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WRC - Argentina: No word yet on why Sordo is stopped on the stage, but his Hyundai remains parked.
That's going to elevate Evans to fourth and probably Neuville to fifth, as the Belgian is likely to vault Prokop on this one.
That's going to elevate Evans to fourth and probably Neuville to fifth, as the Belgian is likely to vault Prokop on this one.
WRC - Argentina: Ogier makes it to the stage end nearly four minutes slower than Mikkelsen.
That makes little difference to his overall position after yesterday's problem, though.
"It wasn't fixable, unfortunately," says Ogier of his power steering failure. "We wanted to stop but finally we decided to go on.
"We agreed with the team that we could stop because it was really difficult, but after I'd started the stage I decided to go to the end."
Fair play to the champ, who now looks understandably knackered.
That makes little difference to his overall position after yesterday's problem, though.
"It wasn't fixable, unfortunately," says Ogier of his power steering failure. "We wanted to stop but finally we decided to go on.
"We agreed with the team that we could stop because it was really difficult, but after I'd started the stage I decided to go to the end."
Fair play to the champ, who now looks understandably knackered.
WRC - Argentina: Mikkelsen says Ogier moved out of his way "very nicely". No dramas on the stage, but the Norwegian reveals he picked up a puncture on the road section out of service. That's different.
Stopwatch
WRC - Argentina: Mikkelsen reaches the stage finish in a time of 27m00.3s. That may well be our stage winner already.
WRC - Argentina: Rally leader Meeke is about to begin this stage.
Breaking news
WRC - Argentina: Sordo has stopped just a few miles onto the stage!
The Hyundai had surged right onto Latvala's tail for third place with a brilliant run this morning.
The Hyundai had surged right onto Latvala's tail for third place with a brilliant run this morning.
WRC - Argentina: Latvala has taken 4s out of Ostberg at split one. There's a 35s gap between them in second and third right now.
WRC - Argentina: Bertelli, today's road-sweeper after his Friday crash, has reached the end of the stage.
WRC - Argentina: Looks like the VWs of Ogier and Mikkelsen will be swapping places on the road any moment now as the Norwegian's healthy car catches the Frenchman's power-steering-less version.
Either that or Ogier's about to make Mikkelsen very grumpy.
There was a bit of controversy yesterday when Neuville tapped the back of Mikkelsen after catching him on a stage while the Polo was running with broken suspension.
Mikkelsen felt the restrictions on radio communication were causing dangerous situations, though Neuville's recounting of the incident sounded like his punt of the VW was partly through mischief.
Either that or Ogier's about to make Mikkelsen very grumpy.
There was a bit of controversy yesterday when Neuville tapped the back of Mikkelsen after catching him on a stage while the Polo was running with broken suspension.
Mikkelsen felt the restrictions on radio communication were causing dangerous situations, though Neuville's recounting of the incident sounded like his punt of the VW was partly through mischief.
WRC - Argentina: Victory contender Ostberg is only third quickest at split one, behind Mikkelsen and Neuville.
WRC - Argentina: Mikkelsen is still quickest, but Neuville is within 2s of him at the first split.
Neuville is part of the closest battle on paper, as he's closed to within 12s of Prokop for sixth. But realistically at the rate Neuville's been closing on the Ford privateer, he'll rapidly be through.
The Hyundai man lost several minutes when he had to change a damaged tyre yesterday.
Neuville is part of the closest battle on paper, as he's closed to within 12s of Prokop for sixth. But realistically at the rate Neuville's been closing on the Ford privateer, he'll rapidly be through.
The Hyundai man lost several minutes when he had to change a damaged tyre yesterday.
WRC - Argentina: Not quite one third of the way through the stage, Mikkelsen has gained 1m20s on the hobbled Ogier.
They're running three minutes apart on the road - you'd have to expect the world champion will pull over to let his team-mate through.
They're running three minutes apart on the road - you'd have to expect the world champion will pull over to let his team-mate through.
