THE home hero of the Wales Rally GB, Elfyn Evans was flying over the third day circuit in mid-Wales as he claimed victory in three stages.

World Rally Championship points leader Ott Tanak extended his overall lead ahead of second-placed rival Sebastien Ogier, however it was Elfyn Evans who dominated Saturday morning.

Evans, who grew up a handful of kilometres from the opening 26km stage in Dyfi, delighted spectators by racing to the quickest times in his Ford Fiesta.

“We just have to focus stage by stage and do the best we can on each one," Evans said. "The grip was a bit changeable in here, unlike yesterday where you could read the grip a little bit more.

"It all looks the same this morning but it’s actually quite changeable."

He remained eighth overall but closed in on teammate Teemu Suninen, who was more than 13 seconds slower after several lacklustre laps.

Rally leader Ott Tänak, although 1.9 seconds slower than Evans, extended his advantage to 5.8 seconds over Sébastien Ogier.

“Generally the grip was quite OK," said the highly talented Toyota Yaris driver. "We couldn’t go to the limit but the car feels good."

Ogier believed he was not as "sharp" as he would have liked in his Citroën C3 but stretched the gap over Britain's fastest driver Kris Meeke to 2.8 seconds, as the Ulsterman slipped into the clutches of Thierry Neuville.

“I probably didn’t explore the grip enough, there was more of it than I expected," Meeke said. "We have to try everything, Thierry is driving a Hyundai and we want to finish in front so we have work to do."

Neuville was not totally happy with his performance in his Hyundai i20.

“I struggled in the beginning and I was too careful in the first part of the stage before I got the feeling," he said. "It was a long day yesterday and a short night, but I should have done better."

For live updates visit the Wales Rally GB website.