WRC Sardinia, WTCC Moscow
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WRC - Italy: Neuville's time is 13m25.2s - 2.3s behind Ostberg - while Evans finishes 9.5s off the ultimate pace.
WRC - Italy: Meeke is the next driver to cross the finish line but is 12.1s slower than Ostberg. Worse still, he appears to have an issue with his battery.
"There's a warning light. I lost a lot of power," he reports.
"There's a warning light. I lost a lot of power," he reports.
Stopwatch
WRC - Italy: Great run by Ostberg who finishes 4.9s ahead of Latvala.
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WRC - Italy: No issues for Mikkelsen, who admits he's just managing his pace this afternoon.
"Clean stage, a bit careful, but I think it's the right way to drive for me."
"Clean stage, a bit careful, but I think it's the right way to drive for me."
WRC - Italy: Quite a slow time set by Mikkelsen who finishes the stage in 13m36.3s.
Stopwatch
WRC - Italy: Latvala is in and finishes 1.4s quicker than his team-mate.
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WRC - Italy: So Ogier, was that stage any easier than the first two?
"Not at all. I'm pushing, but I can't do any more!"
"Not at all. I'm pushing, but I can't do any more!"
WRC - Italy: Ogier reaches the finish in 13m29.2s.
WRC - Italy: Latvala 0.2s up on Ogier at the 10.5km interval; Ostberg fastest at 5km - 0.5s up on Ogier.
WRC - Italy: Latvala and Mikkelsen are slower than their VW team-mate at the first interval - 0.3s and 1.4s behind respectively.
WRC - Italy: Quite a lengthy stage this one, stretching to 20.29km. Ogier's time at the first split is 2m53.5s.
Lights out
WRC - Italy: Speaking of Ogier, he's now onto SS4.
WRC - Italy: If you're just joining us, Hanninen leads for Hyundai, ahead of team-mate Neuville and Ford privateer Prokop.
Ogier is running first in the order as championship lead and isn't very happy, having to sweep the road for those behind him. He's currently ninth overall following Hirvonen's retirment.
Ogier is running first in the order as championship lead and isn't very happy, having to sweep the road for those behind him. He's currently ninth overall following Hirvonen's retirment.
WRC - Italy: Good news, rally fans! SS4 is about to get underway.
WRC - Italy: We've been looking through LAT Photographic's archives for Italian-related rally pics during this delay and stumbled upon this one of Michele Mouton.
At the 1981 Sanremo Rally, Mouton and co-driver Fabrizia Pons made rallying history: they were the first female team to win an event in the WRC.
In the Audi Quattro, Mouton and Pons prevailed over their male rivals with an advantage of more than three minutes.
In 1982, they built on this success with three further wins and were still battling for the world title in the penultimate run of the season.
However, due to an accident in the Ivory Coast, they had to settle for the title of runners-up.
Incidentally, no other woman has hitherto managed to win a world championship rally.
WRC - Italy: The crews are finally arriving at the third stage of the day and we should - fingers firmly crossed - be able to continue where we left off very soon.
Twitter
WRC - Italy: Yazeed Al-Rajhi has just posted a picture of Hirvonen's car on Instagram (via Twitter, hence the icon opposite!) and it's not a pretty sight...
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WRC - Italy: Hirvonen has just been talking to WRC Radio about what happened to his car.
"I have no idea. Obviously our car caught fire, but I have no idea what caused it," said Hirvonen.
"Everything was cool and peaceful, and then it just went up. Fire extinguishers couldn't stop it."
"I have no idea. Obviously our car caught fire, but I have no idea what caused it," said Hirvonen.
"Everything was cool and peaceful, and then it just went up. Fire extinguishers couldn't stop it."
While we wait for things to get going again...
It's lunchtime across much of Europe at the moment, so if you are about to go out and buy some sandwiches and crisps, make sure you also add a copy of this week’s issue of AUTOSPORT to your shopping basket as well.
Not only does it feature the usual unrivalled motorsport news, reports and analysis, but it also includes a candid interview with Robert Kubica, who reveals just how much being out of Formula 1 is hurting him.
And if that wasn’t enough, there’s also a 52-page Le Mans 24 Hours supplement for endurance racing fans to go giddy with excitement over.
Stuck indoors? Can’t get out of the office? Fret not, because you can buy the digital edition of the magazine through various online channels, including the AUTOSPORT website, on iTunes and also via Google Play (which includes a free 14-day trial).
So what are you waiting for, eh?
WRC - Italy: Only four cars have made it to Coiluna-Crastazza. The rest delayed by Hirvonen's now burnt out Fiesta.
WRC - Italy: The third of this morning's stages has been delayed as a result of the liaison dramas. No word yet when it will be getting underway.
