Hyundai driver Neuville dug deep on the final stage of the day to beat Ogier by 4.1s and reclaim the lead from his Toyota rival to take a 3.3 second advantage into Sunday's stages.
A drive that the Belgian called "pure perfection from the beginning to the end" was also enough to earn him a provisional maximum 18 points under the WRC's new-for-2024 points structure.
