WRC Tour of Corsica
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First split from Meeke is good news from Ogier - the leading Citroen is 4.7s slower than the chasing Ford.
Meeke's lead starting the afternoon was 8.9s, he's lost nearly half of it in one split there.
Meeke's lead starting the afternoon was 8.9s, he's lost nearly half of it in one split there.
Neuville is slowest of the cars past split one so far - though not in an alarming way as Latvala, Sordo and Neuville are all within 0.8s of each other, 4.2s-5.0s off Ogier.
David Evans
Meeke's only drama of the morning was arriving at the end of SS1 with an alarming nosebleed.
That was just one of his ailments today. He's sporting a blistered heel from a recent snowboarding trip and he cut his left hand jumping over a fence to go to the toilet first thing. Fortunately, none of that's slowing him or his Citroen C3 WRC down.
That was just one of his ailments today. He's sporting a blistered heel from a recent snowboarding trip and he cut his left hand jumping over a fence to go to the toilet first thing. Fortunately, none of that's slowing him or his Citroen C3 WRC down.
The Citroens of Meeke and Breen are on the stage now too.
And at the first split, Latvala is half a second quicker than Sordo.
We're missing a split time for Tanak, fourth overall right now and chasing Neuville for the podium, but his Ford appears to be running fine on the tracking system.
We're missing a split time for Tanak, fourth overall right now and chasing Neuville for the podium, but his Ford appears to be running fine on the tracking system.
Latvala is 4.2s off Ogier at the first split, which is a bit closer than he was at the same point this morning. The person to compare Latvala to will be Sordo, as he began the afternoon 5s behind the sixth-placed Hyundai.
David Evans
Craig Breen and Jari-Matti Latvala are drivers who have both made changes to their driving style for this event. Breen is braking more progressively, while Toyota's Finn has altered his transition to the throttle.
Breen told Autosport: "I was braking a bit more like a kart; basically you go really hard on the brakes and try to lock the wheels then you come back from there. That was really hurting the tyres, so I'm being a bit more progressive now. I started working on this during the test and it was hard to make it natural, but it's getting better and better now and we can see the result – the tyres are looking fresher."
Latvala explained: "When you didn't have centre diff, in the cars last year, I could drive a different way: I could be more aggressive when I got on the throttle, but now I create a lot of understeer, so I have to change the way I'm braking and then taking the throttle. It's more gentle."
Breen told Autosport: "I was braking a bit more like a kart; basically you go really hard on the brakes and try to lock the wheels then you come back from there. That was really hurting the tyres, so I'm being a bit more progressive now. I started working on this during the test and it was hard to make it natural, but it's getting better and better now and we can see the result – the tyres are looking fresher."
Latvala explained: "When you didn't have centre diff, in the cars last year, I could drive a different way: I could be more aggressive when I got on the throttle, but now I create a lot of understeer, so I have to change the way I'm braking and then taking the throttle. It's more gentle."
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Green flag
We're away, Ogier begins the stage 13 minutes behind schedule.
Information
Stage-end interviews with the officials suggest the problem is spectators needing to be moved into safer places. No chances being taken on that front.
Still no sign of activity on this stage yet.
David Evans
Ogier was mystified by his apparent time loss between splits one and two on SS1 this morning.
He had initially suggested at the stage end that being slower on those miles was due to the road being bumpier there, but he later mused that the problem might've been with the timing system.
"I don’t know, there was nothing [wrong]. I think maybe on this one we have to question the actual split times. I doubt they were correct this morning."
Ogier said his morning "wasn't perfect in the first one, I didn't have a good balance, but it was better in stage two.
"I made some small changes with the clicks, I made the car a little stiffer.
"There is still more work to do for the behaviour of the car, but it was better for SS2."
The drivers are generally stiffening the cars after the first stage. With the second test running a wider and slightly faster road, they're looking for the extra precision that comes from a firmer set-up.
He had initially suggested at the stage end that being slower on those miles was due to the road being bumpier there, but he later mused that the problem might've been with the timing system.
