Rally Mexico, Las Vegas NASCAR
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Atkinson is 16s slower than Hirvonen on the power stage.
Eagled-eyed Race Centre Live readers will notice eight minutes passed between those posts. Curse the WRC's live timing system!
Stay with AUTOSPORT Race Centre Live when the rally is over because we're moving north from Mexico to Las Vegas (Motor Speedway) for round three of the NASCAR Sprint Cup as it happens.
Cars are on the grid in pitlane now, with the start about half an hour away.
Cars are on the grid in pitlane now, with the start about half an hour away.
Hirvonen's through in 4m39.1s.
And Hirvonen is onto the stage.
There are definitely some droplets in the air...
Rain
Could there be rain on the power stage??
OK, Meeke's car has been removed. The stage is clear to restart.
Meeke's car is being removed by a truck...and that's a bitterly disappointing end for the Brit, who had recovered to ninth after his accident on Friday.
That'll serve as an added reminder for Elfyn Evans – who was denied a points finish in Sweden by a final-stage shunt – that nothing is certain heading into the power stage.
Evans is on course for a career-best fourth.
Evans is on course for a career-best fourth.
We don't mean to make things worse for Meeke fans...but with Ostberg and Mikkelsen ineligible for power stage points because of their Rally 2 conditions, Meeke was set to be the only driver other than Ogier/Latvala to rack up points in all three rounds so far.
Front-right wheel of Meeke's Citroen DS3 has taken the whack. The car's being moved, there's a truck in there somewhere...hopefully we'll be sorted before long.
For all the talk of a 250th stage win for Ogier, this AUTOSPORT Race Centre Live commentator would like to point out they've surpassed 250 posts for this rally alone a while back.
That's not to say the achievements are the same...but there's not a lot in it.
That's not to say the achievements are the same...but there's not a lot in it.
Meeke has hit something on the road (he's not cut a corner or anything like that) and that's pitched him into a half-spin.
There's a pause in proceedings on the powerstage. Meeke is stopped but doesn't appear to have hit anything.
He's out of the car, and there are spectators around if the car needs to be moved. But we've got no idea what the situation is.
He's out of the car, and there are spectators around if the car needs to be moved. But we've got no idea what the situation is.
Crash
Meeke's off...and stopped. What's happened?
The power stage is live, with a tweaked running order.
Meeke; Hirvonen; Atkinson; Mikkelsen; Ostberg; Guerra; Prokop; Evans; Neuville; Latvala; Ogier.
Meeke; Hirvonen; Atkinson; Mikkelsen; Ostberg; Guerra; Prokop; Evans; Neuville; Latvala; Ogier.
Checkered flag
SS21 results:
1 Ostberg 7m07.5s
2 Latvala +3.3s
3 Ogier +4.4s
4 Hirvonen +5.0s
5 Meeke +8.5s
6 Mikkelsen +13.0s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier 4h23m07.6s
2 Latvala +1m10.8s
3 Neuville +5m22.2s
4 Evans +6m37.2s
5 Prokop +9m37.0s
6 Guerra +12m41.6s
1 Ostberg 7m07.5s
2 Latvala +3.3s
3 Ogier +4.4s
4 Hirvonen +5.0s
5 Meeke +8.5s
6 Mikkelsen +13.0s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier 4h23m07.6s
2 Latvala +1m10.8s
3 Neuville +5m22.2s
4 Evans +6m37.2s
5 Prokop +9m37.0s
6 Guerra +12m41.6s
Stopwatch
There it is – 7m07.5s for Ostberg, 3.3s quicker than Latvala.
Yep, Ostberg is flying. This will almost certainly be a stage win.
Ostberg's quicker than Latvala at the first split, can he nick the fastest time here?
It's a VW one-two as Ogier clocks a time a second down on Latvala.
Now for the power stage!
Now for the power stage!
Stopwatch
Sorry Hirvonen, we were over-optimistic for you. Latvala takes fastest time so far by 1.7s.
The only change in the points positions that we're expecting now, unless anyone has a disaster, is Ostberg getting back into the overall top 10 by passing our limping WRC2 leader Protasov.
Stopwatch
Hirvonen is looking a good bet for the stage win this time, subject to the VWs' pace. No one else's splits look a match for the M-Sport man.
As we type that, Latvala outpaces Hirvonen at the middle split, but only by 0.1s. Ogier is slower.
As we type that, Latvala outpaces Hirvonen at the middle split, but only by 0.1s. Ogier is slower.
Martin Prokop
After nearly throwing his fifth place away on the previous monster stage, Prokop is chilled on SS21 and comes through safely.
Ogier declared at the start of the weekend (when he was still "angry" about his Sweden shunt) that he wanted to head back to Europe with the championship lead.
He's five points behind team-mate Latvala right now, and on course to outscore the Finn by seven points by beating him for the win.
But if Latvala can win the power stage and Ogier fails to set a top-three time there, it's going to be J-ML still leading by one point heading to Portugal.
You don't necessarily want to be first on the road on day one in Portugal though, and that fate awaits the championship leader...
He's five points behind team-mate Latvala right now, and on course to outscore the Finn by seven points by beating him for the win.
But if Latvala can win the power stage and Ogier fails to set a top-three time there, it's going to be J-ML still leading by one point heading to Portugal.
You don't necessarily want to be first on the road on day one in Portugal though, and that fate awaits the championship leader...
Meeke's time is swiftly beaten by Hirvonen's 7m12s.
Don't expect any fireworks on Derramadero, everyone's going to be keeping their powder dry for the chance to steal some points on the following power stage, which is just half an hour away.
Don't expect any fireworks on Derramadero, everyone's going to be keeping their powder dry for the chance to steal some points on the following power stage, which is just half an hour away.
Meeke's in, and his time is 7m16.0s.
Breaking news
Protasov has a broken driveshaft. He accrued the damage on the opening superspecial. He'll limp to the finish, but his lead is still more than 20 minutes – if he makes it to the end, he'll win WRC2.
Meeke's onto SS21, so we're really at the business end of Rally Mexico now.
Latvala's not made any makeshift repairs to his VW. All appears to be well.
Protasov's time is 6m22s slower than Tanak, but the Estonian is not the nearest challenged to the WRC2 leader. That's Rendina, who's not exactly flying.
Not long before SS21 kicks off. It's a much shorter run this one, 11.63km.
The penultimate stage of the rally...where has the time gone?
The penultimate stage of the rally...where has the time gone?
Checkered flag
SS20 results:
1 Ostberg 35m45.8s
2 Ogier +5.7s
3 Latvala +13.6s
4 Mikkelsen +31.0s
5 Neuville +38.6s
6 Meeke +40.3s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier 4h15m55.7s
2 Latvala +1m11.9s
3 Neuville +5m12.4s
4 Evans +6m26.7s
5 Prokop +9m22.0s
6 Guerra +12m21.9s
We're going to wrap that stage result up in a moment, but worth mentioning that once again Ott Tanak is flying in his R5 Fiesta.
WRC2 leader Protasov – the one with the 24-minute lead going into this stage – is not setting the splits alight. In fact, he's about four minutes slower than Tanak halfway through the stage.
WRC2 leader Protasov – the one with the 24-minute lead going into this stage – is not setting the splits alight. In fact, he's about four minutes slower than Tanak halfway through the stage.
Ostberg goes 5.7s quicker than Ogier!
Mikkelsen slots in behind his VW team-mates and Neuville's Hyundai.
Latvala, incidentally, checked the front of his car after reaching the stage end. He thinks he might have suspension issues...but can't spot anything.
Latvala, incidentally, checked the front of his car after reaching the stage end. He thinks he might have suspension issues...but can't spot anything.
Ogier adopted a smart strategy on that stage, having tempered himself early on before letting loose as it developed.
He is indeed quicker than Latvala, by 7.9s.
He is indeed quicker than Latvala, by 7.9s.
35m59.4s for Latvala, who goes quickest for now. We're expecting Ogier and Ostberg to overhaul him, though.
By: Matt Beer, David Evans, Scott Mitchell, Pablo Elizalde
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