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Toyota World Rally Championship driver Sebastien Ogier leads M-Sport's Teemu Suninen by 12 seconds after Friday's Rally Mexico stages.

Having assumed the lead on the second stage of the morning loop, Ogier quietly got on with the job of building a cushion while rest of the front-runners struggled.

The Frenchman's Toyota team-mate, championship leader Elfyn Evans, was hobbled by running first on the road and being forced to sweep the stages for everyone else behind him.

In the third Toyota, Kalle Rovanpera's performance was tempered by a puncture as he continues to gain experience in the top flight, but he won the final stage of the day on the streets of Leon with style.

It was a day to forget for Hyundai. Defending world champion Ott Tanak was hampered by the 45-second deficit resulting from going off in the morning, while Thierry Neuville's engine expired in the late afternoon - ending an attempt to defy his poor road position.

The third Hyundai of Dani Sordo went out with terminal engine problems on the second pass through El Chocolate.

All of which leaves the M-Sport Ford Fiesta of Teemu Suninen in second place at the overnight halt.

Four top-three stage times and consistent top-five pace throughout the first eleven stages have allowed the Finn to keep Ogier in his sights amid the excitement.

The biggest drama of the afternoon befell Suninen's fellow countryman Esapekka Lappi in the sister M-Sport Ford.

After completing his second pass through El Chocolate, the rear of Lappi's car erupted in flames which neither his co-driver Janne Ferm or the attendant marshals could extinguish.

Lappi tried to drive the car away but was soon forced to bail out, leaving his Fiesta to burn to the ground.

The following stage was cancelled due to the absence of fire services who were preoccupied with the Fiesta's destruction.

The day ended with crowd-pleasing spectator stages that did little to change the order: Ogier leads Suninen and has more than half a minute in hand over Evans, Tanak and Rovanpera, with nine of the 12 remaining stages scheduled to follow on Saturday.

Results after Friday's second loop:

Pos Class Driver Team Car Time Gap 1 RC1 Sebastien Ogier, J.Ingrassia Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota 1h19m05.8s - 0 2 RC1 Teemu Suninen, J.Lehtinen M-Sport Ford WRT Ford 1h19m17.8s 12.0s 0 3 RC1 Ott Tanak, M.Jarveoja Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai 1h19m38.6s 32.8s 0 4 RC1 Elfyn Evans, S.Martin Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota 1h19m39.1s 33.3s 0 5 RC1 Kalle Rovanpera, J.Halttunen Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota 1h19m40.1s 34.3s 0 6 RC1 Gus Greensmith, E.Edmondson M-Sport Ford WRT Ford 1h20m13.6s 1m07.8s 0 7 WRC2 Pontus Tidemand, P.Barth Toksport WRT Skoda 1h23m11.9s 4m06.1s 0 8 WRC2 Nikolay Gryazin, Y.Fedorov Hyundai Motorsport N Hyundai 1h23m59.4s 4m53.6s 0 9 WRC3 Marco Bulacia Wilkinson, G.Bernacchini Marco Bulacia Wilkinson Citroen 1h24m45.7s 5m39.9s 0 10 WRC3 Emilio Fernandez, R.Garcia Toksport WRT Skoda 1h27m15.6s 8m09.8s 0 11 WRC2 Ole-Christian Veiby, J.Andersson Hyundai Motorsport N Hyundai 1h28m38.8s 9m33.0s 0 12 WRC3 Ricardo Trivino, M.Marti Ricardo Trivino Bujalil Skoda 1h28m53.2s 9m47.4s 0 13 RC1 Thierry Neuville, N.Gilsoul Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai 1h29m21.4s 10m15.6s 0 14 RC2 Ricardo Cordero Jr., M.H.Valdez Ricardo Cordero Citroen 1h30m55.2s 11m49.4s 0 15 WRC3 Kajetan Kajetanowicz, M.Szczepaniak Kajetan Kajetanowicz Skoda 1h32m47.2s 13m41.4s 0 16 RC2 John Coyne, S.Joyce John Coyne Ford 1h36m39.8s 17m34.0s 0 17 WRC3 Gianluca Linari, N.Arena Gianluca Linari Ford 1h36m45.0s 17m39.2s 0 18 RC5 Martin Suriani, Z.Garcia Martin Suriani Renault 1h40m13.1s 21m07.3s 0 19 RC5 Francisco Name, A.Zapata Franciso Name Renault 1h41m56.3s 22m50.5s 0 20 RC1 Dani Sordo, C.del Barrio Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai 1h44m19.6s 25m13.8s 0 21 RC5 Gustavo Uriostegui, D.Hernandez Gustavo A. Uriostegui Renault 1h45m53.5s 26m47.7s 0 22 NAT2 Enrique Meza Reynoso, C.J.Coronel Enrique Jose Meza Reynoso Ford 1h46m57.5s 27m51.7s 0 23 RC2 Barry McKenna, J.Fulton Barry McKenna Skoda 1h50m49.9s 31m44.1s 0 24 RC5 Gerardo Rejon Basanez, M.Pimentel Gerardo Rejon Basanez Renault 1h52m09.2s 33m03.4s 0 25 NAT Miguel Granados, A.Carmona Miguel Granados Mitsubishi 1h55m32.2s 36m26.4s 0 26 NAT4 Serge Brachet, F.Suberville Serge Brachet Mitsubishi 1h57m08.0s 38m02.2s 0 27 NAT2 Alejandro Sanchez, A.D.Villegas Alejandro Mauro Sanchez Ford 2h11m26.6s 52m20.8s 0 28 WRC3 Benito Guerra, D.Cue Benito Guerra Skoda 2h11m30.2s 52m24.4s 0 29 NAT2 Boris Djordjevic, J.Hall Boris Djordjevic Ford 2h43m21.6s 1h24m15.8s 0 30 WRC3 Alberto Heller, J.L.Diaz Benito Guerra Ford 2h51m08.2s 1h32m02.4s 0