WRC Catalunya
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WRC - Spain: Next through are Novikov and Ostberg, respectively 18.4 and 35.9s off Sordo's stage-topping time.
With Mikkelsen out of the picture, Novikov is comfortably in sixth with Ostberg a spot further back.
The battle between Ostberg and Paddon for seventh continues to rage. Paddon is 0.6s slower than his fellow Fiesta man, meaning he falls to 1.6s behind in the overall order.
With Mikkelsen out of the picture, Novikov is comfortably in sixth with Ostberg a spot further back.
The battle between Ostberg and Paddon for seventh continues to rage. Paddon is 0.6s slower than his fellow Fiesta man, meaning he falls to 1.6s behind in the overall order.
WRC - Spain: No sign of Mikkelsen yet on SS5, which means he has not made it here after that suspension breakage on SS4.
We'll keep you informed as to whether the Norwegian makes it across, although he will incur penalties at this rate.
We'll keep you informed as to whether the Norwegian makes it across, although he will incur penalties at this rate.
WRC - Spain: Neuville is 13.5s off the pace on the stage and now over 35s behind Ogier. He'll have trouble holding on to fourth with that time if Hirvonen produces something half-decent...
He's lucky. Hirvonen is just 1s faster, so Neuville keeps fourth, albeit at a reduced 3.6s behind.
Neuville can't explain his pace. He says he will re-check his pace notes and examine his set-up.
He's lucky. Hirvonen is just 1s faster, so Neuville keeps fourth, albeit at a reduced 3.6s behind.
Neuville can't explain his pace. He says he will re-check his pace notes and examine his set-up.
Stopwatch
WRC - Spain: Sordo arrives at the stage finish and is fastest so far, 2.9s faster than Ogier.
That time ensures he moves back into second place, now 0.5s ahead of Latvala overall.
Sordo says it was tough to know how hard to push with needing to manage his Michelins during the 26-miler.
That time ensures he moves back into second place, now 0.5s ahead of Latvala overall.
Sordo says it was tough to know how hard to push with needing to manage his Michelins during the 26-miler.
WRC - Spain: Latvala completes the stage 1.4s slower than his VW team-mate, and that means he drops to 7.0s behind him in the overall standings.
The Finn complains that he could not push on slippery new Tarmac laid down after the 10-mile mark.
The Finn complains that he could not push on slippery new Tarmac laid down after the 10-mile mark.
Stopwatch
WRC - Spain: 23m25.3s for Ogier as he completes SS5.
The world champion says the need to manage his tyres over such a long stage meant he was unable to push hard.
The world champion says the need to manage his tyres over such a long stage meant he was unable to push hard.
WRC - Spain: The road-position argument, incidentally, has been a bone of contention during the run-up to spain as organisers grew increasingly worried of tactical driving.
You can read all about the argument here.
You can read all about the argument here.
WRC - Spain: Sordo is charging through SS5, 1.4s up on Ogier at the second split. Wonder if he'll be regretting deliberately by quite so much at the end of last night?
Surely it would have made sense to charge all the way to the end of Day 2 and then work out how much time to sacrifice for the sake of road position.
Surely it would have made sense to charge all the way to the end of Day 2 and then work out how much time to sacrifice for the sake of road position.
WRC - Spain: Stage 5, El Priorat 1, is now underway with Ogier en route.
WRC - Spain: SS4 is at an end, for the front-runners at least. The key points from Riudcecanyes 2 were Latvala and Sordo each taking over 3s from Ogier's lead and Mikkelsen's collision with a rock dropping the VW man from sixth to ninth.
The big question for VW is whether it can repair Mikkelsen's car ahead of the next stage - the longest of the rally.
The big question for VW is whether it can repair Mikkelsen's car ahead of the next stage - the longest of the rally.
WRC - Spain: Positions after SS4: 1 Ogier, 45m09.3s; 2 Latvala, +5.6s; 3 Sordo, +9.4s; 4 Neuville, +24.6s; 5 Hirvonen, +29.2s; 6 Novikov, +32.3s; 7 Ostberg, +1m20.8s; 8 Paddon, +1m21.8s; 9 Mikkelsen, +1m23.9s; 10 Prokop, +1m24.7s.