"I don’t know, there was nothing [wrong]. I think maybe on this one we have to question the actual split times. I doubt they were correct this morning."
Ogier said his morning "wasn't perfect in the first one, I didn't have a good balance, but it was better in stage two.
"I made some small changes with the clicks, I made the car a little stiffer.
"There is still more work to do for the behaviour of the car, but it was better for SS2."
The drivers are generally stiffening the cars after the first stage. With the second test running a wider and slightly faster road, they're looking for the extra precision that comes from a firmer set-up.
Looks like a slight delay at the start of this stage, Ogier is still waiting for the lights to go out and he was due to be on the road five minutes ago.
Information
Craig Breen has done our stage descriptions this weekend, here's his verdict on what's up first:
SS3 Pietrosella-Albitreccia (19.38 miles)
Twisty.
One word, that's all you need. It's just twisty.
The first seven kilometres [4.56 miles] is new, or new in this direction. It's actually the reverse of the power stage in 2015 and it's all second and third-gear stuff where we're climbing all the way.
It joins the stage from last year at the hairpin where there were some pictures of Kris and I following each other [Meeke stopped to change a puncture then joined straight after Breen on the second run at the Acqua Doria – Albittreccia stage].
From there on, it's the same as the first one from last year and I really like it: it's narrow, technical, tricky and really quite abrasive on broken concrete and asphalt.
I've used bits of this road for tests before, it's good.
SS3 Pietrosella-Albitreccia (19.38 miles)
Twisty.
One word, that's all you need. It's just twisty.
The first seven kilometres [4.56 miles] is new, or new in this direction. It's actually the reverse of the power stage in 2015 and it's all second and third-gear stuff where we're climbing all the way.
It joins the stage from last year at the hairpin where there were some pictures of Kris and I following each other [Meeke stopped to change a puncture then joined straight after Breen on the second run at the Acqua Doria – Albittreccia stage].
From there on, it's the same as the first one from last year and I really like it: it's narrow, technical, tricky and really quite abrasive on broken concrete and asphalt.
I've used bits of this road for tests before, it's good.
Information
Here's how the field stands going into the afternoon:
1 Meeke
2 Ogier +8.9s
3 Neuville +17.2s
4 Tanak +21.5s
5 Sordo +26.7s
6 Breen +29.7s
7 Latvala +34.8s
8 Paddon +45.0s
9 Lefebvre +1m06.1s
10 Mikkelsen +1m28.2s (WRC2)
1 Meeke
2 Ogier +8.9s
3 Neuville +17.2s
4 Tanak +21.5s
5 Sordo +26.7s
6 Breen +29.7s
7 Latvala +34.8s
8 Paddon +45.0s
9 Lefebvre +1m06.1s
10 Mikkelsen +1m28.2s (WRC2)
Welcome back to Autosport Live as we resume Tour of Corsica coverage for two more stages of Meeke versus Ogier.
Autosport
Here's the full round up of what's happened this morning, we'll resume live coverage for the afternoon loop at 1pm UK: 
...by 50s over Francois Delecour in his Abarth.
Romain Dumas leads R-GT in his Porsche...
Shameless pictorial R-GT class update coming up.
Information
SS2 results:
Leading stage times:
1 Meeke 18m22.3s
2 Ogier +3.2s
3 Neuville +6.2s
4 Tanak +7.6s
5 Latvala +12.4s
6 Sordo +12.8s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Meeke
2 Ogier +8.9s
3 Neuville +17.2s
4 Tanak +21.5s
5 Sordo +26.7s
6 Breen +29.7s
Leading stage times:
1 Meeke 18m22.3s
2 Ogier +3.2s
3 Neuville +6.2s
4 Tanak +7.6s
5 Latvala +12.4s
6 Sordo +12.8s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Meeke
2 Ogier +8.9s
3 Neuville +17.2s
4 Tanak +21.5s
5 Sordo +26.7s
6 Breen +29.7s
Information
Back to now:
SS2 summary:
* Meeke extends his rally lead to over 8s with another stage win
* Neuville and Tanak battle for third in Ogier's wake
* Hanninen abandons the rally and returns to service after his SS1 damage
* Evans loses two minutes with hydraulic problems
* WRC2 leader Mikkelsen into overall top 10
SS2 summary:
* Meeke extends his rally lead to over 8s with another stage win
* Neuville and Tanak battle for third in Ogier's wake
* Hanninen abandons the rally and returns to service after his SS1 damage
* Evans loses two minutes with hydraulic problems
* WRC2 leader Mikkelsen into overall top 10
Here's Bouffier winning in a Peugeot in 2013
Here's Sordo winning in a Mini in 2012
Here's Neuville winning for Peugeot in 2011
All the drivers who won Corsica during its IRC/ERC era are in the field this weekend.
