Monte Carlo Rally 2014
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Most of Bouffier's time loss is from one section in the middle of the stage. Did he make a mistake?
Mikkelsen and Hirvonen have both completed the stage, and the VW has passed the M-Sport Ford for what will either be eighth or seventh depending on how much time Latvala has lost.
Bouffier now 35s slower than Ogier at split four, he's in danger of losing the lead.
Kubica might have bounced his car off a mountain on the last stage, but he still had the ability to smile about it when AUTOSPORT spoke to him at service: "They build them strong at M-Sport."
Unfortunately, while M-Sport makes brilliant rally cars, the Polish star's not such a big fan of its sandwiches. This morning's offering was returned due to the presence of butter.
Unfortunately, while M-Sport makes brilliant rally cars, the Polish star's not such a big fan of its sandwiches. This morning's offering was returned due to the presence of butter.
Stopwatch
Ogier is on course to take about 10s out of Bouffier's lead so far - and Kubica is right on Ogier's pace!
Mikkelsen has a shot at gaining two places on this stage.
He is 12s up on Hirvonen so far with 15s between them earlier on, and a potential two-minute loss for Latvala will drop the Finn back too.
Now the delayed Latvala has caught up with Evans on the stage.
He is 12s up on Hirvonen so far with 15s between them earlier on, and a potential two-minute loss for Latvala will drop the Finn back too.
Now the delayed Latvala has caught up with Evans on the stage.
Stopwatch
But at the next split, it's Kubica quicker by several seconds. Is he on course to reclaim third place?
Stopwatch
In the Meeke/Kubica battle for third, the Citroen man is 1.5s up on the M-Sport driver so far, having started the stage 0.8s in front in the overall standings.
Quote
Bouffier is definitely not giving up on a second Monte win.
The Frenchman was in determined mood when he arrived back in service a few hours ago.
"I will push," he said. "And I won't stop pushing."
The Frenchman was in determined mood when he arrived back in service a few hours ago.
"I will push," he said. "And I won't stop pushing."
Stopwatch
First splits in for Bouffier and Ogier, and the leader has lost 4s to his illustrious pursuer.
Hirvonen windscreen
None of the drivers had perfect vision this morning, but Mikko Hirvonen's view of the rain was further compromised by a broken blower.
The Finn wasn't subscribing to the suggestion that not being able to see the danger might mean an increase in pace.
Latvala is back up to speed after his incident so doesn't seem to be any lingering damage on his VW. But it's cost him about two minutes.
As well as Latvala's delay, the other notable point on the early splits is that Mikkelsen is outpacing Hirvonen.
Hirvonen's problems this morning brought him to within 15s of Mikkelsen's range. They're both set to gain a place from Latvala's issue as well.
Hirvonen's problems this morning brought him to within 15s of Mikkelsen's range. They're both set to gain a place from Latvala's issue as well.
Umbrellas
AUTOSPORT's umbrella strategy went badly wrong at the in-control.
In an effort to keep Andreas Mikkelsen dry, our scribe sacrificed his ability to make notes (for some reason he can't hold a brolly, his notepad and his pen...), but then soaked the Volkswagen star when he moved and the collected water ran straight down onto the Norwegian's head.
Sorry.
Latvala running again, but he's lost two minutes having gone off the road and picked up a puncture.
Breaking news
Problems for Latvala, he's stopped on the stage. He had been running sixth and preparing to charge after Ostberg for fifth.
Breaking news
Tyre choices for the potentially very wet afternoon ahead:
Hirvonen, Evans and Latvala have four winter tyres with no studs, plus two super-softs in the boot.
Everyone else has the opposite choice - super-softs on the car, and two studless winter tyres in the boot.
Studless winters could be a good option in the mud that is likely on the next stage.
Hirvonen, Evans and Latvala have four winter tyres with no studs, plus two super-softs in the boot.
Everyone else has the opposite choice - super-softs on the car, and two studless winter tyres in the boot.
Studless winters could be a good option in the mud that is likely on the next stage.
Crash
AUTOSPORT also came close to rear-ending Robert Barrable on this road section while grappling with our McDonald's haul.
