Rally Monte Carlo
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That wasn't a very straightforward run for Tanak.
"Very slushy conditions and I had some issues with the downshift that I had to go and check. It's OK, it's driveable," he says.
"Very slushy conditions and I had some issues with the downshift that I had to go and check. It's OK, it's driveable," he says.
Stopwatch
Tanak finishes the stage 14.9s slower than pacesetter Ogier and only 1.1s faster than Neuville.
So in the overall battle, Tanak is still 33.5s off the lead and his cushion over the chasing Ogier for second is down to 19.2s.
So in the overall battle, Tanak is still 33.5s off the lead and his cushion over the chasing Ogier for second is down to 19.2s.
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Latvala's time means he's now 58s ahead of Sordo in fourth place. Ogier ahead is 47s up the road, but fourth on the first full day of Toyota's WRC return is very respectable...
...even if Tommi Makinen's team was sat third with Hanninen until his morning shunt.
Anyway, Latvala...
"I'm pleased with that. This was the first stage where I was really focused on the driving. We've had some issues today and it's been about making sure we can carry on because we had some technical problems. But now I'm getting more and more confident."
...even if Tommi Makinen's team was sat third with Hanninen until his morning shunt.
Anyway, Latvala...
"I'm pleased with that. This was the first stage where I was really focused on the driving. We've had some issues today and it's been about making sure we can carry on because we had some technical problems. But now I'm getting more and more confident."
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Latvala is through 40.1s faster than Sordo and the Spaniard says it's simply down to lacking confidence in the mixed conditions as the snow melts in some places but not others.
"It's not nice to drive - slippery everywhere, one corner you have grip, then you have no grip," says Sordo.
"It's not nice to drive - slippery everywhere, one corner you have grip, then you have no grip," says Sordo.
Sordo completes the stage and he's 54s slower than Ogier and set to lose half a minute to Latvala and to lose fifth place to Breen.
Stopwatch
Tanak is gaining on Neuville too, but not at the same rate as Ogier. Still he's 8.4s up at split four, so that may well bring Neuville's lead back to under half a minute.
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"It was OK, but my pace notes had a bit too much ice and snow. It was much more dry than expected and I did not commit to it. I dropped too much [time]," Neuville explains.
A simple case of over-caution. But leading a Monte Carlo Rally is a tricky thing.
A simple case of over-caution. But leading a Monte Carlo Rally is a tricky thing.
But we can see that Latvala is storming clear of Sordo for fourth - the Toyota's advantage on this stage alone now half a minute.
Tanak's splits aren't showing up at the moment so we can't tell you if he too is closing on Neuville.
Stopwatch
Neuville is in, 19.6s slower than Ogier. That means the overall gap from the leader to the champion in third place has come down from 1m12s to 52s on that single stage.
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Actually, Ogier's not that fussed when he's told Neuville is losing time to him.
"Yeah, for the first time in the rally..." he replies slightly sardonically.
"Yeah, for the first time in the rally..." he replies slightly sardonically.
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"It's definitely a hard job to drive with the slush now. I do what I can. Very wet snow, it's slippery, you are aquaplaning on it..." says Ogier.
He'll be less frustrated when he sees the times.
He'll be less frustrated when he sees the times.
Ogier has finished the stage, let's see how he's feeling and how much time he's taken out of Neuville's lead...
Stopwatch
At the stage's final split, Neuville has lost 19s to Ogier.
Behind the podium group, Sordo is falling further away from Latvala - the fifth-placed Hyundai is 13s off the fourth-placed Toyota on this stage so far, which means that gap will grow to over half a minute. And Breen is chipping away at the already-closing gap to Sordo, at this rate the 2016 Citroen will be ahead of the 2017 Hyundai in fifth at the end of this one.
Stopwatch
Tanak is also still gaining on Neuville, the second-place man is 5.3s faster than the leader at the latest split.
Stopwatch
Relatively big time loss for Neuville compared to Ogier at the next split - the rally leader is 14s slower than the champion. Intriguing... Too much of that and the current 1m12s gap won't seem so big.
Stopwatch
Ogier's splits are now popping in, and he's 4s up on Neuville by split two.
Tanak is trimming Neuville's lead too - 3.6s faster at split one. But we have seen that pattern all day, the Ford is quicker out of the blocks but at stage after stage it's the Hyundai that proves faster by the finish.
