Aigner now has 20 points on the board, while Jari Ketomaa is second on 14 points, with Juho Hanninen third - 2 points further back. Ketomaa and Hanninen have both opted not to nominate Turkey on which to score Production points and as such Andreas now has a good chance to increase his lead.
The Austrian's target is to do just that and he is going for points this weekend as opposed to pushing for a hat-trick of victories.
"I can get used to this role [as championship leader] for sure. For me it is not a win but just points that I am aiming for [in Turkey]," confirmed the
Red Bull Rally Team star. "We want to get a good result that allows us to pull away in the championship and put our closest rivals under pressure."
In total 23 drivers have opted to take in the Rally of Turkey and in addition to Ketomaa and Hanninen, three other regulars will be absent - namely Spyros Pavlides, Fumio Nutahara and Subhan Aksa.
This won't mean Aigner will have it easy though and a number of other drivers will also be strong, including 2005 and 2007 PWRC champion Toshi Ari, 2006 PWRC champion Nasser Al-Attiyah, Martin Prokop, Patrik Sandell, Martin Rauam, Armindo Araujo and Mirco Baldacci.
Aigner's own team-mate, Bernardo Sousa could also spring a surprise and to date this season he has had a very good run.
Indeed in his first season in the WRC he has finished in the points in all three events he has contested - including taking the runners-up spot in Greece two weeks ago, which lifted him up to joint fourth in the PWRC standings with Nutahara.
"The season has been totally sensational for me so far. I am not going to allow myself to rest though as I need to put in some more hard work. I know that I still have a lot to learn. A place in the points is once again my main objective," said the Portuguese star.
Other significant entries:
76 crews set to start.
76 crews are due to start the round - the most thus far for anyone single event, with all six manufacturer teams in action and 16 World Rally Cars in total.