Thankfully we missed him and he can continue in fourth in WRC2.
Thankfully we missed him and he can continue in fourth in WRC2.
Rain
Weather update: the sun has emerged in Gap and AUTOSPORT actually needs sunglasses here.
But looking at the clouds around on the route to Sisteron, it looks absolutely horrendous for rain
But looking at the clouds around on the route to Sisteron, it looks absolutely horrendous for rain
After SS9, it's straight to Sisteron for a 36km SS10, then a regroup, then one more stage to round the day off at 6pm local time.
Jaroslav Melicharek is heading onto the repeat of the 49-kilometre Vitrolles-Faye stage.
Then there will be a three-minute gap before Andreas Mikkelsen, as requested by the Norwegian after he caught the Slovakian rookien mid-stage this morning.
Then there will be a three-minute gap before Andreas Mikkelsen, as requested by the Norwegian after he caught the Slovakian rookien mid-stage this morning.
Breaking news
Those updates were brought to you live from McDonald's in Gap, where AUTOSPORT's roving team has been refuelling with four quarter-pounders prior to heading for the Sisteron classic.
Rain
Snow
Hugely contrasting views of the afternoon and what to expect on the road.
We've heard everything from no snow and just a sniff of ice on the top of the col in Sisteron to heavy snow falling as the temperature drops through the afternoon.
Sebastien Ogier's view: "I don't know, but I hope my ice-note crew do."
AUTOSPORT offered some expert advice, pointing to the snow on the mountains just outside of town and estimating a snowline of 1092 metres.
Fortunately, nobody paid any attention.
Rain
We're just a few minutes away from SS9 starting and the rally battle resuming.
Surely it will stop raining soon. It has to. There simply can't be much more rain to fall.
An ocean's worth of water is currently falling on Gap. It would be depressing if the entire town wasn't looking to the partially visible mountains and wondering what's going on high above Sisteron...
Surely it will stop raining soon. It has to. There simply can't be much more rain to fall.
An ocean's worth of water is currently falling on Gap. It would be depressing if the entire town wasn't looking to the partially visible mountains and wondering what's going on high above Sisteron...
Breaking news
Bryan Bouffier
If you're not a rally regular, you might be wondering exactly who our shock rally leader Bryan Bouffier is.
A lot of people were asking that question when he won the Monte in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge three years ago.
He had made a few IRC appearances in late 2010 and been very quick but luckless, and having done most of his rallying in Poland (where he was a national champion) and France up to that point, he was little known on the international scene.
Then he picked the right tyres amid a snowstorm on the 2011 Monte, vaulted from seventh to first, and stayed there despite the best efforts of the likes of Meeke, Petter Solberg, Freddy Loix, Francois Delecour, Stephane Sarrazin and Juho Hanninen.
Bouffier faded through the rest of that IRC season and fell out of the brilliant five-way title hunt when Peugeot put its faith in Thierry Neuville instead.
Since then, Bouffier's career has been a mixed bag of IRC/ERC part-seasons (he was second in the European standings last year and won in Corsica), a bit of WRC3, and testing duties for Peugeot and Hyundai, plus fifth on last year's Monte in a one-off in a Citroen.
Now in his first rally in an M-Sport Ford Fiesta RS WRC, he's going toe to toe with last year's runaway WRC champions Ogier and VW for victory...
If you want to get a taste of what the WRC crews are coping with this weekend, here's something well worth a watch.
The official WRC YouTube channel has put up this video of SS3 - the stage where the snow turned up and caused chaos yesterday - in-car with Citroen's Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle:
The official WRC YouTube channel has put up this video of SS3 - the stage where the snow turned up and caused chaos yesterday - in-car with Citroen's Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle:
Race Centre Live will wind down for a while now as the cars head to service.
We'll keep you updated during the rest of the morning with any developments, but coverage will resume in earnest when the cars take to SS9 just after midday UK time.
We'll keep you updated during the rest of the morning with any developments, but coverage will resume in earnest when the cars take to SS9 just after midday UK time.
