Rally GB, Macau GP, Bahrain WEC, NASCAR finale
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WRC - GB: Neuville comes through third fastest behind Mikkelsen and Tanak.
As Paddon has also been hinting today, rough mud isn't getting for the Hyundai at this stage in its development so matching VW/Citroen/M-Sport Ford pace isn't looking feasible today.
As Paddon has also been hinting today, rough mud isn't getting for the Hyundai at this stage in its development so matching VW/Citroen/M-Sport Ford pace isn't looking feasible today.
WEC - Bahrain: Bradley is now 53s up the road from championship leader Zlobin in the battle for P2. The Russian was seven points ahead coming into the race and should get 18 points for second. The recovering G-Drive Ligier of Pla, Rusinov and Canal is fourth at the moment, but has a good shot at third.
That is significant because Pla and co would then win the title if they won the race in Brazil and Zlobin finished third.
That is significant because Pla and co would then win the title if they won the race in Brazil and Zlobin finished third.
Stopwatch
WRC - GB: Hirvonen comes through fastest, 1.8s quicker than Mikkelsen but more significantly 4.4s faster than his sparring partner Meeke, which firmly brings the Finn back to second.
"It's a bit crazy," says Hirvonen, who has now definitely got himself at least one stage win to show for his final WRC weekend.
"It's a bit crazy," says Hirvonen, who has now definitely got himself at least one stage win to show for his final WRC weekend.
WEC - Bahrain: Webber has held and even slightly reduced the gap to leader Sarrazin in the Toyota – it was 56s straight after their respective stops and is now 54s.
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WRC - GB: Latvala is still struggling, he's only ninth fastest and won't be rising from 10th overall any time soon.
"It's so difficult to get the feeling. When you are not in the fight anymore, it's difficult to get the best out of yourself. I'm just losing it."
"It's so difficult to get the feeling. When you are not in the fight anymore, it's difficult to get the best out of yourself. I'm just losing it."
WRC - GB: No dramas for Ogier still, he comes through eighth fastest and firmly in the outright lead.
Checkered flag
WRC - GB - SS15 results:
Stage times:
1 Hirvonen 8m11.2s
2 Mikkelsen +1.8s
3 Meeke +4.4s
4 Tanak +5.6s
5 Neuville +5.9s
6 Solberg +6.1s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier
2 Hirvonen +1m03.0s
3 Meeke +1m06.3s
4 Ostberg +1m21.0s
5 Neuville +1m32.1s
6 Evans +1m51.5s
7 Tanak +2m29.7s
8 Solberg +2m41.3s
9 Prokop +3m27.7s
10 Latvala +3m36.5s
Stage times:
1 Hirvonen 8m11.2s
2 Mikkelsen +1.8s
3 Meeke +4.4s
4 Tanak +5.6s
5 Neuville +5.9s
6 Solberg +6.1s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier
2 Hirvonen +1m03.0s
3 Meeke +1m06.3s
4 Ostberg +1m21.0s
5 Neuville +1m32.1s
6 Evans +1m51.5s
7 Tanak +2m29.7s
8 Solberg +2m41.3s
9 Prokop +3m27.7s
10 Latvala +3m36.5s
Breaking news
WRC - GB:
SS15 summary:
* A blistering stage win for Hirvonen takes him back past Meeke for second
* Mikkelsen second quickest again despite lacking intercom
* No progress for Latvala, who remains 10th and admits he can't regain his rhythm
SS15 summary:
* A blistering stage win for Hirvonen takes him back past Meeke for second
* Mikkelsen second quickest again despite lacking intercom
* No progress for Latvala, who remains 10th and admits he can't regain his rhythm
Yellow flag
WEC - Bahrain: Another Full Course Yellow to retrieve a bollard stranded out on the track.
WEC - Bahrain: And what an acrobatic retrieval - a marshal picks up the offending bit of plastic, runs towards the wall and sort of rolls over it and then stands upright like a gymnast after a vault.
WEC - Bahrain: Sarrazin makes his stop as scheduled. Webber will be in in probably two laps' time.
WEC - Bahrain: Sarrazin is only 11s behind Webber, so that's almost a full pitstop in hand.
WEC - Bahrain: The Ligier has had another five-minute stop. That means Pla and co are unlikely to be finishing third, which will make their chances of winning the title at Interlagos pretty remote.
WEC - Bahrain: Actually Webber hasn't stopped yet. Sarrazin's was an early pitcall to take advantage of the FCY.
WEC - Bahrain: Now he has - that was a normal length stint. The Aussie stays in the car and gets a new set of tyres.
WEC - Bahrain: Sarrazin now leads Jani by 28s, but the Porsche has a pitstop to make. Webber is a further 38s down.
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WRC - GB: Darkness has very nearly fallen and the first of our pair of Saturday finale stages has just begun.
This is Latvala's summary of Aberhirnant:
"You start this stage on the hill and you climb, climb, climb.
"Then you start to come down and then you climb another hill and come down the other side of that one.
"It's quite an open stage with a young forest. Towards the end the surface is new and very stoney – it reminds me of the new road in Myherin, where they built the road up.
"It's tricky to know in this section how much you can cut, some of the rocks are quite big. If you are unlucky, maybe you could catch one of these rocks and it could give the puncture or it could hit the suspension.
"The finish is tricky as well, it's maybe 500 metres steep downhill and it's quite slippery."
This is Latvala's summary of Aberhirnant:
"You start this stage on the hill and you climb, climb, climb.
"Then you start to come down and then you climb another hill and come down the other side of that one.
"It's quite an open stage with a young forest. Towards the end the surface is new and very stoney – it reminds me of the new road in Myherin, where they built the road up.
"It's tricky to know in this section how much you can cut, some of the rocks are quite big. If you are unlucky, maybe you could catch one of these rocks and it could give the puncture or it could hit the suspension.
"The finish is tricky as well, it's maybe 500 metres steep downhill and it's quite slippery."
Stopwatch
WRC - GB: He can't hear the notes, and now it's dark he probably can't completely see where he's going either, but still Mikkelsen is setting the early pace on SS16.
He's 6s up on Paddon, and 18s quicker than Hanninen.
He's 6s up on Paddon, and 18s quicker than Hanninen.
Breaking news
WRC - GB: Reports from mid-stage that Solberg has picked up a rear puncture. That could jeopardise his eighth place.
WRC - GB: Solberg lost nearly 50s to the pacesetters with that puncture, but he's likely to hang on in eighth, albeit closer to Prokop and further from Tanak.
Mikkelsen remains fastest on Aberhirnant, ahead of a closely matched pack of Tanak, Paddon, Evans and Kubica.
Mikkelsen remains fastest on Aberhirnant, ahead of a closely matched pack of Tanak, Paddon, Evans and Kubica.
WRC - GB: Ostberg's second afternoon slump of the event is continuing - on the Aberhirnant splits he's losing time to both Meeke and Hirvonen and drifting further from the podium.
Meanwhile Meeke is coming back at Hirvonen after they swapped second on Clocaenog.
Meanwhile Meeke is coming back at Hirvonen after they swapped second on Clocaenog.
WRC - GB: A big time loss for Ostberg late on that stage, he's 16s slower than Meeke as they both complete.
WRC - GB: Early pace from Latvala on this stage is much more promising than it was on the Clocaenog pair.
WRC - GB: Meeke was trimming a bit from Hirvonen early on the stage, but in the final miles it's the Finn who seizes the advantage and adds 1.2s to the gap between them in second and third.
WRC - GB: Reports from the stage that Neuville hit a chicane and damaged his Hyundai's lights, while Ostberg sustained a delaminated tyre towards the end.
WEC - Bahrain: We're into the final hour and the #7 Toyota in the hands of Sarrazin leads by 50s. It is not going to be beaten, but it looks like it is going to be close between the two out-of-sequence Porsches in second and third.
WRC - GB: That's better from Latvala, he's third fastest and will now have both Prokop and Solberg firmly within range.
WRC - GB: So Hirvonen is now 4.5s ahead of Meeke for second, and it's fourth, fifth and sixth that have closed right up - Ostberg is only 1.9s ahead of Neuville now, and Evans is a further 15s back.
Stopwatch
WRC - GB: Mikkelsen hangs onto the stage win, despite having no intercom. He did at least have a bit more daylight than those running later.
