WRC France, Houston IndyCar
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WRC - France: Loeb off the line now as well. For those interested, Ogier running without spots and Loeb with the corner spots ablaze.
WRC - France: For the record, Neuville came through 0.7s slower than Sordo.
WRC - France: Just incredible! Neuville looks emotional himself. He looked quite ragged through the stage - really pushing hard. Amazing! And Ogier's just left the startline.
Breaking news
WRC - France: He's not quickest!
Sebastien Ogier has won the 2013 World Rally Championship!
Sebastien Ogier has won the 2013 World Rally Championship!
WRC - France: The tension builds...
WRC - France: Neuville is...
WRC - France: Latvala does a 3m23.4s...
WRC - France: Thierry's in! Any kind of mistake from the Belgian here and we have ourselves a champion...
WRC - France: But first, Mikko Hirvonen. He's also slower than Sordo, but pips Mikkelsen by 0.1s.
WRC - France: "The feeling was good. Citroen went for hard tyres and I think looking back at it now, the hard tyre would have been faster."
That will be music to the ears of Loeb, but Neuville's not going to be thrilled. He's up next...
That will be music to the ears of Loeb, but Neuville's not going to be thrilled. He's up next...
WRC - France: Mikkelsen completes his run, but he's slightly slower than Sordo, 1.5s to be precise.
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WRC - France: Sordo's hoping to repeat his breakthrough WRC win in Germany a few weeks back.
"Of course I want to do that, for me this rally is more important than Germany," he says. "It's France, Loeb and Ogier will be competing between [each other] and it'd nice if we can be in the fight."
"Of course I want to do that, for me this rally is more important than Germany," he says. "It's France, Loeb and Ogier will be competing between [each other] and it'd nice if we can be in the fight."
WRC - France: Lights, we have lights! Mikkelsen and Hirvonen both have lights on. Andreas main beam but no spots; Mikko main beam and bottom corner spots (but not the four across the bonnet). More light news later...
WRC - France: It's second for Novikov, a 3m24.5s.
WRC - France: Dani Sordo is quickest through so far, having just finished his power stage run in 3m20.8s. Novikov is through now, and we await his time...
WRC - France: And for those wondering about the weather, it's cloudy and overcast but it's not going to rain. Not until Saturday. And then it'll be cats and dogs.
WRC - France: The light's just beginning to fade here in France, but still nobody's using lights. Different spotlight strategies though... the M-Sport Fiestas running without spots, while Citroen's DS3 WRCs have the full pod.
WRC - France: We have our first meaningful times through. Martin Prokop completed the stage in 3m21.1s, which puts him top ahead of Kubica. Mads Ostberg only manages a 3m28.6s, and third.
WRC - France: Massive anticipation building in Strasbourg. Big, big crowds out here in Strasbourg. Big cheer going up every time Sebastien Loeb's name in mentioned. Wonder why that is...
Breaking news
WRC - France: Ahead of his final rally, AUTOSPORT is paying its tribute to the legend that is nine-time WRC champion Loeb. Feast your eyes on the pictorial pleasure that is...
Loeb in the WRC: the best shots
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WRC - France: Ogier meanwhile had only kind words for his departing rival, despite their well-documented past acrimony.
"I will take a lot of good memories, even if everyone tries to remember the fights, the rivalry," he said. "There were exciting times. Whatever happens, I will always have a lot of respect for him.
"As we have seen during the recce he will have a big support and I think he deserves that. It must be very difficult to leave, but at the same time great to see these people have come here for him."
"I will take a lot of good memories, even if everyone tries to remember the fights, the rivalry," he said. "There were exciting times. Whatever happens, I will always have a lot of respect for him.
"As we have seen during the recce he will have a big support and I think he deserves that. It must be very difficult to leave, but at the same time great to see these people have come here for him."
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WRC - France: Speaking in the pre-event press conference, outgoing champion Sebastien Loeb admitted he didn't expect to start too strongly given his time away from the cockpit.
"In this sport especially, the rhythm is very important," Loeb said. "In Argentina I felt it at the start; here I don’t know how it will be."
He also insisted his retirement would be final - and that there would be no Sainz-esque one-off returns - adding: "The plan is not to come back; it was to find a new challenge. I hope I will not come back."
"In this sport especially, the rhythm is very important," Loeb said. "In Argentina I felt it at the start; here I don’t know how it will be."
He also insisted his retirement would be final - and that there would be no Sainz-esque one-off returns - adding: "The plan is not to come back; it was to find a new challenge. I hope I will not come back."
WRC - France: Michelin has revealed the tyre choice made by the teams. Citroen has opted for four hard tyres for all drivers, VW has gone for four soft tyres for Latvala and Mikkelsen, and two hard, two soft for Ogier. The Ford drivers will run on four soft tyres.
WRC - France: And as Kubica finishes, we're into the final eight men, starting with Dani Sordo.
Neuville (who starts at 1733), Ogier (1738) and Loeb (1739) are our final three.
Neuville (who starts at 1733), Ogier (1738) and Loeb (1739) are our final three.
WRC - France: While the big hitters are not due out on stage for a little while yet, we've had quite a few runners so far - most recently WRC 2 frontrunners Elfyn Evans, who completed the stage in 3m33.1s, and Robert Kubica, who is quickest, having gone 4.9s than his rival.
WRC - France: Despite winning Rally Australia, Ogier was denied the title by Thierry Neuville's late move into second. So, here is a reminder of the points situation in France:
* Thierry Neuville must win this evening's power stage if he is to deny Ogier the title today.
* If he does, he also needs to win the rally and Ogier non-score. Ogier could earn points in the power stage today, but would need to finish the rally to have them added to his total.
* The Belgian M-Sport Ford driver would then need to repeat the performance in Spain and Great Britain to become world champion.
WRC - France: We start on this late Thursday afternoon in Strasbourg, where Rally France kicks off with the power stage. The 4.55km stage could be where Sebastien Ogier wraps up the 2013 World Rally Championship.
Hello and welcome to AUTOSPORT Race Centre Live, where we could well be crowning a world champion early this evening.
Sebastien Ogier WRC 2013
By: Scott Mitchell, Sam Tremayne, David Evans, Matt Beer, Peter Mills, Jamie O'Leary, Mark Glendenning, Dan Cross, Pablo Elizalde
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