Elfyn Evans staged a stirring comeback to climb up the Monte Carlo Rally rankings on the second day.
The Dolgellau-born flier had cruelly lost over three minutes after a puncture on the opening leg on Thursday.
But Evans shrugged off the setback to set two fastest stage times on Friday’s blast around the French Alps.
That catapulted him from 16th to eighth but facing a battle with Thierry Neuville who was just a few seconds back in ninth.
But for Thursday night’s issue, Evans and co-driver Daniel Barritt would surely have been challenging for a podium finish in his M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC car.
The 29-year-old said: “It’s been an okay day for us with two stage wins, but not perfect.
“We’re in a bit of a battle with Thierry now, although it’s not the battle I wanted to be in this weekend.
“I’m sure Thierry will push hard like always, and for sure it will make for a bit of excitement tomorrow. It will be an interesting day, so let’s wait and see what we get.”
Evans’ two fastest stage times was only bettered by team-mate and rally leader Sebastien Ogier who was helped out by spectators when he slid into a ditch.
M-Sport team chief Malcolm Wilson said: “Elfyn has had a much better day after what was a really unlucky start last night.
“With the puncture on the opening stage he lost more than three minutes, but has refocused and shown some great speed – especially when the conditions were at their most challenging.
Evans’ Stage performances:
SS1: 19th (+3:48.0) – puncture
SS2: 8th (+24.9)
–
SS3: 3rd (+5.4)
SS4: 5th (+12.4)
SS5: 1st
SS6: 8th (+5.0)
SS7: 1st
SS8: 5th (+11.1)
Top 10 Overall
1. Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia (Ford Fiesta WRC) +2:07:15.4
2. Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja (Toyota Yaris WRC) +14.9
3. Dani Sordo / Marc Marti (Hyundai 120 Coupe WRC) +59.7
4. Esapekka Lapp / Janne Ferme (Toyota Yaris WRC) +1:09.9
5. Jari-Matti Latvala / Miikka Anttila (Toyota Yaris WRC) +1:10.1
6. Kris Meeke / Paul Nagle (Citroen DS3 WRC) +2:45.5
7. Bryan Bouffier / Xavier Panseri (Ford Fiesta WRC) +3:34.6
8. Elfyn Evans / Daniel Barritt (Ford Fiesta WRC) +4:01.7
9. Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +4:04.1
10. Craig Breen / Scott Martin (Citroen DS3 WRC) +5:06.6