Monte Carlo Rally 2016
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Ogier doesn't think that was much easier than the snowy version of the stage earlier.
"It's a bit better in some sections, but still tricky because where the snow is melting it's very difficult with slick tyres and it's not really better," he says.
"It's not a big gap [to Meeke] in these conditions. Anything can happen. We are not in a position to take all the risks, but we still have to drive fast."
"It's a bit better in some sections, but still tricky because where the snow is melting it's very difficult with slick tyres and it's not really better," he says.
"It's not a big gap [to Meeke] in these conditions. Anything can happen. We are not in a position to take all the risks, but we still have to drive fast."
Stopwatch
Ogier completes the stage in 12m26s.
First split from Meeke, he's nine tenths down on Ogier on this one so far.
Stopwatch
First split in and Mikkelsen is 1.7s off Ogier's pace. It was at the end of the stage where the snow and ice allowed Mikkelsen to make vast gains earlier, but the course car crews have suggested things are much less treacherous this time around now it's warmed up.
Ostberg and Meeke are now onto the stage as well. Latvala's likely exit will bring Ostberg into the overall top five.
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He seemed confident he had managed to fix that damage, but it's not looking good now.
Crash
Bad news: Latvala is stopped on a road section on the tracking system.
Green flag
Ogier is on the stage, but Latvala looks like he'll be running out of order after that stop on the road section for repairs, as Mikkelsen has gone in ahead of him.
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Seb Marshall's guide to this stage:
SS10 St Leger les Melezes-La Battie Neuve
This one’s brand new. It’s a cracking stage. It starts on one side of the mountain, then it’s up and over the col and down the other side – classic Monte. And the col’s quite high, around 1600 metres, it’s similar to Turini in height.
But it’s a bizarre stage this one. Not long after the start, you head for a ski station and you’re going past the nursery slopes and past the ski rental shop, then you pass the chairlift.
On the recce I was like: “Are we in the right place?” Honestly, it was like playing one of the early Colin McRae Rally games where they really mixed the terrain up a bit – it was bizarre.
After a couple of hairpins, you switch onto an access road for the ski station, it’s proper snow from there and you’re climbing for a couple of kilometres.
After the col, the descent is all in the forest. Even though it’s been sunny, there will be snow and ice in there. And this is a tricky place, the corners are nice, medium-speed corners that are quite gentle before they swap back and tighten. It’ll be so easy to make a mistake here, especially with compromised tyres.
SS10 St Leger les Melezes-La Battie Neuve
This one’s brand new. It’s a cracking stage. It starts on one side of the mountain, then it’s up and over the col and down the other side – classic Monte. And the col’s quite high, around 1600 metres, it’s similar to Turini in height.
But it’s a bizarre stage this one. Not long after the start, you head for a ski station and you’re going past the nursery slopes and past the ski rental shop, then you pass the chairlift.
On the recce I was like: “Are we in the right place?” Honestly, it was like playing one of the early Colin McRae Rally games where they really mixed the terrain up a bit – it was bizarre.
After a couple of hairpins, you switch onto an access road for the ski station, it’s proper snow from there and you’re climbing for a couple of kilometres.
After the col, the descent is all in the forest. Even though it’s been sunny, there will be snow and ice in there. And this is a tricky place, the corners are nice, medium-speed corners that are quite gentle before they swap back and tighten. It’ll be so easy to make a mistake here, especially with compromised tyres.
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But the main focus will be on the front - Meeke pegged Ogier back on the last stage and is clearly keeping the champion on his toes.
And just how good were Latvala's post-stage repairs following his shunt on the last one? Neuville is just half a second ahead in fourth so that position could rapidly be regained if the car still goes in the right direction, but then there's a minute gap to Mikkelsen, and the team-mates have gone different ways on tyres.
And just how good were Latvala's post-stage repairs following his shunt on the last one? Neuville is just half a second ahead in fourth so that position could rapidly be regained if the car still goes in the right direction, but then there's a minute gap to Mikkelsen, and the team-mates have gone different ways on tyres.
The upcoming St Leger Les Melezes-La Batie Neuve stage is a mere 10.6 miles long, but it's the mix of conditions that could cause the headache. There was often snow and ice at the end for Mikkelsen to go 43s faster than everyone else by taking snow tyres this morning.
The temperature is likely to have risen since then, so the disparity might not be so dramatic, but still those who have leaned snow-ward in their tyre choice (Mikkelsen, the Hyundais, Ostberg) could gain ground here.
