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Monte Carlo Rally 2018
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Neuville onto the stage. Breen's first couple of minutes have passed without incident.
And so it begins: Breen kicks off SS10.
Less than two minutes before Breen's due to hit the stage.
We've not had any info on Sordo since we know he went off the road (and into a ditch according to Ogier). Driver and co-driver OK, and that's the main thing.
David Evans
SS10: St Leger les Melezes-La Batie Neuve 1 (10.48 miles)
This is the stage that takes Sebastien Ogier closest to his home village of Forest-St-Julien with the road section passes through on the way to SS10. For the first time, the start of the stage has been moved back to include the village of Saint-Leger-les-Melezes, where the route includes a complete rotation of a roundabout – a manoeuvre the crews will be encouraged to make with use of the happy stick.
After that there’s drag up to Col de Moissiere at 1574m through a fast, but narrow stretch only slowed by a few hairpins coming out of Ancelle. Up and over the top, past the ski station, and downhill… fast. This is where the brave could really make up time or seriously regret trying to do so.
The dash to the finish is narrow – especially through the Sapet Forest – and really bumpy in places. On top of that, this stretch of road is never snowploughed or gritted at this time of the year. A couple more hairpins lead the cars over the flying finish.
This is the stage that takes Sebastien Ogier closest to his home village of Forest-St-Julien with the road section passes through on the way to SS10. For the first time, the start of the stage has been moved back to include the village of Saint-Leger-les-Melezes, where the route includes a complete rotation of a roundabout – a manoeuvre the crews will be encouraged to make with use of the happy stick.
After that there’s drag up to Col de Moissiere at 1574m through a fast, but narrow stretch only slowed by a few hairpins coming out of Ancelle. Up and over the top, past the ski station, and downhill… fast. This is where the brave could really make up time or seriously regret trying to do so.
The dash to the finish is narrow – especially through the Sapet Forest – and really bumpy in places. On top of that, this stretch of road is never snowploughed or gritted at this time of the year. A couple more hairpins lead the cars over the flying finish.
Kettle's still boiling but we're back because we just couldn't stay away. SS9 didn't disappoint – want to know what awaits in SS10? Of course you do.
We've got about 10 minutes before SS10 starts. We'll take the shortest of short breaks to grab a coffee and be back in a moment. Anyone want anything?
The damage to the wheel, aesthetically, is negligible for Ogier. He's just smashed the outside of the rim. It's pretty localised, so not ripped the tyre or left the rest of the wheel dragging.
But it will need replacing, surely, before the 10-mile SS10.
But it will need replacing, surely, before the 10-mile SS10.
Information
My my, the split times caught us out again – Ogier's lead hasn't trebled, it's grown by more than a minute and soared to 1m18.4s. That one wasn't the split times service being patchy, it was us looking at the wrong column and being adamant Tanak couldn't have shipped so much time!
So, big, big pro for Ogier: his lead is more than a minute than it was about an hour ago.
Potentially big con: he has damage. But if it's a case of just lobbing a spare wheel on and he can do that before the next stage, no drama.
So, big, big pro for Ogier: his lead is more than a minute than it was about an hour ago.
Potentially big con: he has damage. But if it's a case of just lobbing a spare wheel on and he can do that before the next stage, no drama.
Quote
Mikkelsen's stunned he's quickest after spinning. Says the only solution is to "try to drive like a train"!
So, the big question now: how much will that damage hobble Ogier?
Crash
Broken left wheel for Ogier! And he reveals. Sordo's in a ditch
"One of the worst stages of my career. I see lines everywhere in front. I've seen a Hyundai in a ditch."
What a mess.
"One of the worst stages of my career. I see lines everywhere in front. I've seen a Hyundai in a ditch."
What a mess.
Stopwatch
Well, what do we know?
Mikkelsen through 22.2s quicker than Ogier!
Mikkelsen through 22.2s quicker than Ogier!
Crash
Sordo has definitely stopped on the stage.
Quote
Tanak: "No chance to push at all. I didn't enjoy it at all."
We're plonking the 'fastest' time icon on Ogier because it sounds like Mikkelsen's had a spin on the stage so we're not expecting the Hyundai driver to trouble the M-Sport man.
