Sardinia WRC, Iowa IndyCar
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WRC - Italy: No problems for Robert Kubica, his big WRC 2 lead remains intact.
We might start talking about his title prospects soon...
We might start talking about his title prospects soon...
BTCC - Croft: Jason Plato moves back up to second, a mere 0.072s behind Andrew Jordan.
WRC - Italy: Neuville's slip means Ogier's lead is now up to a very secure 1m15s with four stages to go.
WRC - Italy: Neuville loses about 15s as he overshoots after a jump at high speed, but he remains calm.
BTCC - Croft: An eye-catching time from Tom Onslow-Cole in Team Hard's VW - he goes third.
WRC - Italy: Sordo was only 1.9s slower than Mikkelsen on that stage. That leaves 20.8s between them with four stages left. Will be tough for Mikkelsen...
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WRC - Italy: Having come back from 12th to third following his SS1 puncture, does Jari-Matti Latvala fancy a crack at closing the 53s gap to second-placed Thierry Neuville?
"No, I can't catch him. He's been driving so well in this rally. I could be driving like I did all day yesterday, but I can't do it - it's too risky. I really want the podium"
"No, I can't catch him. He's been driving so well in this rally. I could be driving like I did all day yesterday, but I can't do it - it's too risky. I really want the podium"
WRC - Italy: Three Volkswagen Polo R WRCs in the top four would be an incredible result for the team - and a great start to Andreas Mikkelsen's 24th birthday celebrations.
BTCC - Croft: A quarter of an hour of first practice left, and Andrew Jordan is the pacesetter in the Eurotech Honda, a tenth ahead of Colin Turkington.
WRC - Italy: VW has told Andreas Mikkelsen he's welcome to have a push and see if he can get fourth from Dani Sordo's Citroen. There are 22s between them.
Green flag
BTCC - Croft: Practice back underway, looks like the cause of the red flag was Sam Tordoff's MG.
Red flag
BTCC - Croft: Practice has been stopped. Not sure why yet...
WRC - Italy: Mads Ostberg reports a spin and a brush with a tree when he reaches the end of SS12. He is currently ninth and running under Rally 2 following his Friday crash.
BTCC - Croft: Frank Wrathall has a small off at the complex but is unharmed and continues.
Breaking news
FR3.5 - Moscow: Magnussen is demoted from third to 17th position on the starting grid for this afternoon's race, after the imposition of his post-qualifying penalties for blocking.
Will Buller
FR3.5 - Moscow: Zeta Corse team boss Claudio Cantelli was delighted with new signing Will Buller's provisional fifth place in qualifying.
Buller is set to gain a further place following Kevin Magnussen's penalty.
"We're delighted," said Cantelli. "The reason Will made such a sudden improvement at the end was that he made a small off on his first set of new tyres. But we were confident he could do the job.
"After he came out of the car he was really calm. I was impressed that he was already thinking about which areas we could find improvements in qualifying for race two tomorrow."
BTCC - Croft: Joe Girling is back out this weekend in the Finesse Chevrolet after missing Oulton Park due to illness.
Oulton Park
BTCC - Croft: As usual at this stage in a BTCC season, the title battle is finely poised.
Matt Neal, Andrew Jordan and Jason Plato are all over each other, and reigning champion Gordon Shedden is not far behind.
Championship standings after 12 of 30 rounds:
1 Matt Neal 173
2 Andrew Jordan 169
3 Jason Plato 166
4 Gordon Shedden 142
5 Sam Tordoff 129
6 Colin Turkington 123
(20 points for a win)
BTCC - Croft: The track is a tad damp in places, but the rain is staying away and there is a strong wind.
Green flag
BTCC - Croft: Free practice one is underway, and the works Hondas lead the field out of the pits.
Jake Hill is coming out for his first laps in an official BTCC session too, driving Motorbase's S2000 Ford Focus.
Jake Hill is coming out for his first laps in an official BTCC session too, driving Motorbase's S2000 Ford Focus.
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FR3.5 - Moscow: Polesitter Stoffel Vandoorne was surprised by the margin to third-placed championship leader Kevin Magnussen, who has subsequently been stripped of his two fastest laps for blocking.
Vandoorne also welcomed the cooler temperatures that are expected for this afternoon’s race.
"Sure, we were a bit surprised that we had such a big gap to P3," said Vandoorne. "Yesterday was amazing. Five tenths off was P15, today it was P3. But it is only good for us. Antonio [Felix da Costa, who starts second] and I are really close.
"I need a good start, as here it is so difficult to overtake, then it will be about managing the tyres. I think the temperature is quite a bit lower than Friday. That will make it easier because yesterday they just fell off a cliff."
Vandoorne also welcomed the cooler temperatures that are expected for this afternoon’s race.
"Sure, we were a bit surprised that we had such a big gap to P3," said Vandoorne. "Yesterday was amazing. Five tenths off was P15, today it was P3. But it is only good for us. Antonio [Felix da Costa, who starts second] and I are really close.
"I need a good start, as here it is so difficult to overtake, then it will be about managing the tyres. I think the temperature is quite a bit lower than Friday. That will make it easier because yesterday they just fell off a cliff."
WRC - Italy: Robert Kubica's WRC2 lead is back up to over a minute.
Nearest rival Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari is furious that he is going onto the stages just one minute behind Kubica while the Pole has a two-minute gap after the last of the World Rally Cars.
Nearest rival Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari is furious that he is going onto the stages just one minute behind Kubica while the Pole has a two-minute gap after the last of the World Rally Cars.
Checkered flag
WRC - Italy - SS11 results:
Stage: 1 Ogier; 2 Latvala +6.5s; 3 Neuville +8.3s; 4 Mikkelsen +13.7s; 5 Ostberg +21.3s; 6 Sordo +27.7s.
Overall: 1 Ogier; 2 Neuville +1m00.4s; 3 Latvala +1m53.5s; 4 Sordo +2m06.7s; 5 Mikkelsen +2m28.5s; 6 Prokop +6m28.8s.
Stage: 1 Ogier; 2 Latvala +6.5s; 3 Neuville +8.3s; 4 Mikkelsen +13.7s; 5 Ostberg +21.3s; 6 Sordo +27.7s.
Overall: 1 Ogier; 2 Neuville +1m00.4s; 3 Latvala +1m53.5s; 4 Sordo +2m06.7s; 5 Mikkelsen +2m28.5s; 6 Prokop +6m28.8s.
FR3.5 - Moscow: The stewards' decision no.1 in relation to Magnussen states that car #20, Magnussen, blocked car #3, Antonio Felix da Costa. Magnussen loses his fastest lap as a result.
Decision no.2 states that Magnussen also blocked #11, Carlin driver Carlos Huertas. The Dane therefore also loses his second fastest lap.
Decision no.2 states that Magnussen also blocked #11, Carlin driver Carlos Huertas. The Dane therefore also loses his second fastest lap.
Breaking news
FR3.5 - Moscow: Championship leader Kevin Magnussen has been stripped of his two fastest laps from FR3.5 qualifying.
CL
WRC - Italy: Hirvonen's fastest time this morning was his 250th in the WRC. His 251st might have to wait a while.
WRC - Italy: Rain-watch... big black clouds gathering on the mountains just beyond the service park. There has been some very light rain in the stages. There's a storm coming over from Africa, apparently.
WRC - Italy: The swap for third has happened. As Jari-Matti Latvala takes what looks like it will be another stage win, Dani Sordo spins and struggles to restart for a few seconds.
That puts Latvala up to third, 13s ahead of Sordo.
That puts Latvala up to third, 13s ahead of Sordo.
Breaking news
Stoffel Vandoorne
FR3.5 - Moscow: Earlier this morning, Stoffel Vandoorne put himself on pole for race one of Formula Renault 3.5's Russian weekend.
Moscow FR3.5 qualifying report
WRC - Italy: Hooray, the timing system is alive. As the first cars come through SS11, let's round up the results from SS9 and SS10:
SS9
Stage: 1 Hirvonen; 2 Neuville +5.4s; 3 Latvala +5.8s; 4 Ogier +6.1s; 5 Mikkelsen +18.3s; 6 Sordo +19.7s.
Overall: 1 Ogier; 2 Hirvonen +40.5s; 3 Neuville +49.0s; 4 Sordo +1m33.0s; 5 Latvala +1m43.7s; 6 Mikkelsen +2m07.6s
SS10
Stage: 1 Ogier; 2 Neuville +3.1s; 3 Latvala +3.3s; 4 Sordo +6.0s; 5 Mikkelsen +7.2s; 6 Prokop +20.8s.
Overall: 1 Ogier; 2 Neuville +52.1s; 3 Sordo +1m39.0s; 4 Latvala +1m47.0s; 5 Mikkelsen +2m14.8s; 6 Prokop +5m38.2s.
SS9
Stage: 1 Hirvonen; 2 Neuville +5.4s; 3 Latvala +5.8s; 4 Ogier +6.1s; 5 Mikkelsen +18.3s; 6 Sordo +19.7s.
Overall: 1 Ogier; 2 Hirvonen +40.5s; 3 Neuville +49.0s; 4 Sordo +1m33.0s; 5 Latvala +1m43.7s; 6 Mikkelsen +2m07.6s
SS10
Stage: 1 Ogier; 2 Neuville +3.1s; 3 Latvala +3.3s; 4 Sordo +6.0s; 5 Mikkelsen +7.2s; 6 Prokop +20.8s.
Overall: 1 Ogier; 2 Neuville +52.1s; 3 Sordo +1m39.0s; 4 Latvala +1m47.0s; 5 Mikkelsen +2m14.8s; 6 Prokop +5m38.2s.
Checkered flag
Superstars - Zolder: Great start to Laurens Vanthoor's Superstars career as he goes fastest in free practice one. Audi Sport Italia looking strong with Gianni Morbidelli making it an RS5 1-2.
1 Vanthoors; 2 Morbidelli; 3 Liuzzi; 4 Ferrara; 5 Biagi; 6 Mugelli; 7 Kuppens; 8 Giammaria; 9 N Larini; 10 Sini.
1 Vanthoors; 2 Morbidelli; 3 Liuzzi; 4 Ferrara; 5 Biagi; 6 Mugelli; 7 Kuppens; 8 Giammaria; 9 N Larini; 10 Sini.
WRC - Italy: So much for Mikko's good mood first thing this morning. He was well up for the fight and was sensational on Monte Olia. Bit of a concern about the location of service – Citroen's just a hop, skip and a jump from the harbourside...
Superstars - Zolder: Free practice one is underway here in Belgium, and it's local boy (and Superstars first-timer) Laurens Vanthoor leading the way for Audi 10 minutes into the session.
WRC - Italy: Ogier reckons Hirvonen might manage to continue. He says the Citroen is stuck off the road at the first hairpin, but didn't see any particularly severe damage as he passed.
WRC - Italy: Still waiting for proper times from both this morning's stages but we think the gap between new third place man Dani Sordo and his pursuer Jari-Matti Latvala is under 15s now with six stages to go.
Sebastien Ogier and Thierry Neuville are comfortable in first and second.
Sebastien Ogier and Thierry Neuville are comfortable in first and second.
Time for a second AUTOSPORT screen! Le Mans 24 Hours warm-up is underway on our sister service Le Mans Live.
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WRC - Italy: Latvala takes a couple more seconds out of Sordo on SS10. "I was waiting for that," Sordo admits. "It's very slippery in some places and I don't feel very comfortable."
WRC - Italy: Hirvonen had started the morning with a commanding fastest time as he fought to secure second place from the flying Neuville, but it looks like his rally is over.
That gives Neuville a comfortable second place and makes the prospect of a Latvala podium look very likely.
That gives Neuville a comfortable second place and makes the prospect of a Latvala podium look very likely.
Crash
WRC - Italy: Mikko Hirvonen is reported by stage-end officials to have rolled out of second place early on SS10.
By: Matt Beer, David Evans, Peter Mills, Jamie O'Leary, Glenn Freeman, Andrew van Leeuwen, Kevin Turner, Mark Glendenning
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