The temperature is likely to have risen since then, so the disparity might not be so dramatic, but still those who have leaned snow-ward in their tyre choice (Mikkelsen, the Hyundais, Ostberg) could gain ground here.
Another way spectators may have been amusing themselves during this break.
But did the girlfriend leave because she was dismayed at poor apostrophe use? If so, we're on her side.
Right, 10 minutes to go before things resume. Many spectators may well have been enjoying this offer.
A quick pause now - our next stage begins in 40 minutes, and it's a repeat run of the one where Mikkelsen and his canny tyre choice blitzed everyone by a mammoth 43s this morning.
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SS11 summary:
* Latvala goes off and damages his suspension, falls from third to fifth overall but manages to repair it after the finish
* Meeke sets the pace and nibbles a bit out of Ogier's lead, which is down to 26.8s
* Mikkelsen rises to third following Latvala's error
* Latvala goes off and damages his suspension, falls from third to fifth overall but manages to repair it after the finish
* Meeke sets the pace and nibbles a bit out of Ogier's lead, which is down to 26.8s
* Mikkelsen rises to third following Latvala's error
Stopwatch
SS11 results:
Stage times:
1 Meeke 30m26.6s
2 Ogier +3.4s
3 Mikkelsen +29.8s
4 Lefebvre +45.0s
5 Bouffier +46.8s
6 Ostberg +47.7s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier
2 Meeke +26.8s
3 Mikkelsen +2m29.8s
4 Neuville +3m33.8s
5 Latvala +3m34.3s
6 Ostberg +4m44.3s
7 Lefebvre +7m04.0s
8 Bouffier +7m30.5s
9 Tanak +9m39.8s
10 Sordo +11m45.4s
Stage times:
1 Meeke 30m26.6s
2 Ogier +3.4s
3 Mikkelsen +29.8s
4 Lefebvre +45.0s
5 Bouffier +46.8s
6 Ostberg +47.7s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier
2 Meeke +26.8s
3 Mikkelsen +2m29.8s
4 Neuville +3m33.8s
5 Latvala +3m34.3s
6 Ostberg +4m44.3s
7 Lefebvre +7m04.0s
8 Bouffier +7m30.5s
9 Tanak +9m39.8s
10 Sordo +11m45.4s
Not sure yet whether "it's OK!" means a lash-up fix with tank tape and ingenuity or if Latvala had the spare parts he needed on board - we'll see when Latvala's splits from SS12 start coming in.
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Latvala looks like he's managed to fix the damage. "It's OK!" he shouts as he packs up the tools and begins to get going again.
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Quentin Gilbert has taken the WRC2 stage win on this one, but he remains fourth overall behind Kremer and Yoann Bonato, as Evans continues to escape. The Welshman might even be back into the outright top 10 if Latvala is out.
Evans - moving rapidly
Evans continues to extend his WRC2 lead, now up to a minute over nearest rival Kremer.
Paddon reckons his tyre choices for the two runs of this stage were the wrong way around, but at least he's learning. After crashing yesterday he's running 60th overall with penalties.
Rally2 runner Hayden Paddon will be next man through, followed by WRC2 leader Elfyn Evans, who is again setting the class pace on this one - as he has done on basically every stage apart from the two where he's had punctures.
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Battling Frenchmen Lefebvre and Bouffier come in fourth and fifth fastest respectively. Lefebvre hasn't pulled as much out over Bouffier as it looked like he might but his advantage in their battle for seventh is now 26s - and is that about to become sixth if Latvala can't continue?
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"I'm nowhere now, we're in a very bad position," shrugs Sordo now. "I'm trying a different set-up with the tyres."
It's not paying off, he was about 40s off team-mate Neuville.
It's not paying off, he was about 40s off team-mate Neuville.
Sordo sheds another load of time, he's 1m37s off the pace on this stage. He was back in 10th overall after his mistake this morning.
Neuville is slowest through of the cars that didn't hit anything. It still inches him up to fourth overall, half a second ahead of the wounded Latvala.
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"I'm driving to my natural instincts. My natural instinct is to drive fast but on the Monte Carlo Rally you have to try to read the road. When my safety crew went through there was a lot of black ice, so you had to read where it was melting and where it was still there," Meeke explains.
That means Meeke has trimmed Ogier's overall rally lead down to 26.8s.
Stopwatch
Meanwhile Ostberg has come through safely, and Meeke has come through fastest by 3.4s.
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And there's already some fan footage in of what happened to Latvala...
The next service only comes after two stages and a long road section back to Monte Carlo tonight. This doesn't look good at all for Latvala.
By: Matt Beer
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