Monte Carlo Rally 2019
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Now it's Lappi's turn to start. He can't sit back – he's only 12.6s behind Suninen going into this stage, albeit way down in 23rd. But with Citroen entering only two cars, if something were to happen to Evans or Tidemand, that would become a battle for valuable manufacturers' points...
Green flag
And we're away, with Tidemand heading off onto Agnieres en Devoluy-Corps with his M-Sport Fiesta.
Information
Here's Kris Meeke's co-driver Seb Marshall with some insight into our first test this morning.
SS9 Agnieres en Devoluy-Corps (18.53 miles)
This one starts with a really fast road for the first couple of kilometres before turning off the main road to go uphill on a bumpy smaller road where there was ice on the recce – I’m sure there’s going to be even more now after the snow on Wednesday. The next five kilometres are twisty and narrow, then we’re into a hairpin left and back onto the same main road we were on before – but now it’s really, really fast. You go through a tunnel and just start to think we’re getting into a nice rhythm here and then we turn again, slotting off onto another narrow road which really hugs the contours.
After that we pop off onto a downhill stretch which takes us down and into the valley. This stretch is always in the shade and is sure to have plenty of snow and ice. This could have been a good place to finish the stage, but instead we come back out onto another quite nice road, but this section is almost like Ypres – quite different in nature, running through fields with quite a few junctions. The last four kilometres is downhill over the big hydroelectric dam and down a double-width road to the finish.
SS9 Agnieres en Devoluy-Corps (18.53 miles)
This one starts with a really fast road for the first couple of kilometres before turning off the main road to go uphill on a bumpy smaller road where there was ice on the recce – I’m sure there’s going to be even more now after the snow on Wednesday. The next five kilometres are twisty and narrow, then we’re into a hairpin left and back onto the same main road we were on before – but now it’s really, really fast. You go through a tunnel and just start to think we’re getting into a nice rhythm here and then we turn again, slotting off onto another narrow road which really hugs the contours.
After that we pop off onto a downhill stretch which takes us down and into the valley. This stretch is always in the shade and is sure to have plenty of snow and ice. This could have been a good place to finish the stage, but instead we come back out onto another quite nice road, but this section is almost like Ypres – quite different in nature, running through fields with quite a few junctions. The last four kilometres is downhill over the big hydroelectric dam and down a double-width road to the finish.
There's only two stages per loop today, with the same tests run in both loops. Both are said to be covered in ice, the first completely and the second in patches, and the first of those stages is the longest of the entire rally.
In stories you may have missed, Kalle Rovanpera's quest for WRC2 Pro success has not gone at all well, with more misery piled on after the end of Friday's afternoon loop.
After smashing into the back of Teemu Suninen's stranded Ford Fiesta on Thursday night, he was slapped with a one minute penalty by the stewards last night. But this time the mistake was by his co-driver, Jonne Halttunen, and it was a bizarre one at that.
Confusion over roadbook instructions (or lack thereof) meant Rovanpera took a wrong turn approaching stage five, with the Skoda Fabia eventually reappearing between the time control and start line of said stage, a big no-no in rallying.
Unable to turn around and approach from the right direction, Rovanpera was forced to reverse into time control to meet his allocated time slot. Luckily his awkwardly placed Skoda Fabia didn't get in the way – but it was still a punishable offence regardless.
After smashing into the back of Teemu Suninen's stranded Ford Fiesta on Thursday night, he was slapped with a one minute penalty by the stewards last night. But this time the mistake was by his co-driver, Jonne Halttunen, and it was a bizarre one at that.
Confusion over roadbook instructions (or lack thereof) meant Rovanpera took a wrong turn approaching stage five, with the Skoda Fabia eventually reappearing between the time control and start line of said stage, a big no-no in rallying.
Unable to turn around and approach from the right direction, Rovanpera was forced to reverse into time control to meet his allocated time slot. Luckily his awkwardly placed Skoda Fabia didn't get in the way – but it was still a punishable offence regardless.
