Rally Monte Carlo
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Here's Tanak, he lost a bit of his advantage late on but he's fastest so far by 1.6s over Neuville.
That means Tanak - who is probably going to be second now - is 17.8s off the lead.
That means Tanak - who is probably going to be second now - is 17.8s off the lead.
Speaking of rapid Toyotas, Hanninen is second fastest at split two - beaten only by Tanak.
Latvala is 10s off Neuville, which brings him ahead of Sordo. No idea what means overall until many more cars come through. The Finn's main comments and giggles are about the icy conditions and cold tyres rather than any quibbles about the new Toyota.
Crash
Evans might have picked up damage in the Ogier ditch - he's over a minute off the pace at split two.
Meeke, who admitted to being a bit cautious last night, is pretty much matching Neuville. At the final split the Citroen is 0.9s off the Hyundai - but that's not going to help the overnight 15s gap.
Sordo loses 13.7s to Neuville over the stage so is now 40s down on his rally-leading team-mate overall. But that slots him in ahead of wherever Ogier is going to end up.
That pace could vault Tanak ahead of Meeke and Hanninen (and Ogier, of course) into second.
Stopwatch
Latvala's pace is dropping away from Neuville a touch but Tanak is still fastest by several seconds into the final splits.
Quote
Neuville: perky.
"I was a bit careful towards the end but I have to say my car was really nice to drive and I enjoyed the stage even though it was very, very slippery. I have a good balance on the car, just a bit of understeer.
"I saw Sebastien went in the ditch but I was nowhere out of the line. Sometimes a bit wide, but everybody goes wide."
"I was a bit careful towards the end but I have to say my car was really nice to drive and I enjoyed the stage even though it was very, very slippery. I have a good balance on the car, just a bit of understeer.
"I saw Sebastien went in the ditch but I was nowhere out of the line. Sometimes a bit wide, but everybody goes wide."
Stopwatch
Neuville is through and he is now 49.4s clear of Ogier overall. Being nearly 50s clear of Ogier on the first morning of a rally is always a good thing for your victory chances, isn't it?
Quote
Here's an unimpressed Ogier explaining his incident:
"The junction was very, very icy. I don't know what happened. I couldn't brake and the car never turned. I was doing 10km/h and then I was in the ditch.
"It's super-tricky. First on the road is a disaster. It's going to get a lot quicker after some cars."
"The junction was very, very icy. I don't know what happened. I couldn't brake and the car never turned. I was doing 10km/h and then I was in the ditch.
"It's super-tricky. First on the road is a disaster. It's going to get a lot quicker after some cars."
Hanninen is still on the pace - not as sparkling as last night but within 3s of Latvala and Neuville at split one.
He may drop behind Meeke, but with Ogier dropping back he'll still be third.
He may drop behind Meeke, but with Ogier dropping back he'll still be third.
The splits confirm Evans lost a good chunk of time, only 1.8s less than M-Sport stablemate Ogier did in his similar off.
Stopwatch
Massive time from Tanak at split two - he's now quickest on the stage by nearly 5s over Neuville at that point.
Crash
Reports now that Evans has spent some time in the same ditch that Ogier visited. The Welshman was sixth overnight.
Latvala has lost a bit of time to Neuville by the next split, but the Toyota is still within a second of the Hyundai's pace. Bodes well. That pace could immediately pull Latvala from his overnight ninth place towards the top five/six.
Meeke is third fastest through split one now, behind Latvala and Neuville.
With Ogier delayed, Meeke is potentially Neuville's main lead rival - but he's lost three tenths to the Hyundai up to this point.
With Ogier delayed, Meeke is potentially Neuville's main lead rival - but he's lost three tenths to the Hyundai up to this point.
Sordo is 10s down on Neuville by split two. And that also means Ogier is limiting the damage from that off, as he's been significantly faster than Sordo in the last few miles.
The initial time loss from his ditch excursion would've dropped him to the foot of the top 10, but given his post-error pace it looks like he's already regaining ground.
The initial time loss from his ditch excursion would've dropped him to the foot of the top 10, but given his post-error pace it looks like he's already regaining ground.
Doesn't look like Ogier is carrying any damage - there's just 0.1s between him and Neuville's pace between splits one and two.
Tanak, fifth overall overnight, is third quickest at split one behind Latvala and Neuville.
Latvala is 1.5s up on Neuville at that point, though there were reports Neuville made a mistake in the first section.
Latvala's Toyota was back in ninth overnight, looks like he'll be moving forward quickly - indeed that pace is already set to take him past first target Sordo.
Latvala's Toyota was back in ninth overnight, looks like he'll be moving forward quickly - indeed that pace is already set to take him past first target Sordo.
Stopwatch
Fastest of all at split one: Latvala in the new Toyota!
Sordo is 33s up on Ogier, but 8s off Neuville's pace at that first split.
Sordo was eighth overnight, but on that pace comparison Ogier is set to end the stage behind him.
Many more miles and cars to come though before we'll know what that incident has really cost Ogier.
Sordo was eighth overnight, but on that pace comparison Ogier is set to end the stage behind him.
Many more miles and cars to come though before we'll know what that incident has really cost Ogier.
Crash
First splits are in, and Neuville - who is reported to have had a bit of a moment himself where Ogier went off - is a full 41 seconds quicker than the champion.
Looks like Neuville is poised to stretch a lead and Ogier will be losing places.
Looks like Neuville is poised to stretch a lead and Ogier will be losing places.
The suggestion is that Ogier went off into a ditch. We won't get a sense of how much time he's lost until we get the first splits and can compare his pace to lead rival Neuville.
Crash
Reports from the stage that Ogier stopped briefly in the opening miles... He's moving again on the tracking now.
Information
Running order this morning: Ogier, Neuville, Sordo, Latvala, Tanak, Meeke, Breen, Evans, Hanninen, Lefebvre
Green flag
Ogier's Red Bull-emblazoned M-Sport Ford is onto the stage.
Stopwatch
This is how the field stands after last night's relatively brief running:
1 Thierry Neuville
2 Sebastien Ogier +7.2s
3 Juho Hanninen +15.0s
4 Kris Meeke +15.8s
5 Ott Tanak +19.4s
6 Elfyn Evans +21.0s
7 Craig Breen +25.4s
8 Dani Sordo +26.6s
9 Jari-Matti Latvala +28.4s
10 Andreas Mikkelsen +58.4s
Stuff to raise an eyebrow in there:
* Yes, that's the new Toyota in third with Hanninen, helped a touch by a late road position
* Breen is still in the slower 2016 Citroen
* VW refugee Mikkelsen is in a WRC2 Skoda
1 Thierry Neuville
2 Sebastien Ogier +7.2s
3 Juho Hanninen +15.0s
4 Kris Meeke +15.8s
5 Ott Tanak +19.4s
6 Elfyn Evans +21.0s
7 Craig Breen +25.4s
8 Dani Sordo +26.6s
9 Jari-Matti Latvala +28.4s
10 Andreas Mikkelsen +58.4s
Stuff to raise an eyebrow in there:
* Yes, that's the new Toyota in third with Hanninen, helped a touch by a late road position
* Breen is still in the slower 2016 Citroen
* VW refugee Mikkelsen is in a WRC2 Skoda
Information
There's just over five minutes before Friday's action begins, so here's a taste of what to expect on SS3 courtesy of Kris Meeke's co-driver Paul Nagle:
SS3 Agnieres en Devoluy-Le Motty 1 (15.30 miles)
This is a new stage, we've never done this one before. When we came here on the recce, this was one of the coldest places on the route at about -13 and plenty of snow.
There are a lot of hairpins in the first part of the stage, but then its quite strange as we go into a tunnel for about 200 metres – it'll be really slippery in there.
Out of there and the road's faster, really fast in places, but it's in the forest and nadgery and quite tight.
After the village of Monestier-d'Ambel the road widens, but there will be a real ice base as we're down alongside Lac du Sautet – right on the water's edge.
SS3 Agnieres en Devoluy-Le Motty 1 (15.30 miles)
This is a new stage, we've never done this one before. When we came here on the recce, this was one of the coldest places on the route at about -13 and plenty of snow.
There are a lot of hairpins in the first part of the stage, but then its quite strange as we go into a tunnel for about 200 metres – it'll be really slippery in there.
Out of there and the road's faster, really fast in places, but it's in the forest and nadgery and quite tight.
After the village of Monestier-d'Ambel the road widens, but there will be a real ice base as we're down alongside Lac du Sautet – right on the water's edge.
Hyundai, which leads the rally with Thierry Neuville, has decided to continue but unsurprisingly Hayden Paddon's car will not be restarting under Rally2. It only sustained superficial damage in the crash but no one would've expected Paddon and John Kennard to carry on competing in the circumstances: 
This should have been an ideal way to start the World Rally Championship's new era - the faster cars and shuffled driver line-up making their debuts amid one of the most evocative settings in all of motorsport, dark and icy Monte Carlo stages.
But the death of a spectator on the first stage yesterday evening means the WRC's fresh start has instead begun in tragic fashion:
But the death of a spectator on the first stage yesterday evening means the WRC's fresh start has instead begun in tragic fashion:
Welcome back to Autosport Live for day two of our Monte Carlo Rally 2017 coverage.
Autosport
That's all for Autosport's coverage of Rally Monte Carlo this evening, thanks for joining us for an eventful start to the WRC's new 2017 rules package.
Here's our report on the evening and we have news updates and live coverage running throughout the weekend.
We're back at 9am GMT to bring you the latest.
Here's our report on the evening and we have news updates and live coverage running throughout the weekend.
We're back at 9am GMT to bring you the latest.
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Stopwatch
Here's an updated order for SS2. The positions the drivers are in on this stage are likely to be the positions they'll be in overall by tomorrow morning. The organisers are likely to give notional times for SS1 effectively neutralising the times on the test.
SS2
1 Neuville 15m01.1s
2 Ogier +7.8s
3 Hanninen +15s
4 Meeke +15.8s
5 Tanak +19.4s
6 Evans +21s
SS2
1 Neuville 15m01.1s
2 Ogier +7.8s
3 Hanninen +15s
4 Meeke +15.8s
5 Tanak +19.4s
6 Evans +21s
Stopwatch
But taking third is Juho Hanninen. The Finn gives Toyota something to cheer with a time 15s slower than Neuville. Impressive stuff.
Quote
Elfyn Evans has completed his first full stage as a top class WRC driver since Rally GB in 2015. He's gone sixth quickest, 21s down on Neuville.
"It was OK. For sure there were places we could have gone harder but I'm pretty happy with that overall," he said.
"It was OK. For sure there were places we could have gone harder but I'm pretty happy with that overall," he said.
The WRC2 runners are flowing through the end of the stage now. Currently Jan Kopecky tops the order but there's still a few drivers to complete. Including Andreas Mikkelsen, in a works Skoda Fabia R5 for this event.
By: Geoff Creighton
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