Rally Sweden 2014
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Tracking system shows that Neuville is moving again. Reports suggest there was some wheel damage on the i20.
Breaking news
Al-Rahji reckons Ogier went off as he appeared to be stuck in a snow bank when he went past the VW.
Ogier has got going again among the WRC2 cars.
He's now out of contention for victory and will be a long way down the order.
He's now out of contention for victory and will be a long way down the order.
Crash
Tanak's spin dropped him behind Ostberg and Hirvonen, but the three of them are still within 3.8s in what is now a battle for third.
This means the lead battle becomes Mikkelsen versus Latvala and they're only 0.6s apart!
Ogier has lost at least two minutes as Al-Rahji is about to pass him on the stage.
Breaking news
The tracking system now shows Ogier moving again, but how much time has he lost?
Now he's shown as stopped.
Now he's shown as stopped.
Breaking news
Ogier has stopped on the stage!
Mikkelsen finishes the stage 5.8s slower than Latvala, so the gap between them is down to 0.6s. Ogier isn't hugely faster than Latvala so far...
Latvala says there's now a lot of snow pushed to the side beyond the 'ruts' that effectively become a racing line. Getting off-line is not advisable.
Stopwatch
Latvala blasts through with the fastest time so far, 7s up on Ostberg - and neither Mikkelsen nor Ogier is matching the Finn on the splits at the moment.
Crash
Bad news for Tanak, he's had a spin near the end of the stage and reckons it took him a long time to get straight again as it was on a narrow section.
He also thinks new co-driver Raigo Molder's inexperience is going to be costly now - these are "proper stages" and "we lost the pace notes many times."
This is both Molder's first WRC event and first run in a World Rally Car.
He also thinks new co-driver Raigo Molder's inexperience is going to be costly now - these are "proper stages" and "we lost the pace notes many times."
This is both Molder's first WRC event and first run in a World Rally Car.
Stopwatch
Ostberg beats Hirvonen by a second, which means he ends their tie and takes fifth place for himself too.
"Very, very difficult start to the morning," Ostberg reports. "The stage was really tricky, but we are through with no problems."
"Very, very difficult start to the morning," Ostberg reports. "The stage was really tricky, but we are through with no problems."
Hirvonen reports that Neuville had just parked his car rather than crashed it, though as he pointed out, that could mean he'd broken something on the i20 rather than it breaking down.
Stopwatch
Mikko Hirvonen
Hirvonen's 9m26s stage time is 6s quicker than Hanninen.
Mikko Hirvonen is on course to beat Hanninen's time, but Ostberg and Latvala are going faster still.
Mikkelsen and Ogier will be next onto the stage.
Mikkelsen and Ogier will be next onto the stage.
Neuville remains stopped on the stage at present. Hanninen hadn't received any info from their Hyundai team, so we'll have to wait for info from Hirvonen once he's passed the i20.
Everything might have seemed rosy on the outside for Hyundai yesterday – both cars in the top eight, decent stage times and no dents in the i20 WRC, etc – but there was a day one failure which went almost unreported: Neuville's jack failed.
The Belgian was robbed of the ability to swap front for rear tyres on his car in the afternoon.
Asked for a technical explanation of the failure, he told AUTOSPORT: "It went up, then it came down."
The Belgian was robbed of the ability to swap front for rear tyres on his car in the afternoon.
Asked for a technical explanation of the failure, he told AUTOSPORT: "It went up, then it came down."
Quote
Hanninen is happy with the car and the tyres, less so with himself.
"OK, the time seems to be reasonable, but I'm not happy with my driving. The tyres offered much better grip than I thought."
"OK, the time seems to be reasonable, but I'm not happy with my driving. The tyres offered much better grip than I thought."
Stopwatch
As one Hyundai stops, the other flies through with the fastest stage time so far, with Juho Hanninen beating Solberg's mark.
Breaking news
Trouble for Hyundai - the tracking system shows seventh-placed Thierry Neuville stopped on the stage.
Kris Meeke is third quickest, just behind Evans.
He reckons conditions are now getting worse for cars lower down the order. The loose snow has gone but the mud is coming through and more rocks are being pulled into the road.
So is being somewhere in the middle the ideal spot right now?
He reckons conditions are now getting worse for cars lower down the order. The loose snow has gone but the mud is coming through and more rocks are being pulled into the road.
So is being somewhere in the middle the ideal spot right now?
Quote
Slower time for Kubica, he finishes the stage 25s off Solberg's pace, so he'll be only just ahead of Evans and Solberg now.
"Very, very tricky. I think I've done a big mistake on the set-up. I was all over the place with a lot of oversteer.
"The grip level is lower than yesterday and additional I've made a set-up change that didn't work.
"We will do something"
"Very, very tricky. I think I've done a big mistake on the set-up. I was all over the place with a lot of oversteer.
"The grip level is lower than yesterday and additional I've made a set-up change that didn't work.
"We will do something"
Stopwatch
Henning Solberg is our pacesetter so far. He's 11s up on Elfyn Evans and 18s quicker than Breen.
That time brings Solberg to within 1.2s of Evans as they battle for 12th.
That time brings Solberg to within 1.2s of Evans as they battle for 12th.
Twitter
This time last year nine-time WRC champion co-driver Daniel Elena was rattling along these roads in Sebastien Loeb's passenger seat.
Now he's at home in the warm, with coffee, following Rally Sweden online - and he's just tweeted this atmospheric 'selfie' to prove it.
Now he's at home in the warm, with coffee, following Rally Sweden online - and he's just tweeted this atmospheric 'selfie' to prove it.
Quote
He also reveals that the misfire that plagued him yesterday was accentuated by his driving style on his first run in a World Rally Car.
"It was a misfire, but it was because I was changing gear too early, I was loading the turbo up too much. You live and learn."
"It was a misfire, but it was because I was changing gear too early, I was loading the turbo up too much. You live and learn."
Quote
Craig Breen completes the stage, and says there's enough snow in there to make being early in the running order pretty eventful.
"Really, really difficult conditions. That's an eye-opener. You have to keep the car in whatever lines are there, and there are only three of them, so there's not much choice."
"Really, really difficult conditions. That's an eye-opener. You have to keep the car in whatever lines are there, and there are only three of them, so there's not much choice."
Prokop comes through safely and we'll have Citroen's Khalid Al-Qassimi next.
We used to always say not to expect too much on snow from drivers who had done most of their rallying in the Middle East, but with Saudi Arabia's Yazeed Al-Rahji beating all the Scandinavians in WRC2 right now, maybe we should raise the bar...
We used to always say not to expect too much on snow from drivers who had done most of their rallying in the Middle East, but with Saudi Arabia's Yazeed Al-Rahji beating all the Scandinavians in WRC2 right now, maybe we should raise the bar...
The reason Czech driver Martin Prokop is at the tail of the WRC order and therefore first on the road this morning is because he put his Ford into a ditch on yesterday morning's first stage and lost three minutes while spectators helped him out (and he was a bit peeved that some preferred to film his shunt rather than assisting him).
But the most notable thing about Prokop's shunt was that it was the only one among the ample WRC field this weekend. It and Henning Solberg's puncture were the only incidents on day one in what was otherwise a straight fight.
But the most notable thing about Prokop's shunt was that it was the only one among the ample WRC field this weekend. It and Henning Solberg's puncture were the only incidents on day one in what was otherwise a straight fight.
Breaking news
Andreas Mikkelsen
Some of the big questions going into this morning:
* Can Mikkelsen come back at Ogier and regain the lead? He relinquished it yesterday afternoon when saving tyres for a charge today.
* Who will win the podium battle between Latvala and Tanak, and will they close in on the lead fight?
* Can the tied-for-fifth Hirvonen and Ostberg get into podium contention, and can the Hyundais close in on them?
* Will Kubica be able to get into the top 10 as he raises his pace as his knowledge of snow rallying grows?
* What can Solberg achieve? Second-fastest on one stage yesterday on his and Pirelli's WRC return, but now back in 13th after a puncture.
