Rally GB, Macau GP, Bahrain WEC, NASCAR finale
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F3 - Macau GP: Young Catalan Alex Palou has done a fine job on his debut in an FIA-spec F3 car, with Fortec Motorsport.
Palou, who starred in Euroformula Open this year, has attacked the circuit fearlessly and qualified 14th.
Shame about his late off in second qualifying, that brought the session to a temporary close.
Palou, who starred in Euroformula Open this year, has attacked the circuit fearlessly and qualified 14th.
Shame about his late off in second qualifying, that brought the session to a temporary close.
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WRC - GB: Ogier is striking back at Latvala early on the Dyfi stage. He's 2s quicker so far.
And here is Latvala's rundown of what Dyfi involves:
"This is in the same kind of area as Gartheiniog, the same forest really – just across the road, so the nature is the same. If we are having a lot of rain and it’s wet, because these roads are more open, they can dry out a little bit quicker.
"I like these stages, though – good start to the event."
And here is Latvala's rundown of what Dyfi involves:
"This is in the same kind of area as Gartheiniog, the same forest really – just across the road, so the nature is the same. If we are having a lot of rain and it’s wet, because these roads are more open, they can dry out a little bit quicker.
"I like these stages, though – good start to the event."
Breaking news
WRC - GB:
SS5 summary:
* Latvala hacks Ogier's lead down from 9s to 3s
* Meeke goes third-quickest and closes in on Ostberg and Hirvonen for third overall
* Solberg moves up from 11th to ninth with the fifth-fastest time
* Power steering worries drop Paddon to 11th
SS5 summary:
* Latvala hacks Ogier's lead down from 9s to 3s
* Meeke goes third-quickest and closes in on Ostberg and Hirvonen for third overall
* Solberg moves up from 11th to ninth with the fifth-fastest time
* Power steering worries drop Paddon to 11th
Checkered flag
WRC - GB - SS5 results:
Stage times:
1 Latvala 8m48.6s
2 Ogier +5.7s
3 Meeke +6.2s
4 Neuville +10.1s
5 Solberg +10.4s
6 Ostberg +11.9s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier
2 Latvala +3.8s
3 Ostberg +46.3s
4 Hirvonen +50.9s
5 Meeke +52.8s
6 Neuville +57.3s
Stage times:
1 Latvala 8m48.6s
2 Ogier +5.7s
3 Meeke +6.2s
4 Neuville +10.1s
5 Solberg +10.4s
6 Ostberg +11.9s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier
2 Latvala +3.8s
3 Ostberg +46.3s
4 Hirvonen +50.9s
5 Meeke +52.8s
6 Neuville +57.3s
WRC - GB: A bit of a star turn from Henning Solberg on SS5, he popped in with the fifth-fastest time as he tries to regain ground after some engine stutters this morning.
Meanwhile there are problems for Paddon - he's working hard on his Hyundai on the road section between Gartheiniog and Dyfi due to power steering problems.
Meanwhile there are problems for Paddon - he's working hard on his Hyundai on the road section between Gartheiniog and Dyfi due to power steering problems.
Breaking news
Audi
WEC - Bahrain: There's only going to be one Audi R18 running in Sakhir qualifying when it begins shortly after a week of bizarre problems for the team.
GARY WATKINS gets to the bottom of the issue that has caused three monocoque changes for Audi since it reached Bahrain.
Audi makes changes after chassis damage
WRC - GB: Evans is slightly slower than those ahead, that keeps him seventh overall, 16s behind Neuville. He's slipping into a bit of a lonely spot at the moment.
WRC - GB: Meeke is storming back into the podium fight after his earlier jump-start penalty. He's third quickest through SS5 and he's now within 1.9s of Hirvonen for fourth.
Neuville is tagging along as well, the Hyundai slightly quicker than Ostberg and Hirvonen on Gartheiniog and 4.5s behind Meeke in sixth overall.
Can Evans get involved too?
Neuville is tagging along as well, the Hyundai slightly quicker than Ostberg and Hirvonen on Gartheiniog and 4.5s behind Meeke in sixth overall.
Can Evans get involved too?
WRC - GB: Latvala says with 160 cars having come through the stage, there are now deep ruts in the mud.
He credits his turnaround in performance to focusing on how to make the car work in the ruts, but also "having a bit of a calm-down".
