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WRC Rally of Portugal
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Kris Meeke is through next, 1.2s off Paddon and into third overall behind Paddon and Latvala.
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"I'm just really focusing on driving nice and clean and tidy," says Paddon. "There's not a lot of grip. It's cleaning in the wide parts but in the narrow parts it's really dusty.
"It's six of one and half a dozen in terms of cleaning."
Which is Paddon's way of saying 'oi, I'm not just leading this because I'm eighth on the road'.
"It's six of one and half a dozen in terms of cleaning."
Which is Paddon's way of saying 'oi, I'm not just leading this because I'm eighth on the road'.
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But now here's Paddon, fastest on the stage by a second over Latvala and into the rally lead by 2.4s over the Toyota.
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Here's Craig Breen and he's equal third-fastest with Tanak on the stage, which puts him third overall for now, 5.8s off leader Latvala.
Is Breen enjoying himself?
"The car is an absolute pleasure. I have never driven something so awesome, so great, in all my life. It is exactly what I want."
Yes. Breen is enjoying himself.
Is Breen enjoying himself?
"The car is an absolute pleasure. I have never driven something so awesome, so great, in all my life. It is exactly what I want."
Yes. Breen is enjoying himself.
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If you put the split times from this stage onto a graph, it would look pretty unusual. Pretty much everyone gains a chunk on Ogier between splits two and three, but then he pulls most of the time back on them all between splits three and four. That's the vagaries of running first on the road on an inconsistent surface.
Tanak time added to the superspecial results from last night draws him equal with team-mate Ogier in the overall standings, where they're both 3.8s behind provisional leader Latvala.
Argentina hero Elfyn Evans is in now, fourth fastest on the stage and fourth overall ahead of Dani Sordo and Neuville.
Argentina hero Elfyn Evans is in now, fourth fastest on the stage and fourth overall ahead of Dani Sordo and Neuville.
Stopwatch
But the man to watch is Paddon - at split two he's quickest of all by 2.2s over Tanak, who was the pacesetter at that point.
Tanak comes in second fastest to Latvala, 2.9s down.
Neuville does admit that the fact Portugal hasn't been a great rally for him before maybe made him too cautious there. But that's not the start you would've expected from a man aiming for a third straight win.
David Evans
Hyundai Motorsport – and Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul – arrive in Matosinhos chasing a first ever World Rally Championship hat-trick following victories in Corsica and last time out in Argentina.
While current form favours the Belgian crew, Rally of Portugal hasn't been one of Hyundai's strongest rallies. Since returning to the WRC in 2014, there hasn't been one of the Alzenau-made rally cars on the podium. Dani Sordo has been closest with fourth last season.
Confidence was understandably high for Neuville ahead of the start. He said: "We are still on a high after the results in Corsica and Argentina, but we saw from the winning margin to Elfyn [Evans] in Argentina was one of the smallest (0.7s), so we can take nothing for granted.
"This is a tricky event and, having only been in the north of the country for the last couple of years, it's still a bit of a new one for us. But I'm looking forward to it and I'm sure, with this new car and the confidence we have, we can be fast."
While current form favours the Belgian crew, Rally of Portugal hasn't been one of Hyundai's strongest rallies. Since returning to the WRC in 2014, there hasn't been one of the Alzenau-made rally cars on the podium. Dani Sordo has been closest with fourth last season.
Confidence was understandably high for Neuville ahead of the start. He said: "We are still on a high after the results in Corsica and Argentina, but we saw from the winning margin to Elfyn [Evans] in Argentina was one of the smallest (0.7s), so we can take nothing for granted.
"This is a tricky event and, having only been in the north of the country for the last couple of years, it's still a bit of a new one for us. But I'm looking forward to it and I'm sure, with this new car and the confidence we have, we can be fast."
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"I don't know, maybe we took the wrong road..." jokes a perplexed Neuville.
He insists he has no idea why his time would be that slow.
He insists he has no idea why his time would be that slow.
Stopwatch
Hayden Paddon is now fastest of all at the first split, though everyone is pretty tightly-bunched in that section.
