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WRC Rally Sweden
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Neuville: rapid.
He comes in fastest so far by 13s over Meeke (13s!), 23.5s over his early lead rival Tanak, 31.4s over Ogier.
But Neuville thinks he'll be beaten yet.
"We have to see the guys behind," he says. "I made some lines because I was pushing in many places so they're going to use my lines now and go even faster I think."
And one of those guys will be his team-mate and lead rival Mikkelsen.
He comes in fastest so far by 13s over Meeke (13s!), 23.5s over his early lead rival Tanak, 31.4s over Ogier.
But Neuville thinks he'll be beaten yet.
"We have to see the guys behind," he says. "I made some lines because I was pushing in many places so they're going to use my lines now and go even faster I think."
And one of those guys will be his team-mate and lead rival Mikkelsen.
At this rate, Evans is likely to catch Ogier for 11th soon, despite Evans having lost over a minute with a puncture this morning.
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Meanwhile Meeke is fastest of the early runners by 4.6s over Latvala, which adds a massive 18s to his advantage over Ogier in their not-really-a-battle-anymore for 10th.
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The man who is pipping Neuville on the splits though is his team-mate Mikkelsen, who was only a tenth off Lappi at the stage start.
Lappi is not on Neuville's pace this time - a full 6s slower on the latest split. Given that Lappi was only 2.1s behind Neuville's rally lead going onto the stage, that's good news for Hyundai.
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Latvala completes the stage 5.9s faster than Tanak - but again the trend looks like it will be that that time will get comprehensively smashed in the coming minutes.
"I think we are now losing quite a lot," he admits. "That's the way it is, sometimes it is like this and you have to do what you can."
"I think we are now losing quite a lot," he admits. "That's the way it is, sometimes it is like this and you have to do what you can."
Meanwhile Neuville is again the fastest on the splits so far by a healthy margin, but it was those a touch further down the start order who fared best on the last one.
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Tanak is 7.9s faster than Ogier but he'll probably not be wildly excited about the road conditions either. He's not, but after giving it a bit of a slating he adds - more philosophically - "sometimes you have some hard days".
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"It's just a joke."
Quite disgruntled.
The interview persists - 'how was the stage?'
"Like a joke."
Fair play to WRC Live's Emyr Penlan, he gives it another go - 'is there anything you can do?'
"No."
Quite disgruntled.
The interview persists - 'how was the stage?'
"Like a joke."
Fair play to WRC Live's Emyr Penlan, he gives it another go - 'is there anything you can do?'
"No."
Ogier completes the stage in 13m52s. Let's see how disgruntled he is.
There are several tight battles here - just 2.2s covering Neuville, Lappi and Mikkelsen at the front, then Ostberg only 4s behind them.
Breen and Paddon are 5s behind Ostberg, but absolutely flying and have great road positions. They could certainly join the podium battle.
Suninen, Latvala and Tanak are losing touch a little in seventh to ninth, then Meeke, Ogier and Evans are all being cut adrift at the tail end of the WRC field.
Breen and Paddon are 5s behind Ostberg, but absolutely flying and have great road positions. They could certainly join the podium battle.
Suninen, Latvala and Tanak are losing touch a little in seventh to ninth, then Meeke, Ogier and Evans are all being cut adrift at the tail end of the WRC field.
Again we're not getting splits from Ogier on this stage, but the onboard footage definitely suggests he's having the same battle with a combination of ruts in places and loose snow and others. And it's not going to be fun for Tanak either - he's already 3s off Latvala at split one.
Now we have got some times from Ogier and he's 4s off Tanak. Add that to Tanak's gap to Latvala, factor in that on the last stage Ogier, Tanak and Latvala were all a fair amount slower than the drivers further down the start order and it's not looking good.
Now we have got some times from Ogier and he's 4s off Tanak. Add that to Tanak's gap to Latvala, factor in that on the last stage Ogier, Tanak and Latvala were all a fair amount slower than the drivers further down the start order and it's not looking good.
Information
We're back in business for SS6, here's Seb Marshall's guide to it:
SS6 Svullyra (15.46 miles)
Longest stage of the rally this one and, during the recce there was definitely a bit more loose snow on this one than the first. It's quite technical at the start, but it does open out onto a wider road – but it's still not super, super wide. I'd say this one flows and has a bit more of a consistent feel to it than the first one.
