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WRC - France: Mikkelsen slowest and very unhappy at the finish. "Disaster," he said. "I cannot push more without big risks. This is not the weather we hoped for. I had the wipers full on and we are on hard tyres. I cannot do more than this."
WRC - France: Sordo leads Loeb by two tenths of a second. Ogier third... 2.3s down on the Spaniard. Latvala third three second off the front with Neuville a further second back.
Auto GP - Brno: Championship outsider Narain Karthikeyan managed to set the fastest time before the stoppage.
The Indian, who is fourth in the drivers' standings, has recorded a quickest lap of 1m44.056s, 1.366s faster than Virtuosi Racing's Andrea Roda.
The Indian, who is fourth in the drivers' standings, has recorded a quickest lap of 1m44.056s, 1.366s faster than Virtuosi Racing's Andrea Roda.
Rain
WRC - France: Weather-watch... rain all the way through SS3 now.
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WRC - France: Loeb said: "At the moment it's going well. I was not so confident when I started, but I have done to two best times so far. It started to to be muddy for me in this one and then next stage will be difficult with the hard tyre..."
Red flag
Auto GP - Brno: Practice for the Auto GP title decider at Brno is underway, and already the red flags are out for Ibiza Racing's Francesco Dracone who has stopped at Turn 1.
Stopwatch
WRC - France: Loeb at the finish with wipers on - but he's FASTEST! Even when it rains, he's still quicker than the rest! Awesome effort from the nine-time champion.
WRC - France: Sordo slower than Neuville, but the Spaniard still leading. Ostberg drops 16s in the stage, reporting more significant rain.
WRC - France: Latvala goes 1s quicker than Ogier in SS3, but is still 0.6s down on Neuville.
Hirvonen is the first driver to report rain in the stage. The Citroen-driving Finn was also slowed when the headset he uses on the road section became dislodged and rolled around in the footwell.
Hirvonen is the first driver to report rain in the stage. The Citroen-driving Finn was also slowed when the headset he uses on the road section became dislodged and rolled around in the footwell.
WRC - France: Sordo is equal with Neuville through the first two splits.
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WRC - France: Neuville goes quickest by 1.6s. He said: "I pushed hard in there, but I think we can still do better - I am not so comfortable with the car and the settings."
WRC- France: Ogier is at the finish and reporting road damp under the trees. Neuville takes time out of the new world champion on the first two splits.
Lights out
WRC - France: The cars are on SS3.
VW banner
WRC - France: AUTOSPORT had a great chat with Ogier this morning. He and Julien Ingrassia enjoyed a glass of champagne after service last night. He then ate a bowl of chicken and tomato pasta.
VW installed themselves a new banner in their corner of the service park...
WRC - France: Light drizzle on SS3, but the road is mainly dry except for the final mile which is damp.
WRC - France: SS3 start delayed by 10 minutes.
WRC-France: Elfyn Evans unable to find rhythm and drops 10.8s to WRC2 leader Kubica. It's a different story to last year, when the Welshman clinched the WRC Academy title at the end of Klevener.
Robert Kubica
WRC - France: Leading WRC 2 runner Robert Kubica is through in his Citroen DS3 RRC.
"It was OK," said the Pole. "It was more slippery than we expected. There was more gravel than I thought there would be."
Kubica's fellow former racer Tomas Kostka has stopped in the stage. The DS3 WRC is believed to be off the road - Kubica didn't see him anywhere in SS2.
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WRC - France: Romain Dumas through the stage in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC. The 2010 Le Mans winner said: "It was a difficult stage, it was a bit dirty and I'm not used to this."
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WRC - France: Now just two seconds behind his Citroen team-mate Sordo in overall terms, Loeb said: "Good start. I tried to push really hard and the feeling was good. it wasn't a difficult stage and the road was dry."
Stopwatch
WRC - France: Loeb goes fastest! He's back.
WRC - France: Loeb is 0.2s slower than Sordo at the first split. Ostberg reaches the finish and reports the soft tyre at the rear is causing the the car to slide. The Norwegian is also wearing glasses through the stage for the first time.
Breaking news
Simon Pagenaud
IndyCar - Houston: Ahead of IndyCar's return to action following a five-week break in Houston this weekend, Honda has told AUTOSPORT that the series isn't sustainable without a third engine manufacturer.
