Grégory Havret produced a second successive 70 to set the early clubhouse target on day two of the Trophée Hassan II.
The Frenchman was one shot ahead of nearest challenger Lucas Bjerregaard after carding an eagle, four birdies and three bogeys to get to six under.
Bjerregaard mixed four birdies with two bogeys in his second-round 71.
It had looked as though Havret would be heading into the clubhouse with more of a cushion but he closed his round with back-to-back bogeys at the 17th and 18th.
It's always a bit of a shame to finish like this - bogey, bogey. It's obviously not the best but the rest was pretty good - Grégory Havret
The 40 year old began the day in a four-way tie at the top alongside James Morrison, Bjerregaard and Gary Stal on three under par.
After starting his second round with five straight pars, Havret picked up his first shot of the day at the sixth before making another gain at the seventh to get to five under.
The three-time European Tour winner made a stunning start to the back nine, making a birdie at the 11th before firing a superb eagle at the next.
Havret carded a bogey at the 13th but he converted his three-foot birdie putt at the 15th to get back to eight under.
After getting into trouble at the 17th, Havret had to settle for a bogey four and he dropped another shot at the last to finish the day on six under.
After his round he said: "It's always a bit of a shame to finish like this - bogey, bogey. It's obviously not the best but the rest was pretty good.
"This course is tough so you can't avoid mistakes all day long.
"So far, so good. I'm quite happy with the way it's been. I know more than anybody probably that the road is still long.
"But I'm obviously very happy, I'm playing well, I love this course, I love this place and I'm loving this country. And I feel good."
Bjerregaard, starting at the tenth tee, made birdies at the tenth and 12th before dropping his first shot of the day at the 15th.
He then picked up another shot at the 18th before safely parring the first four holes of his back nine.
A tap-in birdie at the fifth took him to the top of the leaderboard alongside Havret but he carded a bogey at the next to slip back to five under.
Bjerregaard said: "It was a bit different to yesterday, yesterday I played great except for a few really bad shots but today my bad shots were a little bit better.
"I didn’t give myself the chances I got yesterday, so a little bit more boring scorecard – not as many birdies but not as many mistakes either.
"I made a couple of par saves and all in all I'm happy, it's tricky out there when the wind is blowing everywhere.
"It’s a good position to be in. As I said yesterday, after five weeks off it's nice to come out and play well and it's nice to play well today, to see yesterday wasn’t just a one off.
"I’m in good shape and I’m feeling good about my game, I'm looking forward to the weekend."
Morrison and Irishman Paul Dunne were another shot back in a tie for third after second round scores of 72 and 69 respectively.
