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Thierry Neuville
WRC - Italy: Timing system is waking up. Looks like Neuville was second fastest on SS9 but still lost five seconds to the flying Hirvonen.
WRC - Italy: Meanwhile SS10 has got going and the first four cars are through. Mads Ostberg fastest so far.
WRC - Italy: Timing system is misbehaving again, both for round-the-world web viewers and in the service park.
We know that Mikko Hirvonen was quickest on SS9 and that Latvala will have gained on Sordo, but haven't got a reliable set of results yet or any indication of Neuville's time - and that's a fairly vital one given his battle with Hirvonen for second.
We know that Mikko Hirvonen was quickest on SS9 and that Latvala will have gained on Sordo, but haven't got a reliable set of results yet or any indication of Neuville's time - and that's a fairly vital one given his battle with Hirvonen for second.
WRC - Italy: Jari-Matti Latvala is flying through SS9 and looks set to carve a big chunk out of Dani Sordo's advantage in their battle for fourth.
If he keeps up this pace, we might see Latvala in the podium fight before the rally is over.
If he keeps up this pace, we might see Latvala in the podium fight before the rally is over.
Superstars
Superstars - Zolder: In just over half an hour, we'll have our first Superstars International Series session of the weekend from Zolder in Belgium.
As usual, there are several fascinating newcomers in the field - led by sometime Ferrari Formula 1 driver Nicola Larini alongside Fabrizio Giovanardi (his long-time Alfa Romeo touring car team-mate) in the Petri Porsche squad, and ex-Simtek F1 racer Mimmo Schiattarella in a Solaris Chevrolet Lumina.
There are also two Belgian guests in the field: single-seater turned GT racer Laurens Vanthoor in an Audi and Renaud Kuppens at Giudici BMW.
Thomas Biagi leads the points, but with two wins already it's GT convert Giovanni Berton who's making waves this year. Ex-F1 man Tonio Liuzzi is the other main contender.
Championship standings after six of 16 rounds:
1 Thomas Biagi 105
2 Giovanni Berton 80
3 Tonio Liuzzi 76
4 Luigi Ferrara 57
5 Gianni Morbidelli 53
6 Andrea Bacci 40
20 points for a win
Checkered flag
FR3.5 - Moscow: Stoffel Vandoorne takes pole, from Antonio Felix da Costa, Kevin Magnussen, Nigel Melker, Will Buller and Oliver Webb.
WRC - Italy: Rally 2 runners Andersson and Ostberg are safely through Saturday's opener. No dramas so far on the splits.
It's a quick-fire morning: as soon as crews finish Monte Olia they're straight onto the nearby Terranova, which Andersson is due onto at 8.36am local time (7.36 UK, 6.36 GMT).
It's a quick-fire morning: as soon as crews finish Monte Olia they're straight onto the nearby Terranova, which Andersson is due onto at 8.36am local time (7.36 UK, 6.36 GMT).
Stopwatch
FR3.5 - Moscow: Stoffel Vandoorne has demoted Melker from top spot. The Belgian, the only man on track, goes quickest by 0.037s.
F3.5 - Moscow: Amazing effort from debutant Will Buller: provisional pole!
Lights out
WRC - Italy: Monte Olia is underway. PG Andersson is first on the road after his Friday problems, followed by Mads Ostberg.
His M-Sport team-mate Evgeny Novikov's car was too badly damaged in the Russian's morning shunt.
His M-Sport team-mate Evgeny Novikov's car was too badly damaged in the Russian's morning shunt.
FR3.5 - Moscow The top of the timing screens is extremely fluid. Nigel Melker is on provisional pole from Antonio Felix da Costa and Marco Sorensen.
Marcos Ambrose
NASCAR - Sonoma: Marcos Ambrose and Clint Bowyer were fastest in the two Friday practice sessions for the Sprint Cup's first road course round of the season at Sonoma.
Juan Pablo Montoya, Kurt Busch and Kasey Kahne were among the others looking rapid, while Denny Hamlin was first to find the barriers. His car will be repaired for qualifying.
For those following Jacques Villeneuve's progress, he was 30th in practice one and 29th in practice two.
Over at Road America, the Nationwide Series field is also in road mode. Former V8 Supercars man Owen Kelly was fastest on a practice day that began wet.
FR3.5 Moscow: A mild scare for championship leader Kevin Magnussen earlier. The Dane ran off the road on the exit of Turn 3, but has recovered to second position behind Stoffel Vandoorne.
WRC - Italy: We're a few minutes away from the first stage of the morning going live. Eight more tests today to decide the event.
Sebastien Ogier and Robert Kubica hold big overall and WRC 2 leads respectively.
The big talking points will be how far Friday stars Thierry Neuville and Jari-Matti Latvala can progress. The Belgian is right on Mikko Hirvonen's exhaust fighting for second place, while Latvala has flown up to fifth after a puncture early on Friday.
Sebastien Ogier and Robert Kubica hold big overall and WRC 2 leads respectively.
The big talking points will be how far Friday stars Thierry Neuville and Jari-Matti Latvala can progress. The Belgian is right on Mikko Hirvonen's exhaust fighting for second place, while Latvala has flown up to fifth after a puncture early on Friday.
Green flag
FR3.5 - Moscow: Formula Renault 3.5 qualifying is underway at Moscow Raceway.
The consensus on Friday from teams and competitors who attended last year's meeting is that the fit and finish of the circuit facilties has improved markedly. That's entriely to be expected, as the 2012 event was only the circuit's second international meeting after the FIA European Truck Racing Championship
The sun is breaking through some patches of early morning cloud. The forecast for the rest of the weekend is largely fine, although there is possibility of light rain on Sunday.
The consensus on Friday from teams and competitors who attended last year's meeting is that the fit and finish of the circuit facilties has improved markedly. That's entriely to be expected, as the 2012 event was only the circuit's second international meeting after the FIA European Truck Racing Championship
The sun is breaking through some patches of early morning cloud. The forecast for the rest of the weekend is largely fine, although there is possibility of light rain on Sunday.
Antonio Felix da Costa
FR3.5 - Moscow:
Ahead of qualifying kicking off in Russia, here's a reminder of how Red Bull rising star Antonio Felix da Costa set the pace yesterday.
FR3.5 practice day report
Here's the full schedule for today...
All times GMT, which is one hour behind BST.
Le Mans Live
7.00: Warm-up
13.00: Race starts - constant live coverage till finish at 13.00 GMT Sunday
Race Centre Live
5.55: Formula Renault 3.5 Moscow qualifying
6.06: WRC Italy SS9
6.36: WRC Italy SS10
7.05: Superstars Zolder practice one
7.19: WRC Italy SS11
8.27: WRC Italy SS12
8.30: BTCC Croft practice one
9.25: Superstars Zolder practice two
10.00: FR3.5 Moscow race one
11.00: BTCC Croft practice two
12.25: WRC Italy SS13
12.55: WRC Italy SS14
13.38: WRC Italy SS15/powerstage
14.10: BTCC Croft qualifying
14.45: Superstars Zolder qualifying
14.46: WRC Italy SS16
15.45: IndyCar Iowa practice
18.05: NASCAR Sprint Cup Sonoma qualifying
20.00: IndyCar Iowa qualifying
All times GMT, which is one hour behind BST.
Le Mans Live
7.00: Warm-up
13.00: Race starts - constant live coverage till finish at 13.00 GMT Sunday
Race Centre Live
5.55: Formula Renault 3.5 Moscow qualifying
6.06: WRC Italy SS9
6.36: WRC Italy SS10
7.05: Superstars Zolder practice one
7.19: WRC Italy SS11
8.27: WRC Italy SS12
8.30: BTCC Croft practice one
9.25: Superstars Zolder practice two
10.00: FR3.5 Moscow race one
11.00: BTCC Croft practice two
12.25: WRC Italy SS13
12.55: WRC Italy SS14
13.38: WRC Italy SS15/powerstage
14.10: BTCC Croft qualifying
14.45: Superstars Zolder qualifying
14.46: WRC Italy SS16
15.45: IndyCar Iowa practice
18.05: NASCAR Sprint Cup Sonoma qualifying
20.00: IndyCar Iowa qualifying
Breaking news
WRC - Italy: First news of the morning in Sardinia is that Mads Ostberg will rejoin under Rally 2 following his Friday evening crash.
The team chopped a section of roll cage out of the car at 0100 this morning and had the job finished two hours later. Eight mechanics worked through the night to make it happen.
An M-Sport car has finished the last 164 WRC rounds in the points (since Monte 2002) and Malcolm Wilson said that's the closest it's come to ending that run...
