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Ogier says the stage is holding up fairly well: "The road is pretty hard. It's not so easy, we could've been a bit faster but I tried."
As far as he's concerned, the stage counts and he's been going for it.
As far as he's concerned, the stage counts and he's been going for it.
Neuville and Ostberg are also on the stage and are a couple of seconds off the VWs' pace.
Stopwatch
Still Ogier's in and he's set a time of 8m53.0s. Will it count?
Suggestions in the service park now though that this stage isn't being run competitively and times won't count, with drivers being instructed to use it to check conditions and pace notes instead. We're awaiting confirmation.
Mikkelsen continues to fly - he's 1.5s up on Ogier at the next split.
Those Skodas are going to be in a huge WRC2 battle, which we'll definitely be keeping track of as Elfyn Evans chases an unbeaten start to the year.
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Stopwatch
Mikkelsen is the initial pacesetter, seven tenths up on Ogier at the first split.
Green flag
Meanwhile we're under way on the stage. Ogier and Mikkelsen are up and running.
Earlier this week, DAVID EVANS tackled the big questions around this rally, the weather, the tyres and the event's whole future. Here's your guide to why we need some snow, and why Sweden's longer-term WRC future is in jeopardy: 
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With so little snow around, they'll be losing more than 10 studs this year.
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Here comes a tweet from Michelin that might soon prove ironic...
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As it's Friday, we're running in championship order. So it's going to be Sebastien Ogier, Andreas Mikkelsen and Thierry Neuville first up.
Running first on the road could help today if the stages are being rapidly churned up by the mix of studded tyres and no snow.
That could be bad news for the drivers whose Monte Carlo Rallies finished badly and who are further down the order.
Jari-Matti Latvala is seventh on the road and Kris Meeke eighth.
Running first on the road could help today if the stages are being rapidly churned up by the mix of studded tyres and no snow.
That could be bad news for the drivers whose Monte Carlo Rallies finished badly and who are further down the order.
Jari-Matti Latvala is seventh on the road and Kris Meeke eighth.
David Evans
Torsby 10.24 miles
Largely the same as last year’s stage, this one is narrow and tricky until the final couple of miles which runs alongside an airbase and leads the crews into a more open arena section designed to thrill the crowds.
Sebastien Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala have fallen foul of this stage in the recent past and with ice at an absolute premium in here, getting to the end of the stage with any studs in the tyres will be a success in itself.
Largely the same as last year’s stage, this one is narrow and tricky until the final couple of miles which runs alongside an airbase and leads the crews into a more open arena section designed to thrill the crowds.
Sebastien Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala have fallen foul of this stage in the recent past and with ice at an absolute premium in here, getting to the end of the stage with any studs in the tyres will be a success in itself.
Last night's traditional superspecial was one of the casualties of the lack of snow and ice, so we're starting with SS2 today, which is Torsby, and commences in three minutes.
Snow
David Evans
It’s not fair to say there’s absolutely no snow in Karlstad this year – but after some hours of searching, this pile in a car park (picture just coming up...) around the back of Rally HQ is all Autosport could find. Disappointingly, it’s not enough for excessive use of the hire car’s handbrake.
Good morning and welcome to Autosport Race Centre Live's coverage of Rally Sweden. It's not very snowy, but we're going to have a rally.
By: Matt Beer
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