Rally GB, Macau GP, Bahrain WEC, NASCAR finale
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Checkered flag
WRC - GB: And just one last bit of business to attend to, here comes Ogier to win another rally.
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."
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: 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: 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: Neuville finishes and stays fourth overall. He's second to Latvala on stage times so far.
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: Meeke is half a minute off the pace at the end of the stage.
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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: Evans comes through and he's going to move into fifth as Meeke is struggling and loses further time.
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.
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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."
Stopwatch
WRC - GB: The tree obviously helps, as Latvala blasts through 7s quicker than anyone else so far.
WRC - GB: Latvala has collected a large amount of shrubbery, maybe even a small Christmas tree, on the front of his VW.
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.
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...
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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: 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.
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.
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.
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."
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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."
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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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: 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.
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: 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 has fallen behind both Ostberg and Neuville, he's down to fifth overall having lost about 45s on this stage.
WRC - GB: Meeke was only 31.3s ahead of Ostberg for fourth going onto the stage.
Breaking news
WRC - GB: Major problem for Meeke on this stage - his first split is 31s down on Ostberg's pace.
Stopwatch
WRC - GB: Latvala is fastest so far on Alwen, but he needs some assistance to catch Tanak for seventh as the gap between them is still 26.3s.
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WRC - GB: There's a battle back on at the foot of the top 10, as Prokop pulls out a couple of seconds over Paddon in their fight for ninth.
"I had a really good feeling and I did my best," says Prokop.
"If I drive like that, it should be OK."
"I had a really good feeling and I did my best," says Prokop.
"If I drive like that, it should be OK."
WRC - GB: Hanninen and Kubica are safely through Alwen.
That means just one more stage for Kubica to finally tick off another trouble-free rally, and if there's any drama ahead, he may yet get into the points too.
That means just one more stage for Kubica to finally tick off another trouble-free rally, and if there's any drama ahead, he may yet get into the points too.
Twitter
WRC - GB: M-Sport says that rather than coming back to service after his retirement, Henning Solberg has gone onto the stages to spectate for the rest of the morning.
WRC - GB: This is how they're running heading into the final two stages of WRC 2014:
1 Ogier
2 Hirvonen +45.4s
3 Meeke +50.0s
4 Ostberg +1m21.3s
5 Neuville +1m32.9s
6 Evans +1m38.6s
7 Tanak +2m37.0s
8 Latvala +3m10.5s
9 Prokop +3m53.8s
10 Paddon +3m55.3s
11 Kubica +4m22.8s
1 Ogier
2 Hirvonen +45.4s
3 Meeke +50.0s
4 Ostberg +1m21.3s
5 Neuville +1m32.9s
6 Evans +1m38.6s
7 Tanak +2m37.0s
8 Latvala +3m10.5s
9 Prokop +3m53.8s
10 Paddon +3m55.3s
11 Kubica +4m22.8s
WRC - GB: Back to Alwen now, as this morning's forest stages are re-run in the opposite order so that Brenig becomes the televised Powerstage.
Here's reminder of what Race Centre Live stage guide Jari-Matti Latvala reckons about SS22:
"It’s quite a fast stage with long straights and quite a few junctions. This stage is quite open, less in the forest. It felt nice for me.
"In one section it is quite like New Zealand with the camber in the corners, this is not long section, but it's good.
"There is a one-kilometre section which is very, very muddy – it will be slippery here. I enjoy this stage."
Here's reminder of what Race Centre Live stage guide Jari-Matti Latvala reckons about SS22:
"It’s quite a fast stage with long straights and quite a few junctions. This stage is quite open, less in the forest. It felt nice for me.
"In one section it is quite like New Zealand with the camber in the corners, this is not long section, but it's good.
"There is a one-kilometre section which is very, very muddy – it will be slippery here. I enjoy this stage."
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WRC - GB: Hirvonen rebuilds the gap to over four seconds with his run.
"It's better now," he admits, while still sounding quite disgruntled.
"It's better now," he admits, while still sounding quite disgruntled.
WRC - GB: Meeke is 4s off Latvala's pace on the second Kinmel run. Is he now settling for third?
WRC - GB: Still nothing to choose between Neuville and Evans's pace in their battle for fifth.
The Hyundai and M-Sport Ford are 5.7s apart with two stages to go, and although Evans isn't taking any risks, he adds that he's "not going to just hand it to him".
The Hyundai and M-Sport Ford are 5.7s apart with two stages to go, and although Evans isn't taking any risks, he adds that he's "not going to just hand it to him".
WRC - GB: Meeke is still creeping up on Hirvonen, the gap is down to 1.6s after their first runs here.
Hirvonen ends the stage furious, saying the officials didn't give him "the ****ing time card until five seconds before the start", which meant he couldn't turn the launch control on and was a few seconds late onto the stage.
There's a quick turnaround here as the cars make two passes through the stage, and it looks like it didn't quite work and that could cost Hirvonen.
Hirvonen ends the stage furious, saying the officials didn't give him "the ****ing time card until five seconds before the start", which meant he couldn't turn the launch control on and was a few seconds late onto the stage.
There's a quick turnaround here as the cars make two passes through the stage, and it looks like it didn't quite work and that could cost Hirvonen.
By: AUTOSPORT staff, Peter Mills, Gary Watkins, Marcus Simmons, Jonathan Noble
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