Rally GB, Macau GP, Bahrain WEC, NASCAR finale
Live Text
Sort by
WEC - Bahrain: Buemi, on fresh tyres, is making inroads into the Porsche's advantage. He's around a second a lap faster.
Checkered flag
WRC - GB - SS13 results:
Stage times:
1 Solberg 1m32.5s
2 Mikkelsen +0.2s
3 Prokop +1.2s
4 Tanak +2.1s
5 Kubica +3.3s
6 Neuville +3.4s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier
2 Ostberg +1m10.1s
3 Hirvonen +1m10.8s
4 Meeke +1m11.5s
5 Neuville +1m33.5s
6 Evans +1m48.7s
7 Tanak +2m29.7s
8 Solberg +2m42.1s
9 Prokop +3m14.2s
10 Latvala +3m33.4s
Stage times:
1 Solberg 1m32.5s
2 Mikkelsen +0.2s
3 Prokop +1.2s
4 Tanak +2.1s
5 Kubica +3.3s
6 Neuville +3.4s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier
2 Ostberg +1m10.1s
3 Hirvonen +1m10.8s
4 Meeke +1m11.5s
5 Neuville +1m33.5s
6 Evans +1m48.7s
7 Tanak +2m29.7s
8 Solberg +2m42.1s
9 Prokop +3m14.2s
10 Latvala +3m33.4s
WEC - Bahrain: Fassler, who was struggling before stopping and had dropped 30s to the leader, has just set fastest lap of the race!
WEC - Bahrain: Both Toyotas took on tyres at their pitstops. Dumas now leads by 16s from di Grassi in the best of the Audis.
WRC - GB: Even on a one-mile blast around a castle, having no rear wing and a broken damper can hurt your stage time - Latvala loses another 5s around Chirk.
WEC - Bahrain: Buemi pits - the #8 Toyota has effectively made the splash it would need at the end of the race five or so hours early.
WRC - GB: It may not have been a startling time from Ostberg, but it's taken him back into second overall by 0.7s over Hirvonen, with Meeke only a further 0.7s back. Second to fourth covered by 1.4s at the rally's mid-way point!
Yellow flag
WEC - Bahrain: Debris on the track leads to a Full Course Yellow. Buemi's advantage over Dumas stood at 6s, while Minassian, Bruni and Thiim lead the classes.
WRC - GB: Ostberg is only ninth fastest on the short asphalt stage, 4s off the pace set by Solberg.
WRC - GB: Solberg remains the Chirk pacesetter with nine cars now through, the latest being Neuville's Hyundai.
Next up is the trio scrapping for second: Ostberg, Meeke and Hirvonen.
Next up is the trio scrapping for second: Ostberg, Meeke and Hirvonen.
WEC - Bahrain: Ten laps in, and Buemi is 4.4s up on Dumas. Much of that gap opened up in traffic, though.
WEC - Bahrain: Pla had contact with the second SMP car driven by Kirill Ladygin - that was the reason for the pitstop.
WEC - Bahrain: Pla is back out in the Ligier, but four laps down on the class frontrunners.
Stopwatch
WRC - GB: Mikkelsen won't get a clean sweep for the morning - Solberg has beaten him by two tenths.
WRC - GB: Back on something more solid than mud, Kubica picks up his pace and is second fastest to Mikkelsen among the early runners and takes a bit of time back in his battle for 11th with Paddon.
WEC - Bahrain: Buemi is ahead of Dumas.
WEC - Bahrain: Buemi is challenging Dumas for the lead and was briefly ahead.
WEC - Bahrain: Pla has pitted at the end of the opening lap in the G-Drive Ligier - that's significant in the battle for the P2 title.
Stopwatch
WRC - GB: Short and sharp, Mikkelsen sets a benchmark time of 1m32.7s. He's been fastest on all four stages so far this morning.
WEC - Bahrain: Hartley loses second to Buemi halfway around the opening lap and then third to Wurz into Turn 1 at the start of the second lap.
WEC - Bahrain: Dumas takes the lead from pole, while Hartley vaults the second Porsche up to second.
Breaking news
WRC - GB: The need to attend to an unwell marshal on the Dyfnant stage meant it didn't restart after the WRC drivers had been through, so the WRC2 pack and everyone behind will eventually be given notional times.
Mikkelsen is about to kick Chirk Castle off, then it'll be midday service time - great news for Latvala in particular.
Mikkelsen is about to kick Chirk Castle off, then it'll be midday service time - great news for Latvala in particular.
WEC - Bahrain: Here's a recap of what happened in qualifying yesterday:
Bahrain WEC qualifying report
Bahrain WEC qualifying report
Green flag
WEC - Bahrain: A minute to go until the green flag lap. The #1 Audi, which didn't take part in qualifying, starts 12th as the final prototype entry with di Grassi behind the wheel.
Quote
WRC - GB: This is how Latvala sees the Chirk stage:
"This is generally quite an easy stage, but I remember there is one corner where there is a lot of cutting and there comes a lot of mud to the road – and this is in the braking area for the chicane, which can make it interesting.
"We have to be careful here, especially if it is raining. Under the trees, where the leaves are falling could be tricky."
"This is generally quite an easy stage, but I remember there is one corner where there is a lot of cutting and there comes a lot of mud to the road – and this is in the braking area for the chicane, which can make it interesting.
"We have to be careful here, especially if it is raining. Under the trees, where the leaves are falling could be tricky."
WRC - GB: Something different coming up next in Wales, we're temporarily switching to asphalt for the short Chirk Castle stage.
It's only just over a mile in length, but we could still see position changes in the podium fight with just 1.9s covering Hirvonen, Ostberg and Meeke in second to fourth.
It's only just over a mile in length, but we could still see position changes in the podium fight with just 1.9s covering Hirvonen, Ostberg and Meeke in second to fourth.
Breaking news
WTCC - Macau: Citroen has chosen the Macau weekend to make two big announcements about its World Touring Car Championship programme.
Not unexpectedly, the superstar line-up of current champion Jose Maria Lopez, four-time WTCC champion Yvan Muller and nine-time WRC champion Sebastien Loeb is being kept on for 2015.
But there's extra intrigue as Citroen reveals that Loeb's Sebastien Loeb Racing team - which has so far focused on sportscars - will also field the first two customer C-Elysees.
There's a big hint that 2014 Citroen part-timer Ma Qing Hua is in line for one of the SLR seats too.
Not unexpectedly, the superstar line-up of current champion Jose Maria Lopez, four-time WTCC champion Yvan Muller and nine-time WRC champion Sebastien Loeb is being kept on for 2015.
But there's extra intrigue as Citroen reveals that Loeb's Sebastien Loeb Racing team - which has so far focused on sportscars - will also field the first two customer C-Elysees.
There's a big hint that 2014 Citroen part-timer Ma Qing Hua is in line for one of the SLR seats too.
F3 - Macau GP: Roberto Merhi took his time, but he's now looking on course for a good result in the Macau GP.
The Spaniard even sat out the first 10 minutes of Thursday free practice while he waited for some rubber to go down, and was unimpressed with his car's handling when he did drive.
Double R Racing made a big step forward for Friday, when he qualified 10th, and he ran as high as fifth in today's race before slipping to sixth.
The Spaniard even sat out the first 10 minutes of Thursday free practice while he waited for some rubber to go down, and was unimpressed with his car's handling when he did drive.
Double R Racing made a big step forward for Friday, when he qualified 10th, and he ran as high as fifth in today's race before slipping to sixth.
Jon Desborough and Craig Breen
WRC - GB: Craig Breen wants to be competing in the World Rally Championship next season. If he can't do that, he should be reassured that a job in the media would be a good second option.
Making his debut as a stage end reporter for WRC Live, the Irishman has been the audible highlight of the first one and a half days.
But he's not going to trouble TV's Jon Desborough for the mantle of tallest media man in the WRC.
Checkered flag
WRC - GB - SS12 results:
Stage times:
1 Mikkelsen 11m32.9s
2 Ostberg +2.7s
3 Paddon +2.7s
4 Meeke +3.6s
5 Neuville +4.7s
6 Hanninen +4.7s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier
2 Hirvonen +1m10.5s
3 Ostberg +1m11.0s
4 Meeke +1m12.4s
5 Neuville +1m35.2s
6 Evans +1m49.7s
7 Tanak +2m32.7s
8 Solberg +2m47.2s
9 Prokop +3m18.1s
10 Latvala +3m34.1s
Stage times:
1 Mikkelsen 11m32.9s
2 Ostberg +2.7s
3 Paddon +2.7s
4 Meeke +3.6s
5 Neuville +4.7s
6 Hanninen +4.7s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier
2 Hirvonen +1m10.5s
3 Ostberg +1m11.0s
4 Meeke +1m12.4s
5 Neuville +1m35.2s
6 Evans +1m49.7s
7 Tanak +2m32.7s
8 Solberg +2m47.2s
9 Prokop +3m18.1s
10 Latvala +3m34.1s
WRC - GB: Ninth fastest for Ogier keeps his lead at 1m10s.
As he points out, this isn't the easiest place to control a big lead, because the grip is changing at every corner and you're driving on churned-up mud. Being in a massive battle with Latvala was probably a lot less nerve-wracking in some ways than playing it safe for another 11 stages.
As he points out, this isn't the easiest place to control a big lead, because the grip is changing at every corner and you're driving on churned-up mud. Being in a massive battle with Latvala was probably a lot less nerve-wracking in some ways than playing it safe for another 11 stages.
WRC - GB: The wingless Latvala comes through only 11th fastest, dropping another 11s. He says he's now got a broken front damper as well as the other damage from the morning crash.
WRC - GB: Hirvonen completes the stage and he clings on to second overall by half a second ahead of Ostberg.
So less than two seconds covers second to fourth places - excellent!
"It's a really great fight," says Hirvonen.
"The Citroen boys are really fast in the morning, and I just haven't been so smooth.
"But I'm still holding second place, so there's going to be a fight for it."
So less than two seconds covers second to fourth places - excellent!
"It's a really great fight," says Hirvonen.
"The Citroen boys are really fast in the morning, and I just haven't been so smooth.
"But I'm still holding second place, so there's going to be a fight for it."
WRC - GB: Meeke ends the stage nine tenths slower than Ostberg, so he's 1.4s behind his Norwegian team-mate overall. Where's that going to place them both with Hirvonen in the battle for second?
"I enjoyed it, it's brilliant at that Irish Corner [where the Irish spectating contingent have picked to congregate]," says Meeke.
He's happy enough with his time considering he did stall at a hairpin.
While he's in the thick of a three-way fight, Meeke also adds that it's "important to bring home two cars for Citroen to secure second place in the manufacturers' for the board."
With neither driver confirmed for 2014 yet, binning it would probably be a bad idea.
"I enjoyed it, it's brilliant at that Irish Corner [where the Irish spectating contingent have picked to congregate]," says Meeke.
He's happy enough with his time considering he did stall at a hairpin.
While he's in the thick of a three-way fight, Meeke also adds that it's "important to bring home two cars for Citroen to secure second place in the manufacturers' for the board."
With neither driver confirmed for 2014 yet, binning it would probably be a bad idea.
WRC - GB: Ostberg is through second-fastest, but with an eye on what happened yesterday, he's talking about needing to find a new solution for the afternoon.
He made changes at service yesterday and then lost a lot of ground on the much more heavily rutted second pass of the stages, so is keen that doesn't happen again.
He made changes at service yesterday and then lost a lot of ground on the much more heavily rutted second pass of the stages, so is keen that doesn't happen again.
WRC - GB: Meeke is coming back at Ostberg as the splits continue, but Hirvonen is losing time to both.
Esteban Ocon
F3 - Macau GP: Esteban Ocon hasn't made quite the impact on this year's Macau Grand Prix he would have hoped for, but at least he's done better than Max Verstappen.
While Verstappen crashed out of second place today, Ocon took a solid fourth.
The Frenchman reckoned his Prema car was just lacking a little speed - ditto team-mate Nicholas Latifi - which prevented his challenging Tom Blomqvist for third.
Indeed, Ocon's best lap was a full 0.7s slower than Blomqvist's, and 1.1s off qualification race winner Felix Rosenqvist's.
WRC - GB: We're firmly up and running again, and as was the case on the last stage, Ostberg is flying.
Based on his current splits, he's not only on course to get away from Meeke a bit more, he's also gong to take second from Hirvonen.
Based on his current splits, he's not only on course to get away from Meeke a bit more, he's also gong to take second from Hirvonen.
WRC - GB: Seventh-placed man Tanak adds another second to his advantage over Solberg, who is worried he might have an alternator problem.
Evans makes it to the finish safely and remains firmly sixth overall.
There's going to be a quick pause now as officials need to bring an injured marshal out of the stage, then we'll be into the Hirvonen/Ostberg/Meeke + Neuville on the fringe podium fight.
Evans makes it to the finish safely and remains firmly sixth overall.
There's going to be a quick pause now as officials need to bring an injured marshal out of the stage, then we'll be into the Hirvonen/Ostberg/Meeke + Neuville on the fringe podium fight.
WRC - GB: Although Paddon was far from happy with how his Hyundai is behaving this morning and thinks it needs more development to be competitive in the muddy conditions, on his present pace he is well on course to make progress.
He's got a shot at catching current ninth-placed man Prokop as the day goes on, and there's also Latvala in the middle as well - though the VW is a bit of a special case as its current sketchy pace is likely to change when it has a rear wing again.
He's got a shot at catching current ninth-placed man Prokop as the day goes on, and there's also Latvala in the middle as well - though the VW is a bit of a special case as its current sketchy pace is likely to change when it has a rear wing again.
By: AUTOSPORT staff, Peter Mills, Gary Watkins, Marcus Simmons, Jonathan Noble
Published:
Lap:
