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Monte Carlo Rally
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Ogier comes in fractionally faster than Kubica, and the world champion refuses to say what tyres he's on as he knows the interviews are broadcast in the service park and he doesn't want to give anything away.
He doesn't sound wildly happy about how that stage went.
Now Latvala supplants Ogier as the stage pacesetter, by a tenth.
He doesn't sound wildly happy about how that stage went.
Now Latvala supplants Ogier as the stage pacesetter, by a tenth.
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Ostberg is the first man to cover the stage on just winter tyres, a choice he describes as "scary".
Asked if Citroen is using him as a "guinea pig" to test options for Loeb, Ostberg suggests that he doesn't know what the interviewers mean... though he adds that using someone further back to try out tyre options was "a good idea"...
Asked if Citroen is using him as a "guinea pig" to test options for Loeb, Ostberg suggests that he doesn't know what the interviewers mean... though he adds that using someone further back to try out tyre options was "a good idea"...
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Neuville is running a mix of snow tyres and super-soft slicks, and he thinks he needed studs:
"It was the wrong information that we had. I don't know what happened, but for me the stage was 60 per cent ice and I struggled a lot. With a slick tyre the car was quite unbalanced."
Loeb is set to be in the same position tyre-wise.
"It was the wrong information that we had. I don't know what happened, but for me the stage was 60 per cent ice and I struggled a lot. With a slick tyre the car was quite unbalanced."
Loeb is set to be in the same position tyre-wise.
Quote
Meeke reports that there's fresh snow falling and new ice forming.
"It was white in places where the ice notes were telling me it was clean. You just had to go on your own judgement."
Just waiting for the timing system to co-operate a touch more before we update you on where everyone's slotting in.
"It was white in places where the ice notes were telling me it was clean. You just had to go on your own judgement."
Just waiting for the timing system to co-operate a touch more before we update you on where everyone's slotting in.
Crash
A spin for Evans, but he doesn't think it cost him too much:
"We had a spin in there that was completely unnecessary. Something was coming up a bit fast and I panicked a bit and grabbed the handbrake, but it turned out the grip was better than expected."
"We had a spin in there that was completely unnecessary. Something was coming up a bit fast and I panicked a bit and grabbed the handbrake, but it turned out the grip was better than expected."
Stopwatch
Loeb's first split is in, and in that section he's 2.3s faster than Ogier.
Stage order so far:
1 Latvala
2 Ogier
3 Kubica
4 Meeke
5 Mikkelsen
6 Chardonnet
7 Neuville
8 Prokop
9 Evans
10 Ostberg
And Sordo is through now 11th fastest.
Evans was 16.9s off the pace after his spin.
1 Latvala
2 Ogier
3 Kubica
4 Meeke
5 Mikkelsen
6 Chardonnet
7 Neuville
8 Prokop
9 Evans
10 Ostberg
And Sordo is through now 11th fastest.
Evans was 16.9s off the pace after his spin.
Position-wise, Evans's spin has dropped him behind Meeke and Mikkelsen overall, and he sits just in front of Ostberg now in what should shake out as seventh overall.
Tanak comes in 10th quickest, slightly slower than his team-mate. That's helping Latvala make third very secure.
Stopwatch
Despite that fear that Loeb was on totally the wrong tyres, he's now 7s faster than Ogier on the splits as he heads towards the final part of the stage.
Stopwatch
Loeb takes the stage win, 3.6s quicker than Ogier to bring his lead back up to 6.6s.
Quote
So Loeb is on what seem to be the wrong tyres - he has no studs on a stage that's getting increasingly icy, he knows it's not the right choice, and yet he's quickest...
"I was really wrong, I was really surprised by the conditions," he says. "But it was OK driving on these tyres."
"I was really wrong, I was really surprised by the conditions," he says. "But it was OK driving on these tyres."
Checkered flag
SS6 results:
Stage times:
1 Loeb 10m26.1s
2 Latvala +3.5s
3 Ogier +3.6s
4 Kubica +4.6s
5 Meeke +8.0s
6 Mikkelsen +10.3s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Loeb
2 Ogier +6.6s
3 Latvala +1m14.2s
4 Meeke +1m56.8s
5 Tanak +1m57.5s
6 Mikkelsen +2m01.7s
7 Evans +2m08.8s
8 Ostberg +2m31.3s
9 Neuville +2m47.7s
10 Sordo +3m21.1s
Stage times:
1 Loeb 10m26.1s
2 Latvala +3.5s
3 Ogier +3.6s
4 Kubica +4.6s
5 Meeke +8.0s
6 Mikkelsen +10.3s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Loeb
2 Ogier +6.6s
3 Latvala +1m14.2s
4 Meeke +1m56.8s
5 Tanak +1m57.5s
6 Mikkelsen +2m01.7s
7 Evans +2m08.8s
8 Ostberg +2m31.3s
9 Neuville +2m47.7s
10 Sordo +3m21.1s
Breaking news
SS6 summary:
* Loeb gets his tyre choice wrong, goes with stud-less rubber on any increasingly icy road... and goes fastest anyway!
* Meeke moves up from sixth to fourth overall
* Evans has a spin and falls from fifth to seventh
* Kubica still rapid - he's fourth-fastest
* Loeb gets his tyre choice wrong, goes with stud-less rubber on any increasingly icy road... and goes fastest anyway!
* Meeke moves up from sixth to fourth overall
* Evans has a spin and falls from fifth to seventh
* Kubica still rapid - he's fourth-fastest
Stopwatch
And it's straight on to SS7, where Kubica is quickest of all (ahead of Ogier) at the first split.
This was the first of two stages that Kubica set the outright pace on this morning.
This was the first of two stages that Kubica set the outright pace on this morning.
Info from this stage end suggest not too much ice, but plenty of mud dragged onto the road from the first pass this morning.
Stopwatch
Kubica beats Chardonnet to set the early pace and he's fastest of everyone on the previous splits at present too.
He reports more mud than ice on the road as expected.
"We are using snow tyres but they're moving a lot. It was tough."
He reports more mud than ice on the road as expected.
"We are using snow tyres but they're moving a lot. It was tough."
Quote
Kubica has been telling DAVID EVANS more about his electrical problems last night, and admitting they were an after-effect of a driving error.
"We went straight on in a patch of ice in braking in the first stage and hit the front of the car. This bent the sumpguard under and made a contact or electrical short, which meant the car was stopping and starting and then the lights were on and off all of the time. It was very frustrating."
Typically, this morning, the now bearded Kubica deflected praise for his two fastest times, adding: "The tyres worked well in these conditions and we had quite a good place on the road."
He forgot to add that he remains one of the most naturally talented drivers ever - so we'll do that for him.
"We went straight on in a patch of ice in braking in the first stage and hit the front of the car. This bent the sumpguard under and made a contact or electrical short, which meant the car was stopping and starting and then the lights were on and off all of the time. It was very frustrating."
Typically, this morning, the now bearded Kubica deflected praise for his two fastest times, adding: "The tyres worked well in these conditions and we had quite a good place on the road."
He forgot to add that he remains one of the most naturally talented drivers ever - so we'll do that for him.
Ogier finishes the stage 1.3s down on Kubica, and frustrated with his tyre choice. A mix of studded tyres and super-softs wasn't the right call for mud, he now feels.
Quote
But Ogier is still 16s quicker than VW team-mate Latvala, who's just come in:
"I was expecting better conditions," says the Finn. "In the beginning it was snowing a little bit, then it got better, then at the end it felt like the mud was beginning to freeze again."
He's running on snow tyres.
"I don't know if it was the best choice, but I felt more comfortable with it."
"I was expecting better conditions," says the Finn. "In the beginning it was snowing a little bit, then it got better, then at the end it felt like the mud was beginning to freeze again."
He's running on snow tyres.
"I don't know if it was the best choice, but I felt more comfortable with it."
A similar pace from Mikkelsen in the third VW - he's four tenths adrift of Latvala at the finish.
Mikkelsen thinks his team leader Ogier isn't helping the stage conditions.
"He is a bit cheeky because he always leaves so much mud in the road!"
But he has no complaints and is happy enough with his own safe pace, which is keeping him around the top six.
"He is a bit cheeky because he always leaves so much mud in the road!"
But he has no complaints and is happy enough with his own safe pace, which is keeping him around the top six.
We've reached the point in a rally where Ostberg's stage-end comments get a bit bonkers as he's not making great strides up the leaderboard. He praises the spectators for still being out there even when it's cold, and reckons he should be faster in those temperatures as he's Norwegian.
Stopwatch
This morning the WRC's timing system was going a really good impression of being a fully-functioning timing system. That obviously made it a bit giddy, as it's slightly harder to stay on top of what the drivers are clocking this afternoon. Ostberg and Neuville are safely through, though, and Kubica remains our SS7 pacesetter.
Stopwatch
That's better, stage order so far:
1 Kubica
2 Ogier
3 Latvala
4 Mikkelsen
5 Ostberg
6 Neuville
1 Kubica
2 Ogier
3 Latvala
4 Mikkelsen
5 Ostberg
6 Neuville
Stopwatch
Opening split in from Loeb, and again he's quicker than Ogier, this time by 2.2s.
