WRC Rally Germany
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Ogier: "Compared to Theirry it was good, but Ott was very good this morning. This morning we were missing performance in some sections."
Stopwatch
It's 11m3.5s for Ogier at the stage end, 3.1s over Neuville and extending his second place position ahead of the Hyundai driver.
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Neuville: "It's really tricky, there were so many places in my pace notes were it should have been muddy but it wasn't."
He also felt he lost the bite in his brakes and lost confidence accordingly.
He also felt he lost the bite in his brakes and lost confidence accordingly.
Ogier is 3.1s up on Neuville on the final split, he's on course to open up a decent gap to Neuville for second overall.
Will he chip at Tanak's rally lead too?
Will he chip at Tanak's rally lead too?
Stopwatch
It's a time of 11m6.6s for Neuville at the stage's end.
Tanak still slower than Ogier, he's 0.8s down on the Frenchman at the third split, having made 0.2s back on the M-Sport driver.
Neuville hits the last split in a time of 09m32.7s.
It's again looking like a fight between the top three.
Lappi is the fourth man in to the stage and he is slowest so far at the first split, 3.3s off Ogier's benchmark.
Lappi is the fourth man in to the stage and he is slowest so far at the first split, 3.3s off Ogier's benchmark.
Tanak is now 1.9s down on Ogier at the second split.
Ogier's on a charge, he's 3.1s up on Neuville having reached the third split.
Ogier's on a charge, he's 3.1s up on Neuville having reached the third split.
Tanak is marginally slower than Ogier at the first split, by just 0.2s.
Neuville hits the third split in a time of 6m41.7s.
Ogier is again quicker than Neuville at the next split, the second, by 2.9s.
Ogier is again quicker than Neuville at the next split, the second, by 2.9s.
Tanak is also into the stage. Will he continue his morning charge?
Neuville's taken 4m44.8s to reach the second split as Ogier beats his first split benchmark by 1.2s.
Ogier joins the stage as Neuville sets a 2m34.5s time at the first split.
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A reminder as to what this stage offers from WRC2 co-driver Loudon:
SS5 Stein und Wein (12.08 miles)
The route for last year’s Rally Germany was short on vineyards, which is the nature of stage most people associate with this event. This year there are more roads through the vines, starting with this one.
The first full-on stage of the event is a mix of vineyards and country roads, a format followed for much of the first day. There are plenty of rhythm changes as we go from the quick lanes into the hairpins between the vines where the roads get much narrower and more technical.
This change of rhythm can make it tough to find a flow through the stage, but on the other hand it does give the brakes a bit of a breather!
SS5 Stein und Wein (12.08 miles)
The route for last year’s Rally Germany was short on vineyards, which is the nature of stage most people associate with this event. This year there are more roads through the vines, starting with this one.
The first full-on stage of the event is a mix of vineyards and country roads, a format followed for much of the first day. There are plenty of rhythm changes as we go from the quick lanes into the hairpins between the vines where the roads get much narrower and more technical.
This change of rhythm can make it tough to find a flow through the stage, but on the other hand it does give the brakes a bit of a breather!
Information
All drivers are on the hard compounds this afternoon, a few drivers had gambled on softs this morning and some had taken as many as two spare tyres.
This time, every driver has one spare tyre.
This time, every driver has one spare tyre.
Green flag
And he heads into the stage and kickstarts the afternoon.
Neuville will get the afternoon underway.
David Evans
Speaking of rain, Breen was the unfortunate WRC driver caught out by a freak shower on the third stage.
If Breen thought the rain was bad for him, he should have been back with the lead WRC2 runners.
"I've never aquaplaned as much in a rally car in my life," said Gus Greensmith. "But with that rain came an opportunity and I pushed like fuck to make something of that opportunity.
"I knew the risks, but we kept going. About two kilometres from the end I slid wide and took the nearside rear wheel clean off - but we were still finishing with about the same time as Jan - that would have been some time without that problem, which is why I can't regret taking the risk. I rolled the dice..."
If Breen thought the rain was bad for him, he should have been back with the lead WRC2 runners.
"I've never aquaplaned as much in a rally car in my life," said Gus Greensmith. "But with that rain came an opportunity and I pushed like fuck to make something of that opportunity.
"I knew the risks, but we kept going. About two kilometres from the end I slid wide and took the nearside rear wheel clean off - but we were still finishing with about the same time as Jan - that would have been some time without that problem, which is why I can't regret taking the risk. I rolled the dice..."
Rain
We're hearing that the rain that has threatened to join the rally is now looking unlikely.
But our weather predictions have caught us out in the past!
But our weather predictions have caught us out in the past!
David Evans
If you followed the rally this morning, you would have grown accustomed to Mikkelsen's lacklustre pace, and his attempts to fix it.
Mikkelsen says he can find no fault with the car after analysing the data at Hyundai over lunch.
"I need to be more aggressive with the car," he said. "I look at the other guys and they are really forcing the car in, but when I tried this in stage four it didn't work.
"It really didn't work! We have got so much understeer...I am trying to understand this and trying to tune my driving to the car.
"We can work longer-term on the car for asphalt, but we can't do anything on the car side here on this rally. I feel we are losing something on every corner.
"At this level, you need to be at one with the car and we're working on that."
Mikkelsen says he can find no fault with the car after analysing the data at Hyundai over lunch.