Everybody talks a lot about Colin's Crest jump in Vargasen tomorrow – and that's a great jump – but there's also a really big one in here as well; about halfway through the road opens out and the take-off speed at this one is probably even higher than in Vargasen.
SS6 Svullyra (15.46 miles)
Longest stage of the rally this one and, during the recce there was definitely a bit more loose snow on this one than the first. It's quite technical at the start, but it does open out onto a wider road – but it's still not super, super wide. I'd say this one flows and has a bit more of a consistent feel to it than the first one.
Everybody talks a lot about Colin's Crest jump in Vargasen tomorrow – and that's a great jump – but there's also a really big one in here as well; about halfway through the road opens out and the take-off speed at this one is probably even higher than in Vargasen.
Bit of a pause again now until the next stage in 40 minutes - what an excellently poised rally this is turning into.
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SS5 summary:
* Lappi grabs second from Mikkelsen - by a tenth - and closes to within 2.1s of Neuville's lead
* Paddon sets pace and jumps to sixth
* Early runners struggle with road conditions, Tanak now down to ninth
* Lappi grabs second from Mikkelsen - by a tenth - and closes to within 2.1s of Neuville's lead
* Paddon sets pace and jumps to sixth
* Early runners struggle with road conditions, Tanak now down to ninth
Ostberg says his slightly slower time was because there's now enough gravel coming through the snow and ice on the road that he was worried about the studs potentially coming out of his snow tyres.
Information
SS5 results:
Leading stage times:
1 Paddon 10m19.5s
2 Breen +4.2s
3 Lappi +4.3s
4 Mikkelsen +6.0s
5 Ostberg +6.4s
6 Neuville +7.5s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Neuville
2 Lappi +2.1s
3 Mikkelsen +2.2s
4 Ostberg +6.3s
5 Breen +11.7s
6 Paddon +12.0s
7 Suninen +22.7s
8 Latvala +28.6s
9 Tanak +33.7s
10 Meeke +51.6s
11 Ogier +1m08.2s
Leading stage times:
1 Paddon 10m19.5s
2 Breen +4.2s
3 Lappi +4.3s
4 Mikkelsen +6.0s
5 Ostberg +6.4s
6 Neuville +7.5s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Neuville
2 Lappi +2.1s
3 Mikkelsen +2.2s
4 Ostberg +6.3s
5 Breen +11.7s
6 Paddon +12.0s
7 Suninen +22.7s
8 Latvala +28.6s
9 Tanak +33.7s
10 Meeke +51.6s
11 Ogier +1m08.2s
That leaves Ostberg 6s off Neuville's lead in fourth overall.
But it's only fifth quickest for Ostberg, 6s behind Paddon's time.
OK, so Ostberg is going to have the best stage conditions, what's he going to achieve with it?
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But Paddon does even better - he's fastest of all by 4.2s, which pulls him right onto Breen's tail for fifth place (once Ostberg's in).
Suninen says he's "struggling a lot with the rear in the ruts" but he still goes fifth fastest so far and that jumps him ahead of both Tanak and Latvala into a possible sixth place depending on what Paddon does.
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And now Breen throws in a cheeky fastest stage time, so far, just a tenth faster than Lappi. That leaves Breen fourth right now, 11s off the lead, and now a comfortable 17s clear of Latvala behind in what is probably fifth and sixth places once Ostberg's in.
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Mikkelsen comes in second fastest between Lappi and Neuville, which means the top three provisionally looks like:
1 Neuville; 2 Lappi +2.2s; 3 Mikkelsen +2.3s by our quick maths, with Lappi grabbing second from Mikkelsen.
"That was a good stage by Lappi," Mikkelsen says, calmly. "We did a good drive as well."
1 Neuville; 2 Lappi +2.2s; 3 Mikkelsen +2.3s by our quick maths, with Lappi grabbing second from Mikkelsen.
"That was a good stage by Lappi," Mikkelsen says, calmly. "We did a good drive as well."
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Conditions look like they're getting better and better for those further back - Ostberg is a second quicker than previous benchmark Mikkelsen at split one and Paddon is another four tenths faster still.
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Blistering finish from Lappi, he outpaces Neuville by 3.2s to go fastest so far and close the gap to the overall leader to 2.1s.
"Sounds good, sounds good!" Lappi says when told the time. "Quite surprised... There is a lot of gravel. It felt more slippery than this morning."
