Rally GB, Macau GP, Bahrain WEC, NASCAR finale
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WEC - Bahrain: Davidson is into the pits and the #8 Toyota is taken straight into the garage. The team is checking an alternator problem.
WEC - Bahrain: The #8 Toyota is up on stands. but Lotterer and his team-mates need to finish second to take the title race to the Interlagos WEC finale even if Davidson and Buemi fail to score.
NASCAR - Homestead: Polesitter but not title contender Jeff Gordon has been telling MARK GLENDENNING why he's still a fan of the new Chase system, but what he reckons could be changed.
Jeff Gordon's verdict on the 2014 NASCAR Chase
Jeff Gordon's verdict on the 2014 NASCAR Chase
WEC - Bahrain: Pilet, Turner and Bruni are battling hard for third, fourth and fifth in GTE Pro.
WEC - Bahrain: Fantastic! Bruni does them both into Turn 1 in one fell swoop.
WEC - Bahrain: Davidson is still in the pits, by the way.
Crash
Max Verstappen
F3 - Macau GP: Max Verstappen's crash was one of the main talking points of the Macau Grand Prix qualification race, as the young Dutchman had been one of the pre-event favourites.
A small mistake that resulted in locked rears and a clash with the wall was enough to ruin his weekend, and fuel fresh questions from the cynics about whether he is ready for Formula 1.
But for his rivals, what happened on Saturday was not totally unexpected for a rookie around the punishing streets of Macau.
Race winner Felix Rosenqvist, who was right behind Verstappen when he went off, said: "He has done a perfect job this year, and you should expect anything – especially here.
"It is a difficult circuit. He just braked a little bit too late. To be at that level, which he is, the likelihood of making a mistake is twice as high as for any one of us who have been here three or four times. I think all credit to him."
Tom Blomqvist, who got overtaken by Verstappen on the run down to Lisboa, said it would be harsh to criticise the Van Amersfoort driver for what happened.
"He has done a great job this year," explained the Carlin driver. "Fair play to him – he had a good crack through Mandarin where we were four wide!
"He has wrecked his weekend and it will be fairly tough to work your way through from the back – so I will let you guys make your own conclusions."
WEC - Bahrain: They are readying the #8 Toyota to return to the track - with the loss of 16 laps up to now.
WRC - GB: Three quarters of an hour to go before the rally cars are back in action.
There are going to be two dominant themes this afternoon:
1) Ostberg v Hirvonen v Meeke in that amazing battle for second.
2) How far can Latvala recover in a healthy car?
Even while he was being pushed out of a ditch this morning, Latvala was thinking about getting back to the podium. He's got just over two minutes to make up on Hirvonen and the Citroens to do that, so it's a tall order - even though Latvala and Ogier pulled out a minute on their rivals yesterday.
But immediately ahead of him Prokop, Solberg and Tanak are all within about a minute, so if we were putting money on it, we'd say Latvala will be up to seventh by tonight.
There are going to be two dominant themes this afternoon:
1) Ostberg v Hirvonen v Meeke in that amazing battle for second.
2) How far can Latvala recover in a healthy car?
Even while he was being pushed out of a ditch this morning, Latvala was thinking about getting back to the podium. He's got just over two minutes to make up on Hirvonen and the Citroens to do that, so it's a tall order - even though Latvala and Ogier pulled out a minute on their rivals yesterday.
But immediately ahead of him Prokop, Solberg and Tanak are all within about a minute, so if we were putting money on it, we'd say Latvala will be up to seventh by tonight.
WEC - Bahrain: Conway and Bernhard have been evenly matched over this stint - the Toyota has gained a couple of seconds or so.
WEC - Bahrain: #8 has done an outlap and is back into the garage. The team want to check the new alternator is properly functioning.
WEC - Bahrain: Conway and Bernhard have both stopped. The Toyota leads by 4s from Lieb in the #14 Porsche, with Bernhard a further 36s back.
WEC - Bahrain: Conway is edging away from Lieb on older tyres, but Bernhard is more or less holding the gap to the leader.
WEC - Bahrain: Bradley has taken nearly 20s out of the LMP2 leader Mediani. The KCMG ORECA is now only 8s behind the similar SMP car.
Breaking news
WRC - GB: A change in the podium battle as Ostberg gets a 10s penalty for checking in late before service while the crew attended to "a communication issue".
That puts Hirvonen and Meeke into second and third, and gives Ostberg work to do.
That puts Hirvonen and Meeke into second and third, and gives Ostberg work to do.
WRC - GB: So now Hirvonen has a 0.7s gap over Meeke and 9.3s over Ostberg in second, third and fourth places.
Richard Burns
WRC - GB: There's plenty on the line for the Citroen pair and Hirvonen.