Breaking news
A quick summary of the morning so far:
* Ogier jumps from fourth to second, but Bouffier responds and stabilises his lead at 35s.
* Meeke and Kubica neck-and-neck for third, 0.8s apart and 24s behind Ogier.
* Ogier and fifth-placed Ostberg fly off the road after the SS8 finish as the short run between the flying finish and the stop line proves slippery. Both are unscathed.
* Latvala takes sixth from Evans, but the Welshman holds seventh as Hirvonen loses a lot of time to a misted windscreen.
Full Friday am report
* Ogier jumps from fourth to second, but Bouffier responds and stabilises his lead at 35s.
* Meeke and Kubica neck-and-neck for third, 0.8s apart and 24s behind Ogier.
* Ogier and fifth-placed Ostberg fly off the road after the SS8 finish as the short run between the flying finish and the stop line proves slippery. Both are unscathed.
* Latvala takes sixth from Evans, but the Welshman holds seventh as Hirvonen loses a lot of time to a misted windscreen.
Full Friday am report
Yuriy Protasov
And the WRC2 battle turns around again.
One stage after Protasov lost the lead because he had a puncture, Kremer loses the lead... because he has a puncture.
Protasov outpaces Bertelli on the stage too and that means he's straight back from third to first place.
That misty window delay for Hirvonen has dropped him 55s away from seventh-placed M-Sport team-mate Evans and leaves him only 15s ahead of Mikkelsen's VW.
Twitter
Mikko Hirvonen is not impressed with the time loss on that stage: "Driving to the service park now. Really disappointed... But will not give up."
Checkered flag
Here's how they stand:
SS8 times: 1 Bouffier 14hm10.0s; 2 Ogier +0.2s; 3 Kubica +7.8s; 4 Meeke +12.0s; 5 Latvala +13.8s; 6 Ostberg +17.9s.
Overall positions: 1 Bouffier; 2 Ogier +35.8s; 3 Meeke +59.6s; 4 Kubica +1m00.4s; 5 Ostberg +2m17.1s; 6 Latvala +2m57.1s.
SS8 times: 1 Bouffier 14hm10.0s; 2 Ogier +0.2s; 3 Kubica +7.8s; 4 Meeke +12.0s; 5 Latvala +13.8s; 6 Ostberg +17.9s.
Overall positions: 1 Bouffier; 2 Ogier +35.8s; 3 Meeke +59.6s; 4 Kubica +1m00.4s; 5 Ostberg +2m17.1s; 6 Latvala +2m57.1s.
The Kubica/Meeke battle closed up again on that stage, with the Pole closing back in and getting the gap down to 0.8s.
Stopwatch
Bouffier couldn't add as much to his lead as the early splits hinted, but he is quickest on the stage by 0.2s.
That keeps his lead at 35s. It really is game on for the lead battle. The world champion is going to have to work hard to catch the wildcard out front.
That keeps his lead at 35s. It really is game on for the lead battle. The world champion is going to have to work hard to catch the wildcard out front.
Meeke was faster than Ogier for a while on the stage, but as the VW man raised his pace, Meeke ended up 11s slower.
Stopwatch
Ogier is quickest of those that have finished so far, 7.6s up on Kubica and 13s faster than Latvala.
Stopwatch
Back to the splits and Bouffier is set to extend his lead over Ogier at the moment, he's 5s quicker on the stage so far.
Quote
Sounds like a wild stage for Kubica.
"We had one very lucky moment, completely sideways in fifth gear. There are some very dangerous places under braking."
"We had one very lucky moment, completely sideways in fifth gear. There are some very dangerous places under braking."
Kubica manages to catch his slide and come to a safe halt without any of the drama that Ostberg and Ogier had.
Ogier is understandably frustrated.
The problem is that the finish of the stage is flat-out in sixth gear, but then straight onto a very slippery patch of asphalt before the 'in' control and the media area.
The problem is that the finish of the stage is flat-out in sixth gear, but then straight onto a very slippery patch of asphalt before the 'in' control and the media area.
By: Matt Beer, David Evans, Scott Mitchell
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