Monte Carlo Rally 2019
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A reminder of the leading order ahead of the final two stages:
1 Ogier 3h00m06.4s
2 Neuville +3.2s
3 Tanak +2m12.3s
4 Loeb +2m15.1s
5 Latvala +2m16.1s
6 Meeke +5m37.2s
1 Ogier 3h00m06.4s
2 Neuville +3.2s
3 Tanak +2m12.3s
4 Loeb +2m15.1s
5 Latvala +2m16.1s
6 Meeke +5m37.2s
Just 3.2s separates the two leaders with two stages still to run. Ogier did well to limit the damage on this morning's loop to a time loss of 1.1s, but said at the end of the previous stage he had a "small issue". No hints yet at what that is, but watch this space.
While Tanak's blistering pace means the battle for the final podium position might be done and dusted, it's still all to play for in the fight between Ogier and Neuville for the first win of 2019.
Hello again, and welcome back to Autosport Live. It's crunch time, as we prepare for the final two stages of the WRC season opener in Monte Carlo.
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Here's our report from this morning's first loop. We're going to take a bit of a pause now, but will be back in the next 45 minutes for the conclusion of the 2019 WRC season opener. Join us again in a bit. 
No indication yet, incidentally, of what Ogier's "small issue" might be.
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SS14 summary:
*Lead battle remains finely poised
*Neuville can only take 0.1s out of Ogier, gap now 3.2s
*Tanak's remarkable recovery continues with sixth-straight stage win
*Estonian back up to third after jumping Loeb/Latvala
*Lead battle remains finely poised
*Neuville can only take 0.1s out of Ogier, gap now 3.2s
*Tanak's remarkable recovery continues with sixth-straight stage win
*Estonian back up to third after jumping Loeb/Latvala
SS14 results:
Stage times:
1 Tanak 11m40.3s
2 Neuville +0.7s
3 Ogier +0.8s
4 Meeke +2.6s
5 Latvala +7.2s
6 Suninen +7.4s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier 3h00m06.4s
2 Neuville +3.2s
3 Tanak +2m12.3s
4 Loeb +2m15.1s
5 Latvala +2m16.1s
6 Meeke +5m37.2s
Stage times:
1 Tanak 11m40.3s
2 Neuville +0.7s
3 Ogier +0.8s
4 Meeke +2.6s
5 Latvala +7.2s
6 Suninen +7.4s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier 3h00m06.4s
2 Neuville +3.2s
3 Tanak +2m12.3s
4 Loeb +2m15.1s
5 Latvala +2m16.1s
6 Meeke +5m37.2s
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Ogier's not happy at stage end!
"Difficult," he says. "The car is not 100%. Small issue."
"Difficult," he says. "The car is not 100%. Small issue."
Ogier is again slower than Neuville - but by barely anything on this occasion. 0.1s is a loss Ogier will probably accept, given his lead is still 3.2s with two stages remaining.
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"I was not happy with my driving in here," says Neuville. "I had to play too much with the engine mapping because of the ice, and I also lost the brakes. Not a clean one."
Neuville completes as is 0.7s slower than Tanak at stage end.
What of our top two? Neuville is 0.8s up on Ogier come the fourth split.
Loeb is 1.3s slower than Latvala at stage end. That keeps him ahead of the Finn, but confirms that Tanak has cleared the pair of them on SS14 and is now, finally, back into a podium position.
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"Ott has been driving really well," says Latvala. "The car is fine, I just can't get the best feeling for the driving. I'm hesitating, I don't have the right confidence at the moment."
Latvala's time loss come the end of the stage is 7.2s - so Tanak has cleared at least one car!
Latvala is close to 6s slower than Tanak at the penultimate split and Loeb can't get near either of them further behind on the road, so we could well have a new third-place man come the end of the stage.
Meeke's dress rehearsal run at the power stage is a 9m55s effort, but that's beaten by 2.6s by Tanak's effort!
Latvala has dropped time to Tanak through the second split and is 0.6s down. But both might have the chance to jump Loeb here - he's more than 3s slower than the pair at the first split.
Tidemand completes the stage in 10m15.9s, and reports some ice towards the end of the stage. His time is beaten by Suninen by 16s.
