Elfyn Evans took command of Rally Croatia on Saturday after Thierry Neuville's Hyundai, sporting the Irish flag in tribute to teammate Craig Breen, crashed out of contention.
The fourth round of the world championship is being held in the wake of 33-year-old Breen's death, the Irish driver killed when practising for the rally last week.
Breen's Hyundai team were in a strong position to take a poignant victory with Neuville starting Saturday with a 5.7 second advantage overnight from Evans.
The Belgian had stretched that advantage over Toyota's Welsh driver after the middle day's opening two stages to over 10 seconds.
However, Neuville was forced to retire after losing control on a right-hand bend on stage 11, leaving Evans suddenly at the top of the timings.
Halfway through the day, he had the Ford of Ott Tanak 22.6sec behind despite a scare.
"The surface at the end of the last one, we knew it was low on grip, but I skimmed a barrier with the rear. We were very lucky," said Evans, seeking his sixth WRC win and first since Finland in 2021.
By the end of Saturday's eight stages, and with four to close on Sunday, Evans had a 25.4sec cushion over Tanak, with the Estonian frustrated by technical glitches on his Ford.
"What a disaster. It's fine, the handbrake is not working and things like this. It's tricky when things are like this," he said.
"It's difficult to drive - I don't know what has happened but I'm happy it's over," the 2019 world champion added after stage 16.
Evans felt for his nearest rival, saying: "I can't say I am pleased. I wasn't so happy with the way I drove in there and if Ott had problems I wouldn't wish that on him.
"It's not nice to exploit a gap like that but there's still a long way to go."
Placed third, 55.4sec adrift, was Hyundai's Esapekka Lappi with eight-time world champion Sebastien Ogier in fourth at 1min 49.4s after serving a one-minute time penalty incurred on Friday for not having his safety harness correctly fastened.
France's Ogier, competing part-time this season and fastest in three of Saturday's stages, leads the championship courtesy of his wins in Monte Carlo and Mexico.