It's Hirvonen's last WRC rally, he would utterly love to say goodbye from the podium.
Ostberg hasn't had a podium since Sardinia in June, and he's been outpaced by Meeke for most of the second half of the season.
For Meeke, there's the chance to beat his previous WRC career best of third place, and also to take the first home podium for a British driver since Richard Burns clinched his 2001 title with third place here - or maybe the best home result since Burns's 2000 win.
And that's the excuse for running this picture of a Subaru.
The Citroen pair have the added consideration that neither has yet been officially re-signed for 2015, and the team does not want them to jeopardise its current second place in the manufacturers' championship.
Quote
WRC - GB: The two back-to-back Clocaenog stages are first up in the next few minutes.
Here's Jari-Matti Latvala's description of the East version with which he begin:
"We start on the east side and this is similar to the shakedown stage.
"There are a few very slippery places, particularly in the braking area for some of the junctions.
"The road itself is fairly easy, not easy, but clear. It's a well-defined stage. You come from one junction and you know: 'OK, this section is like this,' then you have the junction and: 'OK, now this section is more narrow or more twisty.' It’s easier for the notes.
"Towards the end there are some really slippery places, that will be quite difficult."
Here's Jari-Matti Latvala's description of the East version with which he begin:
"We start on the east side and this is similar to the shakedown stage.
"There are a few very slippery places, particularly in the braking area for some of the junctions.
"The road itself is fairly easy, not easy, but clear. It's a well-defined stage. You come from one junction and you know: 'OK, this section is like this,' then you have the junction and: 'OK, now this section is more narrow or more twisty.' It’s easier for the notes.
"Towards the end there are some really slippery places, that will be quite difficult."
Breaking news
WRC - GB: With big crowds out for the rally this weekend, organisers are now warning that car parks for the Clocaenog stages are now at capacity and Dyfnant isn't far off.
WEC - Bahrain: Bradley has taken the P2 lead and is now four seconds up the road from Mediani.
WEC - Bahrain: The Aston is ahead of the Ferrari in GTE Pro after the latest round of stops – and by some margin. The Aston stopped first and Mucke put in some sensational laps and emerged a full 10s ahead of Vilander after the Ferrari's stop.
F3 - Macau GP: Motopark has made a quietly strong impression on its return to the top level of F3 after a three-year absence.
German F3 champion Markus Pommer qualified the car 11th, and on theoretical laptimes combining a driver's best sectors he would have been sixth.
Pommer failed to get away at the start of the race, consigning him to a lowly finish.
German F3 champion Markus Pommer qualified the car 11th, and on theoretical laptimes combining a driver's best sectors he would have been sixth.
Pommer failed to get away at the start of the race, consigning him to a lowly finish.
Breaking news
WRC - GB: Problems for morning pacesetter Mikkelsen at the start of the afternoon - his intercom is broken and he's been unable to hear any of Ola Floene's pacenotes.
He doesn't believe it can be fixed, and says it's VW's fault for giving Floene a broken helmet back.
"The helmet I had problems with going into service, they gave to Ola going out. So we have no intercom for four stages. It's not very nice."
He doesn't believe it can be fixed, and says it's VW's fault for giving Floene a broken helmet back.
"The helmet I had problems with going into service, they gave to Ola going out. So we have no intercom for four stages. It's not very nice."
WRC - GB: Mikkelsen is still fastest on the stage so far, 2.1s up on Hanninen, who says the second pass of these stages is "like a different rally" as it's so much more slippery with the whole field having gone through.
Mikkelsen and Hanninen are the only WRC runners on Rally2 so far this weekend, and they're still only 52nd and 51st overall in this huge field.
Mikkelsen and Hanninen are the only WRC runners on Rally2 so far this weekend, and they're still only 52nd and 51st overall in this huge field.
WRC - GB: Paddon adds another couple of seconds to his cushion over Kubica in their fight for 11th.
Quote
WRC - GB: The first cars are already at the stage of Clocaenog Main, the sister stage that is next up.
Here's our stage guide Latvala's review of it:
"This stage has a harder base than the one before it. The grip level is pretty consistent and it's not so muddy.
"At the start there are some fast straights, but it's not too fast.
"[AUTOSPORT's} David [Evans] told me this is the place where Colin [McRae] won the rally and the championship in 1995 and thinking back to the videos I watched for this stage, now I recognise it – it's the big history place!"
Here's our stage guide Latvala's review of it:
"This stage has a harder base than the one before it. The grip level is pretty consistent and it's not so muddy.
"At the start there are some fast straights, but it's not too fast.
"[AUTOSPORT's} David [Evans] told me this is the place where Colin [McRae] won the rally and the championship in 1995 and thinking back to the videos I watched for this stage, now I recognise it – it's the big history place!"
