Rally GB, Macau GP, Bahrain WEC, NASCAR finale
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WRC - GB: Hirvonen is now all but assured of second place in his final WRC rally, as he completes the penultimate stage with a 32s cushion back to new third-placed man Ostberg.
WRC - GB: Meeke, who finished the stage with very little rubber on one of his rear tyres, is now 5.6s behind Neuville in fifth overall, and just 2s ahead of Evans.
WRC - GB: Meeke's right rear tyre was badly damaged at the end of the stage and he will change to a spare for the final stage.
M-Sport informed Hirvonen of Meeke's delay early on Alwen and he immediately backed off.
M-Sport informed Hirvonen of Meeke's delay early on Alwen and he immediately backed off.
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Felix Rosenqvist
F3 - Macau GP: After a pretty difficult time in the Formula 3 European championship this year, Felix Rosenqvist knew that it was vital he delivered a good result in Macau.
But it was only after a convincing victory that the importance of his triumph came to the fore – and left him pretty speechless about what had happened.
He could offer no proper insight into the race – as he said he needed a few hours to mull it all over – but the emotions were pretty clear.
“For the first time in my life I am completely out of words,” he said after returning from the podium. “It is really hard to let this one melt down.
“This year has been my hardest season since I started motor racing. We were struggling all year and we’ve been trying to improve.
“So finishing eighth in the championship, coming here, I knew this was my last shot to make something good for this season.
"But everything ended well. I had luck with me, the car was quick, I did really well I think. Everything just came together for once this year.
"I have been followed by bad luck and it has been really tough. But I couldn’t be any better right now. It is unbelievable."
WRC - GB: We're just over five minutes away from the final stage of Rally GB and the 2014 World Rally Championship.
This is how the top 10 looks:
1 Ogier
2 Hirvonen +40.1s
3 Ostberg +1m12.6s
4 Neuville +1m24.7s
5 Meeke +1m30.3s
6 Evans +1m32.3s
7 Tanak +2m33.3s
8 Latvala +2m59.6s
9 Prokop +3m47.8s
10 Paddon +3m50.1s
This is how the top 10 looks:
1 Ogier
2 Hirvonen +40.1s
3 Ostberg +1m12.6s
4 Neuville +1m24.7s
5 Meeke +1m30.3s
6 Evans +1m32.3s
7 Tanak +2m33.3s
8 Latvala +2m59.6s
9 Prokop +3m47.8s
10 Paddon +3m50.1s
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WRC - GB: The final stage is a re-run of this morning's opener, Brenig.
It was here that it all started to go awry for Meeke.
This is what Latvala thinks about the stage:
"There are some narrow places in the forest in this stage and some of the corners are quite strange. It doesn't feel so natural.
"There is one long left-hand corner which tightens, tightens, tightens and then a straw bale which you have to go around. We will need to make sure we have the speed off for this place.
"Then we go to the Tarmac place and, I must say, this is nice. Then back to the gravel and it starts to go more open area, the characteristics of this section are nice.
"But there are a couple of places where you have a fast right and then it tightens suddenly. In these sections I have the word 'mirage' which is something I learned from Pentti Airikkala."
It was here that it all started to go awry for Meeke.
This is what Latvala thinks about the stage:
"There are some narrow places in the forest in this stage and some of the corners are quite strange. It doesn't feel so natural.
"There is one long left-hand corner which tightens, tightens, tightens and then a straw bale which you have to go around. We will need to make sure we have the speed off for this place.
"Then we go to the Tarmac place and, I must say, this is nice. Then back to the gravel and it starts to go more open area, the characteristics of this section are nice.
"But there are a couple of places where you have a fast right and then it tightens suddenly. In these sections I have the word 'mirage' which is something I learned from Pentti Airikkala."
Nick Cassidy
F3 - Macau GP: Nick Cassidy was one of the surprises of the Macau Grand Prix as he finished on the podium on his first attempt.
Although benefiting from the incidents of leading stars like Max Verstappen, Esteban Ocon and Tom Blomqvist, he was brilliant in the main race – and only a brush with the wall near the end cost him the runner-up spot.
"I hit the wall very hard with four laps to go, and to be honest I didn't know how I finished the race," said the T-Sport driver.
"I was very lucky there but I will take it. I think we had the pace.
"But after I hit the wall, and I had some strange feelings on the car. Lucas [Auer] caught up with me really quickly, he got past me in to Lisboa and I got him back.
"But when I saw [Roberto] Merhi was behind, I wasn't sure how quick I would be for the rest of the race.
"Once I made a mistake and Lucas was beside, I pulled back in and saved it for third."
Lights out
WRC - GB: Hanninen heads onto Brenig to begin the final stage of the rally. He's on course to finish around 30th overall.
WRC - GB: Next in is Kubica. Only once this year has he got through a WRC rally without any form of accident, but he's six miles away from doing so again.
His 2014 started so well with his Janner Rally win and amazing Monte Carlo performance, now it doesn't look so superb - but everyone in rallying would love to see him back.
His 2014 started so well with his Janner Rally win and amazing Monte Carlo performance, now it doesn't look so superb - but everyone in rallying would love to see him back.
