Spa WEC, Jerez MotoGP, Hockenheim DTM, Hungary WTCC
Live Text
Sort by
NASCAR - Talladega: This format is great for underdogs who get in the right draft, and there's one in fourth right now: Michael McDowell in the Leavine Family Ford.
The tiny Leavine team has been collaborating with Penske and was able to run in the draft with Logano and Keselowski, which won't have hurt.
The tiny Leavine team has been collaborating with Penske and was able to run in the draft with Logano and Keselowski, which won't have hurt.
WEC - Spa: Duval just makes it out of the pits ahead of Sarrazin in the battle for second.
Crash
NASCAR - Talladega: Current pacesetter Kyle Busch scraped the wall during his fast lap. The Joe Gibbs crew is just making sure nothing's too badly bent.
Stopwatch
NASCAR - Talladega: Kyle Busch is now fastest ahead of Joey Logano and Johnson.
Ironically if Busch does go fastest, he won't take pole as an engine change after practice means he'll have to drop to last at the start.
Big names currently missing the cut for Q2 include Greg Biffle, Denny Hamlin and Daytona 500 polesitter Austin Dillon.
Ironically if Busch does go fastest, he won't take pole as an engine change after practice means he'll have to drop to last at the start.
Big names currently missing the cut for Q2 include Greg Biffle, Denny Hamlin and Daytona 500 polesitter Austin Dillon.
World RX - Montalegre: At the end of rallycross's first day as a world championship, there's a top-class rookie heading the overnight standings in Portugal, last year's European champion is in trouble for colliding with the 2003 World Rally champion, and the 1997 Formula 1 champion has work to do...
HAL RIDGE has all the details:
Montalegre World Rallycross day one report
HAL RIDGE has all the details:
Montalegre World Rallycross day one report
Stopwatch
NASCAR - Talladega: Reed Sorenson was fastest for Tommy Baldwin Racing initially, but now Hendrick men Dale Earnhardt Jr and then Jimmie Johnson have moved ahead.
Johnson really got a good run there - he's a massive (by oval standards) 0.385s ahead of the rest, with Trevor Bayne now second.
Johnson really got a good run there - he's a massive (by oval standards) 0.385s ahead of the rest, with Trevor Bayne now second.
NASCAR - Talladega: It's already slightly unnerving stuff with big packs of cars running at different speeds. Most of the Ford teams have got together in one group, and the multi-car squads are generally try to work in tandem.
Green flag
Talladega
NASCAR - Talladega: NASCAR Sprint Cup qualifying at Talladega used to be one of the most tedious of the year under the old single-car system, but not any more...
Under the new F1-inspired (yes, NASCAR inspired by F1) knockout system, it's going to be a frantic scramble to get in drafting packs to achieve the best times.
Round one is now underway, with 25 minutes after which the 43 cars will be whittled down to 24 for round two. That's 10 minutes long and cuts the field to 12 cars for a five minute pole shoot-out.
The Nationwide field was the first to see what knockout qualifying on a superspeedway is like at Daytona three months ago. It got a bit messy...
BTCC - Thruxton: Although the Motorbase Ford Focuses have looked good this weekend, returning champion Fabrizio Giovanardi is scratching his head after the car felt "undriveable" when he switched onto used tyres during qualifying.
He will start 12th, whereas team-mate Mat Jackson was fourth quickest, half a second faster.
He will start 12th, whereas team-mate Mat Jackson was fourth quickest, half a second faster.
Quote
BTCC - Thruxton: Honda's Peter Crolla believes the Civic Tourers of Matt Neal (second in qualifying) and Gordon Shedden (third) are looking good for tomorrow's races.
"It's important to get those race distances in free practice," he told AUTOSPORT on the subject of looking after the Dunlop rubber. "You need half an hour of track time, but it's half an hour well spent.
"Gordon probably could have gone a bit better [in qualifying]. He didn't make the most of his final run thanks to traffic."
"It's important to get those race distances in free practice," he told AUTOSPORT on the subject of looking after the Dunlop rubber. "You need half an hour of track time, but it's half an hour well spent.
