WRC Argentina
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Paddon is setting the pace on the splits right now. With no hope of progressing from his current seventh place unless cars ahead hit trouble, his aim this afternoon is to show what might have been with a few stage wins.
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Hanninen takes 11.3s out of Bertelli on that stage, so the gap is down to 15.8s in the battle for eighth.
The engine appears to be fit, but now Hanninen's worried about the handling.
"We have to go and have a look - it's pulling," he says. "I hope it's just a puncture."
No sign of one, though.
The engine appears to be fit, but now Hanninen's worried about the handling.
"We have to go and have a look - it's pulling," he says. "I hope it's just a puncture."
No sign of one, though.
Hanninen's time is 3s quicker than Bertelli at split one, that suggests all is well in the Yaris again and the chase is on.
Not many split times yet, but Hanninen is through split one and he's 5s slower than Sordo. That's a bit inconclusive for sussing whether his Toyota is back on song after losing power in the morning.
If it is working again, Hanninen has to close down a 27s gap to privateer Bertelli ahead in eighth overall.
If it is working again, Hanninen has to close down a 27s gap to privateer Bertelli ahead in eighth overall.
David Evans
Eating in Argentina is never a hardship. The steak in South America is some of the best in the world - and it's served seemingly in parillas on every corner of every town. But every now and then you land on a place where the proprietor wants to educate you and your taste buds. "No, no, don't just go for the steak, try something different..." I was told. Fortunately I went and had a look at what was being cooked before I agreed. The waiter couldn't really explain the cuts being prepared, but the parts of his body he pointed to – by way of explanation – really have no place on the plate.
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SS13 Tanti – Villa Bustos (12.92 miles)
Apart from the first gravel stage of the event on Friday, this stage features the only change from last year, running in reverse from 2016.
Starting on an asphalt road in Tanti, the road soon switches to sandy gravel and twists its way up a hill and through numerous water crossings.
This first section is quite rough, but it gets smoother and wider through the second half and down towards the finish.
Apart from the first gravel stage of the event on Friday, this stage features the only change from last year, running in reverse from 2016.
Starting on an asphalt road in Tanti, the road soon switches to sandy gravel and twists its way up a hill and through numerous water crossings.
This first section is quite rough, but it gets smoother and wider through the second half and down towards the finish.
Things to watch this afternoon:
* Sordo getting back into the points - he's now 2m14.3s behind 10th-placed WRC2 leader Tidemand
* Hanninen getting back past Bertelli for eighth if the Toyota's fixed
* Second to sixth places - it's wide open between Neuville, Ostberg, Tanak, Ogier and Latvala
Oh and Evans leading.
* Sordo getting back into the points - he's now 2m14.3s behind 10th-placed WRC2 leader Tidemand
* Hanninen getting back past Bertelli for eighth if the Toyota's fixed
* Second to sixth places - it's wide open between Neuville, Ostberg, Tanak, Ogier and Latvala
Oh and Evans leading.
David Evans
Elfyn Evans is still leading, albeit with his margin down to 44s over Thierry Neuville, but he survived a scare with the two punctures on the morning loop.
The more serious tyre damage he sustained on the last stage before service meant he had to refit the tyre that had a slow puncture on the preceding stage in order to get back to service.
Making it to service was a nerve-wracking process but Evans made it with plenty of rubber stillon the wheel and the wheel rotating freely on its own, so all fine under the rules.
But expect Evans to take two spares this afternoon...
The more serious tyre damage he sustained on the last stage before service meant he had to refit the tyre that had a slow puncture on the preceding stage in order to get back to service.
Making it to service was a nerve-wracking process but Evans made it with plenty of rubber stillon the wheel and the wheel rotating freely on its own, so all fine under the rules.
But expect Evans to take two spares this afternoon...
Welcome back to Autosport Live, with the afternoon stages of Rally Argentina about to begin.
The next loop begins in a little over an hour, and we'll keep you posted with any news from service in the interim.
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SS12 summary:
* Leader Evans runs wide and damages a tyre. He makes it to the finish but his lead is down to 44s
* Ostberg firmly back on the pace and closes on Neuville's second place
* Ogier falls away in fifth and is convinced something's broken on his car
* Power-less Hanninen loses eighth to Bertelli again
* Leader Evans runs wide and damages a tyre. He makes it to the finish but his lead is down to 44s
* Ostberg firmly back on the pace and closes on Neuville's second place
* Ogier falls away in fifth and is convinced something's broken on his car
* Power-less Hanninen loses eighth to Bertelli again
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SS12 RESULTS
Stage times:
1 Meeke 13m18.2s
2 Ostberg +1.1s
3 Tanak +1.8s
4 Neuville +2.2s
5 Latvala +3.1s
6 Paddon +7.7s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Evans
2 Neuville +44.1s
3 Ostberg +53.0s
4 Tanak +57.1s
5 Ogier +1m11.6s
6 Latvala +1m25.7s
Stage times:
1 Meeke 13m18.2s
2 Ostberg +1.1s
3 Tanak +1.8s
4 Neuville +2.2s
5 Latvala +3.1s
6 Paddon +7.7s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Evans
2 Neuville +44.1s
3 Ostberg +53.0s
4 Tanak +57.1s
5 Ogier +1m11.6s
6 Latvala +1m25.7s
Crash
Evans reveals his time loss is due to a puncture near the end of that stage after he ran slightly wide. He had a slow puncture on the stage before that too. Nerve-wracking stuff!
Ostberg says he managed to "sort" the hydraulic problem that had left him struggling on the first stage of the day, and is really pleased with the times he's been able to set given that he left the diffuser behind in the watersplash.
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So through the morning Neuville has closed from 1m00.7s behind Evans to 44.1s. But he insists he's not paying any attention to the rally leader - his priority is taking as many points off Ogier as possible.
Going into this rally, Neuville was third in the championship and 34 points behind leader Ogier.
Going into this rally, Neuville was third in the championship and 34 points behind leader Ogier.
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Ogier now reckons his car doesn't just have a handling problem, something has broken on it.
"There's something wrong. The car was undriveable all morning," he declares as he heads for service.
He's now back in fifth, a full 14.5s down on team-mate Tanak ahead.
"There's something wrong. The car was undriveable all morning," he declares as he heads for service.
He's now back in fifth, a full 14.5s down on team-mate Tanak ahead.
Crash
Tanak reports he has spun on both the last two stages - not that it's mattered too much as he's still stormed away from Ogier and inched closer to Ostberg and Neuville ahead.
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Ostberg and his diffuser-less car don't get the stage win after all, Rally2 runner Meeke flies through with a time 1.1s better to go fastest again.
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Running without a rear diffuser after his recent watersplash incident doesn't appear to be slowing Ostberg down, but he still wants it back:
Evans is only seventh fastest on that stage, which costs him 12s to Neuville. That brings his overall lead down to 44s. Playing it safe? And if so, too safe? Need to hear what the Welshman says about that run as that seems a lot of time to drop.
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Ostberg reaches the stage finish - he's fastest by 0.7s over Tanak, nibbling the gap to Neuville in second place down to 8.9s there.
Neuville is in and second fastest to Tanak so far, but Ostberg is still setting the pace on the splits.
Ostberg might be able to come back at Neuville on this pace - they were 10s apart in second and third and the Norwegian is 1.9s quicker on the splits so far.
Ostberg might be able to come back at Neuville on this pace - they were 10s apart in second and third and the Norwegian is 1.9s quicker on the splits so far.
All smooth for Evans at split one, he's not fastest there but he's only seven tenths off Ostberg.
Ogier is only fourth quickest on the stage so far and he's 11.8s off Tanak's mark. That means in the overall standings the gap between them has grown to 14.5s in what should be fourth and fifth, with Latvala closing to within 14.1s of Ogier.
Ogier is still in trouble at split two, he's 11.1s off team-mate Tanak there and was very unhappy with his Ford's handling at the end of the previous stage.
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Tanak has reached the finish, and he's quickest of all so far with a time 0.7s faster than Latvala's previous benchmark.
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Looks like Ostberg's hydraulic problems are solved - he's the fastest car at split one now by 2.1s over Neuville.
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Latvala is now fastest of all at the stage finish, 4.6s up on Paddon, Tanak is quickest of everyone at split two and Neuville is fastest at split one by half a second over Tanak.
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Meanwhile Paddon, who is now in a very lonely seventh overall, is fastest of those who've so far reached the stage finish by 11s over Sordo.
Is Ogier in trouble? He's only fifth fastest at split one, 8s off team-mate Tanak there.
Bertelli completes the stage 31.5s faster than Hanninen's troubled Toyota, so he's now back up to a provisional eighth overall with a 27.1s cushion back to Hanninen.
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Tanak is now the split-one pacesetter, a second up on Latvala there. Tanak grabbed fourth from team-mate Ogier on the last stage and now has his sights set on Ostberg's third place.
Hanninen completes the stage 49.4s slower than Sordo, and more significantly he's 24.6s off Bertelli at split two - so he will have lost eighth to the Italian.
Hanninen's pace at split two is a full 37.9s off Sordo. The Toyota is clearly poorly again.
Further back on the road, Latvala is quickest at split one by 1.2s over Paddon, Tanak has just started the stage too and Ogier, Neuville, Ostberg, Evans and Meeke are queuing up ready to start.
Further back on the road, Latvala is quickest at split one by 1.2s over Paddon, Tanak has just started the stage too and Ogier, Neuville, Ostberg, Evans and Meeke are queuing up ready to start.
On their current relative pace, Bertelli is going to take eighth straight back from Hanninen again as the Toyota limps along.
Hanninen does look like he's in trouble - at the first split he's already 13s off Sordo's pace.
Meanwhile Sordo is now 11th in the order as his long road back from yesterday morning's broken steering continues. He took a minute and a half off 10th-placed Tidemand on that long stage alone, and the gap to the WRC2 leader who currently holds the final outright point in now 3m04s. Reports that Tidemand did a bit of damage to his car on the last stage too.
Sordo, Hanninen and Bertelli are onto the stage. Hanninen was reporting another loss of power like the on that ruined his Friday on the last stage. He still took eighth from Bertelli, but that's a hassle he doesn't need.
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Right, straight onto the final stage of the morning loop:
SS12 Boca del Arroyo – Bajo del Pungo (12.75 miles)
A stage similar in nature to the other two in the loop, but the big thing to watch out for in here is the concrete gutters that have been installed to stop the road being washed away in the harsh winters they get in the foothills of the Andes. In one section of around a mile and a half, there are nine of these concrete hazards – well worth looking out for.
Otherwise, there’s a good mix of fast and technical in here, with plenty of loose rocks at the side of the road.
SS12 Boca del Arroyo – Bajo del Pungo (12.75 miles)
A stage similar in nature to the other two in the loop, but the big thing to watch out for in here is the concrete gutters that have been installed to stop the road being washed away in the harsh winters they get in the foothills of the Andes. In one section of around a mile and a half, there are nine of these concrete hazards – well worth looking out for.
Otherwise, there’s a good mix of fast and technical in here, with plenty of loose rocks at the side of the road.
By: Matt Beer
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