2011 victor Neuville is third overall, '12 winner Sordo in fifth, and here's '13 winner Bryan Bouffier - who's running fourth in WRC2 behind Mikkelsen, Camilli and Teemu Suninen.
The 2014 winner was Sarrazin, who's on the stage now and likely to remain near Mikkelsen and Camilli as third-best R5 runner. He's not registered for WRC2.
2011 victor Neuville is third overall, '12 winner Sordo in fifth, and here's '13 winner Bryan Bouffier - who's running fourth in WRC2 behind Mikkelsen, Camilli and Teemu Suninen.
The 2014 winner was Sarrazin, who's on the stage now and likely to remain near Mikkelsen and Camilli as third-best R5 runner. He's not registered for WRC2.
Looking pretty good for Mikkelsen to maintain the WRC2 lead and move into 10th overall now, he's a little under four seconds faster than nearest rival Camilli at the latest split.
Sarrazin is close to both overall, though, and won't be starting the stage for a couple of minutes yet.
Sarrazin is close to both overall, though, and won't be starting the stage for a couple of minutes yet.
Paddon and Lefebvre continue to lose time to the other WRC runners in what's now eighth and ninth overall with Evans's delay. Paddon's pretty frustrated with his own performance there.
Crash
Evans suspect it's a hydraulics problem on his Ford. It's cost him over two minutes and as there's no full service today - just a regroup and tyre zone - things could get worse still.
Crash
News from the team that Evans's lack of pace is due to being down on power - so not DMACK's problem at all. Sorry DMACK.
Breen matched Sordo's time on that stage, which keeps him in touch at the tail of the top six.
Information
So our top six looks like this:
1 Meeke
2 Ogier +8.9s
3 Neuville +17.2s
4 Tanak +21.5s
5 Sordo +26.7s
6 Breen +29.7s
1 Meeke
2 Ogier +8.9s
3 Neuville +17.2s
4 Tanak +21.5s
5 Sordo +26.7s
6 Breen +29.7s
Quote
"We tried to find something on that stage and it looked like we found it. The car is fantastic. Let's regroup, get some fresh boots and see what we can do," says Meeke. Great start to his bid for a second straight win.
Stopwatch
Meeke is in, 3.4s faster than Ogier and now leading by 8.9s overall.
Quote
Here are Neuville's thoughts on that stage: "It was OK. I was struggling a bit with my rhythm and the visibility in the forest, where you don't see where it's dirty. I can go faster."
Crash
Hanninen set off towards this stage but it seems the fire and impact did too much damage to the Yaris - he's rerouted and is heading back towards service to retire from Friday.
Neuville is through, second fastest so far to Ogier but losing 3s to the champion.
That keeps Neuville a likely third overall once Meeke appears, with a 4.3s advantage over Tanak in fourth.
That keeps Neuville a likely third overall once Meeke appears, with a 4.3s advantage over Tanak in fourth.
Evans's deficit to the leaders is now over a minute at split two. That may well be a more fundamental car problem than just the DMACKs not being so great on asphalt - although we thought that when he was shipping minutes per stage to the leaders in Monte Carlo on the opening day and that was purely tyre performance.
Stopwatch
Meeke continues to fly - his advantage over Ogier at split three is 3.4s.
By: Matt Beer
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