Tanak is trimming Neuville's lead too - 3.6s faster at split one. But we have seen that pattern all day, the Ford is quicker out of the blocks but at stage after stage it's the Hyundai that proves faster by the finish.
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Stopwatch
We're missing Ogier's splits again on this stage, but the data we are getting is good for Toyota - Latvala is 7s faster than his fourth-place sparring partner Sordo at split one and 0.2s up on rally leader Neuville.
This chap is having a stormer - Mikkelsen is now two minutes clear of Skoda team-mate and nearest registered WRC2 rival Kopecky, and a minute and a half clear of the second R5 car in the order - Pontus Tidemand, not part of WRC2 this weekend (Image: McKlein)
Let's correct Autosport Live's inability to read a timing screen... it was Kopecky and Bouffier who pushed Evans from ninth to 11th on the last stage, Camilli is still behind him overall. But Camilli did outpace him on the stage. With a puncture.
Information
Meanwhile, straight to SS7 - here's Paul Nagle's guide:
SS7 Aspres les Corps-Chaillol 1 (24.19 miles)
This is two stages combined from last year. Just after St Firmin last year, we slotted on the D985, but this year we keep right and go into a hairpin and carry on down a really tricky, twisty kind of road. There are some fast places, but it’s not quite as flowing.
The road down into the village of La Motte-en-Champsaur was so icy on the recce, it's downhill to the side of a river which runs through the village – that'll be really tricky.
Just after that is where Kris and I retired when we broke a [steering] arm in 2015 and a little bit further down the road is where Sebastien Loeb damaged his wheel.
I've got those places marked in the notes – our place is a fifth-gear corner – and I'll call to Kris "our corner", just to remind him.
SS7 Aspres les Corps-Chaillol 1 (24.19 miles)
This is two stages combined from last year. Just after St Firmin last year, we slotted on the D985, but this year we keep right and go into a hairpin and carry on down a really tricky, twisty kind of road. There are some fast places, but it’s not quite as flowing.
The road down into the village of La Motte-en-Champsaur was so icy on the recce, it's downhill to the side of a river which runs through the village – that'll be really tricky.
Just after that is where Kris and I retired when we broke a [steering] arm in 2015 and a little bit further down the road is where Sebastien Loeb damaged his wheel.
I've got those places marked in the notes – our place is a fifth-gear corner – and I'll call to Kris "our corner", just to remind him.
And more how-slowly-Evans-is-going context: he was pushed outside the overall top 10 by WRC2 runners Bouffier and Camilli there. And Camilli was driving with a puncture.
Information
SS6 summary:
* Neuville goes quickest and builds his lead to 38s
* Ogier loses time in the slush when first on the road and is now 1m12s off the lead
* Latvala holds fourth despite some errors and pre-stage fuel stress
* Breen closes back in on Sordo for fifth
* Neuville goes quickest and builds his lead to 38s
* Ogier loses time in the slush when first on the road and is now 1m12s off the lead
* Latvala holds fourth despite some errors and pre-stage fuel stress
* Breen closes back in on Sordo for fifth
Stopwatch
SS6 results:
Leading stage times:
1 Neuville 18m09.6s
2 Tanak +6.5s
3 Ogier +13.2s
4 Breen +15.6s
5 Latvala +22.5s
6 Sordo +22.8s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Neuville
2 Tanak +38.2s
3 Ogier +1m12.3s
4 Latvala +1m43.9s
5 Sordo +2m03.9s
6 Breen +2m07.8s
Leading stage times:
1 Neuville 18m09.6s
2 Tanak +6.5s
3 Ogier +13.2s
4 Breen +15.6s
5 Latvala +22.5s
6 Sordo +22.8s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Neuville
2 Tanak +38.2s
3 Ogier +1m12.3s
4 Latvala +1m43.9s
5 Sordo +2m03.9s
6 Breen +2m07.8s
To put Evans's pace into further context, he's going to drop further behind the leading WRC2 runners on this stage rather than fighting back through them.
David Evans
Elfyn Evans wasn’t overly keen on talking about his morning at service.
The Welshman’s new race suits had finally arrived in Gap, so there was a brief attempt to divert conversation in a sartorial direction.
But in the end it came down to the five minutes he’d lost to the rally leader.
“Clearly it’s been a difficult morning. Conditions are tricky out there, I’ve made a few small errors but nothing significant – everybody’s had a slide wide or touched a bank.