WRC - France: Sordo is fastest so far. Lots of confidence from the rally-leading Spaniard. His team-mate Hirvonen is struggling with the car sliding too much and feels his Citroen might be too soft.
WRC - France: Sordo is 0.2s faster than Ogier to the first split. Loeb is on the line...
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WRC - France: Latvala is quickest through the stage so far. He said: "The car feels very good. I like this stage. The road was dry and there wasn't so much cutting as I thought the boys would be doing in front."
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WRC - France: Neuville is 3.6s down at the end of the stage.
"I had a very good stage. I had one small slide where I lost some time. I brake later than Sebastien, it was quite on the limit," he says.
"I had a very good stage. I had one small slide where I lost some time. I brake later than Sebastien, it was quite on the limit," he says.
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WRC - France: Neuville is 1.2s down on Ogier at first split. Ogier completes SS2. "It was OK. I had to force myself to concentrate, there was not so much sleep. I wasn't so late to bed, but it took some time to sleep..."
WRC - France: Ogier into SS2. Stage looks dry enough for hard tyres. Lots of junctions through the vineyards in this one. Michelin tells us Citroen and VW have four hards for all drivers plus one hard spare, while M-Sport drivers Mads Ostberg and Thierry Neuville are running two hards and two softs.
WRC - France: Good morning from Strasbourg. Funny old morning here, lots of cloud, but some sun coming through every now and then. Lot of head scratching regarding tyre choices as rain expected in the late morning or early afternoon.
Welcome back to AUTOSPORT Race Centre Live for Friday October 4 2013.
We already have a new world champion this weekend as Sebastien Ogier put the 2013 WRC title beyond doubt.
Now the focus is on who will actually win the rally. It's Sebastien Loeb's WRC farewell, so he'd hate to lose. Equally new king Ogier doesn't want his crowning weekend soiled by a win for his nemesis. The first proper day in France kicks off shortly.
And by the end of today, we may well also have a better idea of who will be IndyCar and Auto GP champions too.
We already have a new world champion this weekend as Sebastien Ogier put the 2013 WRC title beyond doubt.
Now the focus is on who will actually win the rally. It's Sebastien Loeb's WRC farewell, so he'd hate to lose. Equally new king Ogier doesn't want his crowning weekend soiled by a win for his nemesis. The first proper day in France kicks off shortly.
And by the end of today, we may well also have a better idea of who will be IndyCar and Auto GP champions too.
WRC - France: Here's a picture of a French WRC champion. No, not quite that one (just yet). With all the fuss now, deservedly, surrounding Seb Ogier, here's one final tribute to the outgoing champion.
Seb Loeb was magnanimous as he witnessed the dawning of a new era for rallying. Just for that, let us leave you with David Evans' run through of nine of the best WRC memories the legendary Loeb has left us with.
Memories of life with Loeb
One cannot help but wonder how a similar list for Ogier might look in 10-15 years time...
WRC - France: Incredible emotion from Ogier and VW team. Brilliant, brilliant scenes for a team in its first full season at the highest level. Loeb super-cool too. Massive number of people around as well. Almost impossible for the cars to get away from the stage end.
How on earth can the rest of Rallye de France live up to this? It can. It's a straight fight: Ogier v Loeb now. New versus old. I can't wait!
How on earth can the rest of Rallye de France live up to this? It can. It's a straight fight: Ogier v Loeb now. New versus old. I can't wait!
Checkered flag
WRC - France - power stage: 1 Sordo; 2 Neuville +0.7s; 3 Ogier +0.8s; 4 Hirvonen +1.4s; 5 Mikkelsen +1.5s.
WRC - France: Loeb came through seventh, for those that still care about the power stage results!
WRC - France: Big hug from Nic Deschaux (FFSA) and now hugs from Capito. Loeb also out the car and giving him a hug. Hugs all round...
WRC - France: "I'm so happy," says Ogier, who comes through third fastest thus far. So the new champion should be!
WRC - France: Ogier completes his run and that's some reception he's getting.
WRC - France: Loeb's put all the lights on!
WRC - France: We have two world champions on the stage right now.
By: Scott Mitchell, Sam Tremayne, David Evans, Matt Beer, Peter Mills, Jamie O'Leary, Mark Glendenning, Dan Cross, Pablo Elizalde
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