Not a good start for Neuville at all, he's through 11.8s slower than Latvala and 7.2s down on Ogier.
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"Very fine gravel and very slippery, really a surprise," says Latvala. "But after a few kilometres the grip was improving and then it was easy to attack."
Stopwatch
Latvala completes the stage 4.6s faster than Ogier, which makes him rally leader for now. Looking at the splits from cars further back too, he's in pretty good shape.
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"My feeling at the finish line was whatever the time is, I cannot go faster than that," Ogier declares.
Stopwatch
Ogier is in with a benchmark time of 15m49.9s.
Neuville has dropped time at split three, he's a full 8s off pacesetter Latvala there.
Neuville has dropped time at split three, he's a full 8s off pacesetter Latvala there.
Ogier has pulled some time back, or Latvala has lost a smidge, in the next section. At split three, it's Latvala fastest so far by 1.8s over Ogier.
Stopwatch
Ogier's team-mate Ott Tanak is the pacesetter now at the second split, by a mere tenth of a second over Latvala. Neuville and Ogier are third and fourth there.
Stopwatch
Ogier was setting the early pace at split one, but he's lost a fair chunk of time in the next section - where he's 5.8s down on Latvala and seven tenths off Neuville.
Ogier has long predicted this one will be a headache for long cleaning.
Ogier has long predicted this one will be a headache for long cleaning.
Green flag
Championship order this morning, so it's Sebastien Ogier first, followed by Jari-Matti Latvala and man-in-form Thierry Neuville.
Ogier is up and running.
Neuville and Mads Ostberg are joint overnight leaders following the Lousada rallycross track superspecial.
Ogier is up and running.
Neuville and Mads Ostberg are joint overnight leaders following the Lousada rallycross track superspecial.
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Seb Marshall, making an early debut as Hayden Paddon's co-driver after an aggravated injury for Jonathan Kennard, is our guide to the stages - and the first is beginning any moment now:
SS2 Viana do Castelo (16.59 miles)
This will be my first proper stage with Hayden in the Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC and I'm quite looking forward to getting it done. There's quite a few tempo changes in here, so the tone of voice is really important to emphasise the speed – quite a tricky one to start with.
This is the only stage on Friday that includes some of the route in the same direction as last year. The first section of the stage is really quick before it joins last year's stage which runs for around three or four miles over the top past the windmills – this is a nice stretch.
After that there's a section is quite wide and fast, but quite loose – expect this to cut up on the second run. Then the character really changes and we're into the narrow, soft section before we turn onto a wider and faster, more flowing road – again this was used last year. The final section goes downhill, it's not exactly hairpin after hairpin, but if you imagine a forest road descending the side of an escarpment, that's the end of this stage.
Classic use of escarpment, takes Autosport's David Evans right back to Physical Geography ‘A' Level. Oxbow lakes or terminal moraine anybody?
SS2 Viana do Castelo (16.59 miles)
This will be my first proper stage with Hayden in the Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC and I'm quite looking forward to getting it done. There's quite a few tempo changes in here, so the tone of voice is really important to emphasise the speed – quite a tricky one to start with.
This is the only stage on Friday that includes some of the route in the same direction as last year. The first section of the stage is really quick before it joins last year's stage which runs for around three or four miles over the top past the windmills – this is a nice stretch.
After that there's a section is quite wide and fast, but quite loose – expect this to cut up on the second run. Then the character really changes and we're into the narrow, soft section before we turn onto a wider and faster, more flowing road – again this was used last year. The final section goes downhill, it's not exactly hairpin after hairpin, but if you imagine a forest road descending the side of an escarpment, that's the end of this stage.
Classic use of escarpment, takes Autosport's David Evans right back to Physical Geography ‘A' Level. Oxbow lakes or terminal moraine anybody?
Good morning and welcome to Autosport Race Centre Live - we're in rallying mode again as round six of the extraordinary 2017 World Rally Championship gets going in earnest in Portugal.
By: Matt Beer
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