WRC - Spain: SS4 times: 1 Sordo, 10m26.2s; 2 Latvala, +0.0s; 3 Ogier, +3.2s; 4 Hirvoenen, +5.1s; 5 Novikov, +7.0s; 6 Neuville, +8.7s; 7 Prokop, +14.9s; 8 Paddon, +16.0s; 9 Ostberg, +16.3s; 10 Kubica, +19.9s.
WRC - Spain: Kubica continues his sparkling run through the Catalan stages with the 10th fastest time overall - up on four WRC cars, despite having only a Citroen DS3 RRC at his disposal.
Chief event rival Elfyn Evans - son of Gwyndaf - is nine seconds slower and is now more than a minute off the pace.
Nice, incidentally, to see Enrique Garcia Ojeda leading WRC3. He, you may remember, was the Intercontinental Rally Challenge champion in 2007.
Chief event rival Elfyn Evans - son of Gwyndaf - is nine seconds slower and is now more than a minute off the pace.
Nice, incidentally, to see Enrique Garcia Ojeda leading WRC3. He, you may remember, was the Intercontinental Rally Challenge champion in 2007.
WRC - Spain: Through come the three Middle-Eastern drivers on the fringes of the top 10. Nasser Al-Attiyah - Dakar winner two years ago, you may remember - is 10th fastest and has 11th overall currently.
Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari, who is unable to affect WRC2 title rival Robert Kubica's aspirations (as he's driving a World Rally Car) this weekend, is 13th on the stage with Khalid Al-Qassimi splitting them.
Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari, who is unable to affect WRC2 title rival Robert Kubica's aspirations (as he's driving a World Rally Car) this weekend, is 13th on the stage with Khalid Al-Qassimi splitting them.
WRC - Spain: Paddon takes 0.3s out of Ostberg by setting the seventh-best time. He now sits 1.0s behind the Norwegian in what is an improved eighth spot.
The fight for seventh is now the closest inside the top 10.
Excellent run through SS4 for Martin Prokop. The Czech goes over a second quicker than Paddon for P7 on the stage.
He's also just 2.1s off Mikkelsen's ninth spot and likely to move ahead of the Norwegian if the VW's suspension is not remedied quickly.
The fight for seventh is now the closest inside the top 10.
Excellent run through SS4 for Martin Prokop. The Czech goes over a second quicker than Paddon for P7 on the stage.
He's also just 2.1s off Mikkelsen's ninth spot and likely to move ahead of the Norwegian if the VW's suspension is not remedied quickly.
WRC - Spain: Novikov is through, fifth fastest and 7.0s off the pace in his Ford.
Having lost sixth to Mikkelsen on the final stage last night, he's moved back ahead of the Norwegian.
Next through is team-mate Ostberg, another 9.3s off the pace. His countryman's problem allows him to climb at least one spot, but Hayden Paddon was very close behind and is the next driver due at the stage finish.
Having lost sixth to Mikkelsen on the final stage last night, he's moved back ahead of the Norwegian.
Next through is team-mate Ostberg, another 9.3s off the pace. His countryman's problem allows him to climb at least one spot, but Hayden Paddon was very close behind and is the next driver due at the stage finish.
Crash
WRC - Spain: Mikkelsen, sixth overnight, arrives at the stage finish with the slowest time so far - a minute off the pace.
His car crabs awkwardly as he comes through the stage finish and appears to have broken rear suspension.
"There was a very slow left-hander. We ran wide with the rear and there was a stone. Something is going the wrong way at the back," says the Norwegian.
His car crabs awkwardly as he comes through the stage finish and appears to have broken rear suspension.
"There was a very slow left-hander. We ran wide with the rear and there was a stone. Something is going the wrong way at the back," says the Norwegian.
WRC - Spain: Fourth-placed Neuville is 8.7s slower than the pace-setting Latvala/Sordo time and says his car never stopped sliding during the stage. He's now 24.6s behind overall, but should hang on to fourth.
Hirvonen, fifth overnight, takes 3.6s off the Belgian and is only 4.6s behind him overall now.
