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Crash
WRC - GB: Back to Clocaenog Main, and Neuville has lost 12s on that stage after three separate mistakes under braking.
"I said there was grip on my notes but it was like ice," he explains. "It was a mistake on the recce."
"I said there was grip on my notes but it was like ice," he explains. "It was a mistake on the recce."
WRC - GB: Mikkelsen is still the pacesetter on Clocaenog Main, four seconds faster than Paddon and Tanak.
And now we've got our breath after Latvala's drama, a quick recap of Clocaenog East.
And now we've got our breath after Latvala's drama, a quick recap of Clocaenog East.
Checkered flag
WRC - GB - SS9 results:
Stage times:
1 Mikkelsen 4m39.6s
2 Neuville +1.4s
3 Meeke +2.0s
4 Ostberg +2.6s
5 Hanninen +3.7s
6 Paddon +4.1s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier
2 Hirvonen +1m13.8s
3 Meeke +1m18.6s
4 Ostberg +1m19.9s
5 Neuville +1m30.4s
6 Evans +1m49.8s
7 Tanak +2m32.2s
8 Solberg +2m44.0s
9 Prokop +2m55.0s
10 Latvala +3m17.1s
Stage times:
1 Mikkelsen 4m39.6s
2 Neuville +1.4s
3 Meeke +2.0s
4 Ostberg +2.6s
5 Hanninen +3.7s
6 Paddon +4.1s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier
2 Hirvonen +1m13.8s
3 Meeke +1m18.6s
4 Ostberg +1m19.9s
5 Neuville +1m30.4s
6 Evans +1m49.8s
7 Tanak +2m32.2s
8 Solberg +2m44.0s
9 Prokop +2m55.0s
10 Latvala +3m17.1s
Breaking news
WRC - GB:
SS9 summary:
* Latvala crashes into a ditch while chasing down Ogier and falls from second to 10th
* Ogier takes it easy after his team-mate's shunt and is only eighth quickest, but still leads by 1m13s now
* Runner-up battle hots up as Meeke closes to within 4.8s of Hirvonen
SS9 summary:
* Latvala crashes into a ditch while chasing down Ogier and falls from second to 10th
* Ogier takes it easy after his team-mate's shunt and is only eighth quickest, but still leads by 1m13s now
* Runner-up battle hots up as Meeke closes to within 4.8s of Hirvonen
WRC - GB: The podium battlers are through Clocaenog Main, and Meeke has taken another second out of Hirvonen's advantage to tighten up the fight for what is now second place.
Meeke admits he's trying not to think about how good a position they're actually fighting for, and just focus purely on Hirvonen.
Meeke admits he's trying not to think about how good a position they're actually fighting for, and just focus purely on Hirvonen.
WRC - GB: Hirvonen isn't a big fan of the Clocaenog stages and says he was making small mistakes. His gap back to Meeke is now just 3.6s, and Ostberg is another 3.8s away in the second Citroen.
Quote
WRC - GB: Latvala is through but has lost 14s to pacesetter Mikkelsen with the Polo's rear wing gone.
"There was basically no damage, but somehow the rear spoiler broke," Latvala explains.
"I tried to drive the car, but I tell you it's horrendous to drive without the rear spoiler. I spun once.
"I can't fight for the podium anymore."
The particularly bad news is he has three more stages to grapple through before he can get a new wing at service.
On that stage, rather than catching Prokop for ninth, he was actually being reeled in by Kubica for 10th.
"There was basically no damage, but somehow the rear spoiler broke," Latvala explains.
"I tried to drive the car, but I tell you it's horrendous to drive without the rear spoiler. I spun once.
"I can't fight for the podium anymore."
The particularly bad news is he has three more stages to grapple through before he can get a new wing at service.
On that stage, rather than catching Prokop for ninth, he was actually being reeled in by Kubica for 10th.
WRC - GB: Ogier completes the stage at a chilled pace.
"It's different rally for me, starting now," he admits.
Rather than the challenge being a hungry team-mate right on his tail, it's now about averting boredom and surviving Welsh mud.
"It's different rally for me, starting now," he admits.
Rather than the challenge being a hungry team-mate right on his tail, it's now about averting boredom and surviving Welsh mud.
