Silverstone MotoGP, Baltimore IndyCar, Interlagos WEC, Loeb in RX
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Green flag
MotoGP - Silverstone: Here we go then, the start of qualifying for this year's British Grand Prix. Up first is Q1, and the chance for two riders to book a spot in the final 12-man shootout. Smith and Iannone will be the favourites to make it through.
Red flag
IndyCar - Baltimore: Not these two again. Will Power tags Scott Dixon into a spin. The Ganassi car hits the outside wall and stops in the middle of the track; Power continues with a broken front wing.
ERC - Zlin: Tarabus' penalty is stated as "one minute early". That's all we have, and we think it is because he checked in early at service after SS4.
MotoGP - Silverstone: Eight minutes to go, and Smith goes top despite not breaking through the 2m04s barrier. Petrucci, Laverty and Hernandez are next up, with Iannone sixth and Edwards yet to set a time.
ERC - Zlin: Kopecky gets a hurry up on SS6 - not by his rivals, but by the weather. "I saw the big clouds and I was trying to go a bit faster. This is an amazing stage. It's really perfect."
He comes through in 12m02.8s which, we imagine, the others will find hard to beat, because it's about 10s quicker than he managed this morning.
He comes through in 12m02.8s which, we imagine, the others will find hard to beat, because it's about 10s quicker than he managed this morning.
MotoGP - Silverstone: Smith has pretty much booked his space in Q2 now with a 2m03.110s. Iannone has moved into 12th, and the final Q2 spot, but only by 0.084s - still all to play for.
Green flag
IndyCar - Baltimore: The cars head back out. Right now, the guy setting the pace is Ryan Hunter-Reay, but hardly anyone has had time to string any laps together yet.
Red flag
IndyCar - Baltimore: And they're going to have to wait a bit longer. Simona de Silvestro has gone into the tyres at Turn 8.
MotoGP - Silverstone: Pirro takes over in 12th, only to be demoted almost immediately by de Puniet. Edwards out too now after switching back onto the harder option tyres - and sure enough he goes 12th, half a second clear of the chasing pack. Three minutes to go now.
ERC - Zlin: Pech is 5.4s slower than Kopecky, completing SS6 in 12m08.2s. The Mini privateer is doing an impressive job, despite being 26.8s off the lead now.
IndyCar - Baltimore: While de Silvestro was heading into the wall, Dario Franchitti was having a moment elsewhere on the track - his car is currently being rescued from an escape road.
MotoGP - Silverstone: Sounds like Aleix Espargaro has aggravated the hand injury he suffered at Indianapolis. Unclear whether he'll be ready for Q2, and time is running out...
Checkered flag
MotoGP - Silverstone: Edwards lowers the benchmark for 12th, and just as well - Barbera, picking up a tow from Iannone, falls just 0.128s short as the chequered flag flies.
There's still time for De Puniet to upset the order...but he misses out by the narrowest of margins: 0.006s the difference between Edwards and the Frenchman.
There's still time for De Puniet to upset the order...but he misses out by the narrowest of margins: 0.006s the difference between Edwards and the Frenchman.
ERC - Zlin: Kresta comes through next. That's not right. What's happened to Lappi? "Some bumpy parts, he was on the brakes too late maybe," muses Kresta, who was delayed and lost 21.6s on the stage. "After the crest he was straight on."
Drama for Lappi. That'll drop the Finn out of fourth. Here he comes, 3m58s slower than Kopecky! "There was more gravel than I expected, we went wide and hit the tree. We lost more time because there were a lot of spectators and we were stuck."
Drama for Lappi. That'll drop the Finn out of fourth. Here he comes, 3m58s slower than Kopecky! "There was more gravel than I expected, we went wide and hit the tree. We lost more time because there were a lot of spectators and we were stuck."
Green flag
IndyCar - Baltimore: Hopefully this time everyone can refrain from hitting stuff for a while. The session is 22 minutes old, and almost 15 of those minutes have been under reds.
Colin Edwards
MotoGP - Silverstone - Q1:
11 Smith; 12 Edwards; 13 De Puniet; 14 Barbera; 15 Pirro; 16 Iannone; 17 Hernandez; 18 Petrucci; 19 Laverty; 20 Corti; 21 Aoyama; 22 Pesek; 23 Staring
(Top two progress into Q2)
ERC - Zlin: There's no serious damage to Lappi's car, beyond some panel damage (and a hurt driver's door). That's allowed Skoda stable-mate Wiegand into fourth. He also took 7.5s out of Kresta, but will need to find 26.1s if he's to challenge for a podium.
IndyCar - Baltimore: In more exciting news, we've just been brought a coffee. Cartman-style tantrum averted.
ERC - Zlin: Very strong run on SS6 for the penalised Tarabus. He's second quickest on the second running of the Trojak, and is just 21s behind Wiegand. Still game on there, but he'd actually be within striking distance of Pech for second without that penalty.
MotoGP - Silverstone: The latest on Espargaro: he has suffered a compound fracture on the little finger of his left hand. It doesn't look like he'll be out in Q2, but Sunday's race is an entirely different matter. This being MotoGP, you'd also be surprised if he missed out.
We're around two minutes away from qualifying now, and the fight for British GP pole.
We're around two minutes away from qualifying now, and the fight for British GP pole.
IndyCar - Baltimore: Hinchcliffe takes a little too much of the chicane and glances the outside wall. The Canadian heads back to the pits to have some minor left-rear damage sorted out.
