WRC Rally of Portugal
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Getting a few more replays from onboard Tanak's car in. There was a very audible clunk as the Toyota went over a rock, with the Estonian subsequently slowing and eventually stopping at the side of the road.
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While we're on the subject of Michelin, all drivers have opted for five sets of the soft rubber on this loop.
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David Evans
Victory for Sebastien Ogier on this week’s Rally Portugal would make the Frenchman the most successful driver in the history of the event. Currently, he and Markku Alen are tied on five wins each.
There’s plenty of support for Ogier and Alen in Portugal, but the driver who still stands head and shoulders above anybody else in terms of love from the locals is Colin McRae. Every year a huge saltire is painted onto the asphalt road which links two sections of Fafe gravel – but this year local fans have excelled themselves by painting one of Portugal biggest rocks blue and white as well.
McRae took back-to-back Portuguese wins in 1998 and '99, the latter of those two being the most remarkable, with his brand new Ford Focus WRC fresh out of the box and only four rallies old. The Scot destroyed the opposition to win six from nine day one stages close to Ponte de Lima, building a lead of 50.1s which he managed to the finish two days later.
There’s plenty of support for Ogier and Alen in Portugal, but the driver who still stands head and shoulders above anybody else in terms of love from the locals is Colin McRae. Every year a huge saltire is painted onto the asphalt road which links two sections of Fafe gravel – but this year local fans have excelled themselves by painting one of Portugal biggest rocks blue and white as well.
McRae took back-to-back Portuguese wins in 1998 and '99, the latter of those two being the most remarkable, with his brand new Ford Focus WRC fresh out of the box and only four rallies old. The Scot destroyed the opposition to win six from nine day one stages close to Ponte de Lima, building a lead of 50.1s which he managed to the finish two days later.
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WRC2 cars are, of course, still coming through the first stage. Our stage guide Gus Greensmith is fastest of all so far, while Pontus Tidemand picked up a puncture in his Skoda Fabia.
Around about 10 minutes now until the start of this morning's second stage.
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SS2 summary:
*Argentina winner and overnight leader Tanak stops on Friday's first stage
*Paddon goes fastest but says describes his driving as "ugly"
*Brits claim 2-3 on stage and overall with Evans heading Meeke
*Ogier beats early runners Neuville and Mikkelsen despite cleaning the road
*Argentina winner and overnight leader Tanak stops on Friday's first stage
*Paddon goes fastest but says describes his driving as "ugly"
*Brits claim 2-3 on stage and overall with Evans heading Meeke
*Ogier beats early runners Neuville and Mikkelsen despite cleaning the road
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SS2 fastest times:
1 Paddon 15m29.3s
2 Evans +2.3s
3 Meeke +3.2s
4 Sordo +4.9s
5 Breen +5.9s
6 Suninen +7.5s
Overall classification:
1 Paddon 1m06s
2 Evans +1.5s
3 Meeke +2.2s
4 Sordo +4.1s
5 Suninen +5.5s
6 Breen +6s
7 Ostberg +7.3s
8 Ogier + 10.2s
9 Neuville +11.9s
10 Mikkelsen +12.5s
1 Paddon 15m29.3s
2 Evans +2.3s
3 Meeke +3.2s
4 Sordo +4.9s
5 Breen +5.9s
6 Suninen +7.5s
Overall classification:
1 Paddon 1m06s
2 Evans +1.5s
3 Meeke +2.2s
4 Sordo +4.1s
5 Suninen +5.5s
6 Breen +6s
7 Ostberg +7.3s
8 Ogier + 10.2s
9 Neuville +11.9s
10 Mikkelsen +12.5s
Suninen is through and deposes Ostberg from sixth by half a second.
Citroen returnee Ostberg is in and sixth on the stage, and suggests he felt "very bad" in the second half of the stage, and reckons he might have damaged his diff.
That leaves Suninen - in a third M-Sport Ford - and Yazeed al Rajhi as the only WRC drivers still to come through this stage.