Checkered flag
WRC - GB - SS10 results:
Stage times:
1 Mikkelsen 8m07.8s
2 Meeke +1.2s
3 Hirvonen +2.4s
4 Ostberg +3.7s
5 Ogier +3.8s
6 Paddon +4.0s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier
2 Hirvonen +1m12.4s
3 Meeke +1m16.0s
4 Ostberg +1m19.8s
5 Neuville +1m39.3s
6 Evans +1m52.4s
7 Tanak +2m33.3s
8 Solberg +2m48.6s
9 Prokop +3m05.7s
10 Latvala +3m27.9s
Stage times:
1 Mikkelsen 8m07.8s
2 Meeke +1.2s
3 Hirvonen +2.4s
4 Ostberg +3.7s
5 Ogier +3.8s
6 Paddon +4.0s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier
2 Hirvonen +1m12.4s
3 Meeke +1m16.0s
4 Ostberg +1m19.8s
5 Neuville +1m39.3s
6 Evans +1m52.4s
7 Tanak +2m33.3s
8 Solberg +2m48.6s
9 Prokop +3m05.7s
10 Latvala +3m27.9s
Breaking news
WRC - GB:
SS10 summary:
* Latvala discovers it's tough to tame a VW with no rear wing and loses more time
* Meeke edges closer to Hirvonen for second
* Ogier cruises up front
SS10 summary:
* Latvala discovers it's tough to tame a VW with no rear wing and loses more time
* Meeke edges closer to Hirvonen for second
* Ogier cruises up front
With the WRC field on its way to SS11, it's good moment to recap some of the many things that have happened during the European night time...
Macau podium
F3 - Macau GP: Poleman Felix Rosenqvist battled back to take victory in the qualification race, while 2015 Toro Rosso F1 driver Max Verstappen crashed.
MARCUS SIMMONS has the full story:
Macau GP qualification race report
We'll be bringing you plenty of Macau paddock reaction through the day on AUTOSPORT Race Centre Live, and you can follow the main event itself as it happens here from 7.30am UK time tomorrow.
Trophy
V8 Supercars - Phillip Island: As expected, Jamie Whincup has become a six-time V8 Supercars champion, which is a new record.
He clinched that crown with a pretty straightforward win in race two, but race one was the thriller - as Scott McLaughlin had to resist massive pressure to give the Volvo S60 another victory.
He clinched that crown with a pretty straightforward win in race two, but race one was the thriller - as Scott McLaughlin had to resist massive pressure to give the Volvo S60 another victory.
NASCAR - Homestead: Many fans are outraged that Jeff Gordon is in the championship hunt in tomorrow's Homestead showdown, but he is at least on pole.
Kevin Harvick, surely the title favourite, was best of the four remaining Chase contenders as he qualified fifth.
Homestead NASCAR Sprint Cup qualifying report
MARK GLENDENNING has been having an exclusive chat with Gordon about the Chase format - look out for the legend's thoughts on the AUTOSPORT news pages later today.
Kevin Harvick, surely the title favourite, was best of the four remaining Chase contenders as he qualified fifth.
Homestead NASCAR Sprint Cup qualifying report
MARK GLENDENNING has been having an exclusive chat with Gordon about the Chase format - look out for the legend's thoughts on the AUTOSPORT news pages later today.
WRC - GB: Things are getting interesting in WRC2, which looked on paper pre-rally like an easy Nasser Al-Attiyah cruise to the title.
His title rival Jari Ketomaa is storming away in the class lead, while after some gearbox worries yesterday, Al-Attiyah is only eighth right now.
Returnee Matthew Wilson was fastest on SS10 and is closing on Lorenzo Bertelli for third place, with Bernando Sousa not far ahead in second. Tom Cave and Karl Kruuda are right with Wilson too.
His title rival Jari Ketomaa is storming away in the class lead, while after some gearbox worries yesterday, Al-Attiyah is only eighth right now.
Returnee Matthew Wilson was fastest on SS10 and is closing on Lorenzo Bertelli for third place, with Bernando Sousa not far ahead in second. Tom Cave and Karl Kruuda are right with Wilson too.
Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber
WEC - Bahrain: Photographic evidence that Alonso is in Bahrain.
Apparently he's going stay for the race, but I bet he won't be around at 9pm for the finish.