Just afterwards, Viso hits the chicane pretty much head-on and bounces high enough that a small dog - some sort of terrier, maybe - could have walked underneath his car without ducking.
Meanwhile, Power has just moved to P1.
Just afterwards, Viso hits the chicane pretty much head-on and bounces high enough that a small dog - some sort of terrier, maybe - could have walked underneath his car without ducking.
Meanwhile, Power has just moved to P1.
Green flag
MotoGP - Silverstone: Green, and Lorenzo is immediately away. Marquez far more languid, idling across to his Honda.
There's one symbol on Lorenzo's pit board, and it says everything you need to know: Hammer time.
There's one symbol on Lorenzo's pit board, and it says everything you need to know: Hammer time.
Indy - Baltimore: A new session leader in the form of Simon Pagenaud.
Stopwatch
MotoGP - Silverstone: Wow. A 2m01.497s from Lorenzo. Simply huge.
That's more than half a second faster than we've seen all weekend, and it decimates Casey Stoner's 2011 lap record.
That's more than half a second faster than we've seen all weekend, and it decimates Casey Stoner's 2011 lap record.
Stopwatch
MotoGP - Silverstone: Amazing. No sooner have we finished praising Lorenzo than Marquez comes round faster - a 2m01.287s. Game on. What a start to qualifying.
ERC - Zlin: Unfortunately, it's spaced out a fair bit after that stage. Any immediate changes will be the result of further drama, rather than tit-for-tat battles on the stage. A nightmare run for Pavel Valousek drops him out of sixth overall, and his place has been taken by Antonin Tlustak, 3m43.7s off the lead and 50s ahead of Lappi.
Checkered flag
ERC - Zlin - SS6 results:
Stage: 1 Kopecky; 2 Tarabus +4.5s; 3 Pech +5.4s; 4 Wiegand +14.1s; 5 Kresta +21.6s.
Overall: 1 Kopecky; 2 Pech +26.8s; 3 Kresta +51.4s; 4 Wiegand +1m17.5s; 5 Tarabus +1m38.6s.
Stage: 1 Kopecky; 2 Tarabus +4.5s; 3 Pech +5.4s; 4 Wiegand +14.1s; 5 Kresta +21.6s.
Overall: 1 Kopecky; 2 Pech +26.8s; 3 Kresta +51.4s; 4 Wiegand +1m17.5s; 5 Tarabus +1m38.6s.
Stopwatch
MotoGP - Silverstone: And Lorenzo hits straight back. He's top again with a 2m01.217s.
Dani Pedrosa, Cal Crutchlow and Stefan Bradl are all in the 2m01s bracket, while Marquez improves and gets to within 0.030s of Lorenzo. These are all lap records - unbelievable stuff.
MotoGP - Silverstone: Time to change tyres it seems - the soft stuff tails off after two laps, so the field is in. They should all have two more fast laps, providing there are no delays in pitlane.
IndyCar - Baltimore: Dixon moves up to P1 with five minutes remaining.
ERC - Zlin: From Trojak to Semetin, and we're immediately into SS7. We have action on the 11.5km stage, so a quick blast before we break for service.
IndyCar - Baltimore: Marco Andretti decides to take on the chicane, and shortly afterwards, the wall.
Checkered flag
Indycar - Baltimore: And the session ends, with Pagenaud moving to P1 on his final lap.
Stopwatch
MotoGP - Silverstone: Lorenzo's final run thrusts him back on top with a 2m00.819s, but only for minutes as Marquez goes even deeper into lap record territory with a 2m00.691s.
MotoGP - Silverstone: Crutchlow holds on to the final front row spot as Pedrosa backs off on his last lap.
Bradl slips through and demotes Pedrosa to fifth.
Bradl slips through and demotes Pedrosa to fifth.
MotoGP - Silverstone: Incredible end to qualifying (which we were somewhat delayed in relaying to you as Silverstone media centre internet flopped at the key moment). Lorenzo and Marquez's final laps were extraordinary to watch as both dug so deep into their talent in the pole fight.
Checkered flag
MotoGP - Silverstone - Q2 results:
1 Marquez; 2 Lorenzo; 3 Crutchlow; 4 Bradl; 5 Pedrosa; 6 Rossi; 7 Dovizioso; 8 Bautista; 9 Hayden; 10 Smith; 11 Edwards.
1 Marquez; 2 Lorenzo; 3 Crutchlow; 4 Bradl; 5 Pedrosa; 6 Rossi; 7 Dovizioso; 8 Bautista; 9 Hayden; 10 Smith; 11 Edwards.
MotoGP - Silverstone: Marquez is 0.9s faster than Pedrosa, Lorenzo 1.2s faster than Rossi. That says a lot.
ERC - Zlin: Rain on SS7. That's according to Kopecky who comes through in 6m33.6s. "A small layer of drizzle at the start," he says. "Hopefully it stays the same for the other guys."
Incidentally, reports forecast cooler conditions tomorrow. If we're going to see rain of any substantial kind, it'll be then. Probably.
Incidentally, reports forecast cooler conditions tomorrow. If we're going to see rain of any substantial kind, it'll be then. Probably.
ERC - Zlin: If it has indeed dried for Kopecky's rivals, they haven't made the most of it. Pech is 2.6s slower, with Lappi following him through a further 1.6s in arrears.
By: Matt Beer, Scott Mitchell, Sam Tremayne, Mark Glendenning, Gary Watkins, Connell Sanders Jr, Peter Mills, Andrew van Leeuwen, Andrew van de Burgt, Dan Cross
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