Sébastien Ogier regained the lead after setting fastest time through the second pass of Santa Catalina / La Pampa (SS4).
He was quickest by 3.8sec in his Volkswagen Polo R from team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala, and now heads his colleague by five-tenths of a second in the standings.
Thierry Neuville emerged from the stage with a buckled left rear wheel on his Hyundai i20 but the Belgian wasn’t too concerned.
“There was a stone on the line and I slid past it. I didn’t hit it really, it was a very, very small impact and everything seems to be fine,” added Neuville, who replaced the wheel ahead of the Ascochinga test.
Nicolas Fuchs, lying second in WRC 2, lost a place when he dropped two minutes in his Ford Fiesta RRC after breaking a rear differential on the liaison section to the stage.