WRC - Italy: Massive disappointment for Hirvonen. His record on Rally Italy is exemplary - in the last seven years that he's started the event, the Finn has taken one victory, finished second on five occasions and only retired once.
Breaking news
WRC - Italy: No idea what's caused the fire, but Hirvonen's Ford Fiesta RS is burning away. Thankfully, he and co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen are said to be OK.
Breaking news
WRC - Italy: Hirvonen's car has caught fire on the road section to SS4. More news when we get it.
Checkered flag
WRC - Italy: Here are the results from Terranova Sud and the curent overall classification:
SS3
1 Hanninen 9m25.2s; 2 Neuville +4.3s; 3 Kubica +4.9s; 4 Evans +5.1s; 5 Latvala +5.2s; 6 Prokop 5.6s.
Overall
1 Hanninen 24m16.5s; 2 Neuvile +0.4s; 3 Prokop +9.1s; 4 Mikkelsen +10.1s; 5 Evans +10.6s; 6 Hirvonen +11.6s.
SS3
1 Hanninen 9m25.2s; 2 Neuville +4.3s; 3 Kubica +4.9s; 4 Evans +5.1s; 5 Latvala +5.2s; 6 Prokop 5.6s.
Overall
1 Hanninen 24m16.5s; 2 Neuvile +0.4s; 3 Prokop +9.1s; 4 Mikkelsen +10.1s; 5 Evans +10.6s; 6 Hirvonen +11.6s.
WRC - Italy: Hanninen's time on SS3 was a mighty 4.3s quicker than team-mate Neuville.
Stopwatch
WRC - Italy: All change in the overall classification as Hanninen goes fastest to take the lead of the event from Neuville. It's a Hyundai one-two at the moment.
WRC - Italy: Solberg's time has finally appeared on the live timing facility. His 9m30.9s is 1.4s slower than Neuville's best.
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WRC - Italy: Solberg looked poised to claim the fastest time of the stage - he was 4.0s up on Ogier at the final split - but he dropped time towards the end after stalling.
"It was my fault.... 'putt, putt, putt'... then stalling again."
"It was my fault.... 'putt, putt, putt'... then stalling again."
WRC - Italy: We've done Evans a disservice there. He is second quickest through SS3! Just 0.8s behind Neuville.
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WRC - Italy: Evans is next to arrive at the finish and does so in 9m30.3s.
"I didn't get into the rhythm very well," said the Welshman.
"It's difficult out there. The times aren't too bad."
"I didn't get into the rhythm very well," said the Welshman.
"It's difficult out there. The times aren't too bad."
Stopwatch
WRC - Italy: Rally leader Neuville completes the stage in 9m29.5s and extends his lead at the top of the overall order.
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WRC - Italy: Meeke's steady start continues and the Citroen driver posts a time of 9m32.6s.
"Absolutely no risks. I'm quite happy. We'll do whatever comes naturally, I'll just go with the flow."
"Absolutely no risks. I'm quite happy. We'll do whatever comes naturally, I'll just go with the flow."
WRC - Italy: Hirvonen was quick through the first split but seems to have lost time towards the end of the stage. He reaches the finish 3.6s behind Latvala.
WRC - Italy: Mikkelsen is 1.5s slower than Latvala at the finish. Fellow countryman Ostberg is slower still, to the tune of 3.2s.
Stopwatch
WRC - Italy: Latvala completes the 12.40km test in 9m30.4s.
"I think we managed to improve the brakes - we lost some brake fluid, possibly from the front right corner..."
"I think we managed to improve the brakes - we lost some brake fluid, possibly from the front right corner..."
WRC - Italy: And we have our first time on the board. Ogier completes SS3 in 9m34.4s.
"There's no grip. It's just impossible. It shows the stupidity of this rule."
We think he's unhappy...
"There's no grip. It's just impossible. It shows the stupidity of this rule."
We think he's unhappy...
WRC - Italy: Ogier's first split time is 3m14.2s and Latvala is 0.2s up on that already, so his brake issue seems to have been resolved.
Lights out
WRC - Italy: Ogier and Latvala are already into the second of this morning's Terranova stages.
WRC - Italy: Haydon Paddon completes his first (proper) stage in Hyundai overalls and records a time of 13m42.2s.
The 2011 PWRC champion (the equivalent of today’s WRC 3 category) begins a seven-rally campaign with the German-based squad this weekend, but he isn’t totally devoid of any experience behind the wheel of an i20 WRC, having recently tested on gravel and asphalt in France, followed by loose surface work in Poland last week.
By: Dan Cross, Mark Glendenning, Matt Beer, David Evans, Kevin Turner, Scott Mitchell, Peter Mills
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