That leaves Suninen - in a third M-Sport Ford - and Yazeed al Rajhi as the only WRC drivers still to come through this stage.
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"Ugly". Paddon's not all that happy at the end of stage despite that fastest time.
"The feeling in the car wasn't good at all," he says. "OK, the time's good, but from a driving perspective it was very ugly."
"The feeling in the car wasn't good at all," he says. "OK, the time's good, but from a driving perspective it was very ugly."
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Another new leader! Paddon - driving a fourth Hyundai i20 this weekend - comes through and beats Evans's time by 2.3s.
Breen comes through now and is fourth fastest on the stage in his C3, 3.6s slower than Evans through there.
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"It's a good start, obviously [I was] pushing hard to do that but it's fine," says Evans. "I worked on a few things [preparing for Portugal] and the feeling was good in the car."
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New fastest time now from Evans - he's through in 15m31.6s.
Latavala can't do much better. He says he's struggling having not driven enough on the previous event - Argentina - and was careful after seeing team-mate Tanak at the side of the road.
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A pretty frank trail of thoughts from Lappi at stage end.
"I tried, but [I'm] not brave enough," he says. "Everything is working fine, car feels good, I'm just too bad. That's it."
"I tried, but [I'm] not brave enough," he says. "Everything is working fine, car feels good, I'm just too bad. That's it."
We've also had Lappi in - but he's slowest of all so far and 11.8s down on Meeke. Latavala, Evans and Breen will be the next cars through.
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"The important thing is the feeling," says Meeke when he's told his time. "I could do what I want. Let's try to build the rhythm."
Radio Comms
"Good run, I think," is Meeke's quip over his radio to co-driver Paul Nagle. Good run indeed.
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Meeke now comes through fastest of all in his Citroen C3! He's 1.7s up on Sordo's previous best.
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"I'm a little bit surprised because I have a really good car, really good sensation with the car," says Sordo.
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Sordo does lose time to Ogier in the final section, but he's still through comfortably fastest of all by 7.3s.
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"The feeling was very good, the car is working very nice," says Mikkelsen. "There's a bit more speed to come. It's a clean run, so I'm happy with that stage."
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The evidence of the early runs between the final split and stage end suggest Ogier is absolutely mustard through there. Mikkelsen was 0.8s up at the final split, but ends the stage 1.3s down on Ogier.
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So a small gap now with Tanak missing from the order. Mikkelsen will be the next driver through at stage end.
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Neuville said he had to back off on the stage, with dust from Ogier's car still hanging in the air as he came through.
"With the dust hanging is some sections, I didn't take enough risks," says the Hyundai man. "It's the first stage. I had to slow down a couple of times."
"With the dust hanging is some sections, I didn't take enough risks," says the Hyundai man. "It's the first stage. I had to slow down a couple of times."
Neuville is through now and actually goes 0.6s slower than Ogier.
Stopwatch
First stage time in from Ogier - he's through in 15m41.5s. The Frenchman clattered a marker pole on the section between the final split and the stage end, but no real damage done.
Neuville is a mere seven tenths faster than the Ford through the fifth split, while Dani Sordo - in one of four Hyundais entered this weekend - is fastest so far at split three.
Ogier is into the stage's wooded section now. We do now have third, fourth, fifth and sixth splits in from the championship leader - he's through the last of those in 13m37.7s.
We do have first split times in now, and there's more pain for Tanak - who was fastest of the early runners through there.
Crash
Replays show him slowing on the road. It sounds as though Tanak reported a high oil temperature.
The Toyota man - our overnight leader - is out of the car and looking under his bonnet.
Crash
Tanak has stopped!
Ogier has a bit of a job on his hands this morning, sweeping the road for those behind. But then again, it's not like it's his first time doing so.
Neuville is 2.3s faster than M-Sport man Ogier at the same checkpoint. Mikkelsen is also on the road now.
By: Matt Beer
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