Rally Poland 2017
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Pressing on - Ogier's already starting the next stage.
Suninen may have to settle for a mere second place on this stage - he's a touch slower than Neuville at split two.
A decent sixth-fastest-so-far time from Lefebvre, which pops him past Ostberg into what will probably be ninth.
Ostberg pulls away from Evans a bit, which means he'll probably stay ninth, but suggests today's stages are all basically horrible, it's just the degree of horribleness that differs very slightly.
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Mikkelsen's pace tails off and he comes in fifth fastest so far.
"When I don't get any surprises from the car and it's more consistent and the grip is more consistent and it's swallowing the bumps better, I can get back to my normal self straight away," he says.
"When I don't get any surprises from the car and it's more consistent and the grip is more consistent and it's swallowing the bumps better, I can get back to my normal self straight away," he says.
If Hanninen's troubles continue, his seventh place is likely to be at risk from flying rookie Suninen.
Hanninen is only seventh fastest. It sounds like his Toyota's ride-height is too low and it's got so full of mud in the suspension that changing the set-up isn't physically possible.
Stopwatch
Here's something new for this rally: a Citroen fastest!
Mikkelsen sets the pace at split one, a full 3s faster than Paddon/Tanak/Neuville.
Mikkelsen sets the pace at split one, a full 3s faster than Paddon/Tanak/Neuville.
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"It's OK," says Paddon. "This stage is a lot more rutted so you've got to keep the car in the ruts. Today's all about keeping it smooth, getting to the last stage and then re-evaluate for tomorrow."
Latvala does indeed lose the rally lead, he's 7.2s off Neuville's pace on the stage so our top three now looks like this:
1 Tanak
2 Latvala +1.0s
3 Neuville +1.7s
1 Tanak
2 Latvala +1.0s
3 Neuville +1.7s
David Evans
Undoubtedly epic time from Suninen in SS7. But… if it stays dry (in the sky, at least) then it's likely that we could expect the next two stages to clean and get quicker.
The advantage in these conditions doesn't come nearly as progressively as it does with 'normal' road cleaning on a gravel rally where the gap is calculated at something like 0.1s per car per kilometre. If the rain stays away for the rest of today, the first half dozen or so cars will find horribly muddy conditions, but as they fight their way through the slower corners, they will literally shove the mud to one side and clear a line for the cars coming behind.
Equally, it's worth pointing out that where the road is softer, the ruts will just continue to get deeper and deeper and deeper.
Running at the back of the World Rally Car pack, Mads Ostberg talked of his frustrations earlier: “It's as bad as when they cancelled those stages in Lithuania a few years ago. I'm not saying they need to cancel stages here, I don't think they do, but when it's this bad, there's nothing to do; you just sit in the ruts and stay there following the path of the cars ahead. You cannot go quicker than them, the car is just bottoming all of the time."
The advantage in these conditions doesn't come nearly as progressively as it does with 'normal' road cleaning on a gravel rally where the gap is calculated at something like 0.1s per car per kilometre. If the rain stays away for the rest of today, the first half dozen or so cars will find horribly muddy conditions, but as they fight their way through the slower corners, they will literally shove the mud to one side and clear a line for the cars coming behind.
Equally, it's worth pointing out that where the road is softer, the ruts will just continue to get deeper and deeper and deeper.
Running at the back of the World Rally Car pack, Mads Ostberg talked of his frustrations earlier: “It's as bad as when they cancelled those stages in Lithuania a few years ago. I'm not saying they need to cancel stages here, I don't think they do, but when it's this bad, there's nothing to do; you just sit in the ruts and stay there following the path of the cars ahead. You cannot go quicker than them, the car is just bottoming all of the time."
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SS7 summary:
* Suninen takes his first stage win on his first day in a World Rally Car!
* This time round conditions are better for those running further back, so the field closes
* Ogier struggles to 11th fastest time while first on the road
* Tanak jumps to second and hacks Latvala's lead down to 2.3s
* Ostberg leapfrogs Evans and Lefebvre into ninth
* Suninen takes his first stage win on his first day in a World Rally Car!
* This time round conditions are better for those running further back, so the field closes
* Ogier struggles to 11th fastest time while first on the road
* Tanak jumps to second and hacks Latvala's lead down to 2.3s
* Ostberg leapfrogs Evans and Lefebvre into ninth
David Evans
Craig Breen described this morning's transmission problem as a "punch in the face." The Irishman is 28th overall and more than seven minutes off the lead after driving the morning loop in two-wheel drive.
