WRC Rally Sweden: Hayden Paddon carves into Sebastien Ogier's lead

Ogier held an overnight lead of 26.9 seconds from Paddon and extended his advantage on Saturday's opening Fredriksberg stage to more than half a minute after setting the fastest time in his Volkswagen Polo R WRC.

But while the running order had little effect on times on SS10, the clearing effect was far more evident on the day's second stage and Ogier, running first, suffered compared to his rivals.

Of those still in contention to challenge Ogier, Paddon made the most of the conditions on Vargasen to take 23s out of the Frenchman, narrowing his deficit to 8.8s.

Paddon was third on the stage, behind Rally 2 re-entrants Jari Matti Latvala and Kris Meeke - the latter leaping 43 metres over the famous Colin's Crest jump.

Ogier's team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen had jumped M-Sport's Mads Ostberg for third overall on SS10, but the positions were reversed once again on SS12.

Ostberg now leads his compatriot by 10s in the fight for the final podium positon.

Ott Tanak struggled more than he had on Friday with his DMACK tyres but remains in a comfortable fifth position.

Dani Sordo had started the day ahead of the Estonian, but he was one of three drivers - alongside Latvala and WRC2 driver Fredrik Ahlin - to pick up a puncture on the day's opening stage, and now leads Henning Solberg by three seconds overall in sixth.

Craig Breen continues to impress in eighth place, the Irishman having set the sixth-fastest time on SS12 to consolidate his place in the points.

WRC2 leader Elfyn Evans and Teemu Suninen complete the top 10, although the former saw his class lead trimmed to 32s by nearest rival Pontus Tidemand on Vargasen.

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LEADING POSITIONS AFTER SS12: