WRC Argentina
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WRC - Argentina: So the order on SS4 so far:
1 Latvala
2 Ostberg
3 Sordo
4 Evans
5 Neuville
1 Latvala
2 Ostberg
3 Sordo
4 Evans
5 Neuville
WRC - Argentina: Prokop should be the next car through, and then Meeke. We await the Brit with bated breath.
Stopwatch
WRC - Argentina: Meeke is 11.4s ahead of Latvala in the final split, he should be the next car through to finish the stage.
WRC - Argentina: There's a brief pause now as Tanak should be coming through.
His trip into water for the second rally in a row - this time hitting a rock in a watersplash - has ruled the M-Sport driver out of proceedings on this stage.
His trip into water for the second rally in a row - this time hitting a rock in a watersplash - has ruled the M-Sport driver out of proceedings on this stage.
Stopwatch
WRC - Argentina: Meeke finishes the stage, 38m12.5s. That's 13.4s up on Latvala, extending his rally lead to 28.7s.
He's almost made back the time he lost to Latvala after a puncture on the last stage.
He's almost made back the time he lost to Latvala after a puncture on the last stage.
WRC - Argentina: Here are the top five SS4 times.
1 Meeke 38m12.5s
2 Latvala +13.4s
3 Ostberg +27.1s
4 Sordo +27.7s
5 Evans 39.9s
1 Meeke 38m12.5s
2 Latvala +13.4s
3 Ostberg +27.1s
4 Sordo +27.7s
5 Evans 39.9s
WRC - Argentina: The WRC2 drivers are next through, Ketomaa first.
WRC - Argentina: At the sharp end, the overall rally standings:
1 Meeke 1h29m39.5s
2 Latvala +28.7s
3 Ostberg
4 Sordo
5 Evans
1 Meeke 1h29m39.5s
2 Latvala +28.7s
3 Ostberg
4 Sordo
5 Evans
Stopwatch
WRC - Argentina: Ketomaa is through with a 42m12s.
"There's a long way to go. Its unbelievable, lethal!"
"There's a long way to go. Its unbelievable, lethal!"
Stopwatch
WRC - Argentina: Al-Kuwari is also through, and takes the WRC2 stage lead from Ketomaa with a 40m45s.
WRC - Argentina: Atttention can turn to Yuriy Protasov now, the erstwhile WRC2 leader. We'll keep an eye on his splits, as the WRC cars make their way towards SS5.
Twitter
WRC - Argentina: M-Sport have confirmed Tanak's fate:
Unfortunately @OttTanak damaged the front-left wheel of his Fiesta in the water splash at the start of SS4. Both he and Raigo are okay #WRC
Unfortunately @OttTanak damaged the front-left wheel of his Fiesta in the water splash at the start of SS4. Both he and Raigo are okay #WRC
WRC - Argentina: Protasov is through and sets a 40m21.7s, 23.3s up on Al-Kuwari.
That's good enough for the stage win, although he is still over a minute down on Al-Kuwari.
That's good enough for the stage win, although he is still over a minute down on Al-Kuwari.
WRC - Argentina: SS5 is coming up at 19:47 GMT. We'll keep you up to date with the latest coming out of Argentina.
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WRC - Argentina: Elfyn Evans managed a victory of his own before the official rally even started, as he won the wheel change challenge.
Our man in the service area DAVID EVANS was there to outline the events:
Elfyn Evans showed great pace on Thursday, collecting his first win in the World Rally Championship. Unfortunately for Evans and co-driver Dan Barritt, it came in the inaugural wheel change challenge rather than following a weekend of competition across the toughest South American stages. He and co-driver Dan Barritt changed a wheel on their Ford Fiesta RS WRC in 46.00 seconds – 1.03 faster than anybody else to lift the first trophy of the weekend.
The race involved the crews getting out of their belts, removing the spare wheel changing the left-rear, putting the changed wheel back in its carrier, grabbing a flag off a not unattractive local lady, running back to their car and waving it.
Thierry Neuville was second, amid rumours he might have slackened his nuts off prior to the start, with Sebastien Ogier third. There’s a sentence you don’t write every day.
Evans told AUTOSPORT: “Beating Sebastien Ogier and everybody is why we came to Argentina… It would be nice if we were celebrating a similar result on Sunday night!
Like all of the crews, Dan and I spend a lot of time practicing our wheel changes and, while this was a bit of fun, we’re all competitive and it’s nice to win.”
Our man in the service area DAVID EVANS was there to outline the events:
Elfyn Evans showed great pace on Thursday, collecting his first win in the World Rally Championship. Unfortunately for Evans and co-driver Dan Barritt, it came in the inaugural wheel change challenge rather than following a weekend of competition across the toughest South American stages. He and co-driver Dan Barritt changed a wheel on their Ford Fiesta RS WRC in 46.00 seconds – 1.03 faster than anybody else to lift the first trophy of the weekend.
The race involved the crews getting out of their belts, removing the spare wheel changing the left-rear, putting the changed wheel back in its carrier, grabbing a flag off a not unattractive local lady, running back to their car and waving it.
Thierry Neuville was second, amid rumours he might have slackened his nuts off prior to the start, with Sebastien Ogier third. There’s a sentence you don’t write every day.
Evans told AUTOSPORT: “Beating Sebastien Ogier and everybody is why we came to Argentina… It would be nice if we were celebrating a similar result on Sunday night!
Like all of the crews, Dan and I spend a lot of time practicing our wheel changes and, while this was a bit of fun, we’re all competitive and it’s nice to win.”
Elfyn Evans Rally Argentina
Twitter
WRC - Argentina: Volkswagen is certainly one of the most sporting teams in the service area, at least on twitter anyway:
@VolkswagenRally: Hats off 2 @krismeeke. Well done! And Kris has a gr8 co-driver in #PaulNagle. #YouKnowWhatWeMean @AMikkelsenRally @RallyAustralia #AllSmiles
Can't say we're much of a fan of the spelling of 'gr8' though.
@VolkswagenRally: Hats off 2 @krismeeke. Well done! And Kris has a gr8 co-driver in #PaulNagle. #YouKnowWhatWeMean @AMikkelsenRally @RallyAustralia #AllSmiles
Can't say we're much of a fan of the spelling of 'gr8' though.
WRC - Argentina: Speaking of Volkswagen, it seems as good a time as any to introduce another one of DAVID EVANS' images.
Here's a man with a Volkswagen on his head.
Evans said: "Surely that interviewer only needed to ask one question. Why?"
Here's a man with a Volkswagen on his head.
Evans said: "Surely that interviewer only needed to ask one question. Why?"
Rally Argentina colour
WRC - Argentina: With SS5 coming up shortly, here's a recap of the overall rally positions so far:
1 Meeke
2 Latvala
3 Ostberg
4 Sordo
5 Evans
6 Prokop
7 Neuville
8 Al Qassimi
9 Al-Kuwari
10 Protasov
1 Meeke
2 Latvala
3 Ostberg
4 Sordo
5 Evans
6 Prokop
7 Neuville
8 Al Qassimi
9 Al-Kuwari
10 Protasov
WRC - Argentina: If you are just joining us, Ott Tanak has proved that he is prone to being beaten by water.
After the 'Titanak' incident on the last rally (see below) the Estonian has now retired after hitting a rock in a watersplash here in Argentina.
After the 'Titanak' incident on the last rally (see below) the Estonian has now retired after hitting a rock in a watersplash here in Argentina.
NASCAR - Richmond: Second practice for this weekend's NASCAR Sprint Cup round at Richmond has just finished, and Kasey Kahne was quickest.
That's quite a good turnaround given that he had to sit out the first 15 minutes of practice one as a punishment for his Hendrick Chevrolet repeatedly failing pre-qualifying technical inspections last week at Bristol.
Brad Keselowski had topped practice one.
Qualifying takes place later today, with the race on Saturday night.
That's quite a good turnaround given that he had to sit out the first 15 minutes of practice one as a punishment for his Hendrick Chevrolet repeatedly failing pre-qualifying technical inspections last week at Bristol.
Brad Keselowski had topped practice one.
Qualifying takes place later today, with the race on Saturday night.
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WRC - Argentina: SS5 is a repeat of today's second stage, Villa Bustos - Tanti.
Our stage guide-man for the weekend is current rally leader Kris Meeke, who said the following about this test.
"The Villa Bustos-Tanti stage reminds me a lot of the shakedown stage we did on Wednesday. It’s incredibly fast, like a motorway for the first 10 kilometres and then it narrows down towards the finish.
"Like the other stages, it’s typical Argentina in that it’s quite sandy and slippery. The rain has really hit the roads hard this year, washing away a lot of the gravel and leaving a lot of bedrock showing through.
"Definitely, this surface won’t be cleaning anything like Mexico or Sardinia and running where I am [10th on the road] it can be tricky to avoid the big rocks being pulled into the road by the cars ahead.”
Our stage guide-man for the weekend is current rally leader Kris Meeke, who said the following about this test.
"The Villa Bustos-Tanti stage reminds me a lot of the shakedown stage we did on Wednesday. It’s incredibly fast, like a motorway for the first 10 kilometres and then it narrows down towards the finish.
"Like the other stages, it’s typical Argentina in that it’s quite sandy and slippery. The rain has really hit the roads hard this year, washing away a lot of the gravel and leaving a lot of bedrock showing through.
"Definitely, this surface won’t be cleaning anything like Mexico or Sardinia and running where I am [10th on the road] it can be tricky to avoid the big rocks being pulled into the road by the cars ahead.”
Crash
WRC - Argentina: Tanak's not the only one in strife, here's a reminder of everyone else hitting trouble so far on this hugely eventful day.
Ogier: Out with a probable engine issue
Mikkelsen: Delayed by spinning, damaging a tyre and then his suspension collapsing
Ostberg: Delayed slightly by intermittent engine problems
Evans: Slightly delayed behind Neuville's delayed car
Neuville: Delayed by damaging a tyre, then getting caught behind (and nerfing) Mikkelsen's limping car
Sordo: Delayed by power steering failure
Paddon: Delayed by most of his car failing
Add in Tanak's woes and Robert Kubica not even getting here, and Lorenzo Bertelli crashing, and that's why there are so many WRC2 runners in the top 10.
Ogier: Out with a probable engine issue
Mikkelsen: Delayed by spinning, damaging a tyre and then his suspension collapsing
Ostberg: Delayed slightly by intermittent engine problems
Evans: Slightly delayed behind Neuville's delayed car
Neuville: Delayed by damaging a tyre, then getting caught behind (and nerfing) Mikkelsen's limping car
Sordo: Delayed by power steering failure
Paddon: Delayed by most of his car failing
Add in Tanak's woes and Robert Kubica not even getting here, and Lorenzo Bertelli crashing, and that's why there are so many WRC2 runners in the top 10.
WRC - Argentina: Something to watch for on this stage is Latvala's pace.
The Finn loved the quick early part of the stage because it reminded him of the 1000 Lakes Rally, and he was quickest on this test earlier in the day.
Meeke had a puncture on that test too, so look out for a better comparison between the two this time around.
The Finn loved the quick early part of the stage because it reminded him of the 1000 Lakes Rally, and he was quickest on this test earlier in the day.
Meeke had a puncture on that test too, so look out for a better comparison between the two this time around.
WRC - Argentina: The tracker shows Thierry Neuville is on the road in stage 5, we are underway.
WRC - Argentina: Both Neuville and Ostberg are into the stage now, as we await the first split times.
Stopwatch
WRC - Argentina: Neuville is through the first split with a 2m24s.
Ostberg in the Citroen is next through.
Ostberg in the Citroen is next through.
WRC - Argentina: Indeed, Ostberg is through and 2.9s up on Neuville.
WRC - Argentina: Neuville is well over halfway through the stage now, passing the second split in 4m29.1s.
Ostberg follows him through 3.4s quicker.
Ostberg follows him through 3.4s quicker.
WRC - Argentina: Elfyn Evans is through the first split, not as quick as Ostberg but 2.1s up on Neuville.
Latvala is now into the stage too.
Latvala is now into the stage too.
WRC - Argentina: Neuville is through the third and final split in 6m36.9s, he'll be at the stage end soon enough.
Stopwatch
WRC - Argentina: Ostberg is also through the final split, 3.9s overall quicker than Neuville.
Latvala is fastest through the first split by 0.6s over Ostberg.
Latvala is fastest through the first split by 0.6s over Ostberg.
WRC - Argentina: Latvala is 1.9s up on Ostberg through the second split.
Prokop is also into the stage now.
Prokop is also into the stage now.
WRC - Argentina: Neuville is through in 10m13.8s.
Ostberg comes through now, 1.5s quicker.
Ostberg comes through now, 1.5s quicker.
Quote
WRC - Argentina: Ostberg seems happy with his run.
"Yeah it's ok. Its quite similar to this morning, looser than I expected. It was a good run, I'm happy with that."
"Yeah it's ok. Its quite similar to this morning, looser than I expected. It was a good run, I'm happy with that."
WRC - Argentina: Evans is through and that's an impressive time from the Brit, only 0.1s slower than Ostberg.
WRC - Argentina: Latvala is next through and he has been around 3s up on Ostberg through the splits so far.
The Volkswagen driver arrives and has LOST TIME!
The Finn is 14.5s in the last split, obviously with some sort of issue.
The Volkswagen driver arrives and has LOST TIME!
The Finn is 14.5s in the last split, obviously with some sort of issue.
Crash
WRC - Argentina: Latvala has a gearbox problem, and it sounds serious as the Finn barely stops at the end of the stage.
He's 16s down on Ostberg's quickest time.
He's 16s down on Ostberg's quickest time.
WRC - Argentina: Meeke was quicker than Latvala through the first two splits anyway, but a problem as serious as gearbox/diff issues could cost the Finn even more time.
WRC - Argentina: Meeke comes through the third split with exactly the same time as Latvala, a 6m29.5s.
Meeke shouldn't lose as much time as Latvala in the final section though.
Meeke shouldn't lose as much time as Latvala in the final section though.
WRC - Argentina: The most noticeable thing about Latvala when he stopped after the stage was his voice.
The dejected Finn sounded like defeat.
The dejected Finn sounded like defeat.
By: David Evans, Jack Benyon, Matt Beer, Peter Mills, Mitchell Adam
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