WRC Italy
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"It's quite a frustrating stage, you have to hold back so much but we did no mistakes," Ostberg said. "It didn't feel like we were second quickest."
Mads Ostberg is through and sets the second fastest time! His 18m37.2s is still 9.1s slower than Mikkelsen however.
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"I couldn't find a rhythm, I need to learn to drive in first and second gear," Suninen says. "We didn't hit anything, just lots of little touches."
There's some front and rear damage for Suninen...
Stopwatch
Teemu Suninen completes SS2 in 18m44.2s. That's 16.1s down on Mikkelsen but quicker than Breen.
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"I had an overshoot," Breen admits. "I thought I could brake and turn in on the Tarmac but we couldn't and we had to reverse and come back."
"Tricky, tricky," the pair mutter to each other as they cross the line. They aren't wrong.
Craig Breen is the next man through. He sets a 18m44.6s, 16.5s down on Mikkelsen.
That's now all three Toyota drivers that have complained of handling issues to some degree in the slow speed corners.
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"It was not easy, very difficult to read the road. I tried to be clever on the stage but I can't trust the front of the car 100% at the moment," Latvala said.
Stopwatch
And the Finn is now through in 18m37.8s. That's 0.9s faster than Neuville but nearly 10 down on stage winner Mikkelsen.
With Latvala coming through before Evans, that creates a bit of a gap before we get our next time. Latvala is running on similar pace to Neuville according to his splits.
Latvala is keen for a strong result this weekend, telling Autosport that he even stopped to move dangerous looking rocks in the recce this week.
Elfyn Evans and Daniel Barritt are carrying out road-side repairs to stay in the rally, but they are already well out of contention with Jari-Matti Latvala ahead of him in the stage.
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"We had a good run, tried not to attack too much as if you are sideways too much you lose time," Mikkelsen said. "It was a clean run, and the car is just as I want but there's more to come."
Stopwatch
Meanwhile Andreas Mikkelsen is through, and is 10.4s quicker than anyone else! That's a brilliant effort.
Crash
Elfyn Evans has stopped in the stage. Daniel Barritt confirms the pair have damaged their suspension.
Lappi experiencing the same turn in issues as Tanak, but doesn't think it's down to the car.
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"It's true to be honest, the car is struggling to turn but I don't think it's the car, it's the road. It's so muddy," Lappi said.
Esapekka Lappi is also through SS2, and completes in 18m42.3s. That's 3.6s down on team-mate Tanak.
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"That wasn't so bad, but I must say in the narrow sections we are struggling to turn the car," Tanak said. "It's not so easy, I don't understand why it's happening."
Stopwatch
Ott Tanak completes and he beats Neuville by just 0.2s!
Andreas Mikkelsen is on the pace! He is currently 5.1s up on team-mate Neuville through the splits.
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"The conditions are good to be in front," Ogier said."I wasn't wanting to take too many risks to begin with, so it's OK."
Ogier is also through and is 2.1s slower than Neuville, an 18m40.8s.
Stopwatch
Thierry Neuville has completed the first stage in 18m38.7s.
David Evans
Predictably, with the rain continuing into the stages (I might have said the rain wasn’t expected in the stages earlier… ignore that!), all the factory drivers have left service with at least four soft tyres. All three M-Sport men, Thierry Neuville and Ott Tanak have taken a spare soft while Andreas Mikkelsen has two spare softs in the boot. Craig Breen, Mads Ostberg and Hayden Paddon are running with two spare hards.
The problem the drivers face in Italy this week is one of managing their allocation of tyres; they have 16 softs and 24 hards (the prevalence of hards is understandable because it never rains in Sardinia…). Generally speaking softs feature on the morning loop when the ambient and road temperature is lower and there’s more loose gravel on the surface. The soft is also crucial for Sunday’s shorter leg. The question comes if the rain continues into this afternoon - taking a hard tyre on wet-but-swept stages would be tricky.
The problem the drivers face in Italy this week is one of managing their allocation of tyres; they have 16 softs and 24 hards (the prevalence of hards is understandable because it never rains in Sardinia…). Generally speaking softs feature on the morning loop when the ambient and road temperature is lower and there’s more loose gravel on the surface. The soft is also crucial for Sunday’s shorter leg. The question comes if the rain continues into this afternoon - taking a hard tyre on wet-but-swept stages would be tricky.
We have a tyre update from David Evans.
The rain seems to be helping championship leader Neuville who is opening the road. He is 4.2s quicker than Ogier after the second split.
Stopwatch
Thierry Neuville, Sebastien Ogier and Ott Tanak are already into the opening stage, with Neuville 3 seconds up on Ogier after the first split.
Scenes from the Toyota service park this morning
David Evans
Heavy rain hit service in Alghero just after six this morning, but the reports from the stages are of dry conditions. We understand the rain’s not heading in a stage-ward direction. Tricky, tricky tyre choice for those further down the road this morning, full softs could be destroyed by some of the rally’s most abrasive stages, especially if the rain doesn’t get to the stages.
Toyota’s drivers get a doormat and a cleaner who comes along them. Ott Tanak’s car was here just a minute ago...
Toyota’s drivers get a doormat and a cleaner who comes along them. Ott Tanak’s car was here just a minute ago...
Information
SS2/6 Tula (13.66 miles)
"This really is not an easy way into Rally Italy… this is one of the trickiest stages of the whole event.
"It’s a bit longer this year and it really is a stage of two halves, the first bit is up in the windmills and that’s a bit of a maze really, loads of junctions and not a lot of flow.
"Then the final section of six miles downhill, extended a bit from last year and relentlessly twisty. It’s Corsica on gravel: narrow, twisty, short straights, technical, lots under the trees where it could be still damp. For 22km, I’ve got 35 pages of notes, which is unheard of for a gravel rally."
"This really is not an easy way into Rally Italy… this is one of the trickiest stages of the whole event.
"It’s a bit longer this year and it really is a stage of two halves, the first bit is up in the windmills and that’s a bit of a maze really, loads of junctions and not a lot of flow.
"Then the final section of six miles downhill, extended a bit from last year and relentlessly twisty. It’s Corsica on gravel: narrow, twisty, short straights, technical, lots under the trees where it could be still damp. For 22km, I’ve got 35 pages of notes, which is unheard of for a gravel rally."
Sebastian Marshall will be providing us with our stage descriptions this weekend. Here are his thoughts on SS2, Tulsa.
We have four stages before service this morning, with the longest at just over 13 and a half miles. The weather looks as if it's doing its best to deter the crews too.
Good morning and welcome along to Autosport's live text coverage of the seventh round of the World Rally Championship, Rally Sardinia.
By: Matt Beer
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