Volkswagen star Sebastien Ogier is on track to claim his maiden FIA World Rally Championship this weekend, after dominating every stage on the Coffs Coast on day two of Rally Australia on Saturday.

The Frenchman now has a 45.9 second lead over his nearest rival on the event, three-time Rally Australia winner, Mikko Hirvonen, who is driving for Citroen.

His nearest rival for the championship, Ford’s Thierry Neuville, is a further 25.5 seconds behind Hirvonen, in third place going into Sunday’s final six stages.

“We’ve extended the lead and it looks really good but there is another long day tomorrow,” said Ogier, who admitted the possibility of securing his maiden world title tomorrow was hard to ignore.

“I do have it a little bit in my mind, but we are very happy.

“Up to now the rally has been perfect for us. Now we just need to keep this place.”

With three rounds left to run before the end of the season, Ogier has a 75-point lead over Neuville in the battle for the drivers’ championship and can secure his first WRC crown if he collects nine points more than the Ford driver.

Hirvonen is in fifth place in the points tally (96 behind Ogier) and not in contention for this year’s championship but he would dearly love another Rally Australia win.

“There is a bit of a gap now to Ogier and I will try to keep up with him,” Hirvonen said.

Neuville took no risks, after scrubbing his tyres hard in the first run over the marathon 49.9km Nambucca stage.

He was still finding conditions quite slippery but was reasonably content after he finished the final stage.

“We are quite happy – and can be pleased with my day and are looking forward to tomorrow.”

Citroen ‘recruit’ Kris Meeke, who replaced regular driver Dani Sordo this weekend, was in fourth place at the morning break but rolled his DS3 seven times down a hill, just 20km into the repeat run of the rally’s longest stage.

Meeke was under pressure to deliver solid points for the French manufacturer before he went off.

While it was fortunate neither he or co-driver Chris Patterson was hurt, this is Meeke’s second retirement from two guest appearances in a DS3 this season.

“I went into a second gear corner and I arrived five or 10kmh too fast,” Meeke’s said.

“I thought I’d got away with it, but the car just slipped off the road. It nearly stopped, but unfortunately there was a very steep bank down into a field and it just kept tumbling.

“A very slow accident, but hey, an accident is an accident – the same result unfortunately.

“I’m thankful [to Citroen] for the opportunity, but sorry I couldn’t deliver on my instructions.

“I was given instructions to have a clean race here and I haven’t done it. So we’ll have to see what the outcome is.”

As a result of Meeke’s misfortune, and his own continued steady pace, Coffs Coast local Nathan Quinn goes into the final day in eighth place outright, an impressive showing in his first ever outing in a WRC car.

He’s just over nine minutes behind Ogier but over a full minute ahead of WRC regular Khalid Al Qassimi (Citroen), with WRC 2 regular, Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (Ford) rounding out the top 10.

Rally Australia will finish with a podium ceremony at 4pm on Sunday at the Brelsford Park Rally Hub.