WRC Italy
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As ever there each car starts three minutes apart, so we should be able to bring you times and quotes from every competitor at the end of the stage.
Evans is currently 22nd overall after his issues on Friday. He is forced to start first on the road as the lowest classified WRC runner.
Mikkelsen, Tanak and Suninen are running at the back of the field after retiring yesterday, but a new rule change for 2019 would mean the trio will be in Evans' position next year.
Mikkelsen, Tanak and Suninen are running at the back of the field after retiring yesterday, but a new rule change for 2019 would mean the trio will be in Evans' position next year.
Green flag
Saturday is underway in Sardinia! Elfyn Evans has begun SS10.
The weather looks more stable this morning than it did on Friday, so those running at the head of the field could struggle in the loose gravel more than Neuville and Ogier did.
David Evans
Saturday offers stages much more traditionally Sardinian in their nature. The Monti di Ala and Monte Lerno tests are a staple of this event, but they come with more risk than yesterday.
Hyundai’s Hayden Paddon told Autosport: “Friday was slippery and tricky with the conditions, but today is all about the tougher stages – certainly today has the potential to be much, much harder on the cars. There are a lot more rocks lying about at the side of the road.”
Talking about his own performance, Paddon admitted his Rally of Portugal crash was taking its toll.
“Look, I’m not about to start making excuses,” he said. “I’d say I feel 90 per cent there, but I think my body’s still in recovery mode. At this level you’ve got to be 100 per cent – bang, right on it all of the time; sharp, ready and right there. I’ve had some stalls, spins and we got the tyres wrong…”
Hyundai’s Hayden Paddon told Autosport: “Friday was slippery and tricky with the conditions, but today is all about the tougher stages – certainly today has the potential to be much, much harder on the cars. There are a lot more rocks lying about at the side of the road.”
Talking about his own performance, Paddon admitted his Rally of Portugal crash was taking its toll.
“Look, I’m not about to start making excuses,” he said. “I’d say I feel 90 per cent there, but I think my body’s still in recovery mode. At this level you’ve got to be 100 per cent – bang, right on it all of the time; sharp, ready and right there. I’ve had some stalls, spins and we got the tyres wrong…”
Saturday's stages are very different in nature too. DAVID EVANS has been chatting to Hayden Paddon.
David Evans
As expected – and as has become the norm for the first run through the Monte Lerno loop – the lead crews are all on a predominantly soft tyre package. Ott Tanak is the only driver who goes out to the stages with anything but four softs beneath him; the Estonian Toyota is on a crossed hard/soft set-up. Andreas Mikkelsen and Craig Breen have taken two soft spares, but Autosport understands at least one of those is likely to have seen action previously.
All three M-Sport drivers, Hayden Paddon and Jari-Matti Latvala are running one hard spare in the boot, while Esapekka Lappi has a hard and a soft for his spares.
Weather-wise, there’s still some cloud about, but the temperatures are up and the sun is doing its thing.
All three M-Sport drivers, Hayden Paddon and Jari-Matti Latvala are running one hard spare in the boot, while Esapekka Lappi has a hard and a soft for his spares.
Weather-wise, there’s still some cloud about, but the temperatures are up and the sun is doing its thing.
Tyres were a big talking point in Friday's changeable conditions. DAVID EVANS has some news about that particular situation this morning.
Information
Elfyn Evans is suffering a difficult weekend with a steering arm failure as early as the second stage, but he has provided us with a great description of the upcoming test.
SS10 Coiluna-Loelle (9.28 miles)
"This is a fantastic stage. There are some really big, fast jumps at the start and then it just gets quicker and quicker all the way to the end. Just before the finish you come into what’s like a rallycross kind of bowl in quite an open area with another big jump. The trees are really close to the side of the road in this one, so you have to be really precise with where you put the car."
SS10 Coiluna-Loelle (9.28 miles)
"This is a fantastic stage. There are some really big, fast jumps at the start and then it just gets quicker and quicker all the way to the end. Just before the finish you come into what’s like a rallycross kind of bowl in quite an open area with another big jump. The trees are really close to the side of the road in this one, so you have to be really precise with where you put the car."
Information
With just under 10 minutes until the start of SS10 Coiluna - Loelle, here's a look at today's running order:
1 Evans
2 Breen
3 Paddon
4 Ostberg
5 Lappi
6 Latvala
7 Neuville
8 Ogier
9 Tanak
10 Suninen
11 Mikkelsen
1 Evans
2 Breen
3 Paddon
4 Ostberg
5 Lappi
6 Latvala
7 Neuville
8 Ogier
9 Tanak
10 Suninen
11 Mikkelsen
Autosport
To jog your memory, here's a round-up of what happened on Friday. 
