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With the lead battle having settled down, our focus now switches to what Breen can do over the finish, and how well Meeke and Latvala fare.
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Paddon maintains the line he's stuck to all day - and is content to be second behind Ogier.
"It's plain sailing for us now - we just need to be smart and bring home a podium, that's a great result."
"It's plain sailing for us now - we just need to be smart and bring home a podium, that's a great result."
Stopwatch
Paddon is in, and drops 5.7s by the end of the stage.
Stopwatch
Paddon is now 1.2s down through the second split.
Sordo is home and third quickest, 4.9s off the pace.
Rally Sweden hasn't traditionally been a good one for the Spaniard - who withdrew from the rally last year and has only two points finishes to his name - but he's driven well this weekend, especially when you consider his puncture earlier today.
Rally Sweden hasn't traditionally been a good one for the Spaniard - who withdrew from the rally last year and has only two points finishes to his name - but he's driven well this weekend, especially when you consider his puncture earlier today.
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"It's mainly gravel now," says Ostberg.
"The beginning is quite icy so tricky. It's not so much to do so we'll try to stick on to this position now."
"The beginning is quite icy so tricky. It's not so much to do so we'll try to stick on to this position now."
Stopwatch
Ostberg is also through, and he's 9.3s slower than Ogier.
Paddon is through the first split and is down on Ogier by half a second.
Paddon is through the first split and is down on Ogier by half a second.
Neuville is out of his Hyundai and looking at the right-hand side of his car.
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Interesting from Mikkelsen, who says his tyres lost some grip on that stage.
Neuville completes the stage now, one second slower than Mikkelsen and five down on Ogier.
Neuville completes the stage now, one second slower than Mikkelsen and five down on Ogier.
Sordo has now set the fastest time through the first split, while Tanak and Paddon are both on the stage.
Ogier's time does indeed look good, with Mikkelsen now through 4.1s slower at the finish.
Stopwatch
Ogier is through in a time of 12m48.8s - the stage is quite clearly faster than it was a couple of hours ago, but that seems to be a good pace compared to those behind.
Mikkelsen is marginally slower now through the second split, but Neuville is fastest of all in the first split.
Stopwatch
Ogier's split two time is half a minute better than earlier on now - a while to wait for Mikkelsen to come through for a comparison though.
Mikkelsen comes through the first split almost a second up on Ogier.
Mikkelsen and Neuville now on the stage.
Stopwatch
Ogier is significantly quicker through the first split than he was earlier in the day - his 4m12.2s is ten seconds faster.
Green flag
Final stage of the loop is underway, as Ogier ventures onto Vargasen for the second time today.
One man we haven't paid anywhere near enough attention to this weekend is Teemu Suninen.
The Finn isn't registered for WRC2 honours this weekend but is right with Evans and Tidemand in the overall classification - just 0.9s behind the latter in his Skoda Fabia R5.
The Finn isn't registered for WRC2 honours this weekend but is right with Evans and Tidemand in the overall classification - just 0.9s behind the latter in his Skoda Fabia R5.
David Evans
SS16: Vargasen 15.34 miles
One of the season’s highlights – this stage is lovely and wide and really, really quick. It’s one for the the brave and that’s before you get to the big jump in the middle now known as Colin’s Crest. Named, of course, after McRae – following a particularly lengthy leap from the Scot. Thierry Neuville is the current record-holder following a 44-metre jump last year.
One of the season’s highlights – this stage is lovely and wide and really, really quick. It’s one for the the brave and that’s before you get to the big jump in the middle now known as Colin’s Crest. Named, of course, after McRae – following a particularly lengthy leap from the Scot. Thierry Neuville is the current record-holder following a 44-metre jump last year.
Here's a recap from DAVID EVANS of what to expect on SS16.
Just ten minutes until the re-run of Vargasen, which closed Ogier and Paddon back up a couple of hours ago.
Will we see a repeat this time round?
Will we see a repeat this time round?
