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WRC Rally of Portugal
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Paddon puts his low-key time down to "just struggling with the car" for set-up reasons.
Stopwatch
We now have three drivers tied for the stage win! Meeke matches Tanak and Breen!
That places Meeke, Tanak and Breen second, third and fourth overall, respectively 0.5s, 1.2s and 1.4s off leader Latvala.
Brilliant!
That places Meeke, Tanak and Breen second, third and fourth overall, respectively 0.5s, 1.2s and 1.4s off leader Latvala.
Brilliant!
Quote
Breen latest: "I'm like a broken record saying I enjoy every stage, but it's so much fun. When you really feel the car you can do good things."
Paddon is a muted seventh fastest, he's fifth overall for now but has fallen behind Ogier.
Crash
Lefebvre stared this stage after his roll on the last one, but after an OK start he looks like he's had more trouble - he's lost another two and a half minutes.
Not too big a drama for Evans, though, he's till within 18.3s of the rally lead even after that.
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"We just had an alarm on the dash and shortly after that I knew about it," says Evans of the punctures, and insists he "hit nothing at all. It was really clean up to that point."
Crash
Evans is carrying a rear puncture on his DMACK Ford.
Stopwatch
Breen comes in equal fastest with Tanak! That puts Breen a provisional third, just 1.4s off rally leader Latvala and 0.2s behind Tanak in second.
Paddon's pace on the splits remains nothing wildly special. The early rally leader isn't in the top six on split times at split three.
Crash
Potential problem near the end of the stage for Evans: he's gone from right on the pace to 14.4s off.
One bit of definite progress for Neuville - he's moved ahead of team-mate Sordo, who was a place ahead of him in ninth going into this stage.
Sordo isn't too happy with a car that's "all the time sliding a lot".
Sordo isn't too happy with a car that's "all the time sliding a lot".
Stopwatch
Breen is matching Tanak to the tenth at split three. If he can maintain that pace, Breen's going to be in the thick of the lead battle at the end of the stage.
Stopwatch
Tanak comes in with the fastest time so far by 1.2s over Ogier in the end.
That brings Tanak to within 1.2s of Latvala for the overall lead!
That brings Tanak to within 1.2s of Latvala for the overall lead!
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Here's Neuville, second fastest to Ogier by 0.8s. It'll be a long while before we can figure out if that's moved him up from 10th overall.
But how's that lairy driving coming along?
"It's difficult to know what rhythm you have to take," he says. "There are many slow corners where you can push quite hard but if you make one mistake you lose time.
"You have to be very sideways and all the time sliding. It's not what I enjoy most."
But how's that lairy driving coming along?
"It's difficult to know what rhythm you have to take," he says. "There are many slow corners where you can push quite hard but if you make one mistake you lose time.
"You have to be very sideways and all the time sliding. It's not what I enjoy most."
Quote
"It wasn't the best for me," admits Latvala. "I knew this was not necessarily the easiest stage for me but I tried to keep going. I did quite a lot of changes in my notes so I can see where I was losing time."
Stopwatch
Good pace continuing from Breen - he's second fastest to Neuville, 0.5s off, at split two.
Indeed rally leader Latvala finishes the stage 3.3s slower than Ogier, which brings the gap between them overall down to 4.8s.
They were first and eighth beginning this stage - seems a safe bet Ogier will be rather higher after this one.
They were first and eighth beginning this stage - seems a safe bet Ogier will be rather higher after this one.
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"We didn't do any mistakes and I pushed as much as I could all morning," says Ogier. He thinks this stage will be similar to the last one for first-on-the-road pain - though the times don't really support that theory at the moment. There aren't many people further back outpacing him.
Stopwatch
Ogier completes the stage with a time of 19m15.2s.
Stopwatch
A surge from Tanak in the middle of the stage - he's now fastest of all at split three by 0.8s over Neuville and 1.5s over Ogier. He's turned things around versus team-mate Ogier as the champion was closing right in on him earlier on the stage.
After losing the lead when his car cut out briefly on the last stage, Paddon having a slightly muted start to this one too - he's 2.1s down on pacesetter Breen at split one, though that's within 0.2s of rally leader Latvala.
Stopwatch
Neuville remains fastest ahead of Ogier at the final split, while Latvala's not-so-great pace continues - he's 2.2s off Ogier and 2.9s off Neuville there.
This stage could close things up even more...
This stage could close things up even more...
Stopwatch
Finally someone beats Ogier's split one time - it's Breen, by 0.3s.
Breen started this stage only 0.2s behind third-placed Tanak and 0.9s off second-placed Meeke. He's on course to move ahead of Tanak on that pace, while Meeke's only just started the stage.
Breen started this stage only 0.2s behind third-placed Tanak and 0.9s off second-placed Meeke. He's on course to move ahead of Tanak on that pace, while Meeke's only just started the stage.
Stopwatch
At split two it's now Neuville fastest - 1.2s up on Ogier, 1.5s up on Tanak and 2s up on leader Latvala.
Neuville started the day only 12th fastest and utterly confused as to why. Seems he's figuring it out.
Neuville started the day only 12th fastest and utterly confused as to why. Seems he's figuring it out.
Rally leader Latvala was 1.6s down on stage pacesetter Ogier at split one, but by split two that gap is down to 0.8s.
Still no one able to beat Ogier's split one time.
Still no one able to beat Ogier's split one time.
Stopwatch
Ogier has taken 2.4s out of team-mate Tanak at split one. To put the close lead group into perspective, that would put them nearly back on terms with each other and they began the stage five places apart - Ogier in eighth, Tanak in third.