Stopwatch
Ogier in, Ogier fastest. 25m34.0s – 28.9s quicker than Latvala and 34.6s faster than Tanak, who was through just now.
So Ogier's just trebled his lead.
So Ogier's just trebled his lead.
We'll stop short of saying it's definitely an incident but according to maps Sordo has stopped.
Lappi through 36s slower than his Toyota team-mate. Not ideal. He goes from heading Latvala by a noise to trailing him by more than half a minute.
He says "I really didn't want to crash" so he decided not to take the risks to gain the rewards he thinks were possible on that stage.
He says "I really didn't want to crash" so he decided not to take the risks to gain the rewards he thinks were possible on that stage.
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Latvala "absolutely" relieved to make the stage end and says "snow conditions are nice conditions but this wasn't nice at all"!
More times now. Latvala in, 41s faster than Bouffier. Meeke came in 12.8s slower than Bouffier – which is 53.8s off Latvala's new best.
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Ogier's moving on the stage, but we don't have split times.
Meeke calls it "27 minutes of...in these conditions it's the most challenging. I maybe lost 12 seconds on the spin but I don't know if I lost a minute or gained."
Meeke calls it "27 minutes of...in these conditions it's the most challenging. I maybe lost 12 seconds on the spin but I don't know if I lost a minute or gained."
We've got pictures back! And my, oh my, how the road has improved. The view from Meeke's Citroen is unrecognisable from what we saw earlier from Breen's.
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"I drive very safe!" Bouffier shouts at the stop line. Safe, but he's through 0.2s quicker than Evans.
Evans through the stage end in 26m44.1s. That's 21.2s faster than Neuville and 1m31.9s quicker than Breen!
He says his spin was a simple error and he needed to engage reverse to get back going. Nasty time loss, but he did the job over the rest of the stage.
He says his spin was a simple error and he needed to engage reverse to get back going. Nasty time loss, but he did the job over the rest of the stage.
Quote
Neuville made up so much time on Breen that he was at the stop line as soon as Breen finished speaking. Here's the Hyundai driver: "Horrible conditions. It was getting more and more clean but you're so quickly out of the line, without making mistakes, I'm quite surprised."
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Breen: "Holy God that was pretty incredible. You've just try to keep in the middle. No grip. Really, really tricky. Like a snowplough this morning."
Tough one, then.
Tough one, then.
Here comes Breen, he's made it to the finish.
Also, Meeke was more than a few seconds slower than the pacesetters the first split. His spin cost him half a minute or so. Confused by the weird live timing splits...
Also, Meeke was more than a few seconds slower than the pacesetters the first split. His spin cost him half a minute or so. Confused by the weird live timing splits...
Tanak a second slower than Sordo at the first split. Meeke's a few seconds slower than both.
Breen's approaching the final twists and turns of the stage so this difficult run should be over before too long. A gallant effort given his road position.
Likely movers on this stage are going to be Latvala jumping Lappi (at this rate anyway) for fourth, and maybe Evans getting on terms with Bouffier for seventh.
Sordo posts a new benchmark at the first split, 10 seconds quicker than Latvala.
The live video feed is down, so we're a bit blind and relying on a screen of slightly jumbled split times...so please bear with us!
Lappi is through the first split not quite as fast as Latvala, but second-fastest so far.
Bouffier 4.4s slower than Evans at the first split, Neuville even slower - a few seconds back.
Latvala comes through in the Toyota and and is some 16s faster than Evans, though. There's going to be serious time to be gained on this stage by those running later.
Latvala comes through in the Toyota and and is some 16s faster than Evans, though. There's going to be serious time to be gained on this stage by those running later.
Crash
Setbacks for Evans and Meeke. Evans half-spun and looked likely he ever-so-gently nudged the bank on the inside. We haven't seen the Meeke incident, just a report from the stage.
Now, if we trust the maps, we have everyone except Mikkelsen on the stage.
Well, that lasted long. No split for Neuville, who is still running, but Evans is through 45s faster than Breen! Jeepers.
Ooh, we have splits. That wasn't expected after yesterday. Breen is 8m52.2s at the first split. We'll wait for Neuville, who based on GPS positioning is catching Breen quite a lot.
Tricky to quite follow the stage without proper splits but it seems that Bouffier, Meeke and Latvala have joined the stage too.
By: Matt Beer
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