He credits his turnaround in performance to focusing on how to make the car work in the ruts, but also "having a bit of a calm-down".
WRC - GB: Why did Hirvonen's time tail off near the end of that stage...?
"Because it's so bloody slippery," he declares.
"Because it's so bloody slippery," he declares.
Twitter
WRC - GB: Looking at a tweet from Ogier, we think we've just learned the French word for mud.
WRC - GB: Ostberg is precisely a tenth quicker than Hirvonen, so the gap from third to fourth inches up from 4.5s to 4.6s.
WRC - GB: Hirvonen comes through 12s slower than Latvala, but the times he'll be comparing himself to are the Citroens of Ostberg and Meeke, who he's grappling with for third place.
Quote
WRC - GB: Ogier explains where that time went:
"Nothing special, just a bad stage for me. I made a couple of small mistakes.
"You can see all the mud - I have to clear the mud, and there's a lot in Wales."
There is, and it's going to be there all afternoon now the National rally has been through the stages churning things up too...
"Nothing special, just a bad stage for me. I made a couple of small mistakes.
"You can see all the mud - I have to clear the mud, and there's a lot in Wales."
There is, and it's going to be there all afternoon now the National rally has been through the stages churning things up too...
Stopwatch
WRC - GB: A superb statement of intent from Latvala there, as he takes 5.7s out of Ogier's lead, bringing it down from 9.5s to 3.8s.
Quote
WRC - GB: Latvala's been giving us guide to the stages this weekend, here's what he had to say about Gartheiniog:
"This stage is quite open. You are driving more on the hillside, you are a little bit on the side of the mountain all of the time and it’s really quite fast.
"The grip level in here is usually quite high. There is more gravel on the top of the road here."
"This stage is quite open. You are driving more on the hillside, you are a little bit on the side of the mountain all of the time and it’s really quite fast.
"The grip level in here is usually quite high. There is more gravel on the top of the road here."
Stopwatch
WRC - GB: Latvala makes a cracking start to the afternoon, taking 2.7s out of Ogier's lead at the very first split of SS5.
WRC - GB: Welcome back to Wales. The second run through Gartheiniog has just begun.
Here's a quick reminder of everything that happened this morning:
Rally GB Friday morning report
And here's how the WRC field stands:
1 Ogier
2 Latvala +9.5s
3 Ostberg +40.1s
4 Hirvonen +44.6s
5 Meeke +52.3s
6 Neuville +52.9s
7 Evans +1m06.4s
8 Tanak +1m31.4s
9 Paddon +1m40.3s
10 Prokop +1m41.2s
11 Solberg +1m47.2s
12 Kubica +2m05.8s
Out of leg one: Mikkelsen; Hanninen.
Here's a quick reminder of everything that happened this morning:
Rally GB Friday morning report
And here's how the WRC field stands:
1 Ogier
2 Latvala +9.5s
3 Ostberg +40.1s
4 Hirvonen +44.6s
5 Meeke +52.3s
6 Neuville +52.9s
7 Evans +1m06.4s
8 Tanak +1m31.4s
9 Paddon +1m40.3s
10 Prokop +1m41.2s
11 Solberg +1m47.2s
12 Kubica +2m05.8s
Out of leg one: Mikkelsen; Hanninen.
Colin McRae
WRC - GB: A little over 20 minutes before our afternoon loop begins, which is quite a nice time slot for reading and enjoying DEREK RINGER's tale of his 1990 RAC Rally alongside Colin McRae.
When our sister publication Motorsport News asked Ringer to contribute to its comprehensive Rally GB preview, the idea was to focus on the pair's breakthrough 1994 RAC win, but Derek reckoned the one that really made the difference was an incredible battle of survival to sixth place in 1990:
The RAC Rally that made McRae
F3 - Macau GP: Nick Cassidy has done a great job proving the T-Sport car and the NBE engine, taking third on Thursday and seventh after the second session, in which he lost over two tenths in the final sector when he made a mistake on his best lap.
He even outdid Max Verstappen as fastest Macau rookie on Thursday.
He even outdid Max Verstappen as fastest Macau rookie on Thursday.
WTCC - Macau: It was in Wales that Hirvonen came agonisingly close to beating Sebastien Loeb to a WRC title not so long ago.
This weekend Loeb is in Macau rather than Deeside, but as this video shows, a part of him remains firmly in rally land:
This weekend Loeb is in Macau rather than Deeside, but as this video shows, a part of him remains firmly in rally land:
Mikko Hirvonen and Malcolm Wilson
WRC - GB: Huge focus this weekend on Mikko Hirvonen as he makes his final WRC appearance, and right now he's in the thick of the podium battle with Citroen pair Ostberg and Meeke.
Last night M-Sport’s usual pre-event Happy Hour media event had a more sentimental feel to it than usual – it was Mikko and Jarmo Lehtinen’s last one.
Moving tributes were the order of the night, followed by fish, chips and the odd glass of champagne to celebrate the Finn’s time with Malcolm Wilson and his company.
F3 - Macau GP: Lucas Auer was a bit concerned in one of the sessions when he arrived at the Melco hairpin to find Roberto Merhi snarled up behind Jordan King, who couldn't get around the corner.
Auer stalled, and then despaired that his session was over. Having recently tested a Formula Renault 3.5 car he thought he'd never get it restarted, but then he remembered he was in an F3 and it fired up first time.
Auer stalled, and then despaired that his session was over. Having recently tested a Formula Renault 3.5 car he thought he'd never get it restarted, but then he remembered he was in an F3 and it fired up first time.
Approaching lunchtime in the UK, here's a summary of what's already happened on Friday...
WRC: Sebastien Ogier holds an early lead over Jari-Matti Latvala as the VWs leave the rest standing. But there are only two Polos in the fight as Andreas Mikkelsen has crashed.
Macau F3 GP: Felix Rosenqvist hasn't had a great European F3 season, but a Macau win would be an incredible way to turn it around. Earlier today he upstaged the likes of Max Verstappen and Esteban Ocon to take pole.
Macau WTCC: Champion Jose Maria Lopez hasn't been to Macau before. He's a fast-learner, though, and he's on pole for Sunday's opener.
Bahrain WEC: Porsche set the pace yesterday and its #14 car stayed on top in the Friday morning session. Qualifying is in a few hours' time, and will run without the #1 Audi as it needs a new chassis.
Homestead NASCAR: That all kicks off later today with practice and qualifying, but right now it's not quite 7am in Florida.
WRC: Sebastien Ogier holds an early lead over Jari-Matti Latvala as the VWs leave the rest standing. But there are only two Polos in the fight as Andreas Mikkelsen has crashed.
Macau F3 GP: Felix Rosenqvist hasn't had a great European F3 season, but a Macau win would be an incredible way to turn it around. Earlier today he upstaged the likes of Max Verstappen and Esteban Ocon to take pole.
Macau WTCC: Champion Jose Maria Lopez hasn't been to Macau before. He's a fast-learner, though, and he's on pole for Sunday's opener.
Bahrain WEC: Porsche set the pace yesterday and its #14 car stayed on top in the Friday morning session. Qualifying is in a few hours' time, and will run without the #1 Audi as it needs a new chassis.
Homestead NASCAR: That all kicks off later today with practice and qualifying, but right now it's not quite 7am in Florida.
Barriers
WRC - GB: Last year, high winds knocked over the barriers outside the press office in Deeside. The organisers modified the fencing for this year and were confident it would be up to the job.
Looks like the Welsh weather had other ideas…
F3 - Macau GP: Sean Gelael's preparation for the Macau Grand Prix included... a Maths exam on Wednesday evening.
The tall Indonesian has just started at the University of Bath, and had to take the exam in his hotel room in real time with his fellow students.
As if that's not bad enough. he's got an essay and a case study to hand in next week. Pressure!
The tall Indonesian has just started at the University of Bath, and had to take the exam in his hotel room in real time with his fellow students.
As if that's not bad enough. he's got an essay and a case study to hand in next week. Pressure!
WRC - GB: AUTOSPORT's journey to the Deeside service park yesterday meant a journey through the centre of Chester (whisper it quietly, but the AUTOSPORT hotel is across the border in England) and past the Northgate Arena – the scene of scrutineering for any Chester-based RAC Rally. Cue much chatter about 1995, Colin McRae and massive fever.
Unfortunately, the N has slipped on the side of the building, so it now reads Zorthgate Arena, which isn't quite so fever. How disrespectful.
Unfortunately, the N has slipped on the side of the building, so it now reads Zorthgate Arena, which isn't quite so fever. How disrespectful.
Breaking news
WTCC - Macau: Pepe Oriola's participation in this weekend's Macau WTCC races is in doubt following his accident in qualifying on Friday afternoon.
The Campos team are working on the Cruze, but a parts shortage could rule out the Spaniard's efforts to make the grid.
The Campos team are working on the Cruze, but a parts shortage could rule out the Spaniard's efforts to make the grid.
WRC - GB: The WRC field are now heading for remote service in Newtown before repeating those four stages this afternoon.
We'll keep you posted with any news from service, and with more details of DAVID EVANS's adventures in Wales, and also have plenty more to come from our team in the Macau paddock over the next few hours.
We'll keep you posted with any news from service, and with more details of DAVID EVANS's adventures in Wales, and also have plenty more to come from our team in the Macau paddock over the next few hours.
Checkered flag
WRC - GB - SS4 results:
Stage times:
1 Ogier 7m52.6s
2 Latvala +2.8s
3 Meeke +6.3s
4 Hirvonen +6.7s
5 Ostberg +8.5s
6 Neuville +10.5s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier
2 Latvala +9.5s
3 Ostberg +40.1s
4 Hirvonen +44.6s
5 Meeke +52.3s
6 Neuville +52.9s
7 Evans +1m06.4s
8 Tanak +1m31.4s
9 Paddon +1m40.3s
10 Prokop +1m41.2s
Stage times:
1 Ogier 7m52.6s
2 Latvala +2.8s
3 Meeke +6.3s
4 Hirvonen +6.7s
5 Ostberg +8.5s
6 Neuville +10.5s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Ogier
2 Latvala +9.5s
3 Ostberg +40.1s
4 Hirvonen +44.6s
5 Meeke +52.3s
6 Neuville +52.9s
7 Evans +1m06.4s
8 Tanak +1m31.4s
9 Paddon +1m40.3s
10 Prokop +1m41.2s
Quote
WRC - GB: Kubica's description of Maesnant suggests his time won't be spectacular when it pops onto the board, and sure enough it's slowest so far, just behind Solberg:
"I had a spin into the tight hairpin, and then another one. As soon as I was correcting one corner, I was straight into the braking for another one. And then I went onto the wrong road and had to reverse, so it was a disaster..."
"I had a spin into the tight hairpin, and then another one. As soon as I was correcting one corner, I was straight into the braking for another one. And then I went onto the wrong road and had to reverse, so it was a disaster..."
WRC - GB: Problems for Henning Solberg on SS4, his Ford's engine keeps lapsing onto three cylinders and that's dropped him behind Paddon and Prokop to what is currently 10th on the leaderboard with a few more cars to come in.
Quote
WRC - GB: DAVID EVANS has just been quite literally chasing Mikkelsen back through the roads of Wales to service after the VW man's early retirement. Along the way, Mikkelsen overshot a junction in the middle of Newtown and had to briskly turn the Polo around.
Once our man had caught him, here's how Mikkelsen described his crash:
"I saw Ogier's time on the first one and knew I had to push hard on the second stage because today was the big day to stay in touch so I could have an equal road position to him tomorrow.
"But I was just too quick into a left-hander. I braked too late, the back of the car went into the dicth and then pulled the front of the car in so it broke a steering arm."
Incidentally, Mikkelsen was having to shield his eyes from the sunshine during that conversation. That seemed unlikely during the rain a few hours ago.
The only damage to the car is to the bumper and the steering arm, and driving it back to service gently was no problem, but it couldn't have been rallied at a competitive pace because the steering arm wouldn't have taken it.
Once our man had caught him, here's how Mikkelsen described his crash:
"I saw Ogier's time on the first one and knew I had to push hard on the second stage because today was the big day to stay in touch so I could have an equal road position to him tomorrow.
"But I was just too quick into a left-hander. I braked too late, the back of the car went into the dicth and then pulled the front of the car in so it broke a steering arm."
Incidentally, Mikkelsen was having to shield his eyes from the sunshine during that conversation. That seemed unlikely during the rain a few hours ago.
The only damage to the car is to the bumper and the steering arm, and driving it back to service gently was no problem, but it couldn't have been rallied at a competitive pace because the steering arm wouldn't have taken it.
WRC - GB: Meeke is third quickest on SS4 and that's brought him past Neuville into sixth place.