Lights out
WRC - GB: Mikkelsen is heading onto the eight-mile Aberhirnant stage that gets part two of the morning under way.
This is Latvala's stage description:
"You start this stage on the hill and you climb, climb, climb.
"Then you start to come down and then you climb another hill and come down the other side of that one.
"It's quite an open stage with a young forest. Towards the end the surface is new and very stoney – it reminds me of the new road in Myherin, where they built the road up.
"It's tricky to know in this section how much you can cut, some of the rocks are quite big. If you are unlucky, maybe you could catch one of these rocks and it could give a puncture or it could hit the suspension.
"The finish is tricky as well, it's maybe 500 metres steep downhill and it's quite slippery."
This is Latvala's stage description:
"You start this stage on the hill and you climb, climb, climb.
"Then you start to come down and then you climb another hill and come down the other side of that one.
"It's quite an open stage with a young forest. Towards the end the surface is new and very stoney – it reminds me of the new road in Myherin, where they built the road up.
"It's tricky to know in this section how much you can cut, some of the rocks are quite big. If you are unlucky, maybe you could catch one of these rocks and it could give a puncture or it could hit the suspension.
"The finish is tricky as well, it's maybe 500 metres steep downhill and it's quite slippery."
Stopwatch
WRC - GB: Mikkelsen is through Aberhirnant in 7m28.8s. He's been quickest on every stage so far today, but is still in the outer reaches of the top 50 after yesterday's crash.
WRC - GB: Mikkelsen remains a clear pacesetter on SS11 so far, his time 9s faster than anyone else has managed in the early batch.
Solberg, Hanninen, Paddon and Kubica are next up.
Solberg, Hanninen, Paddon and Kubica are next up.
WRC - GB: Meeke has dropped behind Ostberg back to fourth overall on SS11, having lost 4s to his team-mate.
TV crews report a bit of a wild moment for Meeke on that one.
TV crews report a bit of a wild moment for Meeke on that one.
WRC - GB: Hirvonen loses a little time on that stage too, he's only eight tenths faster than Meeke.
And with Ostberg flying to the second fastest time, that's going to close the podium battle right up again.
And with Ostberg flying to the second fastest time, that's going to close the podium battle right up again.
WRC - GB: Life without a rear wing continues to be hairy for Latvala, he's lost another 13s to the leaders on Aberhirnant.
All calm for Ogier up front, he maintains a 1m10s overall lead.
All calm for Ogier up front, he maintains a 1m10s overall lead.
Checkered flag
WRC - GB - SS11 results:
Stage times:
1 Mikkelsen 7m28.8s
2 Ostberg +6.8s
3 Solberg +9.0s
4 Hanninen +9.4s
5 Neuville +9.5s
6 Hirvonen +10.3s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier
2 Hirvonen +1m10.7s
3 Ostberg +1m14.6s
4 Meeke +1m15.1s
5 Neuville +1m36.8s
6 Evans +1m51.0s
7 Tanak +2m32.5s
8 Solberg +2m45.6s
9 Prokop +3m09.5s
10 Latvala +3m29.3s
Stage times:
1 Mikkelsen 7m28.8s
2 Ostberg +6.8s
3 Solberg +9.0s
4 Hanninen +9.4s
5 Neuville +9.5s
6 Hirvonen +10.3s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier
2 Hirvonen +1m10.7s
3 Ostberg +1m14.6s
4 Meeke +1m15.1s
5 Neuville +1m36.8s
6 Evans +1m51.0s
7 Tanak +2m32.5s
8 Solberg +2m45.6s
9 Prokop +3m09.5s
10 Latvala +3m29.3s
WRC - GB: The next stage is beginning now, the 12.4 miles of Dyfnant.
And here's Latvala's guide to it:
"This is one of the stages which is sometimes difficult to remember.
"There are a lot of different sections with not so many straights and quite a few junctions – but I like it because if you are confident on that stage you can really make a good time.
"Normally the time differences can be quite big here – this stage is all about how well you have made the notes."
And we'd imagine it's going to be pretty tricky without a rear wing for J-ML too.
And here's Latvala's guide to it:
"This is one of the stages which is sometimes difficult to remember.
"There are a lot of different sections with not so many straights and quite a few junctions – but I like it because if you are confident on that stage you can really make a good time.
"Normally the time differences can be quite big here – this stage is all about how well you have made the notes."