Initial reports from the team had been of a three-wheel drive Citroen on the second stage this morning, but Breen said that wasn't the case. The left-rear driveshaft failed and left the car in front-wheel drive."
"It can't do three-wheel drive," he said. "I don't know what's gone on. We had to take the driveshaft out to get around the loop and while I was doing that, obviously I tried to get it to go back in, but it just wouldn't.
"Normally it's a pretty straightforward procedure. It was only a couple of mil out, but it just wouldn't sit there, I couldn't secure it and that's obviously the reason it's come out in the first place. We stuck it in road mode and got through."
The Citroen team has changed the transmission on the C4, but all hopes of a good result have now gone.
Initial reports from the team had been of a three-wheel drive Citroen on the second stage this morning, but Breen said that wasn't the case. The left-rear driveshaft failed and left the car in front-wheel drive."
"It can't do three-wheel drive," he said. "I don't know what's gone on. We had to take the driveshaft out to get around the loop and while I was doing that, obviously I tried to get it to go back in, but it just wouldn't.
"Normally it's a pretty straightforward procedure. It was only a couple of mil out, but it just wouldn't sit there, I couldn't secure it and that's obviously the reason it's come out in the first place. We stuck it in road mode and got through."
The Citroen team has changed the transmission on the C4, but all hopes of a good result have now gone.
Decent fourth quickest time so far from Hanninen. That cuts his gap to Sordo ahead in sixth to 9s.
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Sordo isn't sure they should be rallying in conditions this wet: "I can't make any comment on this stage. It's totally stupid to drive like this. You can't drive."
Judging by his split times, Latvala isn't quite as fast as Tanak but he's on course to just about hang onto his lead.
Stopwatch
Tanak blows that time away - he's 6s faster than Neuville and 15s faster than Ogier!
That puts Tanak up to at least second overall, 5.6s ahead of Neuville. Will he be ahead of Latvala or behind?
That puts Tanak up to at least second overall, 5.6s ahead of Neuville. Will he be ahead of Latvala or behind?
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"A lot of standing water in the ruts," said Neuville. "I tried to get out of the ruts but in most places the road is gone. I tried to find the shortest way! I had a good stage but obviously there's no line and we are cleaning the ruts now so it will be difficult to keep the guys behind behind us."
Neuville's time puts him 11.8s clear of Ogier overall, but he may well be third behind Latvala and Tanak.
Stopwatch
But on the split times Tanak is going even quicker than Neuville.
Stopwatch
Neuville completes the stage a massive 9s faster than Ogier...
Green flag
Ogier has begun the stage.
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British Rally Championship leader Osian Pryce was supposed to be tackling all these stages in WRC2 but a huge crash on SS2 ended that. Prior to the shunt, Pryce and co-driver Dale Furniss had given us a really good set of stage descriptions for the weekend, and here's what they were expecting from the stage about to start:
SS7 Wieliczki (9.91 miles)
Like the first one, this is a high-speed stage run on a really nice wide road. It's stages like this one where we're going to see the big speed this week. Having said that, the stage does get a bit more narrow towards the finish.
There's less margin for error in that section and that's where you have to be really on top of the rhythm; when you've had the car absolutely flat-out and flying then it's crucial for me to listen to Dale and the tone in his voice emphasising the speed change and the need to keep the car neat and tidy.
SS7 Wieliczki (9.91 miles)
Like the first one, this is a high-speed stage run on a really nice wide road. It's stages like this one where we're going to see the big speed this week. Having said that, the stage does get a bit more narrow towards the finish.
There's less margin for error in that section and that's where you have to be really on top of the rhythm; when you've had the car absolutely flat-out and flying then it's crucial for me to listen to Dale and the tone in his voice emphasising the speed change and the need to keep the car neat and tidy.
And this was where they were standing once the cars were coming
This was just after the start of SS2, which was supposed to be SS6 this afternoon
David Evans
Rally Poland organisers have made a simple statement about the loss of SS6 saying:
“The stage Chmielewo 2 (SS6) was cancelled on safety grounds because of the sheer number of spectators.”