WRC - GB: Solberg's splits hinted that he might be having a shot at a second straight stage win, but as he reaches the finish he's a bit slower than Mikkelsen. Who needs pacenotes?
Bloodhound
WRC - GB: You could be forgiven for thinking the Volkswagen is the fastest thing in the service park this week and you'd be partly right.
And partly completely wrong.
There's another car in service which is designed to go a little bit quicker than the Polo R WRC.
This one has (or will have) 421 times more power than the Polo (you have no idea how long that maths took...) and goes 1000mph not just 120.
Bloodhound's here!
And here's a shot of its lovely exhaust. Which is also considerably bigger than the one on the Volkswagen.
Quote
WRC - GB: Evans, fifth fastest on the stage so far and still sixth overall, is asked if his home stages are fun today.
"Not when it's this slippery," he replies.
"Not when it's this slippery," he replies.
WEC - Bahrain: Conway and Bernhard have both stopped, handing over to Sarrazin and Webber respectively. The gap between them is now 54s, with Lieb in between them in second.
WRC - GB: Ostberg doesn't believe the 10s penalty he's received for a late check-in this morning is fair, as he's sure he was on time.
"But all we can do is try to fight back," he admits.
"But all we can do is try to fight back," he admits.
Quote
WRC - GB: Meeke deposes Mikkelsen at the top of the SS14 times, and he's fast enough there to jump Hirvonen for second place.
Hirvonen reacts with a determined laugh.
"He did well on that stage. It's really slippery... bloody hell. We'll try again."
The Citroen is now 1.1s ahead of the M-Sport Ford, and Ostberg has lost a bit more ground and is 11s off now.
Hirvonen reacts with a determined laugh.
"He did well on that stage. It's really slippery... bloody hell. We'll try again."
The Citroen is now 1.1s ahead of the M-Sport Ford, and Ostberg has lost a bit more ground and is 11s off now.
WRC - GB: Latvala is through, but he's only 10th quickest. That takes a bit of time out of ninth-placed Prokop, but it's hardly the surge we'd been hyping.
Quote
WRC - GB: Latvala admits he's not quite back up to speed yet.
"It's so slippery. I didn't expect it to be this slippery. For sure my rhythm wasn't the best, and I had problems trying to get it back again.
"The time is nothing special but maybe it will get better from here."
"It's so slippery. I didn't expect it to be this slippery. For sure my rhythm wasn't the best, and I had problems trying to get it back again.
"The time is nothing special but maybe it will get better from here."
WRC - GB: Ogier comes through a safe fourth fastest, and the first few cars are already at the end of Clocaenog Main too, where Mikkelsen is again setting the pace despite having no intercom.
Checkered flag
WRC - GB - SS14 results:
Stage times:
1 Meeke 4m44.8s
2 Mikkelsen +1.4s
3 Hirvonen +1.8s
4 Ogier +1.9s
5 Neuville +2.3s
6 Paddon +2.5s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier
2 Meeke +1m09.6s
3 Hirvonen +1m10.7s
4 Ostberg +1m11.0s
5 Neuville +1m33.9s
6 Evans +1m50.3s
7 Tanak +2m31.8s
8 Solberg +2m42.9s
9 Prokop +3m19.9s
10 Latvala +3m35.5s
Stage times:
1 Meeke 4m44.8s
2 Mikkelsen +1.4s
3 Hirvonen +1.8s
4 Ogier +1.9s
5 Neuville +2.3s
6 Paddon +2.5s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier
2 Meeke +1m09.6s
3 Hirvonen +1m10.7s
4 Ostberg +1m11.0s
5 Neuville +1m33.9s
6 Evans +1m50.3s
7 Tanak +2m31.8s
8 Solberg +2m42.9s
9 Prokop +3m19.9s
10 Latvala +3m35.5s
Breaking news
WRC - GB:
SS14 summary:
* Meeke takes second place from Hirvonen
* Ostberg has a penalty applied for a late check-in this morning and falls to fourth
* Mikkelsen is second quickest despite having no intercom
SS14 summary:
* Meeke takes second place from Hirvonen
* Ostberg has a penalty applied for a late check-in this morning and falls to fourth
* Mikkelsen is second quickest despite having no intercom
WRC - GB: Over to Clocaenog Main, where Prokop has a puncture at the end of the stage. That's likely to be a place gained for Latvala.
Breaking news
WRC - GB: Ostberg's 10s penalty vanished from the system, then reappeared again.
If it did get removed, we'd have second to fourth within 1.4s again.
If it did get removed, we'd have second to fourth within 1.4s again.
WRC - GB: Evans describes his driving on SS15 as "too safe" in "terrible conditions". He remains sixth.
By: AUTOSPORT staff, Peter Mills, Gary Watkins, Marcus Simmons, Jonathan Noble
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