Stopwatch
WRC - GB: Hanninen sets a mark of 7m15.4s. Will he be back next year? No news about him from Hyundai yet, and his 2014 contribution has contained a fair few shunts.
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WRC - GB: Kubica comes through 2.4s slower than Hanninen, sealing what will be 11th place unless anything goes wrong ahead.
Best of all, despite all the mud and treacherous surfaces, Kubica completed the event shunt-free.
"I started enjoying gravel from the middle of the season and the performance improved, but it hasn't been easy for myself or all the guys who work on my car," is his summary.
Asked if he'll be in the WRC in 2015, he replies "I think it's 50/50 between staying in the WRC or going back to circuits."
Best of all, despite all the mud and treacherous surfaces, Kubica completed the event shunt-free.
"I started enjoying gravel from the middle of the season and the performance improved, but it hasn't been easy for myself or all the guys who work on my car," is his summary.
Asked if he'll be in the WRC in 2015, he replies "I think it's 50/50 between staying in the WRC or going back to circuits."
Stopwatch
WRC - GB: Paddon pips Hyundai team-mate Hanninen to become current Powerstage pacesetter by two tenths of a second.
Will it be ninth or 10th overall for Paddon? That depends on Prokop...
Will it be ninth or 10th overall for Paddon? That depends on Prokop...
Stopwatch
Martin Prokop
WRC - GB: Prokop comes through 2.9s faster than Paddon and retains ninth overall.
Very strong drive from the Czech Ford privateer this morning.
WRC - GB: Latvala has collected a large amount of shrubbery, maybe even a small Christmas tree, on the front of his VW.
Stopwatch
WRC - GB: The tree obviously helps, as Latvala blasts through 7s quicker than anyone else so far.
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WRC - GB: Latvala insists that's someone else's Christmas tree...
"There was a branch in the middle of the road, somebody must have cut it and I couldn't avoid it."
"There was a branch in the middle of the road, somebody must have cut it and I couldn't avoid it."
WRC - GB: Tanak completes the stage and hangs on to seventh.
He's hotly tipped to be back in a full-time M-Sport Ford seat next year.
He's hotly tipped to be back in a full-time M-Sport Ford seat next year.
WRC - GB: Evans comes through and he's going to move into fifth as Meeke is struggling and loses further time.
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WRC - GB: Can Evans grab fourth from Neuville too? He doubts it.
"We tried to go reasonably OK but without taking any risks. The gap was more than we could realistically go on time alone, so we have to wait to see if anything happens to him."
"We tried to go reasonably OK but without taking any risks. The gap was more than we could realistically go on time alone, so we have to wait to see if anything happens to him."
WRC - GB: Meeke is half a minute off the pace at the end of the stage.
WRC - GB: Meeke explains that he kept the most damaged tyre on the car for that stage because he needed to keep the better spare for the road section back to the finish. Competitors aren't allowed to drive on public roads on punctures these days.
"We couldn't risk getting another puncture, we had to keep the good tyre for the road section," he says.
"If I do get a seat, I need to stop making silly mistakes..."
"We couldn't risk getting another puncture, we had to keep the good tyre for the road section," he says.
"If I do get a seat, I need to stop making silly mistakes..."
WRC - GB: Neuville finishes and stays fourth overall. He's second to Latvala on stage times so far.
WRC - GB: Ostberg comes through third fastest on the stage and third on the rally itself, sealing his first podium since Sardinia in June. Enough to keep a Citroen seat for 2015?
WRC - GB: Get the tissues out, Hirvonen is within sight of the finish of his final WRC rally, and he's going to be second.
WRC - GB: Hirvonen said before the rally that he wanted to end the year as top non-VW, and that's exactly what he's going to achieve, with this result cementing fourth place in the championship too.
WRC - GB: Hirvonen and co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen take their time getting out of the car, and he does look pretty emotional.
"I'm really so happy, I couldn't have a better end to my career, a really enjoyable fight.
"There are so many people to thank and I don't know when I'm going to have time to do that. But thank you all."
"I'm really so happy, I couldn't have a better end to my career, a really enjoyable fight.
"There are so many people to thank and I don't know when I'm going to have time to do that. But thank you all."
Checkered flag
WRC - GB: And just one last bit of business to attend to, here comes Ogier to win another rally.
Trophy
WRC - GB: A very, very relaxed drive on that stage from Ogier, who is now out in the Welsh rain celebrating his eighth win from 12 rallies this year.
