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Crash
Suggestions that Latvala crashed and broke his suspension.
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Slow first split from Henning Solberg, who was seventh overall - fractionally ahead of Breen - going onto this one. He's lost 13s, which makes him slowest at that point so far.
Solberg was mentioning some downshift troubles earlier.
Solberg was mentioning some downshift troubles earlier.
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"Obviously road position has played a big part today, but I've got a lot of confidence driving the car - that's the first stage today that's actually felt alright," says Paddon.
"It's very close between a lot of us at the moment, but I'm not 100 per cent confident with the car. The front's not responding as I want it to."
"It's very close between a lot of us at the moment, but I'm not 100 per cent confident with the car. The front's not responding as I want it to."
Stopwatch
Paddon completes the stage, fastest again by 4s. A second stage win in a row (unless someone like Breen puts in a blinder). That makes him a more comfortable second and he cuts Ogier's lead to 26.9s going into day two.
Crash
Crews on the stage reporting Latvala has stopped on the stage. He's limped on so, so long and to grind to a halt so close to the end of the day is cruel.
Stopwatch
Paddon's still fastest at the next split, 4.3s up on Ogier.
Paddon has only done this rally twice before - once in an S2000 Skoda four years ago, and with Hyundai last year, when he was fifth. And that's the sum total of his snow rallying experience. And this is his first rally in the 2016 Hyundai. And he's second. And catching Ogier. He can be very proud of that.
Stopwatch
Wow. While everyone else matches each other tenth for tenth, here's Paddon going 3.8s quicker than everyone at split one. This will not only cement his second place, it could hack nicely into Ogier's lead.
Tanak therefore stays 1.1s behind Ostberg overall. We don't know what that means position-wise just yet until we get Paddon in.
Stopwatch
Ah Tanak couldn't quite make it a stage win, instead he makes it a three-way tie for third on the stage with Ostberg and Mikkelsen, all three just 0.1s behind Sordo. That's nuts.
Stopwatch
Tanak is still setting the fastest split times in the DMACK Ford...
It's fair to say the asphalt DMACKs were not stunning in Monte. The studded ones seem nifty.
It's fair to say the asphalt DMACKs were not stunning in Monte. The studded ones seem nifty.
Stopwatch
Sordo nips in a mere tenth quicker than Ostberg and Mikkelsen, which keeps him ahead of Mikkelsen overall too.
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"It's very encouraging," says Ostberg. "It was difficult this morning but then the snow arrived and I became really happy.
"I wanted to be there from the beginning. I wasn't, and I wasn't happy with myself. We needed to make some changes to the car and more changes to the driving."
"I wanted to be there from the beginning. I wasn't, and I wasn't happy with myself. We needed to make some changes to the car and more changes to the driving."
Stopwatch
Ostberg is in, equalling Mikkelsen's time and therefore staying 8s ahead of him in the second-to-sixth gaggle.
One thing to note for Neuville, who was utterly brilliant here last year and nearly won - the ebb and flow of the intra-team Hyundai battle with Paddon has had quite a big impact on him in recent months. He blitzed it in Monte Carlo with that excellent podium, but Paddon is starring here and Neuville has no way to respond.
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"That's the game, sometimes life is hard," says Neuville, philosophically. "I feel like I'm doing a two-wheel-drive championship. Three times in the last four rallies we've been stuck in two-wheel-drive."
File that one under 'could be worse' for Neuville: a minute dropped, and at least now he can go to the evening service and get that Hyundai fixed.
Stopwatch
Tanak is faster than Ostberg and becomes the outright pacesetter at split one. It's only by a few tenths but that's great for the DMACK tyres.
That means Mikkelsen goes into Saturday 42s off Ogier. We know Ogier's going to lead, but where between second and sixth will Mikkelsen be?
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"I took it a little bit too cautious in here," Mikkelsen admits. "I expected it to be worse than it was."
Stopwatch
Mikkelsen is through 2.7s down on Ogier, but it's Paddon, Ostberg, Tanak and Sordo we need to compare him to as he tries to regain places - and Ostberg is fastest of all at split one.
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A 9m00.6s time for Ogier, who says the fresh snowfall is making life hard as he clears it for the drivers behind, but he's content with his day's work. The massive lead helps keep him perky.