"I went in a ditch briefly on the first one this morning. To be honest the driveability and the balance are not so bad. There’s not a lot we can do.”
Remember how Ott Tanak managed to say a lot without saying anything? His DMACK successor Evans is working on his own technique.
Analysing the stages, the time-loss is all coming in the snowy sections. The split times for SS5, for example, show the Welshman dropped a second in the first three miles and a mile in the last two miles – where the road was dry. In the middle, where the snow and ice remained, he dropped 20.
DMACK has brought a new winter tyre this event and the problem is thought to lie in the compound rather than with construction or stud-retention.
The Welshman’s new race suits had finally arrived in Gap, so there was a brief attempt to divert conversation in a sartorial direction.
But in the end it came down to the five minutes he’d lost to the rally leader.
“Clearly it’s been a difficult morning. Conditions are tricky out there, I’ve made a few small errors but nothing significant – everybody’s had a slide wide or touched a bank.
"I went in a ditch briefly on the first one this morning. To be honest the driveability and the balance are not so bad. There’s not a lot we can do.”
Remember how Ott Tanak managed to say a lot without saying anything? His DMACK successor Evans is working on his own technique.
Analysing the stages, the time-loss is all coming in the snowy sections. The split times for SS5, for example, show the Welshman dropped a second in the first three miles and a mile in the last two miles – where the road was dry. In the middle, where the snow and ice remained, he dropped 20.
DMACK has brought a new winter tyre this event and the problem is thought to lie in the compound rather than with construction or stud-retention.
Evans is next in, and he's dropped nearly a minute and a half to the leaders once again.
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He reports "a few squeaky bum moments" but he's thrilled with the accuracy of the notes provided by Citroen's gravel crew.
You'd hope so, they've got erstwhile WRC title contender Mikko Hirvonen on ice note duty - bit of a contrast for him after he began the year with his second Dakar Rally assault.
You'd hope so, they've got erstwhile WRC title contender Mikko Hirvonen on ice note duty - bit of a contrast for him after he began the year with his second Dakar Rally assault.
Strong run from Breen, he's 7s faster than both Latvala and Sordo. His 2016-rules car had dropped behind them both in the morning, but that time brings him back to within 3.9s of Sordo's fifth place.
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Tanak says the run was "pretty clean" for him but that the gravel crew's notes didn't really match the conditions he was finding as the weather changed.
"You're discovering something for yourself," he says.
"You're discovering something for yourself," he says.
Stopwatch
Here's Tanak, and he's 6.5s slower than pacesetter Neuville so is now 38s adrift overall.
Latvala says he lost 5-10s by stalling in a hairpin and having to reverse too, and talks of a problem with fuel on the road section (no further details offered) that affected his concentration a bit going onto the stage.
Good news for Neuville - after outpacing the leader at the early splits, Tanak is now a few seconds slower than him.
Latvala actually ends the stage three tenths faster than Sordo, keeping his fourth place very secure.
David Evans
At service, Sordo talked of a need for a change of differential.
The Spaniard, who is now two minutes behind team-mate Neuville, said: “This is definitely the Monte Carlo Rally! The conditions are so difficult and we are struggling a little bit with the diffs.
"When we come to some slippery places, we have one wheel spinning. It feels a little bit crazy."
The team changed the gearbox at lunchtime service in an effort to rectify the problem.
The Spaniard, who is now two minutes behind team-mate Neuville, said: “This is definitely the Monte Carlo Rally! The conditions are so difficult and we are struggling a little bit with the diffs.
"When we come to some slippery places, we have one wheel spinning. It feels a little bit crazy."
The team changed the gearbox at lunchtime service in an effort to rectify the problem.
Next in is Sordo, whose gains over Latvala were coming down as the stage went on - from 7s to 3s.
It's only Friday afternoon, but Ogier is now 1m12.3s behind Neuville. Quite a gap.
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But Neuville thinks being second on the road might hurt him too.
"It's getting a bit better behind because we are clearing the line a bit," he says. "It was more tricky and difficult to know what rhythm to take."
Tanak, who is fifth on the road, is 2.6s faster than Neuville on the splits at present.
"It's getting a bit better behind because we are clearing the line a bit," he says. "It was more tricky and difficult to know what rhythm to take."
Tanak, who is fifth on the road, is 2.6s faster than Neuville on the splits at present.
By: Geoff Creighton
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