Latvala is actually 0.4s faster than his team-mate at split one. Loeb is up and running too.
No sign of quite so blistering pace so far from Tanak, who is 1.6s slower than Meeke through the first split but claws back half a second at the next time check.
Meeke is fastest of the cars through the first split so far, 1.9s faster than Suninen, while Tanak and Latvala are also up and running.
Green flag
Tidemand has got the stage up and running, while Suninen and Meeke are also on the road now.
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Just five minutes until we start the second test on this morning's loop - so here's a quick look at what to expect from DAVID EVANS.
SS14 La Cabanette-Col de Braus (8.43 miles)
This very stage was included in the first WRC-qualifying Monte Carlo Rally in 1973… but was cancelled because of the high number of spectators. It then took until last year before the organisers decided to run it in its entirety again.
It starts on a downhill section, which is south-facing (and should, therefore, be clean and ice-free), but filled with 16 hairpins. After that there’s a race back uphill to the Col de l’Able and a downhill section which brings four more hairpins and is probably best known as the road section to the Col de Braus stage.
SS14 La Cabanette-Col de Braus (8.43 miles)
This very stage was included in the first WRC-qualifying Monte Carlo Rally in 1973… but was cancelled because of the high number of spectators. It then took until last year before the organisers decided to run it in its entirety again.
It starts on a downhill section, which is south-facing (and should, therefore, be clean and ice-free), but filled with 16 hairpins. After that there’s a race back uphill to the Col de l’Able and a downhill section which brings four more hairpins and is probably best known as the road section to the Col de Braus stage.
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Tyre-wise, all of the WRC cars have carried five softs for this morning's stages.
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SS13 summary:
*Neuville faster than Ogier but can only take 1s out of leader
*Gap now 3.1s with three stages left
*Tanak claims fifth-straight stage win
*Estonian now just 5.7s off Loeb in third, Latvala still fourth
*Neuville faster than Ogier but can only take 1s out of leader
*Gap now 3.1s with three stages left
*Tanak claims fifth-straight stage win
*Estonian now just 5.7s off Loeb in third, Latvala still fourth
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SS13 results:
Stage times:
1 Tanak 11m40.3s
2 Neuville +1.9s
3 Ogier +2.9s
4 Meeke +11.5s
5 Latvala +11.6s
6 Loeb +11.6s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier 2h50m13.2s
2 Neuville +3.3s
3 Loeb +2m04.1s
4 Latvala +2m07.4s
5 Tanak +2m09.7s
6 Meeke +5m35.4s
Stage times:
1 Tanak 11m40.3s
2 Neuville +1.9s
3 Ogier +2.9s
4 Meeke +11.5s
5 Latvala +11.6s
6 Loeb +11.6s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier 2h50m13.2s
2 Neuville +3.3s
3 Loeb +2m04.1s
4 Latvala +2m07.4s
5 Tanak +2m09.7s
6 Meeke +5m35.4s
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"It's OK, I can push more," is all we get from Ogier.
Ogier pulls something out of the bag between the final split and the stage end, and in the end has only lost one second of his lead! He can just about afford to do that on the remaining three stages and still win the rally.
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"Very tricky to drive actually, the tyres were overheating early," says Neuville. "I tried to manage, but [I was] sliding a lot."
Neuville completes the stage 1.9s slower than Tanak, but should gain some time on Ogier here.
Neuville is now more than 2s clear of Ogier at the final split, and is close to matching Tanak's pace.
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"I cannot do anything, I was pushing really hard," says Loeb. "The stage is very slippery, I had some understeer."
That means just 5.7s separates our likely third, fourth and fifth-place drivers with three stages to run!
Loeb was up on Latvala at the third split by a decent amount, but has lost time over the rest of the test and matches Latvala's time.
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"I'm not having good feeling with my driving," says Latvala. "I'm not confident, not driving well, I'm sure Loeb will be faster [right now]."
Latvala completes the stage 11.6s slower than Tanak - so just 3.4s separates them in the order now. Does Latvala have anything in response?
Neuville is now 0.3s faster than Ogier at the second split.
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"It's been a long time driving on Tarmac and it's getting at some points really slippy," says Tanak.
By: Matt Beer
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