Live text
WRC Italy
Live Standings
presented by
Stopped
Summary
Live Text
Sort by
A shake of the head from Ogier as he crosses the finish line. He wasn't happy with that performance, it seems.
Ogier sets a 4m57.2s. 1.8s lost to Neuville. Our lead gap is now 1.3s. Two stages remain. This is incredible.
Quote
"Fighting against Ogier is probably the most difficult," says Neuville, stating the somewhat obvious.
We have a second split for Ogier. 0.9s down on Neuville. We're getting closer.
Stopwatch
Thierry Neuville breaks the five minute barrier, setting a 4m55.4s. That's 8.9s faster than Latvala over 4.32 miles!
Quote
"It was very frustrating yesterday. I really wanted a podium from this rally before the summer break," says Latvala.
"The target is to have a good feeling and if we can score more points from the power stage, you can motivate yourself for the future," he says. That's one driver we'll need to keep an eye on in a couple of hours' time come the power stage.
"The target is to have a good feeling and if we can score more points from the power stage, you can motivate yourself for the future," he says. That's one driver we'll need to keep an eye on in a couple of hours' time come the power stage.
Latvala crosses the finishing line with a 5m04.3s. Fastest, but for how long? Neuville's 5.3s up at the second split now.
Stopwatch
Neuville has set off, and is already 3.9s up on the next quickest driver Jari-Matti Latvala at the first split.
Quote
"The first pass is nice on this stage. The second pass maybe not so enjoyable," says Lappi, worried about road conditions come the power stage later.
Here comes Lappi with a 5m08.9s. A reasonable time, third quickest and 0.9s slower than Evans. Another stage safely completed on his way to a potential podium finish in third place.
Quote
"Just managing the gap now. 10s is reasonably comfortable on these stages," says Paddon.
"We've just got to be smart. Of course, you'd like to drive faster, but points are important."
"We've just got to be smart. Of course, you'd like to drive faster, but points are important."
Paddon kicks the rear of his i20 out leading up to the flying finish. He's pushing. It's a 5m08.2s, 2.1s up on Ostberg, and 0.2s behind Evans.
Quote
"It felt a lot better now. I don't know why Elfyn is so fast from first on the road. It's impossible to understand how the stages develop," says Ostberg.
"When your're doing stages on the beach, maybe there is some suncream on the floor. Maybe the suncream makes it more slippery, you never know."
Hmmm. I think Ostberg's already checked out and headed for a sun lounger in his mind at this point.
"When your're doing stages on the beach, maybe there is some suncream on the floor. Maybe the suncream makes it more slippery, you never know."
Hmmm. I think Ostberg's already checked out and headed for a sun lounger in his mind at this point.
Ostberg arrives at the beach with a 5m10.3s stage time, second quickest so far. Paddon is 0.8s faster than him at the first split.
Breen set a 5m21.9s, 13.9s slower than Evans, by the way.
Quote
"I had a spin quite close to the end. There was a bump in the middle of the corner, maybe I was going a little bit fast, and I lost the rear. I had to do a three-point turn," Breen explains at stage end.
Information
Breen bounces off the road, going right when he needed to go left. He reverses out and is back on his way, a few seconds lost.
Quote
"It was quite good fun, but quite different to how I remember the stage last year, it's quite hard packed and loose compared to last year. It'll be interesting to see how it evolves," says Evans.
Evans reaches the beachside finish line with a 5m08.0s. He's 3.0s up on Breen at second split. Not bad at all.
It seems the promise of some time at the beach has motivated Evans. He's 1.9s faster than Breen at first split.
Green flag
Evans begins his trip to the seaside. Currently out on his own time-wise in 14th, I wouldn't blame him if he wanted to stay there for some rest & relaxation when he reaches stage end.
Information
Last year Craig Breen mentioned you'd need a bucket and spade for our next stage. There's good reason for that, as Hayden Paddon's co-driver Seb Marshall explains.
SS18/20 Sassari-Argentiera (4.32 miles)
This one’s generally known as the stage of the beach because it finishes literally on the beach. The first half is much more representative of the rest of the route for this rally, but when you come down that hill and into the sand dunes it is a bit different.
In previous years the road has cut up quickly and quite badly, but the organisers have worked hard to regrade the road and I think it’s a more solid base now. That’s good. The cars won’t be scrabbling around for grip in quite the same way, but the balance to that is there probably won’t be those incredible pictures of the cars coming down the hill will great trails of dust behind.
SS18/20 Sassari-Argentiera (4.32 miles)
This one’s generally known as the stage of the beach because it finishes literally on the beach. The first half is much more representative of the rest of the route for this rally, but when you come down that hill and into the sand dunes it is a bit different.
In previous years the road has cut up quickly and quite badly, but the organisers have worked hard to regrade the road and I think it’s a more solid base now. That’s good. The cars won’t be scrabbling around for grip in quite the same way, but the balance to that is there probably won’t be those incredible pictures of the cars coming down the hill will great trails of dust behind.
Just a quick check-in with our WRC2 support drivers before we switch over to our next stage, Sassari-Argentiera, which will also play host to the power stage later.