"I need to be more aggressive with the car," he said. "I look at the other guys and they are really forcing the car in, but when I tried this in stage four it didn't work.
"It really didn't work! We have got so much understeer...I am trying to understand this and trying to tune my driving to the car.
"We can work longer-term on the car for asphalt, but we can't do anything on the car side here on this rally. I feel we are losing something on every corner.
"At this level, you need to be at one with the car and we're working on that."
David Evans
So we've got around 10 minutes until the first stage of the afternoon, which sounds like the perfect time to check in with our man David Evans in the service park:
It's not often you hear drivers talking about fear during an event, but Craig Breen and Esapekka Lappi were both doing just that at lunchtime.
Both struggled with early problems last time out in Finland and they're desperate not to do the same again in Germany.
"I am afraid to make a mistake," said Lappi. "I want to drive safe and bring the car home. I can take some more risks, but what if it goes wrong? I'm afraid to retire, so I will drive to avoid the mistakes it's so easy to make here."
Breen added: "Certainly in the first one this morning, Finland was in my mind and I was afraid of making a mistake, then we had the rain in the second one which was just terrible."
It's not often you hear drivers talking about fear during an event, but Craig Breen and Esapekka Lappi were both doing just that at lunchtime.
Both struggled with early problems last time out in Finland and they're desperate not to do the same again in Germany.
"I am afraid to make a mistake," said Lappi. "I want to drive safe and bring the car home. I can take some more risks, but what if it goes wrong? I'm afraid to retire, so I will drive to avoid the mistakes it's so easy to make here."
Breen added: "Certainly in the first one this morning, Finland was in my mind and I was afraid of making a mistake, then we had the rain in the second one which was just terrible."
And we're back again.
Information
Join us around 2:30pm UK time for the afternoon loop.
Autosport
Information
And your overall classification is:
1. Tanak 30m35s
2. Ogier +7.2s
3. Neuville +10.9s
4. Lappi +19.7s
5. Sordo 21.8s
6. Latvala +22.4s
7. Evans +23.5s
8. Mikkelsen +34.7s
9. Breen +36.2s
10. Ostberg +40.3s
1. Tanak 30m35s
2. Ogier +7.2s
3. Neuville +10.9s
4. Lappi +19.7s
5. Sordo 21.8s
6. Latvala +22.4s
7. Evans +23.5s
8. Mikkelsen +34.7s
9. Breen +36.2s
10. Ostberg +40.3s
Information
So your stage times are:
1. Tanak 5m6.7s
2. Lappi +1.8s
3. Neuville +2.3s
4. Ogier +3s
5. Sordo +3s
6. Latvala +3.3s
7. Evans +4.7s
8. Breen +5.9s
9. Ostberg +6.6s
10. Mikkelsen +7.7s
1. Tanak 5m6.7s
2. Lappi +1.8s
3. Neuville +2.3s
4. Ogier +3s
5. Sordo +3s
6. Latvala +3.3s
7. Evans +4.7s
8. Breen +5.9s
9. Ostberg +6.6s
10. Mikkelsen +7.7s
Stopwatch
A 5m14.6s time for Suninen makes him the slowest of the regular WRC drivers, 0.2s off Mikkelsen's previous slowest time.
Another driver who can rue the weather.
Another driver who can rue the weather.
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Breen is eighth of the 10 runners so far, and he's 5.9s off Tanak's benchmark time.
Breen finished the stage in 5m12.6s.
"It's enjoyable and nice and dry, just unbelievable luck to be caught in the rain [in the last stage]. I can't believe our luck on Fridays."
Breen finished the stage in 5m12.6s.
"It's enjoyable and nice and dry, just unbelievable luck to be caught in the rain [in the last stage]. I can't believe our luck on Fridays."
Just Breen and Suninen left of the regular WRC runners.
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Ostberg: "It's OK. It's a tricky rally and this is a new type of stage again. The time is not good, which is a shame."
Stopwatch
Ostberg can't match Evans, falling 1.9s short of Evans's 5m11.4s, and beats Mikkelsen's time by 1.1s.
Citroen is struggling with the running order, and it doesn't look as on the money as it did in Finland.
Citroen is struggling with the running order, and it doesn't look as on the money as it did in Finland.
Evans is behind Latvala and ahead of Mikkelsen, he describes the dirt as a struggle. He will fall further away from the top three after a great drive on the last stage.
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Latvala: "It's not good [the time]. Let's go to service and be wiser."
Safe to say, he's frustrated by lacking so much pace relative to Tanak.
Safe to say, he's frustrated by lacking so much pace relative to Tanak.
Stopwatch
Latvala finishes the stage 4.4s quicker than Mikkelsen, but trails the other five ahead. He's 0.3s off of Ogier and Sordo's time, so he'll remain in the lower midfield overall.
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Mikkelsen: "I just tried to work on my driving style, this car takes a different style. I'm trying to adapt and struggling, I just had to work. I try to be more aggressive on the steering wheel compared to the others [in the team]."
Latvala, Evans and Ostberg will be the next drivers to complete the stage.
Stopwatch
Mikkelsen's time of 5m14.4s is the slowest so far, 4.7s off Ogier and Sordo ahead.
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Sordo: "I'm driving as fast as I can, it was difficult in the morning with the lack of grip. The feeling was good."
Mikkelsen is the sixth driver on the stage and he is again trailing the leading pace significantly.
By: Matt Beer
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