The eight-time world champion started the day fourth overall and 17.8sec behind overnight leader Rovanperä, but delivered a masterclass in tactical rallying to emerge with a 10.3sec advantage over Adrien Fourmaux heading into Sunday's decisive four stages.

Ogier's charge gathered momentum throughout Saturday as his tactical gamble of carrying only five tyres versus his rivals' six began to pay dividends. The weight advantage helped him win four of the day's seven stages, overtaking Fourmaux before inheriting the lead when Rovanperä struck trouble.

Rovanperä had controlled the rally since Friday evening and extended his lead through Saturday's opening half despite not feeling completely satisfied with his performance aboard his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1. But a front-right puncture midway through the long Artigas stage destroyed his weekend and dropped him to sixth overall, over two minutes back from the lead.

"Of course, it's a shame to see your team-mate having a puncture, and it's not the way you want to take the lead, but it looks like every frontrunner has had trouble except Elfyn [Evans]," said Ogier.

"Since our puncture yesterday we have pushed all the time and maximised everything, so I think we can be happy with that. It's nice we managed to come back where we are now, but it's definitely not over."

Fourmaux held second overnight despite battling damper problems on the final two stages that hampered his ability to challenge Ogier's pace. The Hyundai driver was able to maintain his podium position despite “lacking control of the chassis and the grip.”

Ott Tänak delivered his own recovery drive after starting the day second overall before dropping to sixth after suffering a rear-left puncture on the morning's longest stage.

The Estonian fought back through the afternoon to claim fourth position, ending just 2.5sec behind championship leader Elfyn Evans.

Tänak’s Hyundai i20 N Rally1 colleague Thierry Neuville occupied fifth just 7.7sec behind with the Toyotas of Rovanperä and Sami Pajari in sixth and seventh.

With M-Sport Ford drivers Josh McErlean and Grégoire Munster both retiring their Puma Rally1s with impact damage, WRC2 crews filled the remainder of the top 10. Robert Virves capitalised on Nikolay Gryazin’s troubles to lead the category in eighth overall ahead of Yohan Rossel and Oliver Solberg.

Rally del Paraguay concludes on Sunday where four stages, totalling almost 80km, make up the action.