facto challenger after Tanak’s time loss – but said at the end of the stage he had deliberately conserved his tyres.
That proved a sensible strategy as he duly added 4.5 seconds to his advantage at the head of the rally in his Ford Fiesta WRC to pull 23s clear.
That means the pair will enter Sunday’s final day of competition with Ogier 16.8s to the good over the i20 of Neuville.
Dani Sordo holds a lonely but comfortable third in the second Hyundai i20, having drifted further away from the lead two after initially dropping time in the morning.
Estonian Tanak had started the loop in fifth as a result of his SS12 accident, but with his Fiesta repaired during service he enjoyed a clean afternoon – albeit without the same speed he had produced earlier in the day – to gain one spot overall.
That came at the expense of Citroen’s Craig Breen. The Irishman had started the loop confident that his tyre choice would serve him well, but later said there had been a “misunderstanding” in the service park as he ended the loop a minute and a half down on the leader.
Elfyn Evans had a largely anonymous afternoon but did move into sixth on the final stage at the expense of Toyota’s Esapekka Lappi, who hit a wall on SS15 and dropped more than five minutes as a result.
That incident also promoted Lappi’s Toyota teammates Juho Hanninen and Jari-Matti Latvala to seventh and ninth respectively, with Mads Ostberg splitting the pair overall.
Andreas Mikkelsen had maintained his stranglehold on WRC2 proceedings before closest rivals Pontus Tidemand and Teemu Suninen hit trouble on SS15, and now holds a 3m07.1s lead over teammate Tidemand in class.
Story and photo: Motorsport.com
Provisional results end day two:
1. Sebastien Ogier FRA M-Sport Ford Fiesta RS WRC 3h 15m 24.6s M
2. Thierry Neuville BEL Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +16.8s M
3. Dani Sordo ESP Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +51.3s M
5. Craig Breen IRL Citroen DS3 Abu Dhabi WRC +1m 32.4s M
6. Elfyn Evans GBR DMACK M-Sport Ford Fiesta RS WRC +3m 01.8s M
7. Juho Hanninen FIN Toyota Yaris Gazoo Racing WRC +3m 29.8s M
8. Mads Ostberg NOR M-Sport Ford Fiesta RS WRC +5m 16.6s M
9. Jari-Matti Latvala FIN Toyota Yaris Gazoo Racing WRC +5m 32.7s M
10. Andreas Mikkelsen NOR Skoda Fabia R5 +7m 06.6s WRC2
11. Esapekka Lappi FIN Toyota Yaris Gazoo Racing WRC +8m 00.9s M
12.Pontus Tidemand SWE Skoda Fabia R5 +10m 13.7s WRC2
13. Teemu Suninen FIN M-Sport Ford Fiesta R5 +10m 32.8s WRC2
14. Martin Prokop CZE Onebet Jipocar WRT Ford Fiesta RS WRC +11m 15.6s RC1
15. Gilbert Quentin FRA Skoda Fabia R5 +13m 21.8s WRC2
Notable others:
23. Kris Meeke GBR Citroen C3 Abu Dhabi WRC +22m 09.9s
27. Hayden Paddon NZL Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +42m 38.4s M
WRC2 standings after SS15:
1. Andreas Mikkelsen NOR Skoda Fabia R5 3h 22m 31.2s WRC2
2.Pontus Tidemand SWE Skoda Fabia R5 +3m 07.1s WRC
3. Teemu Suninen FIN M-Sport Ford Fiesta R5 +3m 26.2s WRC2