WRC - Argentina: Here's the current standings among those that really matter this afternoon:
1 Meeke
2 Ostberg +32.6s
3 Latvala +1m07.7s
4 Sordo +1m21.8s
5 Evans +1m57.5s
6 Prokop +4m35.9s
7 Neuville +4m47.7s
8 Al Qassimi +8m10.3s
And that lot take to the start in this order:
Neuville - Ostberg - Evans - Latvala - Sordo - Prokop - Meeke - Al Qassimi
1 Meeke
2 Ostberg +32.6s
3 Latvala +1m07.7s
4 Sordo +1m21.8s
5 Evans +1m57.5s
6 Prokop +4m35.9s
7 Neuville +4m47.7s
8 Al Qassimi +8m10.3s
And that lot take to the start in this order:
Neuville - Ostberg - Evans - Latvala - Sordo - Prokop - Meeke - Al Qassimi
WRC - Argentina: Just as a reminder, the first group of cars through - Bertelli, Ogier, Mikkelsen and Tanak - are all way down the overall leaderboard as they're running under Rally2 following dramas on Friday.
WRC - Argentina: It's not looking good for Ogier's power steering. He's a minute down on VW team-mate Mikkelsen's pace at the opening split. Will he finish the stage or call it a day?
WRC - Argentina: Everyone's expecting this to be a very tough stage, with a running time of about half an hour. Meeke took it very easy here earlier, and ended up with a much-reduced lead as a result.
Here's Meeke's description of the stage:
"For me this is the trickiest stage of the rally – even with the first 14 kilometres cut out of it.
"We never got to look at that part of the road, but from the pictures I've seen, you would have struggled to get a tractor through there.
"But the rest of it is definitely not easy. The corners are quite tight, there's lots of tall grass either side and it's so narrow in places.
"You're coming into stuff at high speed and you're immediately into a short corner with no margin at all.
"And, don't forget, we have no split times this year, so you really have to be able to gauge your own rhythm to try and feel how close to the pace you are.
"When you're in the car on these stages for 30 minutes or so, it's not easy.
"On this rally, though, we're looking for our own rhythm – we just have to drive our own event. I'm not chasing a win here..."
That was what he said on Thursday, he's now leading...
Here's Meeke's description of the stage:
"For me this is the trickiest stage of the rally – even with the first 14 kilometres cut out of it.
"We never got to look at that part of the road, but from the pictures I've seen, you would have struggled to get a tractor through there.
"But the rest of it is definitely not easy. The corners are quite tight, there's lots of tall grass either side and it's so narrow in places.
"You're coming into stuff at high speed and you're immediately into a short corner with no margin at all.
"And, don't forget, we have no split times this year, so you really have to be able to gauge your own rhythm to try and feel how close to the pace you are.
"When you're in the car on these stages for 30 minutes or so, it's not easy.
"On this rally, though, we're looking for our own rhythm – we just have to drive our own event. I'm not chasing a win here..."
That was what he said on Thursday, he's now leading...
Lights out
WRC - Argentina: Back on Rally Argentina, we're resuming with the 26.4-mile San Marcos to Characato stage.
Some dramatic MotoGP news: Marc Marquez has had to have surgery after breaking his little finger on his left hand when he crashed a dirt bike in training today.
Honda phrased its statement "he has not been ruled out", which has a slightly ominous air...
Honda phrased its statement "he has not been ruled out", which has a slightly ominous air...
Marc Marquez
Breaking news
WRC - Argentina: More details of the SS9 stoppage have emerged, and a number of spectators were hurt in Paddon's crash and have been taken to hospital.
Here's the full story from DAVID EVANS:
Spectators hurt in WRC crash
Here's the full story from DAVID EVANS:
Spectators hurt in WRC crash
Breaking news
WRC - Argentina: Although Ogier, Mikkelsen and Bertelli made it through SS9 before it was stopped due to Paddon's crash, organisers have confirmed that all times from that one will be deleted.
But can Ogier's power steering problem be deleted? The champ said at the end of the last stage that he'd just retire again rather than tackle the next monster test without it.
After all, he's basically just hanging in there until the powerstage and using the rest of the route as a test after his early problems.
But can Ogier's power steering problem be deleted? The champ said at the end of the last stage that he'd just retire again rather than tackle the next monster test without it.
After all, he's basically just hanging in there until the powerstage and using the rest of the route as a test after his early problems.