SS14 Summary:
*Ogier extends lead slightly to 10.2s over Paddon
*Latvala again quickest from Meeke
*Mikkelsen slips off the road and loses time in fight for third
*Ogier extends lead slightly to 10.2s over Paddon
*Latvala again quickest from Meeke
*Mikkelsen slips off the road and loses time in fight for third
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WRC2 looks very much a two-horse race now between Evans and Tidemand. Ahlin conceded earlier that his puncture had put paid to his chances, while Grondal, who was the fourth driver in contention this morning, has dropped back to fourth.
Checkered flag
SS14 Results:
Stage times:
1 Latvala 11m03.2s
2 Meeke +1.7s
3 Ogier +5.3s
4 Paddon +6.7s
5 Ostberg +10.5s
6 Neuville +13.6s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier 1h37m37s
2 Paddon +10.2s
3 Ostberg +33.3s
4 Mikkelsen +1m03s
5 Tanak +1m13.6s
6 Sordo +1m51.8s
7 Solberg +1m57.9s
8 Breen 2m03.3s
Stage times:
1 Latvala 11m03.2s
2 Meeke +1.7s
3 Ogier +5.3s
4 Paddon +6.7s
5 Ostberg +10.5s
6 Neuville +13.6s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier 1h37m37s
2 Paddon +10.2s
3 Ostberg +33.3s
4 Mikkelsen +1m03s
5 Tanak +1m13.6s
6 Sordo +1m51.8s
7 Solberg +1m57.9s
8 Breen 2m03.3s
Evans and Ahlin are through in WRC2, with the latter slightly faster.
"For some reason I had a strange feeling like something wrong in the rears - we'll have to have a look," says Evans.
He loses a bit more time to Tidemand again on this one, but it's only 3.7s from his overall lead.
"For some reason I had a strange feeling like something wrong in the rears - we'll have to have a look," says Evans.
He loses a bit more time to Tidemand again on this one, but it's only 3.7s from his overall lead.
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"It's a good time. I have to say, it's the fastest Rammen I've done - it was a really fast stage," reports Latvala.
"It's a little bit too late but the car is really good, I really enjoyed it."
"It's a little bit too late but the car is really good, I really enjoyed it."
Latvala does indeed go quickest, 1.7s faster than Meeke.
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Some good feedback from Meeke after posting the fastest time.
"It's very hard to know how the road developed. I had a good run and really enjoyed it. I could have gone a little bit faster but when your only recollection is last year and there's less snow it's difficult to tell."
"It's very hard to know how the road developed. I had a good run and really enjoyed it. I could have gone a little bit faster but when your only recollection is last year and there's less snow it's difficult to tell."
Stopwatch
Meeke loses a bit of time in the final split but still goes quickest by 3.6s so far - although Latvala is likely to beat that shortly.
We're expecting Meeke and Latvala to come through quickest again here now. They've both gone faster through splits three and two respectively, with Meeke set to finish the stage in a couple of minutes.
An excitable Solberg reaches the end of the stage, and has lost a bit of time to Sordo in his battle for sixth.
"It's not too bad," he says, with his deficit now 6.1s.
"It's not too bad," he says, with his deficit now 6.1s.
Stopwatch
It really is a shame these two aren't in the fight for the lead. Meeke is 2.8s up by the second split, while Latvala has just come through the first and is already 2.2s up.
SS12 pacesetters Latvala and Meeke are on the stage now, with Meeke setting the fastest time of anyone through the first split.
Breen ends it 12.9s down on Ogier, which is good enough for sixth-quickest so far.
"It's not so bad," he says. "I had quite a bad feeling with the rear right towards the end, so dropped a bit with that but I'm happy."
"It's not so bad," he says. "I had quite a bad feeling with the rear right towards the end, so dropped a bit with that but I'm happy."
Al Qassimi has just come through, 55.3s down on Ogier, which means we're expecting Breen shortly.
The difference between the leaders is now up to 10.2s with Ostberg now third, half a minute down on Ogier.
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"There's not much snow, I was expecting more," he says. "On the surface you can feel the studs having a hard time."
Stopwatch
Paddon loses a bit in that final split, but it's only 1.4s and puts him comfortably second-fastest on the stage so far.
Tanak's time is 15.7s slower than Ogier, but it's enough to bring him back within touching distance of Mikkelsen overall.
By: Matt Beer
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