The team chopped a section of roll cage out of the car at 0100 this morning and had the job finished two hours later. Eight mechanics worked through the night to make it happen.
An M-Sport car has finished the last 164 WRC rounds in the points (since Monte 2002) and Malcolm Wilson said that's the closest it's come to ending that run...
Mikko Hirvonen
Good morning from AUTOSPORT Race Centre Live for Saturday June 22.
It's race morning at the Le Mans 24 Hours and the deciding day of Rally Italy.
Race Centre Live will resume at 5.45am GMT (6.45am UK) with all the action from Formula Renault 3.5 in Russia, the final day of WRC Rally Italy, plus practice and qualifying from IndyCar at Iowa, NASCAR Sprint Cup at Sonoma, the BTCC at Croft and Superstars at Zolder, while our sister service Le Mans Live will cover every moment of the legendary 24-hour race.
NASCAR - Sonoma: Marcos Ambrose looks set to deny Juan Pablo Montoya the top spot in the opening Friday practice session, concluding any moment now, while sometime V8 Supercars racer Owen Kelly was quickest in Friday practice for the Nationwide Series' Road America round.
That concludes Race Centre Live for Friday June 21, the day that Sebastien Ogier reasserted his World Rally Championship authority, but couldn't overshadow superb drives from Thierry Neuville, Jari-Matti Latvala and Robert Kubica.
WRC Friday report: Ogier ahead as Latvala surges
Checkered flag
WRC - Italy - SS8 results:
Stage: 1 Latvala; 2 Neuville +5.3s; 3 Ogier +5.9s; 4 Hirvonen +8.4s; 5 Sordo +19.0s; 6 Mikkelsen +25.6s.
Overall: 1 Ogier; 2 Hirvonen +46.6s; 3 Neuville +49.7s; 4 Sordo +1m19.4s; 5 Latvala +1m44.0s; 6 Mikkelsen +1m55.4s.
Stage: 1 Latvala; 2 Neuville +5.3s; 3 Ogier +5.9s; 4 Hirvonen +8.4s; 5 Sordo +19.0s; 6 Mikkelsen +25.6s.
Overall: 1 Ogier; 2 Hirvonen +46.6s; 3 Neuville +49.7s; 4 Sordo +1m19.4s; 5 Latvala +1m44.0s; 6 Mikkelsen +1m55.4s.
WRC - Italy: Robert Kubica completes his day and still holds a 1m10s lead in WRC2 despite the dust issues that plagued his runs through the night stages.
Stopwatch
WRC - Italy: Jari-Matti Latvala takes another stage win and in the process shoots past VW team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen into what is now fifth overall.
Sebastien Ogier continues to lead by a huge margin over the battling Mikko Hirvonen and Thierry Neuville.
Sebastien Ogier continues to lead by a huge margin over the battling Mikko Hirvonen and Thierry Neuville.
WRC - Italy: It's been a very quiet rally for Dani Sordo so far. He drops further away from Thierry Neuville and admits that missing this rally last year (when he didn't contest a full programme) is hampering him in Italy.
Crash
WRC - Italy: Terrible news for Ostberg, he has rolled out of fourth place. Mads and co-driver Jonas Andersson are both unhurt.
That's the second M-Sport Ford to crash out after Evgeny Novikov's massive accident this morning.
That's the second M-Sport Ford to crash out after Evgeny Novikov's massive accident this morning.
WRC - Italy: Elfyn Evans completes the final day and it's game on again in his fight with Michal Kosciuszko for ninth, taking 6.8s off the ex-Mini man and reducing the gap to 8.9s again.
WRC - Italy: Mads Ostberg has come to a halt early on the stage. He was running fourth.
WRC - Italy: Normally at the end of Friday, WRC drivers still have two days to go.
But Rally Italy is the latest rally to compact its schedule, so after today's eight-stage, 14-hour stint, the event concludes later on Saturday afternoon. A further eight stages will run tomorrow.
But Rally Italy is the latest rally to compact its schedule, so after today's eight-stage, 14-hour stint, the event concludes later on Saturday afternoon. A further eight stages will run tomorrow.
NASCAR - Sonoma/Road America: Both NASCAR's top series are now in action turning left and right.
Nationwide teams are starting to switch to dry set-ups at Road America, while Marcos Ambrose has just knocked Kurt Busch off the top spot in opening Sprint Cup practice at Sonoma.