This morning's running order, as a reminder, will begin with Tidemand and Lappi, both of whom retired on stage six yesterday with wishbone and driveshaft failures respectively, kicking us off this morning, followed by Thursday retiree Teemu Suninen.
Toyota pair Kris Meeke and Ott Tanak will be next, with rally leader Ogier the last WRC runner through as 11th car on the road.
Toyota pair Kris Meeke and Ott Tanak will be next, with rally leader Ogier the last WRC runner through as 11th car on the road.
Unlike yesterday though, everyone's taken a similar route for tyres this morning.
Almost every crew has four studded tyres and two supersofts; the only exceptions are Esapekka Lappi with two softs instead of supersofts and Pontus Tidemand running light with five studded sets of Michelins.
Almost every crew has four studded tyres and two supersofts; the only exceptions are Esapekka Lappi with two softs instead of supersofts and Pontus Tidemand running light with five studded sets of Michelins.
Sebastien Ogier holds a slim 2s lead over Thierry Neuville at the top of town, the pair a long way ahead of Neuville's team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen in third, who's 1m17.7s off Ogier.
That gap has been yo-yo-ing depending on tyre choice, which, as is normal for the Monte, will be crucial again today.
That gap has been yo-yo-ing depending on tyre choice, which, as is normal for the Monte, will be crucial again today.
Good morning and welcome back to day three of the Monte Carlo Rally.
Today's opening stage starts in approximately 15 minutes; we'll get you up to speed in between then and now.
Today's opening stage starts in approximately 15 minutes; we'll get you up to speed in between then and now.
Autosport
That's it for our coverage of Friday's Monte Carlo Rally stages. We'll be back from 7:30am tomorrow morning for the resumption of what's turning into an intriguing battle - see you again nice and early. 
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SS8 summary:
*Neuville flies to stage win but can't quite overhaul Ogier
*Two seconds separates pair at end of day
* Loeb's stay in third is short as he slips back behind Mikkelsen/Latvala
*More damage limitation for Meeke, who is 5m33s down in eighth
*Neuville flies to stage win but can't quite overhaul Ogier
*Two seconds separates pair at end of day
* Loeb's stay in third is short as he slips back behind Mikkelsen/Latvala
*More damage limitation for Meeke, who is 5m33s down in eighth
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SS8 results:
Stage times:
1 Neuville 13m25.5s
2 Tanak +7.2s
3 Latvala +9.3s
4 Mikkelsen +9.7s
5 Ogier +12s
6 Evans +14.5s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier 1h37m17.3s
2 Neuville +2s
3 Mikkelsen +1m17.7s
4 Latvala +1m25.1s
5 Loeb +1m25.9s
6 Evans +1m47.5s
7 Tanak +2m34.9s
8 Meeke +5m33s
Stage times:
1 Neuville 13m25.5s
2 Tanak +7.2s
3 Latvala +9.3s
4 Mikkelsen +9.7s
5 Ogier +12s
6 Evans +14.5s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier 1h37m17.3s
2 Neuville +2s
3 Mikkelsen +1m17.7s
4 Latvala +1m25.1s
5 Loeb +1m25.9s
6 Evans +1m47.5s
7 Tanak +2m34.9s
8 Meeke +5m33s
Meeke is our final WRC car through and completes the stage in 14m04.6s - that's 39.1s slower than Neuville.
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"We are still here, that was the goal," says Loeb. "We had a tricky tyre choice - it was very difficult first, very good in the second, [then] difficult again here."
Loeb's splits on this stage haven't been great, and he comes in seventh-fastest on the stage - which also drops him back behind Mikkelsen and Latvala to fifth in the overall classification.
Meeke's time loss isn't as drastic here, but he's the only driver with red split times against his name compared to Suninen.
Evans is in now and is 14.5s off Neuville's pace - quicker only than Suninen at this point (although you'll be able to add Meeke to that list shortly).
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"Very difficult this one," says Mikkelsen. "For tyre choice, I don't know what's quicker. We had a clean stage."
