WRC Rally of Portugal
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David Evans
Meeke’s Citroen team-mate Craig Breen is also coming around to the car – but he was running a brand new suspension set-up on Friday morning. He told Autosport: “The suspension’s generally that bit softer, so we’re getting more traction from it. I hadn’t tested this at all before we did shakedown yesterday. It would be fair to say we were a little bit lost at shakedown, but it’s coming now. The thing to get used to is that there’s a little bit more movement in the car on turn-in in the high-speed.”
Neuville is 1.4s quicker than Mikkelsen in the first split.
Green flag
Neuville is away in his Hyundai on soft tyres.
David Evans
After a morning of feeling happier with his Citroen C3 WRC, Kris Meeke offered Autosport a fuller explanation of how his car was running.
“It’s giving me confidence,” he said. “I can just feel that the rear of the car is following, it’s working and sticking. It was like this at times last year, but there wasn’t the consistency – you would trust car and then it wouldn’t work and you were left in the ditch with egg on your face. Now, it’s fantastic and I really feel so at home, so comfortable in there.”
Meeke’s co-driver Paul Nagle said he could feel it from his side of the car as well. “I can tell from how he’s driving,” said Nagle, “he’s loving it.”
“It’s giving me confidence,” he said. “I can just feel that the rear of the car is following, it’s working and sticking. It was like this at times last year, but there wasn’t the consistency – you would trust car and then it wouldn’t work and you were left in the ditch with egg on your face. Now, it’s fantastic and I really feel so at home, so comfortable in there.”
Meeke’s co-driver Paul Nagle said he could feel it from his side of the car as well. “I can tell from how he’s driving,” said Nagle, “he’s loving it.”
The next stage is due to kick off with Thierry Neuville departing at 1632 local (and UK) time.
Autosport
Here's our story on Ogier crashing out on the last stage: 
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Next up is the Caminha stage again. Here’s a reminder of WRC2 frontrunner Gus Greensmith's stage notes:
SS6 Caminha (11.25 miles)
I really like this stage, it’s brilliant. The first kilometer or kilometer and a half is on pretty big marbles and quite slippery – much quicker on the second pass. This stage flows much more than the first one and I really like that. There’s a section about 14km (8.6 miles) in which is touch-and-go flat corners for the next couple of kilometres, this is just awesome. This is where [Stephane] Lefebvre crashed last year.
Then, for the final part of this stage, it goes down into the trees where it’s a bit more technical, you have to slow it down and be a bit more cautious down there.
SS6 Caminha (11.25 miles)
I really like this stage, it’s brilliant. The first kilometer or kilometer and a half is on pretty big marbles and quite slippery – much quicker on the second pass. This stage flows much more than the first one and I really like that. There’s a section about 14km (8.6 miles) in which is touch-and-go flat corners for the next couple of kilometres, this is just awesome. This is where [Stephane] Lefebvre crashed last year.
Then, for the final part of this stage, it goes down into the trees where it’s a bit more technical, you have to slow it down and be a bit more cautious down there.
David Evans
Latvala has offered a fuller explanation of his retirement, saying: “There was a rock in one of the ruts we were following. I was braking at this point in the corner and because of being on the brakes, this is what happened.”
David Evans
Running further back on the road isn’t always an advantage, however, as Ott Tanak will testify. He was only the third car in and that was enough for him to come across two huge rocks in the road – it’s those rocks which caused the Estonian’s retirement. His Yaris WRC collided with them and was thrown into the air.
Ogier’s Fiesta pulled one out with Neuville leaving the other rock in the road – Tanak had no option but to hit them. Spectators at the scene told Autosport the marshals refused to move the rocks before Tanak, but shifted them once the Toyota had hit them. The fan said: “They didn’t leave them to hurt Tanak, they had been told that they could not go to the road, so they refused to go to the road. But after Tanak passed, they understood, they had to move them.”
Ogier’s Fiesta pulled one out with Neuville leaving the other rock in the road – Tanak had no option but to hit them. Spectators at the scene told Autosport the marshals refused to move the rocks before Tanak, but shifted them once the Toyota had hit them. The fan said: “They didn’t leave them to hurt Tanak, they had been told that they could not go to the road, so they refused to go to the road. But after Tanak passed, they understood, they had to move them.”
More on Tanak and his rock coming up...
David Evans
Hayden Paddon is confident his afternoon run can be even stronger than the morning as he seeks to exploit the advantage of running further back on the road.
Paddon told Autosport: “There will be a lot of rubbish in the ruts this afternoon and the guys at the front will have to clean that out. I’m pretty sure things will be better on the second run. But anyway, I’m happy with the morning. There’s a lot more to come from me and the car, so this is a good start.”
Paddon told Autosport: “There will be a lot of rubbish in the ruts this afternoon and the guys at the front will have to clean that out. I’m pretty sure things will be better on the second run. But anyway, I’m happy with the morning. There’s a lot more to come from me and the car, so this is a good start.”
Information
We've had all the leading contenders in, here's an update in another dramatic stage where Ogier crashed:
Leading SS5 times
1 Meeke 15m31.4s
2 Ostberg +0.8s
3 Suninen +1.4s
4 Breen +1.7s
5 Lappi +1.9s
6 Evans +2.2s
Overall classification
1 Meeke 1h03m38.4s
2 Sordo +1.9s
3 Paddon +3.0s
4 Mikkelsen +10.4s
5 Breen +11.9s
6 Neuville +16.6s
7 Evans +17.9s
8 Suninen +19.8s
9 Ostberg +21.6s
10 Lappi +23.3s
Leading SS5 times
1 Meeke 15m31.4s
2 Ostberg +0.8s
3 Suninen +1.4s
4 Breen +1.7s
5 Lappi +1.9s
6 Evans +2.2s
Overall classification
1 Meeke 1h03m38.4s
2 Sordo +1.9s
3 Paddon +3.0s
4 Mikkelsen +10.4s
5 Breen +11.9s
6 Neuville +16.6s
7 Evans +17.9s
8 Suninen +19.8s
9 Ostberg +21.6s
10 Lappi +23.3s
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"It was quite an OK run," adds Suninen.
Suninen has spoiled the Citroen 1-2-3, by setting third best time - a 15m32.8s.
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"The team has explained to be how the buttons works on the car!", smiles Ostberg, "thanks very much to the team! I still know how to drive!"
It's now a Citroen 1-2-3! Mads Ostberg comes in second quickest, with a 15m32.2s
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"It'll be pretty hard on the car, hard on the tyres as well," says Paddon, "we've got a couple of softs on which is not ideal." He adds his spare is a soft too.
Stopwatch
Paddon is home and sets a good time - 15m34.2s
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"Starting to get in the rhythm now," says Breen, "maybe one or two sloppy mistakes but it's a lot better."
A great time from Breen, second quickest - a 15m33.1s. Makes it a Citroen one-two as well
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"Not too bad but obviously very very rough," says Evans, "struggled a lot to get the hards to work, but overall OK"
Evans sets the third best stage time, 15m33.6s
Lappi looks a lot happier than this morning and he sets second best stage time - a 15m33.3s.
Turns out we were likely maligning Ogier, replays suggest he hit something just before he slid off.
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"Everyone's done a dolly mixture of the tyres," says Meeke. "Sorry for Ogier, makes it interesting." He confirms he ran on hards all round.
Stopwatch
What a time from Meeke! He sets a 15m31.4s which puts him top overall by 1.9s
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"Tyres are destroyed," says Sordo after inspecting his rubber carefully. He confirms he's on softs.
"A lot more grip to be honest," says Lappi, noting the changes he's made, "the road is getting cleaner as well. Now it's getting better definitely."
Stopwatch
Meeke is faster than everyone on the splits, as our overall leader Dani Sordo clocks a 15m37.9s, two seconds off Mikkelsen.
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"It was a clean stage," says the new stage leader Mikkeslen, "tried to stay away from the rocks, but not easy, there's so many of them."
Stopwatch
But Mikkelsen has smashed Neuville's time by a whole 6.2s!
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"The weekend is still very long," says Neuville about the opportunity he suddenly has from the championship angle, "I have to say the conditions are much tougher than expected. We need to work on the settings a bit, and the tyres - I'm on full soft."
Stopwatch
Neuville is in and sets a time of 15m43.2s
Wonder if word of Ogier's off has reached Tanak at the airport...
Meanwhile at split five Mikkelsen is 4.4s up on Neuville. Sordo and Meeke further back are pegging Mikkelsen's pace.
Ogier's M-Sport is firmly lodged in the trees. Fortunately, he and co-driver look OK and are out of the car.
It looks at first glance a rare mistake from Ogier.
It looks at first glance a rare mistake from Ogier.
He just under-steered off and it looks terminal! There aren't many spectators around... He's out of the car.
Crash
Ogier is off!
It's very close at split three - Ogier, Neuville and Mikkelsen within 1.1s of each other.
By: Matt Beer
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