WRC - GB: Latvala's step up in speed has taken him past Prokop into ninth, and he now has Solberg 10s ahead after the Norwegian's puncture.
Checkered flag
WRC - GB - SS16 results:
Stage times:
1 Mikkelsen 7m48.2s
2 Hirvonen +3.6s
3 Latvala +3.9s
4 Meeke +4.8s
5 Tanak +5.1s
6 Paddon +6.5s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier
2 Hirvonen +59.3s
3 Meeke +1m03.8s
4 Ostberg +1m34.8s
5 Neuville +1m36.7s
6 Evans +1m51.7s
7 Tanak +2m27.5s
8 Solberg +3m23.0s
9 Latvala +3m33.1s
10 Prokop +3m38.6s
Stage times:
1 Mikkelsen 7m48.2s
2 Hirvonen +3.6s
3 Latvala +3.9s
4 Meeke +4.8s
5 Tanak +5.1s
6 Paddon +6.5s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier
2 Hirvonen +59.3s
3 Meeke +1m03.8s
4 Ostberg +1m34.8s
5 Neuville +1m36.7s
6 Evans +1m51.7s
7 Tanak +2m27.5s
8 Solberg +3m23.0s
9 Latvala +3m33.1s
10 Prokop +3m38.6s
Breaking news
WRC - GB:
SS16 summary:
* Hirvonen consolidates gap to Meeke in battle for second
* Neuville smacks something and damages his lights on the very dark stage
* Ostberg loses time with a tyre problem
* Solberg loses time with a puncture
* Latvala finally gains a place
SS16 summary:
* Hirvonen consolidates gap to Meeke in battle for second
* Neuville smacks something and damages his lights on the very dark stage
* Ostberg loses time with a tyre problem
* Solberg loses time with a puncture
* Latvala finally gains a place
Bumper cars
WRC - GB: This is the way to sort the battle for second... a bumper car battle where last man standing takes the position.
These cars have come in for some punishment in the last couple of days.
NASCAR - Homestead: Practice is under way for tomorrow's final showdown, and early on it's Kevin Harvick setting the pace ahead of poleman Jeff Gordon.
Harvick's title rivals Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and Ryan Newman are fifth, sixth and 12th respectively.
Harvick's title rivals Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and Ryan Newman are fifth, sixth and 12th respectively.
WEC - Bahrain: Webber has stopped with 45 minutes to go and doesn't take on new tyres. That's the first time that a factory P1 has double stinted.
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WRC - GB: Dyfnant is just about to begin. It's very, very dark.
This is how Latvala described the stage for us earlier:
"This is one of the stages which is sometimes difficult to remember.
"There are a lot of different sections with not so many straights and quite a few junctions – but I like it because if you are confident on that stage you can really make a good time.
"Normally the time differences can be quite big here – this stage is all about how well you have made the notes."
Even more so in the dark!
This is how Latvala described the stage for us earlier:
"This is one of the stages which is sometimes difficult to remember.
"There are a lot of different sections with not so many straights and quite a few junctions – but I like it because if you are confident on that stage you can really make a good time.
"Normally the time differences can be quite big here – this stage is all about how well you have made the notes."
Even more so in the dark!
WEC - Bahrain: Wurz leads Jani by 2.1s and they've both got to stop again. This race might be close, after all.
WRC - GB: The big questions on this one are now whether Meeke can come back at Hirvonen, what happens in the suddenly close Ostberg/Neuville/Evans fight for fourth, and whether Latvala makes any more progress.
Sam MacLeod
F3 - Macau GP: Another award we're going to give out is that for Macau 'baptism of fire'.
We're going to name the recipient this time: poor old Sam MacLeod has had a tough time with TOM'S.
He didn't get chance to test the car beforehand, and has hit the wall in three of the four practice and qualifying sessions, before doing the same in today's race and causing a safety car. In the other qualifying session his driveshaft broke...
It's a shame for MacLeod, but don't count against him performing respectably should he make his planned graduation to European F3 next season.
WEC - Bahrain: Wurz has extended his lead to 4.2s and it's likely that the Toyota is going to need less fuel than the Porsche at its final pitstop.
By: AUTOSPORT staff, Peter Mills, Gary Watkins, Marcus Simmons, Jonathan Noble
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