WRC Germany, GP2 Spa, IndyCar Pocono
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WRC - Germany: Our lead battle was a three-way VW fight earlier, but now it's distilling into Ogier versus Latvala. Mikkelsen was 6s slower than his team-mates on SS2 and that's dropped him nearly 10s adrift overall.
"I was way too careful," Mikkelsen admits.
"I was way too careful," Mikkelsen admits.
WRC - Germany: Advantage swinging back Meeke's way behind the VWs, he's up on Neuville near the end of the stage.
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WRC - Germany: Latvala isn't losing much to Ogier right now, but it's enough to prompt a little frustration. He's unhappy with his driving and an understeering Polo.
WRC - Germany: Behind the VWs, this could be a pretty epic fight between a horde of Hyundais and Meeke. Neuville is taking a little time back out of the fourth-placed Citroen on the SS2 splits at present.
Ostberg isn't in that fight, he's coming through at a steady pace again and is already 25s off the lead.
Ostberg isn't in that fight, he's coming through at a steady pace again and is already 25s off the lead.
WRC - Germany: But once again, Latvala pulls some time back later on the stage to finish just 0.4s down. That puts Ogier's overall lead at 1.8s after SS2.
At present, it looks like those two are going to be sneaking away from Mikkelsen, he's a couple of seconds off their pace on the splits.
At present, it looks like those two are going to be sneaking away from Mikkelsen, he's a couple of seconds off their pace on the splits.
Stopwatch
WRC - Germany: Once again, Ogier is quicker out of the blocks than Latvala, he's gained a second at the first split.
WRC - Germany: All the factory crews have new Michelin tyres for this event, says DAVID EVANS.
The French firm has been busy creating a new tread pattern, compound and construction for its asphalt covers and this week is the first time we'll see them in competition.
The wet weather performance has been the main focus of the development, but with much of the testing being done in the dry, a wet Sunday will be of particular interest.
"We've made a big, big step in terms of wet conditions," director of Michelin Motorsport Pascal Couasnon told AUTOSPORT, "but we didn't really get the chance to see this yet – nobody has tested in the very wet conditions."
Couasnon added that making a tyre which worked on rallies as diverse as Corsica, Catalunya and Germany wasn't easy.
"With Corsica coming back, we had a big focus on this rally with the hard tyre, but we are ready for this now," said Couasnon.
"It can be tough there, it's twisty and there's not much straight [to cool the tyre] and then we go to Spain where it's higher speed and Germany where it can be colder.
"We have to find the solution for all of those, and we believe we have done that."
The French firm has been busy creating a new tread pattern, compound and construction for its asphalt covers and this week is the first time we'll see them in competition.
The wet weather performance has been the main focus of the development, but with much of the testing being done in the dry, a wet Sunday will be of particular interest.
"We've made a big, big step in terms of wet conditions," director of Michelin Motorsport Pascal Couasnon told AUTOSPORT, "but we didn't really get the chance to see this yet – nobody has tested in the very wet conditions."
Couasnon added that making a tyre which worked on rallies as diverse as Corsica, Catalunya and Germany wasn't easy.
"With Corsica coming back, we had a big focus on this rally with the hard tyre, but we are ready for this now," said Couasnon.
"It can be tough there, it's twisty and there's not much straight [to cool the tyre] and then we go to Spain where it's higher speed and Germany where it can be colder.
"We have to find the solution for all of those, and we believe we have done that."
Lights out
WRC - Germany: Next up is the 10.19-mile Waxweiler stage.
It's Meeke's co-driver Nagle's turn to describe the stages for us, here's his verdict on this one:
"This is the same nature of stage as the first one, but we're further from service this time, north of Bitburg.
"There's always a huge amount of cutting goes on in here. This was the place where Ogier was able to make big gains in the wet, cutting the corner and pulling the mud onto the line.
"But, with the weather expected to stay dry, the cuts will make the road quite dirty and dusty, but it shouldn't be too much of a bother for us.
"Again, like Sauertal, there are lots of junctions in here, linking some really fast roads with some narrower more trickier ones."
Ogier is onto the stage now.
It's Meeke's co-driver Nagle's turn to describe the stages for us, here's his verdict on this one:
"This is the same nature of stage as the first one, but we're further from service this time, north of Bitburg.