Stopwatch
Here's the leaderboard heading onto today's Lesjofers opener:
1 Ogier (VW)
2 Mikkelsen (VW) +5.8s
3 Latvala (VW) +12.2s
4 Tanak (M-Sport) +14.8s
5 Ostberg (Citroen) +22.5s
6 Hirvonen (M-Sport) +22.5s
7 Neuville (Hyundai) +32.0s
8 Hanninen (Hyundai) +42.0s
9 Tidemand (M-Sport) +44.6s
10 Meeke (Citroen) +46.6s
1 Ogier (VW)
2 Mikkelsen (VW) +5.8s
3 Latvala (VW) +12.2s
4 Tanak (M-Sport) +14.8s
5 Ostberg (Citroen) +22.5s
6 Hirvonen (M-Sport) +22.5s
7 Neuville (Hyundai) +32.0s
8 Hanninen (Hyundai) +42.0s
9 Tidemand (M-Sport) +44.6s
10 Meeke (Citroen) +46.6s
It's reverse rally order on the stages this morning, so we'll get the likes of Martin Prokop, Khalid Al-Qassimi and Michal Solowow through and build up towards the big guns.
Good morning and welcome back to AUTOSPORT Race Centre Live for day two of our Rally Sweden coverage.
Can Andreas Mikkelsen overcome his world champion Volkswagen team-mate Sebastien Ogier? The fight is wide open and we've still got 17 snowy-ish stages to go over the next two days.
Can Andreas Mikkelsen overcome his world champion Volkswagen team-mate Sebastien Ogier? The fight is wide open and we've still got 17 snowy-ish stages to go over the next two days.
Tomorrow we've got nine stages to see how this VW vs Tanak battle develops - and if there's any snow.
We'll be Live from 7am UK time on Friday morning ready for the action resuming with SS8, and we'll leave you with a shot from AUTOSPORT's coffee break earlier today that proves rally fever is absolutely everywhere in Sweden.
Al-Rahji's hopes of retaining the WRC2 lead despite some mistakes are boosting by Ketomaa losing power steering and then having a wild moment he reckons could've easily ended his rally.
Breaking news
SS7 summary:
* Mikkelsen relinquishes the lead as he chooses to save his new tyres for the morning, falling 5.8s behind Ogier
* Tanak closes the gap to third-placed Latvala back to 2.6s
* Ostberg and Hirvonen now tied for fifth
* Solberg gets a puncture and falls from eighth to 13th
* Mikkelsen relinquishes the lead as he chooses to save his new tyres for the morning, falling 5.8s behind Ogier
* Tanak closes the gap to third-placed Latvala back to 2.6s
* Ostberg and Hirvonen now tied for fifth
* Solberg gets a puncture and falls from eighth to 13th
In WRC2, leader Yazeed Al-Rahji visited a couple of snowbanks on that stage but is pretty sure he didn't lose any more than 6s of his lead over Ketomaa.
"It's all under control," declares the Saudi Arabian.
"It's all under control," declares the Saudi Arabian.
Checkered flag
End of day leaderboard:
1 Ogier (VW)
2 Mikkelsen (VW) +5.8s
3 Latvala (VW) +12.2s
4 Tanak (M-Sport) +14.8s
5 Ostberg (Citroen) +22.5s
6 Hirvonen (M-Sport) +22.5s
7 Neuville (Hyundai) +32.0s
8 Hanninen (Hyundai) +42.0s
9 Tidemand (M-Sport) +44.6s
10 Meeke (Citroen) +46.6s
Kubica +59.9s in 11th
1 Ogier (VW)
2 Mikkelsen (VW) +5.8s
3 Latvala (VW) +12.2s
4 Tanak (M-Sport) +14.8s
5 Ostberg (Citroen) +22.5s
6 Hirvonen (M-Sport) +22.5s
7 Neuville (Hyundai) +32.0s
8 Hanninen (Hyundai) +42.0s
9 Tidemand (M-Sport) +44.6s
10 Meeke (Citroen) +46.6s
Kubica +59.9s in 11th
Checkered flag
SS7 results:
1 Ogier (VW) 4m34.1s
2 Ostberg (Citroen) +1.5s
3 Tanak (M-Sport Ford) +3.0s
4 Meeke (Citroen) +4.3s
5 Latvala (VW) +4.5s
6 Hirvonen (M-Sport Ford) +4.6s
1 Ogier (VW) 4m34.1s
2 Ostberg (Citroen) +1.5s
3 Tanak (M-Sport Ford) +3.0s
4 Meeke (Citroen) +4.3s
5 Latvala (VW) +4.5s
6 Hirvonen (M-Sport Ford) +4.6s
By: Matt Beer, David Evans, Scott Mitchell
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