Ford's factory drivers swapped positions at the head of the field on the second full day of Rally Australia on the New South Wales North Coast.
Mikko Hirvonen began the day with a seven-second lead over team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala but their positions were reversed by the end of the opening stage.
At the end of the day's road stages Latvala was ahead by 22.6 seconds.
Citroen privateer Petter Solberg remained third, a minute behind the leader, ahead of the two short sprints in Coffs Harbour.
Citroen's factory stars, Sebastian Ogier and championship leader Sebastian Loeb, were 11th and 17th respectively, fighting back after both crashed while leading on Friday.
New Zealand driver Hayden Paddon is sixth overall and had to overcome mechanical issues with his Subaru during day two, but he fought back to hold a narrow lead in the Production class by just 2.9 seconds over Polish driver Michel Kosciuszko