Nationwide teams are starting to switch to dry set-ups at Road America, while Marcos Ambrose has just knocked Kurt Busch off the top spot in opening Sprint Cup practice at Sonoma.
WRC - Italy: The final stage of day one is underway. Off into the darkness they go...
FR3.5 - Moscow: It might not quite rival the 'White Nights' of St Petersburg, but on the longest day of the year there is still eerily-good light at 23.00 in Moscow.
The Moscow Raceway stewards have announced that there will be 275 seconds use of the Drag Reduction System (DRS) in each FR3.5 race.
The Moscow Raceway stewards have announced that there will be 275 seconds use of the Drag Reduction System (DRS) in each FR3.5 race.
FR3.5 - Moscow: The weekend attendance at Moscow is anticipated to be in the region of 105,000. Alongside the regular World Series by Renault racecard, fans can expect to be entertained by David Coulthard. The 13-time grand prix winner is set to make his maiden demonstration run of the year in Red Bull's Formula 1 roadshow car.
Toro Rosso racer Daniel Ricciardo fulfilled similar duties this season at Motorland Aragon, while Alain Prost is pencilled in to break off from assisting with the development of Renault’s new turbocharged Formula 1 engine to make an appearance at Paul Ricard.
Toro Rosso racer Daniel Ricciardo fulfilled similar duties this season at Motorland Aragon, while Alain Prost is pencilled in to break off from assisting with the development of Renault’s new turbocharged Formula 1 engine to make an appearance at Paul Ricard.
WRC - Italy: And, in case you were wondering, it hasn't started raining. It's still positively boiling and very, very (very) dusty.
WRC - Italy: This stage is going to be really tricky. Looking outside the press office window, it's not going to be completely dark for the first few cars. Half-light's a nightmare for a rally driver; constant indecision about whether it's better with the spotlights all on, just the bumper lights on, all off and just headlights on? And a distraction like that in a technical stage like Gallura is not what you need. There'll be some tales to tell in about 40 minutes...
WRC - Italy: The cars are now off to a regroup before tackling this stage again at 21.28 local time (20.28 UK, 19.28 GMT), by which time the dust will be accompanied by darkness.
WRC - Italy: Robert Kubica loses a lot of time. The WRC 2 cars are going into the stage just one minute apart, and in the setting sun that is causing huge dust problems.
The consolation for Kubica is that main rival Sepp Wiegand was even slower, but Abdulaziz Al Kuwari - first of the WRC 2 cars on the road - did not have that issue and is now second, 1m10s behind the Pole, who had been two minutes clear.
"We were driving 10km/h per hour and we couldn't see anything," said the disappointed Kubica.
The consolation for Kubica is that main rival Sepp Wiegand was even slower, but Abdulaziz Al Kuwari - first of the WRC 2 cars on the road - did not have that issue and is now second, 1m10s behind the Pole, who had been two minutes clear.
"We were driving 10km/h per hour and we couldn't see anything," said the disappointed Kubica.
Quote
Jari-Matti Latvala
WRC - Italy: Jari-Matti Latvala on his astounding SS7 time.
"I came here in 2003 and this is exactly the stage that was used that time, and I love this kind of stage, it's such a great feeling to drive," he says.
"We still maybe have a chance for fifth place, so let's fight for that."
He is seventh right now, gaining on Mikkelsen.
Checkered flag
WRC - Italy - SS7 results:
Stage: 1 Latvala; 2 Ogier +10.9s; 3 Hirvonen +12.6s; 4 Ostberg +13.1s; 5 Neuville +14.1s.
Overall: 1 Ogier; 2 Hirvonen +44.1s; 3 Neuville +50.3s; 4 Ostberg +56.5s; 5 Sordo +1m06.3s.
Stage: 1 Latvala; 2 Ogier +10.9s; 3 Hirvonen +12.6s; 4 Ostberg +13.1s; 5 Neuville +14.1s.
Overall: 1 Ogier; 2 Hirvonen +44.1s; 3 Neuville +50.3s; 4 Ostberg +56.5s; 5 Sordo +1m06.3s.
By: Matt Beer, David Evans, Peter Mills, Jamie O'Leary, Glenn Freeman, Andrew van Leeuwen, Kevin Turner, Mark Glendenning
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