"Already this afternoon I've struggled a lot, I know I'm going to lose time but the snow makes it very difficult for me," says Ogier. "But I'm still happy."
"Already this afternoon I've struggled a lot, I know I'm going to lose time but the snow makes it very difficult for me," says Ogier. "But I'm still happy."
Neuville is now down to 24th overall, fellow transmission struggler Latvala 29th.
Neuville and his "one-wheel-drive" Hyundai limp on - 21s lost in the first few miles.
Mikkelsen, who is nine tenths off Ogier at the first split, has the big mission now after his pair of mistakes today.
Though he's back in sixth still, it's just 8.4s from there to Paddon in second.
Though he's back in sixth still, it's just 8.4s from there to Paddon in second.
Much heavier snow on Torsby than there was this morning, which has the potential to hamper these first-on-the-road VWs.
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Green flag
Ogier is onto the stage. He now has a massive lead but the incidents that have struck Latvala, Neuville, Mikkelsen and Meeke so far today show not to take anything for granted.
Who on earth would've predicted Paddon running second at this point??
Who on earth would've predicted Paddon running second at this point??
David Evans
SS9: 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 run alongside an airbase and lead 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 run alongside an airbase and lead 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.
And now back to Torsby, where this morning started, to round off a pretty eventful first day.
Information
Here's a quick SS8 recap before we get going:
*Meeke retires after hitting a rock
*Ogier extends lead thanks to Meeke's demise
*Paddon goes quickest on stage to move into second overall
*Evans builds WRC2 lead after Lappi encounters trouble
*Meeke retires after hitting a rock
*Ogier extends lead thanks to Meeke's demise
*Paddon goes quickest on stage to move into second overall
*Evans builds WRC2 lead after Lappi encounters trouble
Bit of a pause at the moment before we start SS9, the last stage of the opening day.
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Meeke speaks. A real shame for the Briton, who retires for a second consecutive rally after hitting a stone.
Information
Ahlin is now through and has dropped 4s to Evans.
Evans now leads the Swede by 11s overall, while Andres Grondal is just about hanging on to the pair after a decent time on SS8. Tidemand is now fourth, but Lappi looks well out of contention.
WRC2 leaderboard:
1 Evans
2 Ahlin +10.9s
3 Grondal +23.7s
4 Tidemand +47.1s
5 Aasen +50.6s
Evans now leads the Swede by 11s overall, while Andres Grondal is just about hanging on to the pair after a decent time on SS8. Tidemand is now fourth, but Lappi looks well out of contention.
WRC2 leaderboard:
1 Evans
2 Ahlin +10.9s
3 Grondal +23.7s
4 Tidemand +47.1s
5 Aasen +50.6s
Quote
Lappi is through, and only lost 3s to Evans in the final split - but the damage was done much earlier on.
"On the first corner I just lost the rear and then I start to spin and the front went underneath," he says.
"For me, the most important is the experience. For sure I am disappointed but we can continue."
"On the first corner I just lost the rear and then I start to spin and the front went underneath," he says.
"For me, the most important is the experience. For sure I am disappointed but we can continue."
Crash
Lappi is well down through the second split - 1m50s on Evans - so the Finn has definitely had a problem out there. He's the next man through.
Stopwatch
SS8 results:
Stage times:
1 Paddon 9m52.8s
2 Tanak +1.3s
3 Ostberg +1.5s
4 Solberg +4.3s
5 Sordo +7.2s
6 Mikkelsen +7.3s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier 54m10s
2 Paddon +30.9s
3 Ostberg +31.0s
4 Tanak +32.1s
5 Sordo +35.6s
6 Mikkelsen +39.3s
7 Solberg +1m18.9s
8 Breen +1m19.6s
Stage times:
1 Paddon 9m52.8s
2 Tanak +1.3s
3 Ostberg +1.5s
4 Solberg +4.3s
5 Sordo +7.2s
6 Mikkelsen +7.3s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier 54m10s
2 Paddon +30.9s
3 Ostberg +31.0s
4 Tanak +32.1s
5 Sordo +35.6s
6 Mikkelsen +39.3s
7 Solberg +1m18.9s
8 Breen +1m19.6s
Evans come home nearly 21s slower than Paddon's stage-best. None of his WRC2 rivals are through the first split yet, so a while before we see how he compares to the likes of Lappi and Ahlin.
By: Matt Beer
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