Mikkelsen limits the damage in the end though and is only 0.4s slower than Latvala on that pass, which means he still holds a 7.4s advantage over the Toyota driver in the overall order. Both should be jumped by Loeb when he comes through, though.
Latvala is 2.1s slower than his team-mate Tanak, but could end the day in fourth given Mikkelsen's pace behind isn't particularly scintillating.
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"It's about consistency. It's not been really our day today, but it is what it is," says Tanak, who will be glad to see the back of Monte Carlo Friday.
Tanak slots into second on the stage, 7.2s slower than Neuville.
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Neuville laments his error on the afternoon's first stage once more, but adds: "I have to say I was really happy with my driving and Nicolas [Gilsoul, co-driver] was really precise with the notes."
Stopwatch
Neuville comes through stage end and... can't quite sneak back ahead! His time is 12s faster than Ogier's, which will give the Citroen driver a two-second lead when Saturday's stages start.
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"I was careful on the icy section. I had no studs anymore, it was very slippery," says Ogier.
Latvala is the closest driver to Neuville's pace at the moment, but is 2.6s down at the third split.
Stopwatch
Ogier comes through the stage finish in 13m37.5s. That should just be enough to give him the overnight lead.
Another marginal gain for Neuville at the fourth split edges him 12.3s clear of Ogier on live times.
Suninen has completed the stage in 13m52.8s.
Nobody can quite match Neuville at the moment. Tanak is 7.2s slower at the third split.
Could Neuville end the day ahead after all? His advantage just keeps on growing, and he's now 11.8s faster than Ogier. There were 14s separating the two at the start of the stage.
More good news for Neuville at split two, as he's 4.7s up on Ogier at that point.
Autosport
While we're waiting for a few more cars to get going on the final stage, here's a bit of live news for you.
Remember Toyota boss Makinen's complaints earlier in the day about stage issues? The FIA's rally director Yves Matton has responded to those comments, defending the decision not to cancel all of this morning's stages.
Remember Toyota boss Makinen's complaints earlier in the day about stage issues? The FIA's rally director Yves Matton has responded to those comments, defending the decision not to cancel all of this morning's stages.
Ogier is 5.6s up at the first split, but things look better for Neuville - who is 1.5s faster than his rival through the first split.
First split time of 3m03.6s for Suninen. Ogier and Neuville are both on the stage now.
Green flag
M-Sport driver Suninen gets this afternoon's final stage underway.
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Information
There's been a bit of a gap between the second afternoon stage and our final test of the day, but that's less than 10 minutes away now. Here's Seb Marshall to guide you through it:
SS8 Curbans-Piegut (11.47 miles)
Another completely new stage for this season and we’re almost back at Tallard just outside Gap for this one. I have to say, I think this is the trickiest stage of the loop. For the first 10 or 12 kilometres the road climbs. And it climbs through some really twisty, technical places where it gets really, really narrow as well.
Once we’re over the col it’s downhill to the finish for the final five or so kilometres, but there’s lots of direction change, lots of hairpins to come – and so much of this one is under the trees and in the shade so there could well be a lot of snow and ice still hanging around in there.
SS8 Curbans-Piegut (11.47 miles)
Another completely new stage for this season and we’re almost back at Tallard just outside Gap for this one. I have to say, I think this is the trickiest stage of the loop. For the first 10 or 12 kilometres the road climbs. And it climbs through some really twisty, technical places where it gets really, really narrow as well.
Once we’re over the col it’s downhill to the finish for the final five or so kilometres, but there’s lots of direction change, lots of hairpins to come – and so much of this one is under the trees and in the shade so there could well be a lot of snow and ice still hanging around in there.
Ogier made the most of his tyre advantage on SS7 to brush Neuville aside and now leads the rally by 14s (Pic: McKlein)
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Behind what's left of the WRC field, Yoann Bonato is the leading WRC2 driver - although its Briton's Gus Greensmith who heads the WRC2 Pro field. A gap of 22s separates those two in ninth and 10th, with M-Sport Ford driver Greensmith running unchallenged in the Pro category after Kalle Rovanpera crashed on Thursday evening.
By: Matt Beer
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