"Sounds good, sounds good!" Lappi says when told the time. "Quite surprised... There is a lot of gravel. It felt more slippery than this morning."
Strong run from Evans - he goes second fastest, 5s behind Neuville.
That won't do him much good overall, as his puncture this morning cut him adrift in 12th, but his confidence was very low this morning and that's an encouraging time.
That won't do him much good overall, as his puncture this morning cut him adrift in 12th, but his confidence was very low this morning and that's an encouraging time.
Mikkelsen, who was fastest at split one, slots in between Lappi and Neuville's pace at the next split.
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But that time could well be beaten - Lappi is 2s faster at the middle split now.
Still, Neuville's happy - and surprised to be so much quicker than the likes of Latvala and Tanak.
"We had a good stage but I really don't know about the rhythm. The grip was good in the beginning and worse at the end. We knew that we had a small advantage, but the difference was quite big.
Still, Neuville's happy - and surprised to be so much quicker than the likes of Latvala and Tanak.
"We had a good stage but I really don't know about the rhythm. The grip was good in the beginning and worse at the end. We knew that we had a small advantage, but the difference was quite big.
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Boom, hello Neuville. He finishes the stage fastest so far by a massive 11.6s over Latvala.
Best performance of the day so far from Meeke - he's second fastest so far, 1.3s off Latvala. And Meeke's actually enjoying the state of the roads.
"When I have a rut to follow and I commit to the ruts, I don't tend the chassis working for me," he explains. "When it's like this I can attack a bit more. When it's completely smooth, I struggle a bit."
Struggling for confidence this morning meant Meeke fell away from the lead group a bit, so he's got a new tactic:
"My only target now is to stay in front of Ogier," he declares. "That's my only plan."
After that time, he's 16.6s clear.
"When I have a rut to follow and I commit to the ruts, I don't tend the chassis working for me," he explains. "When it's like this I can attack a bit more. When it's completely smooth, I struggle a bit."
Struggling for confidence this morning meant Meeke fell away from the lead group a bit, so he's got a new tactic:
"My only target now is to stay in front of Ogier," he declares. "That's my only plan."
After that time, he's 16.6s clear.
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Mikkelsen is fastest so far at split one - and he's taken just over a second out of Neuville there. Going onto the stage they were just 3.7s apart for the overall lead.
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Latvala comes through 2.7s faster than Tanak at the stage finish, which spreads the overall gap between them to 5.1s. He agrees with Ogier and Tanak that it's very difficult to find grip, with only a very narrow line that works.
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Storming pace from Neuville again - he's 8s up on Tanak and 6s quicker than Latvala on the splits. But it's Mikkelsen, Lappi and Ostberg who are closest to Neuville in the lead fight.
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Tanak is through 6.2s faster than Ogier, but has the same concerns
"It's really bad," he says. "It's a lot worse than the morning. But it's what we have and we need to cope with this."
Tanak ended the morning 19s off the lead in seventh, and his time versus Ogier means Ogier is likely to now be a minute from the outright lead.
"It's really bad," he says. "It's a lot worse than the morning. But it's what we have and we need to cope with this."
Tanak ended the morning 19s off the lead in seventh, and his time versus Ogier means Ogier is likely to now be a minute from the outright lead.
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Though he wasn't generating splits, Ogier is safely through. And he's even more unhappy, feeling the historic rally that's run on the stages during the lunchbreak has created very unhelpful lines in the snow and ice.
"Even worse!" is his summary of conditions. "Like I expected. It's the same shit every year. Following the national rally, it's undriveable."
"Even worse!" is his summary of conditions. "Like I expected. It's the same shit every year. Following the national rally, it's undriveable."
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Now rally leader Neuville is through split one and he's the pacesetter again, as he was for the final part of the morning. He's a second quicker than Latvala and Meeke there.
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Ogier's car isn't generating any split times, but we are getting Tanak's and he's 2s off both Latvala and a possibly resurgent Meeke at the first one.
David Evans
Looking at the footage, the ruts in the snow/ice are starting to come through now. Historically, Ogier has really hated the ruts, it's one of his biggest nightmare conditions. He's all about precision. Someone like Latvala is much more comfortable with the car moving around in these circumstances.
The early cars are onto the stage, and from onboard and helicopter footage much of it looks visibly clearer than before, though Ogier is having to catch a few moments where it's deeper.
By: Matt Beer
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