And we'd imagine it's going to be pretty tricky without a rear wing for J-ML too.
Stopwatch
WRC - GB: Mikkelsen completes Dyfnant with an 11m32.9s, is that going to be a fourth straight stage time of the morning?
He's only 52nd overall at present, having had a mountain of Rally2 penalties following his early crash yesterday, so he needn't be pushing flat-out, but he says he's flying without much effort.
"The car is so nice to drive, it's no bother. We are just having fun driving and learning the stages for next year."
He's only 52nd overall at present, having had a mountain of Rally2 penalties following his early crash yesterday, so he needn't be pushing flat-out, but he says he's flying without much effort.
"The car is so nice to drive, it's no bother. We are just having fun driving and learning the stages for next year."
WRC - GB: Hanninen, who is slightly slower than Mikkelsen again, is slightly ahead in the overall leaderboard in 51st place at present.
WRC - GB: Change of position among the slightly unhappy people just outside the top 10 - Paddon has taken 11th place from Kubica.
Paddon was running in the points before power steering and differential problems cost him time yesterday, while Kubica's pace has been muted all weekend and he's had a few adventures, though nothing that you'd actually class as a shunt yet.
Paddon was running in the points before power steering and differential problems cost him time yesterday, while Kubica's pace has been muted all weekend and he's had a few adventures, though nothing that you'd actually class as a shunt yet.
WRC - GB: Although Paddon was far from happy with how his Hyundai is behaving this morning and thinks it needs more development to be competitive in the muddy conditions, on his present pace he is well on course to make progress.
He's got a shot at catching current ninth-placed man Prokop as the day goes on, and there's also Latvala in the middle as well - though the VW is a bit of a special case as its current sketchy pace is likely to change when it has a rear wing again.
He's got a shot at catching current ninth-placed man Prokop as the day goes on, and there's also Latvala in the middle as well - though the VW is a bit of a special case as its current sketchy pace is likely to change when it has a rear wing again.
WRC - GB: Seventh-placed man Tanak adds another second to his advantage over Solberg, who is worried he might have an alternator problem.
Evans makes it to the finish safely and remains firmly sixth overall.
There's going to be a quick pause now as officials need to bring an injured marshal out of the stage, then we'll be into the Hirvonen/Ostberg/Meeke + Neuville on the fringe podium fight.
Evans makes it to the finish safely and remains firmly sixth overall.
There's going to be a quick pause now as officials need to bring an injured marshal out of the stage, then we'll be into the Hirvonen/Ostberg/Meeke + Neuville on the fringe podium fight.
WRC - GB: We're firmly up and running again, and as was the case on the last stage, Ostberg is flying.
Based on his current splits, he's not only on course to get away from Meeke a bit more, he's also gong to take second from Hirvonen.
Based on his current splits, he's not only on course to get away from Meeke a bit more, he's also gong to take second from Hirvonen.
Esteban Ocon
F3 - Macau GP: Esteban Ocon hasn't made quite the impact on this year's Macau Grand Prix he would have hoped for, but at least he's done better than Max Verstappen.
While Verstappen crashed out of second place today, Ocon took a solid fourth.
The Frenchman reckoned his Prema car was just lacking a little speed - ditto team-mate Nicholas Latifi - which prevented his challenging Tom Blomqvist for third.
Indeed, Ocon's best lap was a full 0.7s slower than Blomqvist's, and 1.1s off qualification race winner Felix Rosenqvist's.
WRC - GB: Meeke is coming back at Ostberg as the splits continue, but Hirvonen is losing time to both.
WRC - GB: Ostberg is through second-fastest, but with an eye on what happened yesterday, he's talking about needing to find a new solution for the afternoon.
He made changes at service yesterday and then lost a lot of ground on the much more heavily rutted second pass of the stages, so is keen that doesn't happen again.
He made changes at service yesterday and then lost a lot of ground on the much more heavily rutted second pass of the stages, so is keen that doesn't happen again.
WRC - GB: Meeke ends the stage nine tenths slower than Ostberg, so he's 1.4s behind his Norwegian team-mate overall. Where's that going to place them both with Hirvonen in the battle for second?
"I enjoyed it, it's brilliant at that Irish Corner [where the Irish spectating contingent have picked to congregate]," says Meeke.
