WRC Portugal
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Great time by Sordo, who is 1.9s behind Hyundai team-mate Neuville.
Checkered flag
SS6 results: 1 Neuville 12m10.4s; 2 Hirvonen +0.5s; 3 Tanak +1.1s; 4 Sordo +1.9s; 5 Ogier +3.1s; 6 Ostberg +4.6s.
Overall: 1 Ogier 1h08m35.6s; 2 Hirvonen +2.4s; 3 Tanak +4.4s; 4 Sordo +14.9s; 5 Ostberg +22.1s; 6 Neuville +39.7s.
Overall: 1 Ogier 1h08m35.6s; 2 Hirvonen +2.4s; 3 Tanak +4.4s; 4 Sordo +14.9s; 5 Ostberg +22.1s; 6 Neuville +39.7s.
Lights out
While the WRC2 cars start coming through SS6, the frontrunners are already onto the 26.48km of Almodovar.
Not for the first time today, the WRC live timing service is on the fritz. We're going to presume that Ostberg is slightly off Ogier's pace through the first split.
And we're wrong. Sort of.
Ostberg 0.1s quicker than Ogier at the first split, but 0.1s slower through the second. Hirvonen, meanwhile, is quickest of all through the first - 3.4s faster than Ogier's best.
Ostberg 0.1s quicker than Ogier at the first split, but 0.1s slower through the second. Hirvonen, meanwhile, is quickest of all through the first - 3.4s faster than Ogier's best.
Hirvonen now 3.3s up on Ogier at the second split. The gap between the two in the overall classification is just 2.4s...
Ogier completes the final stage of the day in 16m36.5s.
Hirvonen now 5.1s quicker than Ogier at the penultimate split. Looks like we're going to have a new rally leader.
Ostberg 3.0s faster than Ogier. He retains fifth place overall.
"We're pushing harder, but it's very tricky conditions and I think I chose the wrong tyre choice this afternoon," admits the Norweigan.
"We're pushing harder, but it's very tricky conditions and I think I chose the wrong tyre choice this afternoon," admits the Norweigan.
Hirvonen on a charge this afternoon - 7.3s up on Ogier at the final split!
Crash
Meeke has stopped on the stage.
Tracking shows Meeke's Citroen has come to a halt at the 16.9km mark where, coincidentally, Evans had a mishap this morning.
Stopwatch
And Hirvonen posts a time 8.9s quicker than Ogier and is the new rally leader!
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"It has been a fantastic day and I've enjoyed it!," says Hirvonen. "But it's one day down and there's two to go."
Tanak posts the second quickest time of the stage and his 16.29.3s is good enough to put him second overall!
Sordo finishes the stage 13.2s off the ultimate pace. He drops to fifth overall and is now 0.1s behind Ostberg.
Checkered flag
SS7 results: 1 Hirvonen 16m27.6s; 2 Tanak +1.7s; 3 Neuville +4.7s; 4 Ostberg +5.9s; 5 Ogier +8.9s; 6 Sordo +13.2s.
Overall: 1 Hirvonen 1h25m05.6s; 2 Tanak +3.7s; 3 Ogier +6.5s; 4 Ostberg +25.6s; 5 Sordo +25.7s; 6 Neuville +42.0s.
Overall: 1 Hirvonen 1h25m05.6s; 2 Tanak +3.7s; 3 Ogier +6.5s; 4 Ostberg +25.6s; 5 Sordo +25.7s; 6 Neuville +42.0s.
Meeke has been in touch with the team and is reported to have rolled on the same corner as Evans. It is hoped he will return under Rally 2.
That brings an end to our coverage of the opening leg of the 2014 Rally of Portugal.
We will be back tomorrow from 09:30 to bring you all the news, gossip and analysis from the service park.
We will be back tomorrow from 09:30 to bring you all the news, gossip and analysis from the service park.
Hello and welcome back to AUTOSPORT Race Centre Live's rolling coverage of the 2014 Rally of Portugal.
We enjoyed a very entertaining first day of proper running here, even though it still ended in a one-two at the front...oh, but not for Volkswagen.
Game on.
We enjoyed a very entertaining first day of proper running here, even though it still ended in a one-two at the front...oh, but not for Volkswagen.
Game on.
Before we delve into the nitty-gritty stuff of what made yesterday so entertaining, here is your headline: Mikko Hirvonen leads.
The Finn had a superb end to the day to overhaul Sebastien Ogier for top spot - and he brought M-Sport's super-sub Ott Tanak with him. The top six looks like this after SS7:
1 Hirvonen 1h25m05.6s; 2 Tanak +3.7s; 3 Ogier +6.5s; 4 Ostberg +25.6s; 5 Sordo +25.7s; 6 Neuville +42.0s.
You can read a proper report of Friday's running here:
Hirvonen leads Tanak as Ogier drops back
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So, into the dirty stuff (pun not intended, but isn't it great when things work out?).
Plenty happened yesterday, with high-profile incidents for Jari-Matti Latvala, Robert Kubica, Kris Meeke and Elfyn Evans.
Latvala was fighting team-mate Ogier for the lead until he rolled out of second. Explaining the incident, he said:
"At a left-hander the car understeered and went a bit wide. I corrected, and thought it would come back, but there was a big, big hole at the outside of the corner, maybe from where the rain had washed away the road.
"I hit the hole and the car went on two wheels, then the front hit the bank and we rolled."
Plenty happened yesterday, with high-profile incidents for Jari-Matti Latvala, Robert Kubica, Kris Meeke and Elfyn Evans.
Latvala was fighting team-mate Ogier for the lead until he rolled out of second. Explaining the incident, he said:
"At a left-hander the car understeered and went a bit wide. I corrected, and thought it would come back, but there was a big, big hole at the outside of the corner, maybe from where the rain had washed away the road.
"I hit the hole and the car went on two wheels, then the front hit the bank and we rolled."
The first stage of this morning starts in just over five minutes time. That's the 19km Santa Clara run.
Breaking news
Bad news for fans of Meeke. His accident, according to co-driver Paul Nagle caused by a pace note error, damaged the roll-cage of his Citroen DS3 WRC and he will not be competing today.
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So, Meeke suffered the ultimate consequence of crashing out early in a rally - but what about the rest?
Kubica missed the afternoon stages after his shunt. "I had zero moments before we came to SS4, but then we made a mistake coming out of a right-left-right turn sequence," he explained.
"I noticed the experienced WRC drivers cut the turns more than I thought was possible on the recce, so I followed those lines. At the end of the right turn we hit the limb of a tree. I was very surprised.
"I saw a tree there but I was sure it was far from the edge of the road, and when I realised that it was growing at a very steep angle, it was too late and that's why we hit the bottom of it."
Kubica missed the afternoon stages after his shunt. "I had zero moments before we came to SS4, but then we made a mistake coming out of a right-left-right turn sequence," he explained.
"I noticed the experienced WRC drivers cut the turns more than I thought was possible on the recce, so I followed those lines. At the end of the right turn we hit the limb of a tree. I was very surprised.
"I saw a tree there but I was sure it was far from the edge of the road, and when I realised that it was growing at a very steep angle, it was too late and that's why we hit the bottom of it."
It was a double-whammy for Kubica as, in addition to ending his chances of fighting at the front, he was just started to get a smile on his face.
"The right side of the car went up and we hit something with the left-front and destroyed the suspension. I am very upset because, for the first time, I really had a lot of fun driving on gravel," he added.
Kubica starts second on the road behind Elfyn Evans.
Talking of Evans, who should be out any moment now, the Welshman came a cropper at exactly the same right-hander on the Almodovar stage that caught out Meeke.
M-Sport’s team principal Malcolm Wilson has made plain his intentions for the Welshman today.
Wilson said: “I want to see him getting straight back on it. I want to see him going as quickly as possible again and that’s what I’ve told him to go out there and do.”
M-Sport’s team principal Malcolm Wilson has made plain his intentions for the Welshman today.
Wilson said: “I want to see him getting straight back on it. I want to see him going as quickly as possible again and that’s what I’ve told him to go out there and do.”
Elfyn takes to the stage, and we are underway again on Rally Portugal!
This is the running order today, subject to further shunts/delays.
Evans
Kubica
Latvala
Al Qassimi
Prokop
Mikkelsen
Solberg
Neuville
Sordo
Ostberg
Ogier
Tanak
Hirvonen
This is the running order today, subject to further shunts/delays.
Evans
Kubica
Latvala
Al Qassimi
Prokop
Mikkelsen
Solberg
Neuville
Sordo
Ostberg
Ogier
Tanak
Hirvonen
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Despite Evans’ crash, Wilson has plenty to smile about right now with his team running first and second ahead of the might of Volkswagen.
"It’s fantastic," beamed MW just after breakfast this morning. "We led rallies last year, but it's been a while since we had a one-two. It’s great for the whole team and great to see Mikko finding the car so easy to drive.
"As for Ott, he was very, very impressive yesterday. Without the problem he had with his pace notes in SS4, he could easily have been leading this event right now."
Evans has clocked in at the second split now, and Kubica - in through the first checkpoint - trails the Welshman by 1.4s.
Kubica loses more time in the second split (he's 3.5s down on Evans) but Latvala, returning under Rally2 rules, is 1.5s quicker than the Welshman at the first split.
Evans completes the stage in 12m39.6s. Latvala is 3.6s quicker at the second split.
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"Massive credit to the team," says Evans, "they have done an incredible job. The car's absolutely perfect."
He confirms that the team only got the car back after his shunt at 1am in the morning!
He confirms that the team only got the car back after his shunt at 1am in the morning!
Kubica drops another 0.5s to Evans as he flies through the third split.
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The Pole comes through 4.7s slower than Evans. A cautious run?
"It's OK, yesterday was very, very strange. Today we hope to enjoy it, have fun and to enjoy it a bit."
"It's OK, yesterday was very, very strange. Today we hope to enjoy it, have fun and to enjoy it a bit."
It is interesting that, with Evans suffering his first sizable WRC shunt, M-Sport's advice was to crack on and push hard.
If in doubt, flat out...sound logic, right? Have heard that somewhere before. Oh yes, that's right.
In fact, one member of the Portuguese has sufficient levels of fever for the 1995 World Rally champion to quote Colin McRae across the back of his jacket.
The super-Scot took two victories in Portugal, winning the 1998 event for Subaru and the following year in the all-new Ford Focus WRC.
Latvala's about to show that however hard Evans drives, there's still a lot to learn (understandably).
The Finn is 6.1s quicker through the third split.
Al Qassimi is on the stage (several seconds down already), as are Juho Hanninen and Martin Prokop.
Hanninen, we are hearing, has a puncture.
The Finn is 6.1s quicker through the third split.
Al Qassimi is on the stage (several seconds down already), as are Juho Hanninen and Martin Prokop.
Hanninen, we are hearing, has a puncture.
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In comes Jari-Matti. "There was quite a big impact to the front so it's very nice to be back. The target is to try to enjoy it and get the feeling back. It's very difficult so I need to see what happens, drive our own pace and see where we are."
Stopwatch
Latvala's time, by the way, was 12m28.7s, just a shade under 11s quicker than Evans.
Mikkelsen is almost a second quicker than Latvala over the first split as the Norwegian enters the stage.
By: Dan Cross, David Evans, Scott Mitchell, Charles Bradley
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