Meeke has slotted in with the third-fastest time, 13s off Kubica but 6s clear of the closely-matched Latvala/Mikkelsen/Ostberg pack.
Meeke says he hasn't done much testing with "crossover tyres" (i.e. two tyres of different types) so this is all a learning experience. It's going well, that time should consolidate his fourth place.
Meeke says he hasn't done much testing with "crossover tyres" (i.e. two tyres of different types) so this is all a learning experience. It's going well, that time should consolidate his fourth place.
A turnaround at split two, Loeb is now 1.4s slower than Ogier.
Evans loses more time, admitting that two studded tyres and two snow tyres wasn't right for a stage that turned out to be mostly mud. That's going to make him vulnerable to eighth-placed Ostberg.
On the last stage, Prokop took a big chunk of time out of Sordo in the battle for 10th, more than halving the gap between the works Hyundai and private Ford.
The tables turn this time around, though, with Prokop's winter tyres less happy and Sordo flying through with the fourth-fastest time. The Spaniard is on four slicks and very happy with that.
The tables turn this time around, though, with Prokop's winter tyres less happy and Sordo flying through with the fourth-fastest time. The Spaniard is on four slicks and very happy with that.
That time reduces the gap between the two Hyundais of Neuville and Sordo from 34s to 24s too.
Loeb's overall lead is now looking vulnerable - he's now 5s slower than Ogier on the splits and the gap between them at the start of the stage was 6s.
Crash
Slowest time so far, by quite a way, for Henning Solberg as he finishes the stage over a minute down on Kubica. Turns out Solberg went straight on off the road at one point and had to reverse. He's currently 12th overall and will stay there.
Loeb is now 6.7s slower than Ogier the final split, and the gap between them had been 6.6s at the stage start...
Tanak comes through having set what he thinks is a "comfortable" pace. Looking at the splits, he may have lost fifth overall to Mikkelsen, but we're awaiting a final time to be sure - and we're not trusting our maths anymore, it's let us down too much today.
Breaking news
Loeb finishes the stage and he's lost the lead to Ogier - with TV crews reporting a spin on the stage for the nine-time champion.
Quote
Loeb is 14.6s slower on the stage so he's gone from 6s ahead of Ogier to 8s behind. He confirms there was a mistake at a hairpin, but thinks it's mainly conditions changing that's affecting him.
"I thought I had a good stage but I lost some seconds at a hairpin. I guess it's getting slippery, but I pushed really hard."
"I thought I had a good stage but I lost some seconds at a hairpin. I guess it's getting slippery, but I pushed really hard."
Lights out
And the battle continues, as Chardonnet and Kubica are already on SS8 and Ogier is about to start it.
Checkered flag
SS7 results:
Stage times:
1 Kubica 14m36.1s
2 Ogier +1.3s
3 Meeke +13.4s
4 Sordo +13.7s
5 Loeb +15.9s
6 Tanak +18.8s
7 Latvala +18.9s
8 Mikkelsen +19.3s
9 Ostberg +20.4s
10 Neuville +23.2s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier
2 Loeb +8.0s
3 Latvala +1m25.2s
4 Meeke +2m02.3s
5 Tanak +2m08.4s
6 Mikkelsen +2m13.1s
7 Evans +2m35.9s
8 Ostberg +2m43.8s
9 Neuville +3m03.0s
10 Sordo +3m26.9s
Stage times:
1 Kubica 14m36.1s
2 Ogier +1.3s
3 Meeke +13.4s
4 Sordo +13.7s
5 Loeb +15.9s
6 Tanak +18.8s
7 Latvala +18.9s
8 Mikkelsen +19.3s
9 Ostberg +20.4s
10 Neuville +23.2s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier
2 Loeb +8.0s
3 Latvala +1m25.2s
4 Meeke +2m02.3s
5 Tanak +2m08.4s
6 Mikkelsen +2m13.1s
7 Evans +2m35.9s
8 Ostberg +2m43.8s
9 Neuville +3m03.0s
10 Sordo +3m26.9s
Breaking news
SS7 summary:
* Ogier takes the rally lead from Loeb by 8s as Loeb makes a mistake at a hairpin and struggles with mud levels
* Meeke edges clear of Tanak for fourth
* Kubica sets the overall pace again
* Ogier takes the rally lead from Loeb by 8s as Loeb makes a mistake at a hairpin and struggles with mud levels
* Meeke edges clear of Tanak for fourth
* Kubica sets the overall pace again
By: AUTOSPORT staff, Scott Mitchell
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