Checkered flag
WRC - GB - Powerstage results:
Stage times:
1 Latvala 7m04.7s
2 Neuville +2.3s
3 Ostberg +3.1s
4 Evans +4.1s
5 Prokop +7.6s
6 Tanak +8.5s
Final standings:
1 Ogier
2 Hirvonen + 37.6s
3 Ostberg +1m03.6s
4 Neuville +1m14.9s
5 Evans +1m24.3s
6 Meeke +2m03.0s
7 Tanak +2m29.7s
8 Latvala +2m47.5s
9 Prokop +3m43.3s
10 Paddon +3m48.5s
11 Kubica +4m19.4s
Stage times:
1 Latvala 7m04.7s
2 Neuville +2.3s
3 Ostberg +3.1s
4 Evans +4.1s
5 Prokop +7.6s
6 Tanak +8.5s
Final standings:
1 Ogier
2 Hirvonen + 37.6s
3 Ostberg +1m03.6s
4 Neuville +1m14.9s
5 Evans +1m24.3s
6 Meeke +2m03.0s
7 Tanak +2m29.7s
8 Latvala +2m47.5s
9 Prokop +3m43.3s
10 Paddon +3m48.5s
11 Kubica +4m19.4s
WRC - GB: Jari Ketomaa clinches victory in WRC2, but it won't be enough for the title unless Nasser Al-Attiyah has a problem on this one.
Trophy
WRC - GB: Job done for Al-Attiyah, he has a WRC2 title to add to his trophy cabinet.
Trophy
WRC - GB: And in the Junior class, it's a dominant victory for Alastair Fisher.
So Rally GB done, Macau GP done, the WTCC season done and the WEC and V8 Supercars titles clinched.
What's next? The four-way shootout for the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup crown.
AUTOSPORT Race Centre Live will be back to bring you all the action from Homestead as it happens from 8pm UK time tonight.
What's next? The four-way shootout for the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup crown.
AUTOSPORT Race Centre Live will be back to bring you all the action from Homestead as it happens from 8pm UK time tonight.
Only one way we could leave you at the end of Rally GB though: Mikko Hirvonen's farewell video.
See you at NASCAR o'clock.
See you at NASCAR o'clock.
Welcome back to AUTOSPORT Race Centre Live's final lap of 2014: the NASCAR Sprint Cup title decider at Homestead.
We've got some pretty significant live coverage still to come this year - the Formula 1 title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix next weekend and the 2014 AUTOSPORT Awards on the night of December 7 - but this is the last appearance of the year for our Race Centre Live compendium of everything happening in the non-F1 world.
And we're ending with something brand new as NASCAR revolutionises the way a championship is settled.
We've got some pretty significant live coverage still to come this year - the Formula 1 title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix next weekend and the 2014 AUTOSPORT Awards on the night of December 7 - but this is the last appearance of the year for our Race Centre Live compendium of everything happening in the non-F1 world.
And we're ending with something brand new as NASCAR revolutionises the way a championship is settled.
NASCAR - Homestead: If you haven't been following the 2014 Cup season, this is how it's worked:
After the first 26 races, any driver with a race win plus enough of the top scoring non-winners to make a 16-man field became the title contenders.
That pack was whittled down by four after three races, with winners again going through along with the next-best in the Chase points.
That process was repeated twice more after blocks of three races, to leave just four drivers in the 43-car field eligible for the title today: Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman.
And today points don't matter at all, whoever finishes highest out of that quartet is the 2014 Cup champion - and for any of them it will be a maiden title. Every past champion has been knocked out already.
After the first 26 races, any driver with a race win plus enough of the top scoring non-winners to make a 16-man field became the title contenders.
That pack was whittled down by four after three races, with winners again going through along with the next-best in the Chase points.
That process was repeated twice more after blocks of three races, to leave just four drivers in the 43-car field eligible for the title today: Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman.
And today points don't matter at all, whoever finishes highest out of that quartet is the 2014 Cup champion - and for any of them it will be a maiden title. Every past champion has been knocked out already.
NASCAR - Homestead: What about the other 39 drivers out there? Several are pretty aggrieved not to be in title contention today, but a majority of them are also team-mates to one of the championship protagonists. Don't expect Brad Keselowski to be too muscular with Logano today, for instance.
But Hendrick Motorsports, which does not have a single driver in the title hunt, is free to play, and Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr in particular all have points to prove after their seasons fizzled out.
But Hendrick Motorsports, which does not have a single driver in the title hunt, is free to play, and Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr in particular all have points to prove after their seasons fizzled out.
NASCAR - Homestead: We've been through the singing and patriotic and military phases of the traditional pre-race festivities, now we're about to get the cars rolling.
NASCAR - Homestead:
Here's how they line up:
1 Jeff Gordon
2 Kurt Busch
3 Matt Kenseth
4 Brad Keselowski
5 Kevin Harvick (title contender)
6 Clint Bowyer
7 Kyle Busch
8 Denny Hamlin (title contender)
9 Joey Logano (title contender)
10 Martin Truex Jr
Title contender number four Ryan Newman starts 21st.
Here's how they line up:
1 Jeff Gordon
2 Kurt Busch
3 Matt Kenseth
4 Brad Keselowski
5 Kevin Harvick (title contender)
6 Clint Bowyer
7 Kyle Busch
8 Denny Hamlin (title contender)
9 Joey Logano (title contender)
10 Martin Truex Jr
Title contender number four Ryan Newman starts 21st.
NASCAR - Homestead: The man giving the "start your engines command" does so without any inadvertent sexism (a feat not alway achieved) and 43 cars, and tens of thousands of fans, roar.
By: AUTOSPORT staff, Peter Mills, Gary Watkins, Marcus Simmons, Jonathan Noble
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