Hirvonen, fifth overnight, takes 3.6s off the Belgian and is only 4.6s behind him overall now.
WRC - Spain: Sordo ends the stage with an identical time to Latvala, which puts him joint-fastest on this test.
The Citroen man remains 3.8s behind Latvala overall, but slashes the deficit to Ogier to 9.4s. He should hang on to third overall.
Sordo is puzzled after his mid-stage split showed him as 3s up on Latvala. He has no idea where the time went.
The Citroen man remains 3.8s behind Latvala overall, but slashes the deficit to Ogier to 9.4s. He should hang on to third overall.
Sordo is puzzled after his mid-stage split showed him as 3s up on Latvala. He has no idea where the time went.
Stopwatch
WRC - Spain: Latvala comes through with a faster time than Ogier. He's 3.2s ahead of his team-mate and that reduces his overall deficit to the Frenchman to just 5.6s.
Latvala insists there are no team tactics, but it does look like VW have got him doing something a little different.
Latvala insists there are no team tactics, but it does look like VW have got him doing something a little different.
Stopwatch
WRC - Spain: Ogier completes the stage in 10m29.4s. That's six seconds faster than last night, but in daylight, of course.
The Frenchman is cagey when asked about his strategy for today, blaming his Polo's set-up for what doesn't look to be a wonderful time.
The Frenchman is cagey when asked about his strategy for today, blaming his Polo's set-up for what doesn't look to be a wonderful time.
WRC - Spain: The running order this morning is the based on the classification at the end of SS3, which means Ogier and Latvala will be the first two cars through.
Coming up after this run is the rally's longest stage - the 26.2 miles of El Priorat - as SS4 at 0905 (UK time). SS5, the first of two runs through Colldejou, gets underway at 1045 and concludes the morning loop of stages.
Coming up after this run is the rally's longest stage - the 26.2 miles of El Priorat - as SS4 at 0905 (UK time). SS5, the first of two runs through Colldejou, gets underway at 1045 and concludes the morning loop of stages.
Green flag
WRC - Spain: The opening stage of the day, the SS4 run through Riudecanyes - a second run through last night's final stage - is already underway.
WRC - Spain: Ogier is the man right now, leading by 8.8s from his VW team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala.
Here's a full recap of what happened last night.
Good morning and welcome to AUTOSPORT Race Centre Live on Saturday, October 26.
First up this morning it's up-to-the-minute coverage of the Rally of Spain, with Sebastien Ogier building a decent lead in his VW on last night's loop of stages.
First up this morning it's up-to-the-minute coverage of the Rally of Spain, with Sebastien Ogier building a decent lead in his VW on last night's loop of stages.
WRC - Spain: Neuville seriously concerned about the understeer, but happily for us even AUTOSPORT's iPhone pics look arty in the dark.
That's it for tonight. We'll be back from 0800 tomorrow morning with LIVE coverage of the second loop of stages from Rally Spain.
Until then, good night.
Until then, good night.
NASCAR - Martinsville: And in case you missed it, Denny Hamlin took pole for the Martinsville race, his fifth of the year and the 17th of the Joe Gibbs Toyota driver's career.
A full report from that session is here.
A full report from that session is here.
WRC - Spain: So Sebastien Ogier does the expected and ends the opening night loop of the Rally of Spain with an 8.8s lead over Jari-Matti Latvala and Robert Kubica leads WRC2 on his way to the title.
You can read a full round-up of the opening night here.
You can read a full round-up of the opening night here.
WRC - Spain: Positions after SS3: 1 Ogier, 34m39.9s; 2 Latvala, +8.8s; 3 Sordo, +12.6s; 4 Neuville, +19.1s; 5 Hirvonen, +27.3s; 6 Mikkelsen, +27.8s; 7 Novikov, +28.5s; 8 Ostberg, +1m07.7s; 9 Paddon, +1m09.0s; 10 Prokop, +1m13.0s.
WRC - Spain: SS3 times: 1 Ogier, 10m35.9s; 2 Latvala, +0.1s; 3 Mikkelsen, +3.0s; 4 Novikov, +3.9s; 5 Neuville, +4.1s; 6 Hirvonen, +4.7s; 7 Sordo, +6.0s; 8 Ostberg, +13.6s; 9 Prokop, +16.4s; 10 Paddon, 19.6s.