Now in third place, Ole Christian Veiby was leading WRC2 early on Friday until broken steering dropped him several minutes. He's been charging back since, and just took 12.0s out of second-placed Nicolas Ciamin here. There's now only 16.2s between them.
Now in third place, Ole Christian Veiby was leading WRC2 early on Friday until broken steering dropped him several minutes. He's been charging back since, and just took 12.0s out of second-placed Nicolas Ciamin here. There's now only 16.2s between them.
To give you a reference point as to how slow Mikkelsen was there, 8th placed WRC2 leader Jan Kopecky and 10th placed Martin Prokop are both in, with 9m30.2s and 9m27.4s times respectively.
So Mikkelsen 17.7s slower than Kopecky. It will be interesting to find out if there's a genuine problem or he's aggressively saving tyres for the points-paying power stage later on.
So Mikkelsen 17.7s slower than Kopecky. It will be interesting to find out if there's a genuine problem or he's aggressively saving tyres for the points-paying power stage later on.
Andreas Mikkelsen sets an awfully slow 9m47.9s stage time here. His split times show a consistent time loss across each section, ruling out an unscheduled stop.
Teemu Suninen is one of our WRC crews that retired on Friday, after he slid his Fiesta WRC off a steep bank and into some Sardinian greenery. He sets a 9m02.8s in this morning's opening test but has reason to keep pushing.
1m34.3s separated him from 10th place and a point heading into this morning. He only has two WRC2 support category cars and Martin Prokop's 2016-spec WRC car between him and 10th. It's a tough ask but it's not necessarily impossible.
1m34.3s separated him from 10th place and a point heading into this morning. He only has two WRC2 support category cars and Martin Prokop's 2016-spec WRC car between him and 10th. It's a tough ask but it's not necessarily impossible.
Once again it's a case of what might have been, as Ott Tanak arrives at Cala Flumini's finish line with an 8m47.2s, third quickest despite having little to play for in a safe ninth position.
Information
That undercard battle for fourth place might have widened out a little, but our primetime battle between Ogier and Neuville continues to get closer and closer.
Classification after SS17 (Cala Flumini 1)
1. Ogier 3h10m58.4s
2. Neuville +3.1s
3. Lappi +1m22.5s
4. Paddon +2m17.0s
5. Ostberg +2m26.1s
6. Breen +3m39.1s
Classification after SS17 (Cala Flumini 1)
1. Ogier 3h10m58.4s
2. Neuville +3.1s
3. Lappi +1m22.5s
4. Paddon +2m17.0s
5. Ostberg +2m26.1s
6. Breen +3m39.1s
Quote
"It's a good run. It's very narrow so it's hard to push hard," says Ogier.
"He was holding a bit more in the bank, so I'll have to do that on the second loop," he mentions, suggesting Neuville was leaning quite heavily on the banking through those fast narrow sections.
"He was holding a bit more in the bank, so I'll have to do that on the second loop," he mentions, suggesting Neuville was leaning quite heavily on the banking through those fast narrow sections.
Ogier sets an 8m41.5s, 0.8s down on Neuville's time. Our lead gap is down to 3.1s!
Quote
"It was a good one, I promise. It will be tight," says Neuville.
"There were two small mistakes in a junction where I missed the ruts and I was in the loose, so I might lose a bit of time, but I gave it everything. It's still on."
I can let those mistakes slide. That was a committed drive. These are two world class drivers pushing to the edge. Fantastic.
"There were two small mistakes in a junction where I missed the ruts and I was in the loose, so I might lose a bit of time, but I gave it everything. It's still on."
I can let those mistakes slide. That was a committed drive. These are two world class drivers pushing to the edge. Fantastic.
Ogier meanwhile is 0.1s slower at the final split.
Stopwatch
Neuville finishes with a 8m40.7s. 14.9s faster than Latvala.
Ogier loses a little more time through the fourth split, now 0.4s slower than Neuville.
Ogier's also on stage now, and his splits are like a yo-yo compared to Neuville's. 0.3s up at second split, then 0.1s down at third split. To call this battle close is an understatement.
Stopwatch
What might have been. Latvala goes quickest with an 8m55.6s. For now. But Neuville behind is flying. 11.7s faster than Latvala at the fifth split. Crikey.
Quote
Lappi's understandably being very cautious. That time was 13.1s slower than Paddon's.
"It's not easy to find a rhythm. It's a clean stage, but a few surprises with the mud. Three or four corners suddenly you have mud, so the creeping is quite bad," he says.
"It's not easy to find a rhythm. It's a clean stage, but a few surprises with the mud. Three or four corners suddenly you have mud, so the creeping is quite bad," he says.
Lappi arrives at stage end, setting a 9m09.8s. He's all on his own in third place now Latvala has retired.
Stopwatch
Neuville is on his way and has already gone fastest in the splits, 5.7s quicker than his Hyundai team-mate Paddon.
Quote
"It's a good way to start. Keep it nice and smooth. The line that's there is quite small but we tried to utilise it. We're very conscious of this stage after what happened last year, so we took it easy at the start," says Paddon, referring to hitting one of those stone walls lining the narrow tracks.
By: Matt Beer
Published:
Lap:
