Monte Carlo Rally 2019
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Meeke is only eighth, but in a gaggle of cars that have set similar times and is only five seconds off erstwhile leader Tanak.
Meeke and Tidemand will be our final WRC cars through the stage end - Meeke should get himself into the middle of the pack, but Tidemand isn't doing loads out there right now.
Loeb also reported gravel on the road towards the end of the stage.
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That's Loeb's first stage win in the Hyundai, but it wasn't easy - as he explains: "We have a rear-left puncture, so we lost a little bit close to the end but it's OK."
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LOEB is fastest. It's closer than we thought, but he's half a second clear of his team-mate through the finish. Those tyre choices look very smart right now.
Evans comes in and is fifth so far, 24.5s slower than Neuville. But Loeb is through the final split and will be next through...
Mikkelsen slots into third on the stage, 13.3s down on his pacesetting team-mate Neuville.
Loeb looks VERY quick out there right now. We don't have the splits to compare him to Neuville at the fifth split, but he's 9.2s up on Ogier's time at that split.
That time leaves Latvala more than a minute off the lead already. Lappi is also through now and goes fourth on the stage so far.
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Latvala is 32.6s down on Neuville come stage end, and laments his tyre selection.
"We were doing the tyre choice for the first [cancelled] stage, but the tyres are now overheating on this stage so that's why we lose time," he says.
"We were doing the tyre choice for the first [cancelled] stage, but the tyres are now overheating on this stage so that's why we lose time," he says.
Latvala will be the next driver in, while Lappi, Mikkelsen, Evans, Loeb - who is fastest of all through the first split - and Meeke are also on the stage.
Tanak comes through and is close to 20s slower than Neuville - which elevates the Hyundai driver into the lead of the rally by 4.9s ahead of Tanak.
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Neuville's new fastest stage time is 14m42.6s - that's quicker than Ogier's previous best by 10.6s.
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"It was OK," says Neuville of his car's performance. "Not so nice towards the end, but it was driveable. I tried to do a clean stage and tried to see if we can catch some time."
Neuville has come through the finish but we're waiting to see what his time is.
The timing screen has now updated - Ogier was 46s faster than Suninen.
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"The cancellation of the previous stage was a big pity for us," says Ogier. "[This stage was] not so nice with studded tyres."
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Ogier is in with a time of 14m53.2s - looks like Suninen's time is wrong, but Ogier will certainly be fastest so far.
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"Conditions were changing a bit and the tyres were overheating really badly in the end," says Suninen, who is the first man through at stage end to describe SS4.
Suninen completes the stage in 18m07.1s. Expect the fastest time to tumble quickly, though.
We haven't seen any more split times for Neuville, but Ogier is now 26.7s up on Suninen at the fifth split.
Suninen at the front of the road is about three quarters of the way through the stage now, but is comfortably slowest of all through the opening splits.
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Neuville remains the fastest driver out there currently, and is 3.9s up on Ogier through the second split. He has one more dry tyre available than his Citroen rival - two softs and one supersoft.
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That SS4 up and running! Time for competition! https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dxv1g5lXcAEwfYW.jpg
Roads seem to be pretty clear so far. Ogier is also up and running in his Citroen C3 - let's see how he gets on with (presumably) two studded tyres.
Tanak and Latvala are also up and running, as Ogier goes 11.4s up on Suninen through split two.
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Neuville is even faster through split one, though - 1.8s up on Oiger.
Ogier is a massive 7.7s up on Suninen - perhaps wary after crashing on SS1 yesterday evening - through the first split.
Neuville is also up and running now. He suffered on the first stage yesterday, but his gamble to take more slicks than anyone else paid off on SS2 as he flew to the fastest time.
First split time in for Suninen, who's through the first 2.7 miles or so in 2m56.8s.
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Do not adjust your screens - Friday's Monte Carlo Rally stages are up and running! Teemu Suninen, who is restarting this morning after failing to complete Thursday's first stage, gets SS4 underway.
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Just five minutes now until the rescheduled start time for SS4. Here's what to expect on today's longest test from Seb Marshall:
SS4 Roussieux-Laborel 1 24.05km (14.94 miles)
The first four kilometres are new for us and from then on we rejoin a stage from last year. That new section makes this one the longest the loop. One of the issues with this one from last year is the amount of corner-cutting. The road’s pretty similar throughout the stage, about a car and a half wide, but there’s the chance to really make time in the cuts. Trouble is, we’re running a bit further back in the order, so if everybody’s cutting ahead of us it pulls out so much mud, slush and rubbish into the road. We saw some fairly big time differences here last season. Of the three stages over the morning, this one will be the most familiar – apart from the new bit at the beginning – for the drivers.
SS4 Roussieux-Laborel 1 24.05km (14.94 miles)
The first four kilometres are new for us and from then on we rejoin a stage from last year. That new section makes this one the longest the loop. One of the issues with this one from last year is the amount of corner-cutting. The road’s pretty similar throughout the stage, about a car and a half wide, but there’s the chance to really make time in the cuts. Trouble is, we’re running a bit further back in the order, so if everybody’s cutting ahead of us it pulls out so much mud, slush and rubbish into the road. We saw some fairly big time differences here last season. Of the three stages over the morning, this one will be the most familiar – apart from the new bit at the beginning – for the drivers.
Studs were expected to be the favoured approach for SS3, but its striking from the morning schedule could well bring outlier Loeb into play.
While SS3 was expected to be icy with some snow, the two stages coming up next are expected to be cold - but, crucially, without much in the way of ice. Has the nine-time champion made an (assisted) inspired call?
While SS3 was expected to be icy with some snow, the two stages coming up next are expected to be cold - but, crucially, without much in the way of ice. Has the nine-time champion made an (assisted) inspired call?
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Before we took a pause, we didn't get a chance to go through full tyre allocations for this morning's loop. Look no further:
*All of M-Sport's and Toyota's drivers have opted for four studded tyres and two supersofts
*Citroen pair Ogier and Lappi have four studs and two softs
*Hyundai's drivers have split their choices - Neuville has three studs, one supersoft and two softs; Mikkelsen has three studs and three softs; and Loeb has two studs, two supersofts and two softs
*All of M-Sport's and Toyota's drivers have opted for four studded tyres and two supersofts
*Citroen pair Ogier and Lappi have four studs and two softs
*Hyundai's drivers have split their choices - Neuville has three studs, one supersoft and two softs; Mikkelsen has three studs and three softs; and Loeb has two studs, two supersofts and two softs
This is - hopefully - your 10-minute warning. SS4 should get going soon enough.
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No changes to the order so far this morning, of course, so here's a reminder of the state of play:
*Tanak picks up where he left off after winter break and leads into Friday
*Six-time champion Ogier second on first stage back at Citroen, Neuville third
*Meeke and Loeb start well, but different tyre issues drop them to seventh and eighth
*Tanak picks up where he left off after winter break and leads into Friday
*Six-time champion Ogier second on first stage back at Citroen, Neuville third
*Meeke and Loeb start well, but different tyre issues drop them to seventh and eighth
David Evans
Breakfast was enjoyed at Toyota this morning. While in France, the Finnish-based Japanese team has its breakfast options well covered with pain au chocolat and some sort of noodle arrangement. Autosport went French, but not all four of them…
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But we go again. SS4 should be our first of the morning, but has now been delayed - latest info is that the stage will start just after 9:30am UK time (10:30 local).
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By: Matt Beer
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