WRC - Argentina: More from DAVID EVANS:
Rally leader Meeke's start to the day hadn't been the best when he was awoken by a bunch of bikers heading through Villa Carlos Paz past his hotel window.
"The Cookstown 100 bike race is on at home this weekend and when I heard those bikes, I woke up thinking I was at home!" he joked.
The leader also admitted he'd had an ultra-conservative run through SS8, the one he’d labelled from the recce onwards as the toughest of the event. That's the stage that's repeated to finish our day in just over half an hour.
Rally leader Meeke's start to the day hadn't been the best when he was awoken by a bunch of bikers heading through Villa Carlos Paz past his hotel window.
"The Cookstown 100 bike race is on at home this weekend and when I heard those bikes, I woke up thinking I was at home!" he joked.
The leader also admitted he'd had an ultra-conservative run through SS8, the one he’d labelled from the recce onwards as the toughest of the event. That's the stage that's repeated to finish our day in just over half an hour.
In 'excuse for a picture of a cool car on an evocative track' news, Audi's latest generation R8 LMS GT3 car took a one-two on the Nurburgring Nordschleife in the VLN race with Christopher Mies and Nico Muller leading home Pierre Kaffer and Laurens Vanthoor earlier today.
That's a marker for next month's Nurburgring 24 Hours, which will also feature the World Touring Car Championship making its Nordschleife debut as a support event. The WTCC has a test on the epic track later this week, and our correspondent STUART CODLING will be heading there for some feature-preparing fever.
Audi, VLN 2015
That's a marker for next month's Nurburgring 24 Hours, which will also feature the World Touring Car Championship making its Nordschleife debut as a support event. The WTCC has a test on the epic track later this week, and our correspondent STUART CODLING will be heading there for some feature-preparing fever.
Rain
NASCAR - Richmond: There's supposed to be a NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Richmond tonight, but every forecast around says the rain currently falling on the speedway is set to stick around until tomorrow lunchtime.
Undaunted, NASCAR has just shifted the start time forward by a few minutes. Roush Fenway Racing tweeting that news with the hashtag "#optimism" seems spot on.
Whenever the Cup race does happen, Joey Logano starts on pole ahead of Denny Hamlin, who has recovered from last week's neck pain with both a great Cup qualifying performance and an Xfinity Series win yesterday.
Undaunted, NASCAR has just shifted the start time forward by a few minutes. Roush Fenway Racing tweeting that news with the hashtag "#optimism" seems spot on.
Whenever the Cup race does happen, Joey Logano starts on pole ahead of Denny Hamlin, who has recovered from last week's neck pain with both a great Cup qualifying performance and an Xfinity Series win yesterday.
WRC - Argentina: We've mentioned that our second-place man Mads Ostberg isn't very well this weekend. DAVID EVANS has been hearing just how poorly the Norwegian is:
Ostberg was busy swallowing pills in service to try and improve his health through the afternoon. The Norwegian admitted he'd felt pretty rotten towards the end of the morning action.
"I never normally look at the trip meter to find out how far I have to go in a stage," said Ostberg. "But in that last one I started to feel a bit worse, so I had a look.
"Actually, I looked and it said 28km, then 33, then 35… But when I looked for the first time and saw I still had 20km to go, I thought: 'Oh, for f***'s sake!'"
He'll feel better if he wins, we reckon.
Ostberg was busy swallowing pills in service to try and improve his health through the afternoon. The Norwegian admitted he'd felt pretty rotten towards the end of the morning action.
"I never normally look at the trip meter to find out how far I have to go in a stage," said Ostberg. "But in that last one I started to feel a bit worse, so I had a look.
"Actually, I looked and it said 28km, then 33, then 35… But when I looked for the first time and saw I still had 20km to go, I thought: 'Oh, for f***'s sake!'"
He'll feel better if he wins, we reckon.
IndyCar - Barber: While we wait, time to catch up on some action from elsewhere in the racing world.
Just a two-day weekend for the IndyCar field at Barber Motorsports Park, with two practice sessions today before qualifying later on - though as this was the scene of the major pre-season test, Friday practice probably wasn't missed too much.
It was Ganassi to the fore in practice one with Scott Dixon fastest, but Will Power and Helio Castroneves put Penske up front in practice two.
Just a two-day weekend for the IndyCar field at Barber Motorsports Park, with two practice sessions today before qualifying later on - though as this was the scene of the major pre-season test, Friday practice probably wasn't missed too much.
It was Ganassi to the fore in practice one with Scott Dixon fastest, but Will Power and Helio Castroneves put Penske up front in practice two.
Will Power, Penske, Barber IndyCar 2015
Breaking news
WRC - Argentina: And now this stage is cancelled.
That certainly does Meeke a favour - protecting a 32s lead over three stages is easier than doing so over four.
That gives us a pause of about an hour until today's final test begins.
That certainly does Meeke a favour - protecting a 32s lead over three stages is easier than doing so over four.
That gives us a pause of about an hour until today's final test begins.
WRC - Argentina: Ostberg's inherited Portugal win back in 2012 prompted us to run a feature on all of the WRC's one-time victors.
At the time, some of us thought this was a bit harsh on up-and-comer Ostberg as it kind of implied he'd never win another one.
Three years on, the chap who commissioned that feature has been proved right so far, but that might change in the next 24 hours.
In the meantime, while the stage is stopped and we're waiting for more news, here's the feature in question, a bit of a DAVID EVANS cracker:
The WRC's one-hit-wonders
If you're just joining us, a crash for Paddon has caused SS9 to be halted. He and co-driver Kennard are fine, so we're assuming their car is in an awkward position.
At the time, some of us thought this was a bit harsh on up-and-comer Ostberg as it kind of implied he'd never win another one.
Three years on, the chap who commissioned that feature has been proved right so far, but that might change in the next 24 hours.
In the meantime, while the stage is stopped and we're waiting for more news, here's the feature in question, a bit of a DAVID EVANS cracker:
The WRC's one-hit-wonders
If you're just joining us, a crash for Paddon has caused SS9 to be halted. He and co-driver Kennard are fine, so we're assuming their car is in an awkward position.
WRC - Argentina: If you're wondering why our anonymous source said Ostberg's chasing his first "real" win, that's because the one WRC victory he has on his record is Portugal 2012, and that was inherited several hours after the finish when Mikko Hirvonen was disqualified.
WRC - Argentina: DAVID EVANS fresh from the service park on the mood at Citroen as it runs one-two:
Citroen team principal Yves Matton finds himself in a difficult – but delightful – position of having to decide what, if anything, he says to Kris Meeke and Mads Ostberg regarding their pace this afternoon.
Matton declined the opportunity to share his thoughts with AUTOSPORT's readers, but a leading driver from a rival team admitted Matton's position was tough, saying: "What he wants is to keep the drivers first and second in the rally – that's the dream. He has to make sure they don't push and go off the road, but these guys are both chasing their first real win.
"And, there's the added element that Mads is reckoned to be bringing budget to the team – so can he, effectively, ask a customer to slow down?"
Neither Meeke or Ostberg had much to say on the subject of any lunchtime discussion.
Citroen team principal Yves Matton finds himself in a difficult – but delightful – position of having to decide what, if anything, he says to Kris Meeke and Mads Ostberg regarding their pace this afternoon.
Matton declined the opportunity to share his thoughts with AUTOSPORT's readers, but a leading driver from a rival team admitted Matton's position was tough, saying: "What he wants is to keep the drivers first and second in the rally – that's the dream. He has to make sure they don't push and go off the road, but these guys are both chasing their first real win.
"And, there's the added element that Mads is reckoned to be bringing budget to the team – so can he, effectively, ask a customer to slow down?"
Neither Meeke or Ostberg had much to say on the subject of any lunchtime discussion.
Kris Meeke, Citroen, WRC Argentina 2015
Crash
WRC - Argentina: Hyundai confirms that it was a crash that ended Paddon's day, and that he and team-mate Jonathan Kennard are both unhurt.
Waiting for more information about why the stage has been stopped but it's a reasonable guess that the Hyundai needs to be recovered.
Waiting for more information about why the stage has been stopped but it's a reasonable guess that the Hyundai needs to be recovered.
Stopwatch
WRC - Argentina: Mikkelsen finishes the stage 5.7s faster than Ogier.