"Gordon probably could have gone a bit better [in qualifying]. He didn't make the most of his final run thanks to traffic."
WEC - Spa: Wurz is hunting down di Grassi for second. The Toyota is on fresh rubber, while the Audi is double stinting.
WEC - Spa: Dumas pits and Jani gets back in. The Frenchman isn't feeling in tip-top condition today and only did a single stint.
Quote
BTCC - Thruxton: Not only is Andrew Jordan quick over a lap at Thruxton, he reckons his Eurotech Honda Civic will have good race pace tomorrow.
Last year he led race one until a puncture on the final lap, but is keen to look after the rubber this weekend.
"Looking at the tyres coming off the car, they're in good condition," he told AUTOSPORT.
"I've always gone well here. You just click with some circuits."
Last year he led race one until a puncture on the final lap, but is keen to look after the rubber this weekend.
"Looking at the tyres coming off the car, they're in good condition," he told AUTOSPORT.
"I've always gone well here. You just click with some circuits."
WEC - Spa: Wurz takes to the gravel at Stavelot. That loses him contact with Dumas, who is only 5s behind di Grassi. The reason for the Toyota's off is that Wurz is struggling to see courtesy of oil or similar on the screen.
USC - Laguna Seca: Over in California, practice is beginning for the United SportsCar round at Laguna Seca - with 56 cars about to take to the 2.2-mile track.
The races are going to be split, with the PC and GTD classes racing first tomorrow, then a separate event for P and GTLM, and qualifying is class-by-class as ever, but practice will be busy...
The races are going to be split, with the PC and GTD classes racing first tomorrow, then a separate event for P and GTLM, and qualifying is class-by-class as ever, but practice will be busy...
WEC - Spa: The leading Toyota pits and takes new tyres, so its lead over the chasing pack is going to shrink.
Toyota
WEC - Spa: This is fascinating. Davo is due a stop in the Toyota, but Dumas is closing on di Grassi, who can't shake off Wurz.
The #8 Toyota is clear favourite for the victory, but the rest of the podum places are up for grabs.
WEC - Spa: Di Grassi pits out of second (Wurz pitted three laps before). The Audi doesn't take tyres, unlike the Toyota, so di Grassi establishes himself in second ahead of the battle for third between Dumas and Wurz.
World RX - Montalegre: Jacques Villeneuve suffered a puncture in heat two, but managed to nurse his Peugeot 208 to the finish, setting the 14th fastest time.
That's the same position he holds overnight going into day two with heats three and four to run tomorrow morning.
That's the same position he holds overnight going into day two with heats three and four to run tomorrow morning.
WEC - Spa - order after 4 hours:
1 #8 Toyota
2 #1 Audi
3 #14 Porsche
4 #7 Toyota
5 #3 Audi
LMP2 leader: #26 OAK Morgan-Nissan
GTE Pro leader: #51 AF Ferrari
GTE Am leader: #61 AF Ferrari
1 #8 Toyota
2 #1 Audi
3 #14 Porsche
4 #7 Toyota
5 #3 Audi
LMP2 leader: #26 OAK Morgan-Nissan
GTE Pro leader: #51 AF Ferrari
GTE Am leader: #61 AF Ferrari
World RX - Montalegre: Latvian driver Reinis Nitiss finishes fastest in heat two in Portugal, and sits on top of the order at the end of day one on his Supercar debut.
Marklund Motorsport pair Anton Marklund and Topi Heikkinen finished second and third.
Timur Timerzyanov had been top of heat two, but was disqualified following first corner contact with Petter Solberg, who failed to finish.
Marklund Motorsport pair Anton Marklund and Topi Heikkinen finished second and third.
Timur Timerzyanov had been top of heat two, but was disqualified following first corner contact with Petter Solberg, who failed to finish.
WEC - Spa: Porsche has revealed that Dumas lost hybrid power and stayed out while the team gave him various instructions over the radio to cycle through various systems.