Meeke agrees that running further down the order isn't great as the mud gets worse the more cars come through it, but he doesn't begrudge leader Ogier: "he's the world champion, he's got a great car and he's done well here, so he deserves it."
One thing that Meeke does begrudge is his jump-start penalty from SS1, which he insists cannot be correct. If it didn't exist, he'd be only 2.2s off Ostberg's third place.
Meeke agrees that running further down the order isn't great as the mud gets worse the more cars come through it, but he doesn't begrudge leader Ogier: "he's the world champion, he's got a great car and he's done well here, so he deserves it."
One thing that Meeke does begrudge is his jump-start penalty from SS1, which he insists cannot be correct. If it didn't exist, he'd be only 2.2s off Ostberg's third place.
Macau Grand Prix: Tom Blomqvist was mystified to not improve on his overnight pole time during Friday's qualifying session. He couldn't get comfortable with the balance. He's equally mystified as to where he might start tomorrow. With Ocon's and Verstappen's penalties Blomqvist should move up to third, but there's confusion over whether they will be applied simultaneously or chronologically - if it's the latter, then he may only move up to fourth.
Checkered flag
WRC - GB: Full times are in for the WRC field from the previous stage now, so...
SS3 results:
Stage times:
1 Latvala 13m39.1s
2 Ogier +2.2s
3 Ostberg +12.1s
4 Meeke +12.8s
5 Neuville +16.4s
6 Hirvonen +17.0s
Leaderboard:
1 Ogier
2 Latvala +6.7s
3 Ostberg +31.6s
4 Hirvonen +37.9s
5 Neuville +42.4s
6 Meeke +46.0s
7 Evans +53.8s
8 Tanak +1m12.6s
9 Solberg +1m15.0s
10 Paddon +1m16.8s
SS3 results:
Stage times:
1 Latvala 13m39.1s
2 Ogier +2.2s
3 Ostberg +12.1s
4 Meeke +12.8s
5 Neuville +16.4s
6 Hirvonen +17.0s
Leaderboard:
1 Ogier
2 Latvala +6.7s
3 Ostberg +31.6s
4 Hirvonen +37.9s
5 Neuville +42.4s
6 Meeke +46.0s
7 Evans +53.8s
8 Tanak +1m12.6s
9 Solberg +1m15.0s
10 Paddon +1m16.8s
WRC - GB: Hirvonen declared at the end of the stage that he reckoned he'd taken a bit of time back from Ostberg on that one. He was right, he's closed the battle for third down to 4s.
"That's a proper Wales stage," says Ostberg.
"He's one place better on the road and that helps on a stage like this."
Asked about the tricky final corner, Ostberg adds: "In my opinion it's dangerous - there's a big drop and it's completely covered in mud"
"That's a proper Wales stage," says Ostberg.
"He's one place better on the road and that helps on a stage like this."
Asked about the tricky final corner, Ostberg adds: "In my opinion it's dangerous - there's a big drop and it's completely covered in mud"
Macau Grand Prix: Macau action had hardly kicked off when two of the big stars of the event - Esteban Ocon and Max Verstappen - were penalised two places on the grid for not stopping at the weighbridge red light in free practice. Max's dad Jos, who never raced here, quipped: "I think they're trying to make the race more exciting."
Macau Grand Prix: Time for a few little stories from the Macau Grand Prix, where qualifying finished earlier today. First of all, we're going to begin with a little tale about AUTOSPORT's lanky F3 journo and deputy ed Marcus Simmons, who's been filing his reports with his right arm in plaster. Why? Within hours of arriving in Macau, he fell over on a slippery pavement, flailed around uselessly for a couple of seconds and then divebombed the pavement with his right wrist. He spent Wednesday afternoon in hospital having the broken bone set, and has been the subject of ridicule for the whole week since. Unluckily he's right-handed; luckily he can still type, and can't write any cheques for a few weeks as he can't hold a pen...
Quote
WRC - GB: Latvala explains what went wrong:
"I did a mistake at the first junction, I kind of overshot and loses four or five seconds. I'm kind of annoyed with that."
He also predicts that someone is going to crash at the final corner, which is "really slippery".
"I did a mistake at the first junction, I kind of overshot and loses four or five seconds. I'm kind of annoyed with that."
He also predicts that someone is going to crash at the final corner, which is "really slippery".
By: AUTOSPORT staff, Peter Mills, Gary Watkins, Marcus Simmons, Jonathan Noble
Published:
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