Strong start from Ogier here - by split one he's 1.6s faster than Latvala and 0.1s ahead of Neuville.
Green flag
Ogier has begun SS4 already. He's back in eighth overall but a not too worrying 8.1s off leader Latvala.
In fact just 3.1s covers Meeke in second through to Ogier in eighth right now.
In fact just 3.1s covers Meeke in second through to Ogier in eighth right now.
Information
Not messing about on this rally, onto the next stage already. Here's the description from Paddon's new co-driver Seb Marshall, with a minor David Evans interjection.
SS4 Ponte de Lima (17.06 miles)
DAVID EVANS: Just before Seb jumps in here, it's worth remembering this is the stage where Hayden Paddon and Ott Tanak both crashed last year. Paddon's brand new i20 NG WRC was lost to fire, but the Estonian managed to save M-Sport's Ford Fiesta RS WRC by hauling it clear almost with his bare hands.
Over to you Seb.
This is pretty much an exact reverse from last year. It's a very technical stage, but the grip is quite consistent all the way through.
There are a couple of Tarmac sections in the middle which break the flow of the gravel and there are parts where it can tend to get quite rocky – Hayden will attest to this from last year!
Bizarrely enough, when the organisers have had the roads repaired after the winter, some of the corners have been fixed with asphalt underneath the gravel.
In a few places, Hayden and I stopped and I got out and kicked the gravel away to find good, hard asphalt underneath. It's not a lot of corners, but it could make a difference in the ones that are there. Certainly, it's noticeable.
SS4 Ponte de Lima (17.06 miles)
DAVID EVANS: Just before Seb jumps in here, it's worth remembering this is the stage where Hayden Paddon and Ott Tanak both crashed last year. Paddon's brand new i20 NG WRC was lost to fire, but the Estonian managed to save M-Sport's Ford Fiesta RS WRC by hauling it clear almost with his bare hands.
Over to you Seb.
This is pretty much an exact reverse from last year. It's a very technical stage, but the grip is quite consistent all the way through.
There are a couple of Tarmac sections in the middle which break the flow of the gravel and there are parts where it can tend to get quite rocky – Hayden will attest to this from last year!
Bizarrely enough, when the organisers have had the roads repaired after the winter, some of the corners have been fixed with asphalt underneath the gravel.
In a few places, Hayden and I stopped and I got out and kicked the gravel away to find good, hard asphalt underneath. It's not a lot of corners, but it could make a difference in the ones that are there. Certainly, it's noticeable.
Information
SS3 summary:
* Paddon's car cuts out and he falls from first to sixth overall, but remains chilled
* Latvala fastest and into 5s rally lead over Meeke
* Ogier struggles with running first on the road and is now eighth overall
* Ostberg falls to seventh after running wide and nearly hitting the already-crashed Lefebvre
* Lefebvre gets going again after that crash but loses two and a half minutes
* Neuville begins to find some pace and inches up to 10th
* Paddon's car cuts out and he falls from first to sixth overall, but remains chilled
* Latvala fastest and into 5s rally lead over Meeke
* Ogier struggles with running first on the road and is now eighth overall
* Ostberg falls to seventh after running wide and nearly hitting the already-crashed Lefebvre
* Lefebvre gets going again after that crash but loses two and a half minutes
* Neuville begins to find some pace and inches up to 10th
Information
SS3 results:
Leading stage times:
1 Latvala 10m25.2s
2 Evans +1.3s
3 Tanak +1.9s
4 Neuville +2.5s
5 Breen +2.5s
6 Ogier +4.3s
7 Meeke +4.3s
8 Sordo +5.2s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Latvala
2 Meeke +5.0s
3 Tanak +5.7s
4 Breen +5.9s
5 Evans +7.2s
6 Paddon +7.3s
7 Ostberg +7.7s
8 Ogier +8.1s
9 Sordo +11.5s
10 Neuville +12.8s
Leading stage times:
1 Latvala 10m25.2s
2 Evans +1.3s
3 Tanak +1.9s
4 Neuville +2.5s
5 Breen +2.5s
6 Ogier +4.3s
7 Meeke +4.3s
8 Sordo +5.2s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Latvala
2 Meeke +5.0s
3 Tanak +5.7s
4 Breen +5.9s
5 Evans +7.2s
6 Paddon +7.3s
7 Ostberg +7.7s
8 Ogier +8.1s
9 Sordo +11.5s
10 Neuville +12.8s
Lappi is a decent 10th fastest in his Toyota debut, and that places him ahead of team-mate Hanninen in 11th overall.
Very significant little note that we should've mentioned earlier - Ostberg has made an eleventh-hour switch to DMACK tyres for this rally.
Crash
Lefebvre confirms he lost the rear of his Citroen and rolled once after hitting a bank. He's worried he might've picked up two punctures in the shunt - he only has one spare tyre with him.
Quote
"Difficult start, very rough, much rougher than I expected," says Ostberg. "Lefebvre had a massive one in there. I almost went off in the same place and he was just there. It was an absolutely flat-out corner. I ran wide and his car was already there, crashed. That was close!"
And Ostberg is at the stage finish too, only ninth quickest but seems he had to pass Lefebvre.
That drops Ostberg to seventh overall, just behind erstwhile leader Paddon.
That drops Ostberg to seventh overall, just behind erstwhile leader Paddon.
Lefebvre's battered car comes in with a two-and-a-half minute time loss.
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Crash
That looks like a shunt for Lefebvre.
By: Matt Beer
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