WEC - Spa: And then the Toyota makes it stick after going around the outside at Les Combes.
WEC - Spa: Wurz is right with di Grassi and had a little look down the inside into the Bus Stop.
Quote
MotoGP - Jerez: Aleix Espargaro will start fifth at Jerez tomorrow, beaten only by the works Hondas and Yamahas on Forward's Open class bike.
But that's not quite good enough for him, and he said he was pushing desperately hard to get higher up when he crashed in Q2:
"I'm satisfied because fifth is not that far back, but after the weekend we had I expected a bit more in qualifying and to stay closer to the top guys and the front row," said Espargaro.
"I was on the limit, I pushed 100 per cent and couldn't have been faster. Obviously it's not easy to beat the official riders and bikes."
But that's not quite good enough for him, and he said he was pushing desperately hard to get higher up when he crashed in Q2:
"I'm satisfied because fifth is not that far back, but after the weekend we had I expected a bit more in qualifying and to stay closer to the top guys and the front row," said Espargaro.
"I was on the limit, I pushed 100 per cent and couldn't have been faster. Obviously it's not easy to beat the official riders and bikes."
WEC - Spa: Davidson is now extending his lead over di Grassi, while the Brazilian is edging away from Wurz in third.
DTM - Hockenheim: Quick change to the grid order at the front, Spengler is now third, da Costa is fourth after da Costa's late lap that was taken away, then reinstated, and finally taken away. Still a great debut by the rookie.
WEC - Spa: Dumas is fully back to speed. The Frenchman just put in a 2m05s lap, but he's now down in fourth
BTCC - Thruxton: For the third straight year, Andrew Jordan was fastest in qualifying at Thruxton, leading an all-Honda top three.
Here's KEVIN TURNER's full qualifying report and the race one grid:
Thruxton BTCC qualifying
Here's KEVIN TURNER's full qualifying report and the race one grid:
Thruxton BTCC qualifying
WEC - Spa: If this Porsche business wasn't strange enough, Audi appears to back in this race. Di Grassi is edging towards Davidson, though he lost a second on the last lap.
WEC - Spa: And again, though that time he was just 25s shy of a proper lap time.
WEC - Spa: This is bizarre. Dumas continues for a second lap, even though he's just gone around 50s off the pace!
WEC - Spa: Dumas slows in the second-placed Porsche out of La Source.
WTCC - Hungaroring: Borkovic's Campos Chevrolet team-mate Hugo Valente,who qualified a provisional 11th fastest in Q2 this afternoon, is set to be promoted to pole for race two.
WEC - Spa: Davidson leads Dumas in the Porsche by 50s. The chasing di Grassi and Wurz are only 6s down after a relatively slow stop from the Porsche crew.
Breaking news
MotoGP - Jerez: Avintia Open class rider Mike di Meglio joins the ranks of riders with penalty points to their name - he gets one on his licence for blocking in qualifying.
Breaking news
WTCC - Hungaroring: Campos Chevrolet driver Dusan Borkovic has been stripped of his Q1 and Q2 times for failing a ground clearance check.
The Serbian had been set to start on pole position in the reversed-grid race two.
The Serbian had been set to start on pole position in the reversed-grid race two.
Breaking news
DTM - Hockenheim: A maiden pole for Adrien Tambay, a very strong DTM debut for Antonio Felix da Costa, and a disaster for Mercedes...
Here's the full story of the first DTM qualifying session of the year at Hockenheim, plus the grid order:
Hockenheim DTM qualifying report
Here's the full story of the first DTM qualifying session of the year at Hockenheim, plus the grid order:
Hockenheim DTM qualifying report
WEC - Spa: Di Grassi is up to third after Wurz locks up into the Rivage hairpin.
WEC - Spa: Davidson sets fastest lap of the race in the #8 Toyota, which will move back into the lead when Lieb makes his imminent pitstop.
By: Matt Beer, Gary Watkins, Pablo Elizalde, Kevin Turner, Peter Mills, Andrew van Leeuwen, Scott Mitchell
Published:
Lap:
