Rally Monte Carlo
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Crash
Tanak gets to the finish third fastest and reports problems - "I have a very sick car," he reports and cites troubles developing with the gearshift and power steering.
He's still third for now but that doesn't sound good.
He's still third for now but that doesn't sound good.
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Latvala is 43s clear of Sordo and has a big gap to the podium so really his weekend is all about keeping going and giving Toyota a lovely top-four result on its return.
But he's got some points to prove to himself too, and having been very unhappy with his driving on the morning loop he's now in a better frame of mind.
"We adjusted the pre-load and I set my mind more for this stage. This stage I drove too fast with too much aggressive braking on the dry section this morning. This time I calmed down my driving on the Tarmac.
But he's got some points to prove to himself too, and having been very unhappy with his driving on the morning loop he's now in a better frame of mind.
"We adjusted the pre-load and I set my mind more for this stage. This stage I drove too fast with too much aggressive braking on the dry section this morning. This time I calmed down my driving on the Tarmac.
Stopwatch
Latvala comes in with the fastest time so far, and the only person going quicker than him on the splits is Neuville (though we still can't see Ogier's).
The gap between Sordo and Breen in fifth and sixth opens out to 23s after this stage. Sordo is happier with the conditions now the ice has cleared a bit and is back on the pace, but Breen is sanguine - sixth in a previous-generation car is fine.
"I'm in a different rally, I shouldn't even be looking at these guys," he says.
"I'm in a different rally, I shouldn't even be looking at these guys," he says.
Stopwatch
Still no splits from Ogier, but back at split two it's now Neuville setting the pace among the drivers whose times we can see.
Evans reaches the finish and reckons he probably gave his studded tyres too hard a time on the dry early section so had less grip when he got to the icy area.
Stopwatch
Cars behind are getting closer to Evans's speed as the stage goes on, with Latvala now the pacesetter.
And Neuville's first split isn't especially hot either - he's only fourth fastest there behind Evans, Latvala and Sordo.
Neuville does have a big lead to rely on, though. And we don't know what pace Ogier is on as, not for the first time this weekend, his split times are being shy about showing up right now.
Neuville does have a big lead to rely on, though. And we don't know what pace Ogier is on as, not for the first time this weekend, his split times are being shy about showing up right now.
A slow time from Tanak at the first split, where he's 11s off Evans's pace and slower than Sordo/Breen/Latvala too.
Tanak struggled on this stage earlier on, tumbling away from Ogier before coming back at his team-mate on the next one.
Tanak struggled on this stage earlier on, tumbling away from Ogier before coming back at his team-mate on the next one.
As was the case earlier, Evans is faster than everyone on the splits so far. This pace when conditions are good bodes very well for his and DMACK's chances on asphalt rallies later in the year.
That battle for fifth could soon become less of a battle too - Sordo is 4s up on Breen at the first split.
Which is really as it should be: Breen is in the old-style Citroen DS3 built to the previous rules (his 2017 car awaits him later in the year) and Sordo is in the 2017-regs Hyundai i20 that Neuville is using to dominate this rally. That Breen was hassling Sordo at all shows how well he's been doing this weekend.
Which is really as it should be: Breen is in the old-style Citroen DS3 built to the previous rules (his 2017 car awaits him later in the year) and Sordo is in the 2017-regs Hyundai i20 that Neuville is using to dominate this rally. That Breen was hassling Sordo at all shows how well he's been doing this weekend.
If all keeps going smoothly, Evans should easily take seventh from WRC2 leader Mikkelsen on this stage - a 2017 World Rally Car versus an R5 car is hardly a fair fight, of course.
But once he's achieved that, Evans can't really get any higher unless there's trouble ahead as he faces a four-minute gap to the Sordo/Breen battle over fifth.
But once he's achieved that, Evans can't really get any higher unless there's trouble ahead as he faces a four-minute gap to the Sordo/Breen battle over fifth.
Evans is picking up where he left off this morning so far, he's 8s quicker than Breen at the first split.
Meeke did eventually get back to service, incidentally, having managed to get his Citroen going after a half-hour delay. An ignition problem was the cause.
Green flag
This morning's star performer Elfyn Evans is first onto the stage.
After Friday's gripless nightmare for DMACK, today the tyres are working. The key thing is partly that there's less ice, but perhaps more relevantly there's enough time on dry asphalt before and between ice sections for the DMACKs to get fully up to temperature. Yesterday whenever there was ice the rubber went way out of its operating window - hence the minutes Evans was losing at times.
After Friday's gripless nightmare for DMACK, today the tyres are working. The key thing is partly that there's less ice, but perhaps more relevantly there's enough time on dry asphalt before and between ice sections for the DMACKs to get fully up to temperature. Yesterday whenever there was ice the rubber went way out of its operating window - hence the minutes Evans was losing at times.
Information
Meeke won't be with us on this one as his Citroen ran into mechanical problems this morning not long after returning under Rally2 following yesterday's crash - but if he was in the startline queue now, here's the wisdom his co-driver Paul Nagle would be sharing with him:
SS11 Lardier et Valencia-Oze 1 (19.36 miles)
Stages nine and 10 are the roads that made up the long stage from Lardier et Valencia to Faye last year. The first 27 of the 31 kilometres is what we did last year, then we turn onto a new road for four kilometres to the finish.
Off the start the road is wide and fast until we go through the village of Lardier. Out of there the stage goes through the fields and it’s really quick – like top gear for ages stuff. That’s the place where I just keep my head down and keep reading, but you can really feel the speed in the car down there.
This is the stage where Robert [Kubica] crashed and slid off the side of the bridge a few years ago when he was leading early on [in 2014].
The new section right at the end takes us downhill to Oze. On the recce, the conditions here were patchy ice to start with then full snow.
SS11 Lardier et Valencia-Oze 1 (19.36 miles)
Stages nine and 10 are the roads that made up the long stage from Lardier et Valencia to Faye last year. The first 27 of the 31 kilometres is what we did last year, then we turn onto a new road for four kilometres to the finish.
Off the start the road is wide and fast until we go through the village of Lardier. Out of there the stage goes through the fields and it’s really quick – like top gear for ages stuff. That’s the place where I just keep my head down and keep reading, but you can really feel the speed in the car down there.
This is the stage where Robert [Kubica] crashed and slid off the side of the bridge a few years ago when he was leading early on [in 2014].
The new section right at the end takes us downhill to Oze. On the recce, the conditions here were patchy ice to start with then full snow.
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Right, let's resume rallying.
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Autosport
Here's the full recap of the morning's early stages to tide you over till the action resumes: 
Off to service for the crews now, we'll resume live coverage for next loop a little before 10.30am UK time. See you then.
Information
SS10 summary:
* Ogier admits to being overcautious on ice and is now a minute off Neuville's lead
* Tanak gets back to within 11s of Ogier for second
* Latvala is unhappy but stays fourth
* Sordo retakes fifth from Breen, who has no ice note crew info as his phone is broken
* Evans and DMACK's surge continues with a stage win - he now has Mikkelsen's seventh place in sight
* Ogier admits to being overcautious on ice and is now a minute off Neuville's lead
* Tanak gets back to within 11s of Ogier for second
* Latvala is unhappy but stays fourth
* Sordo retakes fifth from Breen, who has no ice note crew info as his phone is broken
* Evans and DMACK's surge continues with a stage win - he now has Mikkelsen's seventh place in sight
Stopwatch
SS10 RESULTS
Leading stage times:
1 Evans 9m15.2s
2 Neuville +1.0s
3 Sordo +5.4s
4 Latvala +7.1s
5 Tanak +7.4s
6 Ogier +14.0s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Neuville
2 Ogier +1m00.7s
3 Tanak +1m12.0s
4 Latvala +2m50.9s
5 Sordo +3m26.5s
6 Breen +3m38.5s
Leading stage times:
1 Evans 9m15.2s
2 Neuville +1.0s
3 Sordo +5.4s
4 Latvala +7.1s
5 Tanak +7.4s
6 Ogier +14.0s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Neuville
2 Ogier +1m00.7s
3 Tanak +1m12.0s
4 Latvala +2m50.9s
5 Sordo +3m26.5s
6 Breen +3m38.5s
Crash
More bad news for Meeke: he's stopped again, though this time it seems to be a mechanical problem for the Citroen rather than an error.
Stopwatch
Neuville doesn't quite win the stage in the end - he's a second slower than Evans - but he outpaces Ogier very comfortably and his outright lead grows to 1m00.7s.
Quote
"I was too cautious on the icy section, but it's not too bad," says Ogier. No big drama then.
Ogier is in and he's lost 6s to Tanak, which is quite a surprise. The second to third gap is back down to 11s.
Stopwatch
At the next split, Neuville is looking good to add a further 5s to his lead.
Latvala is very unhappy at the end of that one, not keen on the Toyota's performance at all and struggling to push. He's third fastest, 7s off Evans's pace, and his fourth place overall is not under threat at all, but that's quite a contrast to his buoyant Friday afternoon mood.
Perhaps a mistake for Ogier - or he was saving his tyres again - as he was quickest of anyone between splits one and two. Tanak is now only a second faster than him.
Stopwatch
Neuville isn't as quick as Evans at split one either, but he's added 3s to his lead over Ogier.
Poor first split for Ogier - he's slower than everyone bar Breen and 7s off Evans there... His team-mate Tanak is 2.6s quicker at that point.
Stopwatch
Sordo comes in 13s faster than Breen, so sweeps back into fifth place overall with a 12s margin.
Unusual problem for Breen - his telephone (yes, that's right) has stopped working and he's been unable to get the notes from his ice crew about stage conditions. That's quite a disadvantage compared to those who've received that information.
Evans is at the finish and he thinks one key difference for the DMACKs today is that the longer sections of clean road mean the tyres are able to get up to temperature before reaching the ice. He's faster than anyone else on the splits so far, though Ogier and Neuville are only just starting the stage.
Sordo's confidence looks to be back in these cleaner conditions - he's 8s faster than Breen on the splits and that will easily be enough for him to retake fifth.
Stopwatch
And another very good start for Evans and the DMACKs - second on the road Breen is 9s off his pace at split one.
So this stage is believed to be pretty much free of ice - it's a straight asphalt pace head-to-head here.
Green flag
No further delays this time - Evans is onto SS10 at the rescheduled time.
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By: Geoff Creighton
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