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WRC Argentina

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So Ogier, Neuville and Tanak are now covered by just 0.3s in what is probably going to be fourth, fifth and sixth behind Latvala and Ostberg - all provisional until Ostberg comes through a bit later.
"You need to take risks if you want to go fast on this one," says Tanak, in a voice that suggests he didn't feel great about taking risks there.
Tanak's pace tailed off later on the stage and he ended up 10.6s slower than Neuville - that means he's lost two places overall, falling behind both Ogier and Neuville.
"We had a very good stage, but I was overheating again. I lost a bit of boost, only for a couple of corners, but I had to manage the temperature," says Neuville. "But the car was good. I'm happy with that."
Great run from Neuville, he gains 7.8s on Ogier and 15.1s on Latvala. That second place fight really is tightening, Neuville's now within 0.7s of Ogier and 5s of Latvala.
A worry for Latvala - his Toyota's engine temperature has risen alarmingly and he had to keep switching into 'safety' mode on that stage.

"I'm not happy!" he summarises.
Evans is now on the stage and past split one faster than anyone else. He's nearly 8s up on second-overall man Latvala even at that early point.
Latvala is 7.3s slower than Ogier at the stage finish - that's going to close the second-place battle right now. Tanak might pinch that place from Latvala at that pace.
Split timing information is a bit sporadic so far on this stage, but on what we've got, Paddon is fastest at split one now as he continues his comeback.
Ogier completes the stage in 12m52.4s, which is 10s slower than Evans's stage winning time from this morning. That suggests it's getting rougher if that's an on-the-pace time.
Tanak is a tenth up on Neuville and 0.7s up on Ogier at split one, so looking set to extend his advantage over his illustrious team-mate in their fight for fourth.

Tanak was off the pace on today's first stage this morning, tweaked his set-up and then flew - third-fastest on the next two moving him up from seventh to fourth.
Evans actually extended his lead over Latvala to 30s on the superspecial with a massive time gain on a stage only just over a mile long.

So this is the state of play going into the afternoon:

1 Evans
2 Latvala +30.1s
3 Ostberg +35.6s
4 Tanak +39.8s
5 Ogier +41.7s
6 Neuville +50.2s
7 Bertelli +2m15.1s
8 Paddon +3m11.8s
9 Tidemand +3m15.5s (WRC2)
10 Hanninen +3m31.0s
-----
15 Sordo +11m45.2s

Retired from leg one: Breen, Meeke, Gorban
Latvala's cars isn't transmitting split times back but Neuville's so we know he's taken six tenths of a second off Ogier there.

They were fifth and sixth after the pre-service superspecial, Ogier 8.5s clear after Neuville lost time with first a broken damper then what turned out to be a puncture.
The temperature was rocketing as the morning loop ended, and that heat on the bare rocks of the stage surfaces will not be good for the soft Michelins' longevity. The heavy-traction uphill sections of SS6 in particular will be tough.

The very wet recce has skewed things for set-up choices as now there's nothing more than the odd damp patch on the stages. And the rising temperatures have baked the road surface like concrete.

Drivers who went for softer set-ups based on their findings from the recce will have found their cars lacking precision now it's dry. Conversely if they go too stiff, they'll wish they had more give in the suspension in the rocky areas.

A tough afternoon ahead.
This loop of stages looks like a really big chance for DMACK. The verdict here is its new tyre has a better chance of lasting in the conditions than the soft Michelins - if all goes well Evans could extend his lead to a minute before today is over.
SS6 San Agustin – Villa General Belgrano (12.39 miles)

Not used since 2008 and even that incarnation from nine years ago has been lengthened with a couple of miles added on at the start. This stage goes up and over the top of a mountain and is not nearly as quick as the other two Calamuchita test. This one has plenty of tight, technical sections – but one of the highlights are the views back down the valley from the side of the road.

Given that this stage was unused 12 months ago, this stage will give drivers absent from the 2016 rally (Kris Meeke, Craig Breen and Juho Hanninen) an opportunity to make use of a more level playing field.
With Ogier mildly delayed by a trip off the road, handling problems and the frustrations of running first on a dusty road and therefore down in fifth, it's Evans a comfortable 30s clear of Latvala up front, before a gap to a tight podium battle between Ostberg, Tanak and Ogier, with Neuville close behind.
Evans was untouchable on the morning loop today, storming clear even before closest rivals Sordo and Meeke hit trouble.
Welcome back to Rally Argentina for the afternoon stages - you join us with Elfyn Evans holding a commanding lead...

...and if you expected to be reading that at this time today then you're either a wonderfully loyal Welsh patriot or DMACK's most devoted fan.
We'll bring you an update in our news section if anything wild happens on the upcoming superspecial, and otherwise we'll be back in business properly for the next full-stage just after 7pm UK time. See you then.
The madness has spread to WRC2 too - second and third placed Ptaszek and Benito Guerra are both stopped on the stage, so Tidemand finds himself with a 1m41s lead over Gustavo Saba. Tidemand's up to eighth overall.
SS4 summary

* Gosh
* Meeke has a heavy crash when running second, making it to the finish but only after losing six and a half minutes
* Evans takes a third-straight stage win and now leads by 23.8s over Latvala
* Ostberg up to third ahead of Tanak and Ogier
* Ogier says that was the first stage where running first hurt him
* Neuville and his broken damper lose touch with the podium fight
* Paddon back up to eighth despite rolling two stages ago
* Breen drops five minutes stuck in fifth gear
SS4 results:

Stage times:

1 Evans 13m44.8s
2 Latvala +2.8s
3 Tanak +5.6s
4 Ostberg +8.2s
5 Sordo +9.1s
6 Ogier +11.6s

Overall leaderboard:

1 Evans
2 Latvala +23.6s
3 Ostberg +32.2s
4 Tanak +33.4s
5 Ogier +35.7s
6 Neuville +48.0s
7 Bertelli +2m04.4s
8 Paddon +3m03.8s
9 Hanninen +3m10.3s
10 Breen +5m46.6s
Ostberg comes in fourth fastest on the stage, which after all the madness puts him third overall.
"I got completely by surprise on a nothing corner, I hit a bump in the road and it launched the car. Nothing I could do at all," says Meeke.
Hanninen's power-less Toyota lost over a minute on that stage again, so he's fallen behind Paddon overall.
Meeke gets to the stage finish having lost six and a half minutes.
Breen did get back in and start driving, but he's lost five minutes and will probably fall outside the top 10 overall. He reports that his Citroen got stuck in fifth gear.
Paddon says Meeke was off the road and Breen was having to push his car along!
Evans takes another stage win, 2.8s faster than Latvala and now leading the Toyota by 23.6s as they sit first and second overall.
Suggestions at the stage end that Meeke has crashed but has got going. Unconfirmed for now.
Breen now reaches the finish, but he's lost five minutes.
Paddon has reached the stage finish before either Citroen, having started the stage behind them.

By: Matt Beer

Published: