WRC Argentina
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WRC - Argentina: Mikkelsen finishes the stage with a 17m34.7s, 3.6s slower than Ogier's benchmark.
Latvala has just gone quickest through the first stint...
Latvala has just gone quickest through the first stint...
Quote
WRC - Argentina: Ogier seems happy enough, although the pre-stage worry of dust seems real.
"OK, but there's a lot of dust."
"OK, but there's a lot of dust."
WRC - Argentina: Ogier is also finished, 17m31.1s. That's 36.5s quicker than Bertelli.
Stopwatch
WRC - Argentina: Bertelli finishes the stage in 18m07.6s. Remember the Italian is running under Rally2.
WRC - Argentina: Ogier is through the second and third splits, he's quickest through both overall.
WRC - Argentina: Tanak is some way down in the first split.
All the drivers through that first split so far, Bertelli, Ogier, Mikkelsen, Paddon and Tanak are all running under Rally2, and are out of contention for any sort of top three finish.
Neuville, who finished yesterday seventh, is also now through the first split, 5.7s down on Ogier.
All the drivers through that first split so far, Bertelli, Ogier, Mikkelsen, Paddon and Tanak are all running under Rally2, and are out of contention for any sort of top three finish.
Neuville, who finished yesterday seventh, is also now through the first split, 5.7s down on Ogier.
WRC - Argentina: While we wait for Tanak, our man in Argentina DAVID EVANS has a nice weather update for us.
"It's blue skies and sunshine here, with temperatures expected to rise to around 25 degrees again."
"It's blue skies and sunshine here, with temperatures expected to rise to around 25 degrees again."
Twitter
WRC - Argentina: Latvala may have declared last night that he's going to be playing it cool and going for his first finish since Monte Carlo, but according to his mental coach Christoph Treier a charge might be in prospect:
"@JariMattiWRC is in a very good mood and will go for the victory. It needs a lot of patience and cleverness. Go for it! Never give up!"
"@JariMattiWRC is in a very good mood and will go for the victory. It needs a lot of patience and cleverness. Go for it! Never give up!"
WRC - Argentina: Paddon is also through the first split, but he is some way off Ogier's time.
The Kiwi managed 4m29.7s.
The Kiwi managed 4m29.7s.
WRC - Argentina: Mikkelsen is the next driver through the first split, 0.6s down on Ogier.
Stopwatch
WRC - Argentina: The world champion is also through the first split, and he's 7.7s up on Bertelli.
No disrespect to the Italian, but you would expect Ogier to be quicker over the course of the stage.
No disrespect to the Italian, but you would expect Ogier to be quicker over the course of the stage.
Stopwatch
WRC - Argentina: Bertelli is through the first split, 4m32.8s is his time.
Lights out
WRC - Argentina: So SS7 is live, Bertelli and Ogier are into the stage.
WRC - Argentina: First up on the road is Lorenzo Bertelli, who hasn't had the best rally Argentina.
Here's what happened yesterday:
Here's what happened yesterday:
bertelli
WRC - Argentina: The first test of the morning – SS7 – is a 15 mile stage from Capilla del Monte to San Marcos, and to give you a better idea of what to expect, here is our stage-guide man for the weekend (who just so happens to be rally leader) Kris Meeke.
"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."
Sounds like the Brit is nervous already!
"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."
Sounds like the Brit is nervous already!
WRC - Argentina: The other Citroen holds second overall. Mads Ostberg had a relatively straightforward day yesterday, aside from a small engine issue on SS2.
The Norwegian was feeling quite ill yesterday evening though, he told DAVID EVANS in the service park last night: "I’ve felt a bit like this for a few days," he said, "I just feel a bit ill.
"And I’ve lost my voice a little bit, so talking to you at the moment’s not the best idea…"
The Norwegian was feeling quite ill yesterday evening though, he told DAVID EVANS in the service park last night: "I’ve felt a bit like this for a few days," he said, "I just feel a bit ill.
"And I’ve lost my voice a little bit, so talking to you at the moment’s not the best idea…"
WRC - Argentina: Jari-Matti Latvala struggled with a front diff problem yesterday, and dropped spadeloads of time to Meeke.
Luckily for him though, the Polo has received a new diff overnight, and it will be interesting to see if Latvala attacks Meeke all-out, or remains conservative for some much needed points in second.
Latvala won't try to catch Meeke
The Finn only has 19 points after three rounds, while team-mate Sebastien Ogier already has 81…
Luckily for him though, the Polo has received a new diff overnight, and it will be interesting to see if Latvala attacks Meeke all-out, or remains conservative for some much needed points in second.
Latvala won't try to catch Meeke
The Finn only has 19 points after three rounds, while team-mate Sebastien Ogier already has 81…
Latvala/Volkswagen/Rally Argentina
Quote
WRC - Argentina: Speaking of Citroen, there was a stage when a certain nine-time champion was in the team that it scored 1-2s for fun.
It hasn't had one since Spain 2012, when Sebastian Loeb led home Mikko Hirvonen.
Team principal Yves Matton confirmed to DAVID EVANS that Meeke’s DS3 would be setup a little more conservatively today.
“We’ll look at the tyre strategy, maybe raising the car a little bit, things like that. At the moment, Kris has to keep on doing what he’s doing. It’s not easy, he’s looking for the first [win] and maybe that makes this whole thing twice as difficult. But I told Kris: “Even if you lose 40 seconds [today] you can still afford to lose a second per kilometre and win on Sunday.
“Right now we have two cars at the front and we are happy. If we stay like that then something good can happen.”
Matton listened to AUTOSPORT’s concerns for Meeke and a potentially big result for Britain in the two days ahead, before saying with a smile: “Don’t worry. Leave him to us.”
So the conservative setup on the DS3 is sure to produce a very exciting day today indeed.
It hasn't had one since Spain 2012, when Sebastian Loeb led home Mikko Hirvonen.
Loeb/Hirvonen/ Rally Spain 2012
Team principal Yves Matton confirmed to DAVID EVANS that Meeke’s DS3 would be setup a little more conservatively today.
“We’ll look at the tyre strategy, maybe raising the car a little bit, things like that. At the moment, Kris has to keep on doing what he’s doing. It’s not easy, he’s looking for the first [win] and maybe that makes this whole thing twice as difficult. But I told Kris: “Even if you lose 40 seconds [today] you can still afford to lose a second per kilometre and win on Sunday.
“Right now we have two cars at the front and we are happy. If we stay like that then something good can happen.”
Matton listened to AUTOSPORT’s concerns for Meeke and a potentially big result for Britain in the two days ahead, before saying with a smile: “Don’t worry. Leave him to us.”
So the conservative setup on the DS3 is sure to produce a very exciting day today indeed.
Northern Ireland driver Kris Meeke leads the way, after a number of WRC cars fell off yesterday.
- Reigning champion Sebastien Ogier suffered from engine trouble
- Ogier’s team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen also retired
- Haydon Paddon had every issue ever encountered with an automobile in one stage (engine mounts, turbo pipes, falling off exhaust etc.)
- Ott Tanak sparred with water for the second rally in a row. He hit a rock in a watersplash, ruling him out.
- Neuville had a puncture and nerfed Mikkelsen’s slowing Volkswagen later in the day
All that leaves Meeke with a healthy 1m08.4s lead at the beginning of day two.
It wouldn’t be unfair though, to say Meeke has had difficulty in these situations before, but the Citroen driver is due a good result after a terrible start to 2015.
Meeke told AUTOSPORT’s DAVID EVANS: “I always said that I thought Saturday would be harder. It’s so narrow, so twisty and tight. It’s tough.”
On the subject of any possible changes to the DS 3 WRC, the leader added: “I don’t want to change a thing. The team builds a beautiful car.”
- Reigning champion Sebastien Ogier suffered from engine trouble
- Ogier’s team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen also retired
- Haydon Paddon had every issue ever encountered with an automobile in one stage (engine mounts, turbo pipes, falling off exhaust etc.)
- Ott Tanak sparred with water for the second rally in a row. He hit a rock in a watersplash, ruling him out.
- Neuville had a puncture and nerfed Mikkelsen’s slowing Volkswagen later in the day
All that leaves Meeke with a healthy 1m08.4s lead at the beginning of day two.
It wouldn’t be unfair though, to say Meeke has had difficulty in these situations before, but the Citroen driver is due a good result after a terrible start to 2015.
Meeke told AUTOSPORT’s DAVID EVANS: “I always said that I thought Saturday would be harder. It’s so narrow, so twisty and tight. It’s tough.”
On the subject of any possible changes to the DS 3 WRC, the leader added: “I don’t want to change a thing. The team builds a beautiful car.”
Meeke/Citroen/Rally Argentina
WRC - Argentina: Good morning and welcome back to AUTOSPORT Live’s coverage of Rally Argentina.
If you missed yesterday’s action, you can catch up HERE.
If you missed yesterday’s action, you can catch up HERE.
Breaking news
WRC - Argentina: Here's the full report from today's second loop:
Meeke takes large lead into Saturday
We'll be back from 1pm UK time on Saturday to see if Meeke can move himself closer to that elusive first WRC win.
Meeke takes large lead into Saturday
We'll be back from 1pm UK time on Saturday to see if Meeke can move himself closer to that elusive first WRC win.
Kris Meeke, Citroen, WRC Argentina 2015
WRC - Argentina: So that time loss didn't just drop Latvala further away from Meeke, it cost him second to Ostberg too - giving Citroen a one-two order (been a while since we could say that!) going into leg two.
But Latvala suggests he'd actually expected to lose a lot more than that. He'll start Saturday 1m23s off the lead.