WRC - Spain: It's a British driver, Elfyn Evans, who is closest to Kubica on time, albeit 50s behind. Sepp Weigand is another 25s behind in third.
WRC - Spain: Kubica, in an S2000 Peugeot, is only a second slower than Paddon's World Rally Car.
The Pole, who can wrap up the WRC2 title this weekend, is 11th fastest and holds that spot overall too.
The Pole, who can wrap up the WRC2 title this weekend, is 11th fastest and holds that spot overall too.
WRC - Spain: Al-Attiyah and Al-Qassimi come through and hold station. Expect them to remain 12th and 13th once the entire field has come through.
Next through is Paddon, making his debut in a World Rally Car. This is the Kiwi's worst stage of the event so far. Tenth fastest and over 19s off the pace drops him a spot to ninth overall.
Ostberg moves the sister Ford past him and into eighth by 1.3s.
Next through is Paddon, making his debut in a World Rally Car. This is the Kiwi's worst stage of the event so far. Tenth fastest and over 19s off the pace drops him a spot to ninth overall.
Ostberg moves the sister Ford past him and into eighth by 1.3s.
WRC - Spain: Mikkelsen, now with regular co-driver Mikko Markkula back alongside him, goes third quickest, 2.9s slower than Ogier.
That's a Volkswagen 1-2-3 for the stage.
More significantly, Mikkelsen is 0.9s quicker than Novikov and moves back into sixth spot, 0.5s ahead of the Russian.
That's a Volkswagen 1-2-3 for the stage.
More significantly, Mikkelsen is 0.9s quicker than Novikov and moves back into sixth spot, 0.5s ahead of the Russian.
WRC - Spain: Novikov is third quickest, just 3.8s slower than Ogier. He's still sixth, but now only 1.2s behind Hirvonen in fifth.
Next through is Martin Prokop, over 16s off the pace, but he reveals he's gone straight on at a junction and had turn around to get back onto the stage.
Next through is Martin Prokop, over 16s off the pace, but he reveals he's gone straight on at a junction and had turn around to get back onto the stage.
WRC - Spain: Mads Ostberg is the next driver through and he's 13.6s off the pace and slowest so far.
The Norwegian says there are no short-ratio gearboxes available to him at M-Sport, so he's using a long-ratio box more regularly used on fast gravel events.
He's seriously lacking acceleration out of the slower turns and will be lucky to move up from his current ninth spot tonight.
The Norwegian says there are no short-ratio gearboxes available to him at M-Sport, so he's using a long-ratio box more regularly used on fast gravel events.
He's seriously lacking acceleration out of the slower turns and will be lucky to move up from his current ninth spot tonight.
WRC - Spain: Those tactics ensure Sordo is 6s slower than Ogier. That drops him to third place behind Latvala.
Even Citroen team-mate Hirvonen is faster by 1.9s, the Finn keeping fifth.
Even Citroen team-mate Hirvonen is faster by 1.9s, the Finn keeping fifth.
WRC- Spain: The tactics have started already. Sordo slows at the end of the stage to be sure he runs behind Latvala through tomorrow - ensuring he can make the same decision on Saturday night ahead of Sunday's gravel roads.
Nobody wants to be first on the road for the third day - where, if the weather stays dry, they will be sweeping the loose gravel clear for those running behind.
Nobody wants to be first on the road for the third day - where, if the weather stays dry, they will be sweeping the loose gravel clear for those running behind.
WRC - Spain: Neuville is 4.4s slower than Ogier and that drops him to 19.1s off the lead. He should hang on to fourth overall with that, as Hirvonen - behind him - is showing very similar split times.
Latvala is through as well, 0.1s slower than Ogier and 8.8s down overall. He had been 2.1s off second-placed Sordo before this stage. Let's see if that time moves him up to second.
Latvala is through as well, 0.1s slower than Ogier and 8.8s down overall. He had been 2.1s off second-placed Sordo before this stage. Let's see if that time moves him up to second.
By: Jamie O'Leary, David Evans, Scott Mitchell, Matt Beer
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