"There's always a huge amount of cutting goes on in here. This was the place where Ogier was able to make big gains in the wet, cutting the corner and pulling the mud onto the line.
"But, with the weather expected to stay dry, the cuts will make the road quite dirty and dusty, but it shouldn't be too much of a bother for us.
"Again, like Sauertal, there are lots of junctions in here, linking some really fast roads with some narrower more trickier ones."
Ogier is onto the stage now.
WRC - Germany:
Order so far with just over 15 minutes until the next stage:
1 Ogier
2 Latvala +1.4s
3 Mikkelsen +3.6s
4 Meeke +6.3s
5 Sordo +8.1s
6 Neuville +8.8s
7 Paddon +9.5s
8 Evans +10.1s
9 Lefebvre +12.4s
10 Ostberg +13.1s
Order so far with just over 15 minutes until the next stage:
1 Ogier
2 Latvala +1.4s
3 Mikkelsen +3.6s
4 Meeke +6.3s
5 Sordo +8.1s
6 Neuville +8.8s
7 Paddon +9.5s
8 Evans +10.1s
9 Lefebvre +12.4s
10 Ostberg +13.1s
WRC - Germany: We owe Stephane Lefebvre an apology, forgot that he is making his World Rally Car debut this weekend and went onto auto-pilot and saw him as the first WRC2 on the list.
Last year's Junior champion and a Citroen protege, Lefebvre has been promoted to a DS3 WRC for Germany and has made a very, very good start - he's ninth overall already.
Last year's Junior champion and a Citroen protege, Lefebvre has been promoted to a DS3 WRC for Germany and has made a very, very good start - he's ninth overall already.
Stephane Lefebvre, Citroen, WRC Germany 2015
Breaking news
WRC - Germany - SS1 summary:
* Ogier takes narrow early lead ahead of VW team-mates Latvala and Mikkelsen
* Tanak goes off the road, visits a field, clips a barrier and loses 19s
* Meeke is best of the rest so far, ahead of some closely-matched Hyundais
* Kubica begins the day with a five-minute penalty for an engine change last night
* Stray horses force a 16-minute delay
* Ogier takes narrow early lead ahead of VW team-mates Latvala and Mikkelsen
* Tanak goes off the road, visits a field, clips a barrier and loses 19s
* Meeke is best of the rest so far, ahead of some closely-matched Hyundais
* Kubica begins the day with a five-minute penalty for an engine change last night
* Stray horses force a 16-minute delay
Lights out
WRC - Germany: Meanwhile Rally Germany is back under way now the horses have been safely retrieved. Turns out there might have been three rather than one. Abbring comes through 19s off the pace.
Breaking news
V8 Supercars - Eastern Creek: Practice for the latest V8 round at what is now called Sydney Motorsport Park took place earlier today, and featured a very, very unusual incident for James Courtney:
Courtney hospitalised after freak helicopter-related incident
Chaz Mostert was fastest, as Prodrive Australia's march continues. The team won all three races at Queensland Raceway last time out and Mark Winterbottom looks in great shape to end Jamie Whincup's title run this year.
Courtney hospitalised after freak helicopter-related incident
Chaz Mostert was fastest, as Prodrive Australia's march continues. The team won all three races at Queensland Raceway last time out and Mark Winterbottom looks in great shape to end Jamie Whincup's title run this year.
Chaz Mostert, Prodrive Australia Ford, Eastern Creek V8 Supercars 2015
Stopwatch
WRC - Germany: So with 12 of our 13 top-class field through, here's a recap on the order so far:
1 Ogier
2 Latvala +1.4s
3 Mikkelsen +3.6s
4 Meeke +6.3s
5 Sordo +8.1s
6 Neuville +8.8s
7 Paddon +9.5s
8 Evans +10.1s
9 Ostberg +13.1s
10 Prokop +13.5s
11 Tanak +19.4s
12 Kubica +5m13.5s (inc penalty)
1 Ogier
2 Latvala +1.4s
3 Mikkelsen +3.6s
4 Meeke +6.3s
5 Sordo +8.1s
6 Neuville +8.8s
7 Paddon +9.5s
8 Evans +10.1s
9 Ostberg +13.1s
10 Prokop +13.5s
11 Tanak +19.4s
12 Kubica +5m13.5s (inc penalty)
WRC - Germany: A meeting between a stray horse and a rally car would be very bad news for both parties, so organisers are right to be cautious and shut everything down for a moment when animals are reported.