I was at the first running of the stage this morning and it comes as no surprise the stage has been cancelled – the pictures coming up next show the difference in spectator behaviour before the first car and after a handful of the leading runners have been through.
Good on the organisers for taking the sensible (and only) decision.
“The stage Chmielewo 2 (SS6) was cancelled on safety grounds because of the sheer number of spectators.”
I was at the first running of the stage this morning and it comes as no surprise the stage has been cancelled – the pictures coming up next show the difference in spectator behaviour before the first car and after a handful of the leading runners have been through.
Good on the organisers for taking the sensible (and only) decision.
Right, sorry about that false start. Shall we try again?
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WRC2 contender Osian Pryce and co-driver Dale Furniss did our stage descriptions for this weekend, but sadly we'll get more benefit from their pace notes than we will as they had a huge crash on SS2 this morning.
That's the stage we're about to use again now. Before it bit them, this is what Pryce and Furniss made of it.
SS6 Chimielewo (4.05 miles)
This stage is a great introduction to the rally and it really tunes you in to what Poland's all about very quickly. There are some big jumps not far away from the start – there's nothing like the feeling of getting the car in the air nice and early.
After that the stage flows really well, it's high-speed, not too many junctions and, depending on the rain and the weather we get, the surface should be pretty good.
That's the stage we're about to use again now. Before it bit them, this is what Pryce and Furniss made of it.
SS6 Chimielewo (4.05 miles)
This stage is a great introduction to the rally and it really tunes you in to what Poland's all about very quickly. There are some big jumps not far away from the start – there's nothing like the feeling of getting the car in the air nice and early.
After that the stage flows really well, it's high-speed, not too many junctions and, depending on the rain and the weather we get, the surface should be pretty good.
It's Jari-Matti Latvala versus Thierry Neuville versus Ott Tanak versus Sebastien Ogier for victory, with very little to choose between them.
Hayden Paddon has made sensible progress up to a distant fifth, and Citroen probably wishes it had stayed in bed.
Hayden Paddon has made sensible progress up to a distant fifth, and Citroen probably wishes it had stayed in bed.
Welcome back to Autosport LIve's Rally Poland as the WRC pack reconvene on the startline following a very wet and very close-fought morning.
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SS5 RESULTS
Leading stage times:
1 Neuville 6m54.8s
2 Latvala +1.9s
3 Tanak +3.2s
4 Ogier +4.1s
5 Paddon +7.8s
6 Sordo +15.4s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Latvala
2 Neuville +4.5s
3 Tanak +5.0s
4 Ogier +7.3s
5 Paddon +43.6s
6 Sordo +45.7s
7 Hanninen +1m01.1s
8 Suninen +1m11.6s
9 Evans +1m17.5s
10 Lefebvre +1m18.1s
11 Ostberg +1m26.0s
Mikkelsen +2m44.7s
Breen +7m34.3s
Leading stage times:
1 Neuville 6m54.8s
2 Latvala +1.9s
3 Tanak +3.2s
4 Ogier +4.1s
5 Paddon +7.8s
6 Sordo +15.4s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Latvala
2 Neuville +4.5s
3 Tanak +5.0s
4 Ogier +7.3s
5 Paddon +43.6s
6 Sordo +45.7s
7 Hanninen +1m01.1s
8 Suninen +1m11.6s
9 Evans +1m17.5s
10 Lefebvre +1m18.1s
11 Ostberg +1m26.0s
Mikkelsen +2m44.7s
Breen +7m34.3s
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It's 10th for Lefebvre behind Evans, as Suninen comes in eighth.
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"We tried to push a bit and on a very, very slippery right-hander we went out a little bit and hit a tree stump," Mikkelsen explains.
Mikkelsen's car has rear suspension damage. He'll drop down among the WRC2 cars with that.
Crash
Possible problem for Mikkelsen - he's 20s off the pace at a split where everyone else has been within 2-3s.
David Evans
Here's footage of Craig Breen enjoying two-wheel drive much at last weekend's Raven's Rock Rally than he is today. If there's any good news to be had here, maybe it's the detail about Wales Rally GB allowing all cars (including the venerable RS1800) into Britain's round of the World Rally Championship in October. #justsayin
The gap from Ogier in fourth to Paddon in fifth is a whopping 36.3s, by the way.
By: Matt Beer
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