But Latvala suggests he'd actually expected to lose a lot more than that. He'll start Saturday 1m23s off the lead.
Checkered flag
WRC - Argentina - SS6 results:
1 Sordo 5m01.0s
2 Ostberg +0.1s
3 Neuville +1.9s
4 Meeke +3.4s
5 Evans +4.1s
6 Prokop +6.5s
Lead order:
1 Meeke
2 Ostberg +1m08.4s
3 Latvala +1m23.5s
4 Sordo +1m54.2s
5 Evans +1m59.7s
6 Prokop +3m27.4s
1 Sordo 5m01.0s
2 Ostberg +0.1s
3 Neuville +1.9s
4 Meeke +3.4s
5 Evans +4.1s
6 Prokop +6.5s
Lead order:
1 Meeke
2 Ostberg +1m08.4s
3 Latvala +1m23.5s
4 Sordo +1m54.2s
5 Evans +1m59.7s
6 Prokop +3m27.4s
WRC - Argentina: Meeke is through, surprisingly 3.4s down on Sordo.
Latvala loses 33.8s and last on the stage overall.
Latvala loses 33.8s and last on the stage overall.
WRC - Argentina: Watching Latvala, the Finn has little or no drive from the front wheels.
Heartbreaking stuff for the Finn.
Heartbreaking stuff for the Finn.
WRC - Argentina: You can't help feeling like Meeke is finishing off Latvala's chances of rally victory here, physically and mentally.
WRC - Argentina: Latvala is visibly struggling for traction on this stage and is if to rub it in, Meeke is flying!
WRC - Argentina: Sordo goes fastest with a 5m1s dead, just a tenth quicker than Ostberg.
Next up, Meeke vs Latvala.
How much time will Latvala lose with his front diff isssue?
Meeke has two fresh tyres for this stage...
Next up, Meeke vs Latvala.
How much time will Latvala lose with his front diff isssue?
Meeke has two fresh tyres for this stage...
WRC - Argentina: The onboard action with Sordo really is a joy to behold.
The Spaniard has the Hyundai on a sixpence on the tricky superspecial.
Meanwhile, stage leader Thierry Neuville has just put out a fire on his Hyundai...
The Spaniard has the Hyundai on a sixpence on the tricky superspecial.
Meanwhile, stage leader Thierry Neuville has just put out a fire on his Hyundai...
WRC - Argentina: This is the penultimate heat, with only Meeke and Latvala left to run.
WRC - Argentina: Neuville manages a 5m2.9s, 2.2s quicker than Evans. That put's them 1-2.
Sordo vs Ostberg next into the stage. Ostberg is third and Sordo fourth overall.
Sordo vs Ostberg next into the stage. Ostberg is third and Sordo fourth overall.
WRC - Argentina: The rear bumper is coming off the Hyundai, but that's probably the least of the Belgian's worries after the day he has endured.
He also hits the rear right in the same place as Evans!
He also hits the rear right in the same place as Evans!
WRC - Argentina: Evans again slides wide, clipping the bank before the watersplash.
Both drivers pushing very hard indeed.
Both drivers pushing very hard indeed.
WRC - Argentina: Evans is very sideways through the first corner!
The M-Sport man taking no prisoners and neither is Neuville, who hit the bank coming out of the watersplash. No damage to the Belgian's car though.
The M-Sport man taking no prisoners and neither is Neuville, who hit the bank coming out of the watersplash. No damage to the Belgian's car though.
Stopwatch
WRC - Argentina: As expected Prokop takes the fastest time by a 2.3s margin.
Ligato also impresses with the fourth fastest time.
Now we are into the meat of the WRC runners, Neuville and Evans up next.
Ligato also impresses with the fourth fastest time.
Now we are into the meat of the WRC runners, Neuville and Evans up next.
WRC - Argentina: The onboard footage of Prokop going through the watersplash shows it isn't that deep.
At least not compared to the kind we are used to seeing on this rally, and the one that took Ott Tanak out of the rally on SS4
At least not compared to the kind we are used to seeing on this rally, and the one that took Ott Tanak out of the rally on SS4
WRC - Argentina: Both drivers finish then, Saba sixth and Lefebvre seventh.
Prokop and Ligato are into the stage.
Prokop and Ligato are into the stage.
WRC - Argentina: Saba's Skoda Esso livery is very 306 Maxi, if only Gilles Panizzi was at the wheel.
Mind you, the asphalt specialist would probably struggle in the safari-like conditions of Argentina this weekend!
Mind you, the asphalt specialist would probably struggle in the safari-like conditions of Argentina this weekend!
WRC - Argentina: Saba's Skoda has a difficult start in the watersplash, it has taken off the front left part of the bumper!
WRC - Argentina: Already lined up are Citroen junior prospect Stephane Lefebvre and Gustavo Saba.
By: David Evans, Jack Benyon, Matt Beer, Peter Mills, Mitchell Adam
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