He's happy enough with his time considering he did stall at a hairpin.
While he's in the thick of a three-way fight, Meeke also adds that it's "important to bring home two cars for Citroen to secure second place in the manufacturers' for the board."
With neither driver confirmed for 2014 yet, binning it would probably be a bad idea.
"I enjoyed it, it's brilliant at that Irish Corner [where the Irish spectating contingent have picked to congregate]," says Meeke.
He's happy enough with his time considering he did stall at a hairpin.
While he's in the thick of a three-way fight, Meeke also adds that it's "important to bring home two cars for Citroen to secure second place in the manufacturers' for the board."
With neither driver confirmed for 2014 yet, binning it would probably be a bad idea.
WRC - GB: Hirvonen completes the stage and he clings on to second overall by half a second ahead of Ostberg.
So less than two seconds covers second to fourth places - excellent!
"It's a really great fight," says Hirvonen.
"The Citroen boys are really fast in the morning, and I just haven't been so smooth.
"But I'm still holding second place, so there's going to be a fight for it."
So less than two seconds covers second to fourth places - excellent!
"It's a really great fight," says Hirvonen.
"The Citroen boys are really fast in the morning, and I just haven't been so smooth.
"But I'm still holding second place, so there's going to be a fight for it."
WRC - GB: The wingless Latvala comes through only 11th fastest, dropping another 11s. He says he's now got a broken front damper as well as the other damage from the morning crash.
WRC - GB: Ninth fastest for Ogier keeps his lead at 1m10s.
As he points out, this isn't the easiest place to control a big lead, because the grip is changing at every corner and you're driving on churned-up mud. Being in a massive battle with Latvala was probably a lot less nerve-wracking in some ways than playing it safe for another 11 stages.
As he points out, this isn't the easiest place to control a big lead, because the grip is changing at every corner and you're driving on churned-up mud. Being in a massive battle with Latvala was probably a lot less nerve-wracking in some ways than playing it safe for another 11 stages.
Checkered flag
WRC - GB - SS12 results:
Stage times:
1 Mikkelsen 11m32.9s
2 Ostberg +2.7s
3 Paddon +2.7s
4 Meeke +3.6s
5 Neuville +4.7s
6 Hanninen +4.7s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier
2 Hirvonen +1m10.5s
3 Ostberg +1m11.0s
4 Meeke +1m12.4s
5 Neuville +1m35.2s
6 Evans +1m49.7s
7 Tanak +2m32.7s
8 Solberg +2m47.2s
9 Prokop +3m18.1s
10 Latvala +3m34.1s
Stage times:
1 Mikkelsen 11m32.9s
2 Ostberg +2.7s
3 Paddon +2.7s
4 Meeke +3.6s
5 Neuville +4.7s
6 Hanninen +4.7s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier
2 Hirvonen +1m10.5s
3 Ostberg +1m11.0s
4 Meeke +1m12.4s
5 Neuville +1m35.2s
6 Evans +1m49.7s
7 Tanak +2m32.7s
8 Solberg +2m47.2s
9 Prokop +3m18.1s
10 Latvala +3m34.1s
Jon Desborough and Craig Breen
WRC - GB: Craig Breen wants to be competing in the World Rally Championship next season. If he can't do that, he should be reassured that a job in the media would be a good second option.
Making his debut as a stage end reporter for WRC Live, the Irishman has been the audible highlight of the first one and a half days.
But he's not going to trouble TV's Jon Desborough for the mantle of tallest media man in the WRC.
F3 - Macau GP: Roberto Merhi took his time, but he's now looking on course for a good result in the Macau GP.
The Spaniard even sat out the first 10 minutes of Thursday free practice while he waited for some rubber to go down, and was unimpressed with his car's handling when he did drive.
Double R Racing made a big step forward for Friday, when he qualified 10th, and he ran as high as fifth in today's race before slipping to sixth.
The Spaniard even sat out the first 10 minutes of Thursday free practice while he waited for some rubber to go down, and was unimpressed with his car's handling when he did drive.
Double R Racing made a big step forward for Friday, when he qualified 10th, and he ran as high as fifth in today's race before slipping to sixth.
By: AUTOSPORT staff, Peter Mills, Gary Watkins, Marcus Simmons, Jonathan Noble
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