We weren't quite right to say it was being paused after the WRC runners - there's actually one more to go still waiting on the startline. Hyundai has four cars this weekend with Kevin Abbring back out, and he's being held until the horse is safely back in his or her field.
We weren't quite right to say it was being paused after the WRC runners - there's actually one more to go still waiting on the startline. Hyundai has four cars this weekend with Kevin Abbring back out, and he's being held until the horse is safely back in his or her field.
Breaking news
WRC - Germany: The stage will be paused after the World Rally Cars to retrieve a horse.
WRC - Germany: To explain why the likes of Paddon are reporting a lot of gravel on braking areas on what are ostensibly asphalt roads...
On the gravel events, running first on the road is a clear handicap as the more cars that come through, the more loose dust is cleared.
On asphalt events, the first person in has the clean road but with every car through, a little more of the dust, dirt and gravel to the edge of the road is dragged onto the course as people run wide, make minor errors or just try to disrupt their rivals.
So gravel roads get ever cleaner, asphalt roads get ever dirtier.
On the gravel events, running first on the road is a clear handicap as the more cars that come through, the more loose dust is cleared.
On asphalt events, the first person in has the clean road but with every car through, a little more of the dust, dirt and gravel to the edge of the road is dragged onto the course as people run wide, make minor errors or just try to disrupt their rivals.
So gravel roads get ever cleaner, asphalt roads get ever dirtier.
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WRC - Germany: Paddon has the full-spec Hyundai for the first time this weekend (yep, those startling performances in recent months were achieved in lesser kit than Neuville and Dani Sordo), but road conditions made that a fairly mediocre start to his debut in the car:
"I didn't really enjoy it so much. It's quite different to shakedown and a lot of the braking points were already covered in gravel. I was driving like a blouse..."
"I didn't really enjoy it so much. It's quite different to shakedown and a lot of the braking points were already covered in gravel. I was driving like a blouse..."
WRC - Germany: Meeke remains closest to the VWs so far, Hayden Paddon's Hyundai has just arrived 3s slower than the Citroen, which pops him just behind team-mate Neuville in sixth overall, and ahead of Elfyn Evans and Ostberg.
Crash
WRC - Germany: Tanak comes to the stage finish with clear damage on his Ford Fiesta, he's 19.4s off the pace.
"Just in the beginning of the stage, braking for the corner was full gravel and I understeered into the field," he reports.
There's bodywork damage but he says the car is handling fine.
"Just in the beginning of the stage, braking for the corner was full gravel and I understeered into the field," he reports.
There's bodywork damage but he says the car is handling fine.
Breaking news
WRC - Germany: Robert Kubica is among the latest onto the stage, but we can already predict he'll be last in the order.
The luckless Pole had an engine problem in his RK Ford last night and had to walk over the ramp at the official start while it was replaced. That means a five-minute time penalty before he even starts.
The luckless Pole had an engine problem in his RK Ford last night and had to walk over the ramp at the official start while it was replaced. That means a five-minute time penalty before he even starts.
WRC - Germany: Possible problem for Ott Tanak on the stage, he lost 15s by the first split. He only dropped another second on the next part so that may well have been an early mistake rather than an ongoing issue.
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WRC - Germany: Meeke is 6.3s slower than Ogier, and that's going to make him 'best of the rest' by the look of like, clear of the Hyundais and M-Sport Fords so far. But he's already thinking the VWs are out of reach this weekend.
"I'm happy," he says, not very happily, "but they've got something I haven't."
"I'm happy," he says, not very happily, "but they've got something I haven't."
Twitter
WRC - Germany: Round-up of driver feedback from Volkswagen:
"Roads seem to be very slippery this morning. Many places are still very damp, especially under the trees."
"Roads seem to be very slippery this morning. Many places are still very damp, especially under the trees."
WRC - Germany: Last year's winner Thierry Neuville comes in next. He's 8s off Ogier, which places him fourth, 5s clear of Ostberg, and reports "very slippery" conditions.