Seven stages lie in wait today, including a repeat loop of three after lunch with a small spectator stage thrown in too. Monte Lerno is on the itinerary, which means a visit to the famous Micky's Jump.
Good morning rally fans and welcome to Autosport's second day of Rally Italy live coverage!
That's a wrap for Friday's action, but check back in with us on Autosport Live from approximately 7:30am BST (8:30am local time) tomorrow for Saturday's action from Rally Italy. Ciao a tutti!
Autosport
Wow! What an exciting end to a thrilling day of action on Rally Italy. You'll surely need a recap of everything that's happened since midday service to make sense of it, so here's our afternoon loop report. 
It's not just WRC's main class that's had a tumultuous set of events either. Supporting class WRC2 has seen a fair bit of top-end turnover too, with Veiby the main contender dropping down with steering troubles.
Regardless, there's still a tense battle between Citroen and Skoda factory drivers Stephane Lefebvre and Jan Kopecky. This is how they stand after nine stages.
1. Lefebvre 1h39m59.8s
2. Kopecky +14.0s
3. Ciamin +1m17.8s
4. Andolfi +2m18.0s
5. Katsuta +2m56.5s
Regardless, there's still a tense battle between Citroen and Skoda factory drivers Stephane Lefebvre and Jan Kopecky. This is how they stand after nine stages.
1. Lefebvre 1h39m59.8s
2. Kopecky +14.0s
3. Ciamin +1m17.8s
4. Andolfi +2m18.0s
5. Katsuta +2m56.5s
Stopwatch
We paused for a bit to see how the overall standings would be affected by so many absences from WRC's top drivers due to those various issues. WRC2's top contenders are in, so our overall top 10 now looks like this.
1. Ogier 1h35m56.9s
2. Neuville +18.9s
3. Latvala +37.2s
4. Lappi +41.6s
5. Ostberg +58.3s
6. Paddon +1m01.5s
7. Breen +1m26.0s
8. Lefebvre +4m02.9s
9. Kopecky +4m16.9s
10. Ciamin +5m20.7s
Evans +14m03.7s
1. Ogier 1h35m56.9s
2. Neuville +18.9s
3. Latvala +37.2s
4. Lappi +41.6s
5. Ostberg +58.3s
6. Paddon +1m01.5s
7. Breen +1m26.0s
8. Lefebvre +4m02.9s
9. Kopecky +4m16.9s
10. Ciamin +5m20.7s
Evans +14m03.7s
Information
After all that drama, with Tanak still parked up and Suninen still buried in some bushes, here's our five fastest crews through stage nine.
1. Latvala 8m07.2s
2. Ogier +1.1s
2. Lappi +1.1s
2. Ostberg +1.1s
5. Evans +3.8s
1. Latvala 8m07.2s
2. Ogier +1.1s
2. Lappi +1.1s
2. Ostberg +1.1s
5. Evans +3.8s
Paddon arrives at stage end, setting an 8m11.2s for sixth quickest through here.
Ostberg makes it a three-way tie for position with Lappi and Ogier! Another 8m08.3s time puts him equal second quickest.
"We picked the soft tyres, no questions, rain setup, and tried to enjoy the stage," said Ostberg.
"We had to give it a push for start position tomorrow. Hayden's a good driver. I did a push to keep him behind me and have a better start position [for tomorrow]."
"We picked the soft tyres, no questions, rain setup, and tried to enjoy the stage," said Ostberg.
"We had to give it a push for start position tomorrow. Hayden's a good driver. I did a push to keep him behind me and have a better start position [for tomorrow]."
A small gap caused by Suninen's off means we're now waiting for Ostberg to finish. Paddon's 1.4s off Ostberg's pace so far mid-stage, which will help Ostberg in their battle for position. It was over seventh place, but it'll be for fifth now Tanak and Suninen have gone off.
Let's calm things down with more positive news. Mads Ostberg has found some pace here, third quickest in the splits behind Latvala and Lappi. That'll help keep Paddon behind if he can keep this up.
Craig Breen has completed stage nine while we were distracted by Suninen, who's still stuck in the shrubbery by the way, setting an 8m11.3s. That's 4.1s off Latvala's pace-setting time.
