Francesco Laporta will take a one-shot lead into the weekend at the Trophée Hassan II after a round of 70 on the tough Red Course at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam.
The Italian rookie came into day two with a share of the lead at four under and followed his opening 68 with another impressive effort to move a shot ahead of Australia's Jason Scrivener, Spaniard Borja Virto Astudillo and South Korea's Jeunghun Wang.
Laporta claimed the 15th card at Qualifying School in November but made just one of his first six cuts on the European Tour in 2016 and played in the Challenge de Madrid on the Challenge Tour last week.
The 25 year old finished in a tie for fourth in the Spanish capital and admitted after his opening round that that had served as a major confidence boost, and he carried that confidence into Friday's play.
Virto Astudillo had set the clubhouse target at five under in the morning but Laporta soon moved past that with birdies on the tenth and 12th. A bogey on the 13th was followed by a double on the 14th but he then made three birdies in four holes to turn in 35 and take the lead.
Another gain on the second opened up a two-shot lead and he then missed birdie chances in a run of five pars before a missed short par putt on the eighth saw him drop to six under.
"It's going to be exciting at the weekend," he said.
I haven't been in this position going into the weekend at a European Tour event before, so I'm just going to try to enjoy it and do my best - Francesco Laporta
"It should be a great experience and I'm looking forward to it.
"It was just a really solid display and I enjoyed it."
Earlier, back-to-back birdies on the 14th and 15th saw Virto Astudillo hit the top of the leaderboard early but he gave those shots back with bogeys on the first and the third. He then bounced back with a long putt for birdie on the fifth and another gain on the seventh handed him a 70.
Scrivener ground out a round of 71 with three birdies and two bogeys as he goes in the hunt for a first European Tour title, with just two previous winners in the top ten.
Wang turned in 34 and then kick-started his round with a monster birdie putt on the 11th as he picked up three shots in four holes before a bogey-birdie finish in his 68.
American Daniel Im, Irishman Peter Lawrie and South African Zander Lombard were then at four under, a single shot clear of Englishman Gary King and France's Adrien Saddier.
Lawrie has a win under his belt at the 2008 Open de Espana but would admit he has not been at his best the last few seasons and his 69 with five birdies was a welcome return to form.
Im also recorded a 69 with four birdies, while Lombard had got to seven under in his round before he dropped three shots in his last three holes and had to settle for a 70.
Saddier opened with an eagle on the tenth but could not maintain that pace in a 72, while King had four birdies in a round of 70.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Nacho Elvira, Scott Henry, José-Filipe Lima, Kristopher Mueck, Jack Senior and Joshua White were then all at two under, with just 24 players under par.