"I took it carefully, it's a tyre-killer that one," he says.
"I took it carefully, it's a tyre-killer that one," he says.
WRC - Argentina: Tanak is coming through at a much reduced pace.
Red flag
WRC - Argentina: The stage has been stopped after Tanak. This could be to retrieve Paddon's car. We've heard that the Hyundai crew are OK though, but their i20 might be in a difficult place.
WRC - Argentina: Either Ogier was being superheroic, or his problem came on late, or Mikkelsen has a problem too... whatever, Ogier was 5s faster than Mikkelsen at the final split.
Stopwatch
WRC - Argentina: Ogier sets the benchmark time of 17m19.2s and then reveals he has no power steering.
He says if it doesn't come back for the next stage, he won't bother.
He says if it doesn't come back for the next stage, he won't bother.
Crash
WRC - Argentina: More trouble for Bertelli, who comes through with a puncture. He's struggled to the finish on it and done a fair bit of damage.
We should clarify 'puncture' - in rallying that normally means 'driver smacked tyre against something and broke it' rather than 'tyre spontaneously burst'. Pirelli's Paul Hembery was always very keen to point that one out back when his firm supplied the whole WRC field.
We should clarify 'puncture' - in rallying that normally means 'driver smacked tyre against something and broke it' rather than 'tyre spontaneously burst'. Pirelli's Paul Hembery was always very keen to point that one out back when his firm supplied the whole WRC field.
Stopwatch
WRC - Argentina: Past the third split and the advantage is Ogier's by a couple of seconds.
This would be quite a decent lead battle between the Polo pair if they weren't massively delayed.
But with no offence whatsoever to VW, it is a nice change to see a couple of DS 3s up front - in contrast to the vibe a few years ago when it was incessant Citroen dominance that grated for some.
On that topic, our Secret Mechanic's latest Formula 1 column on Monday is all about how it feels inside a team as you go from underdog to boring dominator and back again.
This would be quite a decent lead battle between the Polo pair if they weren't massively delayed.
But with no offence whatsoever to VW, it is a nice change to see a couple of DS 3s up front - in contrast to the vibe a few years ago when it was incessant Citroen dominance that grated for some.
On that topic, our Secret Mechanic's latest Formula 1 column on Monday is all about how it feels inside a team as you go from underdog to boring dominator and back again.
Stopwatch
WRC - Argentina: Mikkelsen is six tenths faster than Ogier on the splits so far.
Today there's just honour to fight for between the delayed VW pair. They're both over 10 minutes away from the points due to their penalties from retiring on Friday, but they took a stage win each in the morning and that'll keep them amused.
The focus for both Ogier and Mikkelsen is tomorrow's El Condor powerstage and trying to salvage the three bonus points available there.
And here's a shot of Ogier's VW in strife yesterday, to prove it really happened in case anyone's still thinking it was a dream.
Today there's just honour to fight for between the delayed VW pair. They're both over 10 minutes away from the points due to their penalties from retiring on Friday, but they took a stage win each in the morning and that'll keep them amused.
The focus for both Ogier and Mikkelsen is tomorrow's El Condor powerstage and trying to salvage the three bonus points available there.
And here's a shot of Ogier's VW in strife yesterday, to prove it really happened in case anyone's still thinking it was a dream.
Sebastien Ogier, VW, stopped, WRC Argentina 2015
Breaking news
WRC - Argentina: Hayden Paddon has stopped on the stage. His poor Hyundai has not had a happy weekend and he was already way behind under Rally2.
WRC - Argentina: This is how Meeke summed up this stage when he did our stage descriptions for us at the start of the week (and cheers for that, Kris).
"The surface in here is quite stony, this stage is actually quite loose.
"It's really nice at the start, but then it comes to a place where you have the wall on the outside and the mountain on the inside.
"It's a nice stage, but, like all of them, a tricky one."
"The surface in here is quite stony, this stage is actually quite loose.
"It's really nice at the start, but then it comes to a place where you have the wall on the outside and the mountain on the inside.
"It's a nice stage, but, like all of them, a tricky one."
By: David Evans, Jack Benyon, Matt Beer, Peter Mills, Mitchell Adam
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