Quote
"I had a big push for the last one, I even had a little moment but kept full throttle on," said Latvala at stage end.
Latvala also had help from an unlikely source here, namely his own team-mate.
"Thanks to Ott Tanak, he warned us on the stage [about the jump]."
"The hard tyre was working on this stage," he adds, giving away the secret to his success here.
Latvala also had help from an unlikely source here, namely his own team-mate.
"Thanks to Ott Tanak, he warned us on the stage [about the jump]."
"The hard tyre was working on this stage," he adds, giving away the secret to his success here.
Suninen's co-driver Mikko Markkula has climbed out to take a look, but that Fiesta looks pretty well buried in the shrubbery. He's dipped off the edge of banking and rolled down into the greenery, which won't help attempts to get back out.
Crash
We'll again catch up with Latvala soon, but another incident! Teemu Suninen has buried his Fiesta WRC into some shrubbery, getting a little too sideways exiting a corner, dragging him off line and momentum carrying him off the road.
Stopwatch
Latvala arrives at stage end with an 8m07.2s, making him fastest of all so far, 1.1s ahead of team-mate Lappi. And Ogier too, of course.
Evans wraps up his disappointing Friday with an 8m11.0s in stage nine, 2.7s off Lappi and Ogier's pace.
"Fine, doing what we have to do. It's a bit frustrating for sure," he repeats, understandably so.
"Fine, doing what we have to do. It's a bit frustrating for sure," he repeats, understandably so.
Quote
"We were not able to match [Ogier] on the previous stages. I was really driving on the edge of grip, I couldn't push hard. Now I've made changes to the suspension and it's okay," says Lappi at stage end.
He clocked his team-mate Tanak at the side of the road too, pointing out it looked technical rather than an accident. Hopefully that thought won't prey on his mind too much this evening...
He clocked his team-mate Tanak at the side of the road too, pointing out it looked technical rather than an accident. Hopefully that thought won't prey on his mind too much this evening...
Stopwatch
Lappi clocks an 8m08.3s at stage end. Sound familiar? That's because it's exactly the same time as Ogier! They're tied for fastest time, though there's still plenty of WRC drivers left to come.
Quote
Back to Ogier for a second, he was asked by stage end reporters what changed between this morning and this afternoon, in which he charged from fifth to first place.
"I don't know to be honest. I drive the same way, I was maybe a little bit more in attack mode compared to this morning. It was a tricky day so I don't want to take all the risks as well."
"I don't know to be honest. I drive the same way, I was maybe a little bit more in attack mode compared to this morning. It was a tricky day so I don't want to take all the risks as well."
It's a hard landing from a jump that looks to have done it, his Toyota pointing down rather nose-heavy on impact. Tanak stopped soon after, both are out and looking. He's not going anywhere for now.
Crash
We'll hear from Ogier in a second, but critically Tanak has stopped mid-stage, around 8-9 kilometres in. There's steam pouring from the front of his Yaris WRC. Tanak is out and wandering around.
Stopwatch
Ogier's in, 8.4s up on Neuville with an 8m08.3s stage time.
Quote
"I was struggling with the handling of the car from the beginning. I put new tyres on the front left and front right, but old tyres on the rear. I think the ride height was wrong, it was undrivable," explains Neuville, identifying the root causes of his earlier off.
When asked how much time he lost, he responded, "I went once through the ditch, so quite a bit."
"I push very hard after that and hope not to lose too much, because the others have very bad tyres."
When asked how much time he lost, he responded, "I went once through the ditch, so quite a bit."
"I push very hard after that and hope not to lose too much, because the others have very bad tyres."
Stopwatch
Neuville arrives at stage end with a 8m16.7s. I wonder what he'll have to say? Let's find out.
That mystery of Neuville's missing rear wing is solved. Replays show he ran wide through a fast right, dipping the tail of his i20 out into some greenery and ripping it clean off.
His aero balance is clearly affected too - his rear stays up over a jump then comes to land with a thump.
His aero balance is clearly affected too - his rear stays up over a jump then comes to land with a thump.
Information
Neuville overshoots a left junction, but notably with his rear wing already missing! That won't do the handling of his Hyundai much good. He's still going, and at speed too, but it'll be interesting to see what kind of time loss that causes.
Ogier's now into stage nine too. Neuville's already past split three, so times are likely to come thick and fast here.
Green flag
Neuville starts us off for one final blast today, but with only 6.69 miles remaining, perhaps not too much opportunity to reclaim time from Ogier ahead.
By: Matt Beer
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