Hard to say how good that is until we see the likes of Kris Meeke and the M-Sport Fords. Meeke is a few seconds quicker than Neuville on the splits.
Hard to say how good that is until we see the likes of Kris Meeke and the M-Sport Fords. Meeke is a few seconds quicker than Neuville on the splits.
WRC - Germany: Mikkelsen reports a few minor scrapes that particularly affected his corner exit speeds - finding himself on gravel rather than asphalt out of turns in places - which explains why his pace was rather up and down there.
So with all the VWs through, our early leaderboard looks like:
1 Ogier
2 Latvala +1.4s
3 Mikkelsen +3.6s
So with all the VWs through, our early leaderboard looks like:
1 Ogier
2 Latvala +1.4s
3 Mikkelsen +3.6s
WRC - Germany: Mikkelsen finishes and he's only third fastest, 3s down at the end. So after gaining 5s from split one to split two, he lost 6s from split two to the finish.
WRC - Germany: Meanwhile Ostberg comes in 13s off the pace. He took it carefully, expect his pace to increase through the day as has been the case over recent rounds. This man has a bit of a knack of hanging on in the lower top 10 on a Friday morning then somehow appearing on the podium on Sunday.
Stopwatch
WRC - Germany: A surge of pace from Andreas Mikkelsen in the third VW, he was 1.7s slower than Ogier at the first split but 5s quicker than his team-mate in the next section, which means by split two he's the stage pacesetter by 3.2s.
Will he lead at the end of this?
Will he lead at the end of this?
WRC - Germany: Latvala is at the finish 1.4s behind Ogier. That's a reasonable outcome given that he was 2.5s slower after one third of the stage.
Ogier reports a minor brush with a hay bale on the stage but no real dramas.
Ogier reports a minor brush with a hay bale on the stage but no real dramas.
Stopwatch
WRC - Germany: After being 2.5s down on Ogier at split one, Latvala's been a fair bit quicker than his team-mate on the next section and closed the gap to seven tenths.
Ogier is at the stage finish, his time a 7m58.4s.
Mads Ostberg has started in the first of the Citroens but is 6s off the pace at split one. Rapid starts to rallies aren't Ostberg's strong point these days, though.
Ogier is at the stage finish, his time a 7m58.4s.
Mads Ostberg has started in the first of the Citroens but is 6s off the pace at split one. Rapid starts to rallies aren't Ostberg's strong point these days, though.
Stopwatch
WRC - Germany: Strong start from Ogier, he's 2.5s quicker than Latvala at the first split.
WRC - Germany: Weather forecast from DAVID EVANS:
"It's hot and hotter for the first two days, before the big rain's expected on Sunday."
"It's hot and hotter for the first two days, before the big rain's expected on Sunday."
Lights out
WRC - Germany: The Volkswagens of Sebastien Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala are already onto our opening stage.
It's the 9.22-mile Sauertal, and this is what Kris Meeke's co-driver Paul Nagle makes of it:
"Around 80 per cent of this stage is run in the opposite direction to last year, so we've made new notes here.
"This is a typical countryside stage, out in the middle of nowhere. The roads are not completely dissimilar to those found at home in Ireland, but they've nothing like the number of bumps in them – they're much smoother roads.
"This first stage is the closest one to the service park in Trier – half an hour after leaving the team, it's helmet on and head down."
It's the 9.22-mile Sauertal, and this is what Kris Meeke's co-driver Paul Nagle makes of it:
"Around 80 per cent of this stage is run in the opposite direction to last year, so we've made new notes here.
"This is a typical countryside stage, out in the middle of nowhere. The roads are not completely dissimilar to those found at home in Ireland, but they've nothing like the number of bumps in them – they're much smoother roads.
"This first stage is the closest one to the service park in Trier – half an hour after leaving the team, it's helmet on and head down."
Good morning and welcome to AUTOSPORT Race Centre Live from Rally Germany - with GP2 and GP3 at Spa, IndyCar at Pocono and a bit of British Touring Car Championship at Knockhill and World Rallycross at Hell coming your way over the next three days too.
Sebastien Ogier, VW, WRC Germany 2015
By: AUTOSPORT staff, Jack Benyon, Scott Mitchell, Mark Glendenning
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