The 2015 Indianapolis 500
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Formula E - Berlin Tempelhof: The Andretti drivers, Speed and Vergne, have dispensed with the extra warm-up lap and are in qualifying mode for their first complete laps.
Formula E - Berlin Tempelhof: And Group 2 qualifying is underway, with Sarrazin leading them out of the pits.
Formula E - Berlin Tempelhof: Group 2 is about to head out. It comprises Speed, Alguersuari, Sarrazin, Vergne, Duran
Formula E - Berlin Tempelhof: Here's how qualifying looks after Group 1:
1 Trulli, 1m21.547s
2 Liuzzi, 1m22.032s
3 Piquet Jr, 1m22.310s
4 Senna, 1m22.575s
5 Da Costa, 1m22.586s
1 Trulli, 1m21.547s
2 Liuzzi, 1m22.032s
3 Piquet Jr, 1m22.310s
4 Senna, 1m22.575s
5 Da Costa, 1m22.586s
Formula E - Berlin Tempelhof: A fractional improvement from Liuzzi, but nowhere near enough to get near Trulli.
WRC - Portugal: Things to watch on this monster (ish) stage...
* Latvala protecting his 11s lead over Meeke and Mikkelsen, who are just two tenths apart
* Ogier trying to close down the 9s gap to that Meeke/Mikkelsen second place battle ahead of him
* Tanak vs Sordo vs Ostberg vs Paddon for fifth - just 7s covers all four
Ogier is now onto the stage. There's a three minute gap between him and Bertelli rather than the usual two, which makes sense as two-time champion Ogier is often a minute per stage quicker (at least) than the WRC2 graduate.
* Latvala protecting his 11s lead over Meeke and Mikkelsen, who are just two tenths apart
* Ogier trying to close down the 9s gap to that Meeke/Mikkelsen second place battle ahead of him
* Tanak vs Sordo vs Ostberg vs Paddon for fifth - just 7s covers all four
Ogier is now onto the stage. There's a three minute gap between him and Bertelli rather than the usual two, which makes sense as two-time champion Ogier is often a minute per stage quicker (at least) than the WRC2 graduate.
Formula E - Berlin Tempelhof: Piquet improves by a tenth, but still only third.
Formula E - Berlin Tempelhof: Da Costa fails to improve, so he's going to end up slowest in this session.
Formula E - Berlin Tempelhof: So after the first fliers, it's Trulli, Liuzzi, Piquet, Senna, da Costa.
Quote
FR3.5 - Monaco: Asked to explain his improved showing this season, Jaafar replied:
"It is a package of things. This year, I've grown myself as a driver, but also last year was tough as [ISR] was a one-car team. This year the prep is much better, the team is very experienced, I have a very good team-mate. The whole package of having a strong team throughout is there and I am enjoying working here. Paul Heath is my engineer. He's a great guy - and a big Liverpool supporter!"
And prospects for tomorrow?
"The car is definitely fantastic for quali, but we need to focus on tyre deg' for the race. Fortunately, the deg' should not be too bad but we have to learn a lot."
"It is a package of things. This year, I've grown myself as a driver, but also last year was tough as [ISR] was a one-car team. This year the prep is much better, the team is very experienced, I have a very good team-mate. The whole package of having a strong team throughout is there and I am enjoying working here. Paul Heath is my engineer. He's a great guy - and a big Liverpool supporter!"
And prospects for tomorrow?
"The car is definitely fantastic for quali, but we need to focus on tyre deg' for the race. Fortunately, the deg' should not be too bad but we have to learn a lot."
Formula E - Berlin Tempelhof: And Trulli jumps to top spot on a 1m21.547s, the fastest we've seen so far this weekend. Team-mate Liuzzi goes second.
Lights out
WRC - Portugal: SS10 has begun. Evans should be first in, but he shunted on this morning's opener - completing an unhappy double of first-stage retirements this weekend - so we'll have midfielders Al Qassimi and Bertelli as a prelude before Ogier arrives.
Formula E - Berlin Tempelhof: Piquet sets the first proper qualifying time - a 1m22.417s.
Formula E - Berlin Tempelhof: Piquet Jr goes top, but it's on 1m24.557s and he's yet to go into 200kW qualifying mode.
Steps
WRC - Portugal: DAVID EVANS: The organisers have really gone to town on decorating rally headquarters in Matosinhos.
The stairs up to the press office specially muddied with an enormous picture of a flat-out Volkswagen Polo R WRC alongside.
Formula E - Berlin Tempelhof: Piquet Jr leads the first qualifying group out of the pits.
FR3.5 - Monaco: Jazeman Jaafar was unsurprisingly pleased to have achieved his maiden pole position in FR3.5, and first pole since British F3 in 2012.
"We had to improve the car overnight from practice," said Jaafar. "Ollie [Rowland] was a bit quicker yesterday and that gave us a good benchmark to try and learn. The biggest thing going for me today was the grip, I’d say it was a big step forwards from my run [in the B Group] to Ollie’s earlier run.
"The resurfaced track at Turn 1 is different to previous years and the tunnel is better, massively, because the bump is gone. The biggest thing for me to deal with was the kerbs at the second part of the Swimming Pool. The approach is a lot different to last year, so we had to find something that could adapt to that and ride more of the kerb."
"We had to improve the car overnight from practice," said Jaafar. "Ollie [Rowland] was a bit quicker yesterday and that gave us a good benchmark to try and learn. The biggest thing going for me today was the grip, I’d say it was a big step forwards from my run [in the B Group] to Ollie’s earlier run.
"The resurfaced track at Turn 1 is different to previous years and the tunnel is better, massively, because the bump is gone. The biggest thing for me to deal with was the kerbs at the second part of the Swimming Pool. The approach is a lot different to last year, so we had to find something that could adapt to that and ride more of the kerb."
Formula E - Berlin Tempelhof: Each driver gets two qualifying attempts at full power - 200kW - during their 10-minute session.
Formula E - Berlin Tempelhof: Qualifying gets underway in a few minutes here in Germany. It's divided into four 10-minute groups, each comprising five drivers.
First up, it's Trulli, Piquet Jr, Liuzzi, Senna and da Costa
First up, it's Trulli, Piquet Jr, Liuzzi, Senna and da Costa
WRC - Portugal: Ten minutes to go until we're back under way again in Portugal. Fridao is up next.
The last stage of the loop is the longest of the rally at 23 miles – and it's one Kris Meeke's co-driver Paul Nagle is really looking forward to:
"All the Saturday stages are great, but the long one's the best. It's a great stage with a bit of everything in. It's got Tarmac, cobbles, fast gravel, slow gravel narrow, wide, everything.
"This isn't a high-speed rally by any means, so we're never really spending a long time flat in top gear, but we'd be in fourth and fifth for a while in this stage.
"Like I said, there are a lot of surface changes in this stage and that adds an extra something to the pacenotes – I always let Kris know when we're going onto the cobbles or back onto the gravel to help him anticipate what can be a fairly big change in the grip level.
"If we're going from gravel to Tarmac, I'd add a 'slippery' into the notes because so much of the gravel gets pushed onto the first few metres of Tarmac making it really tricky.
"On the cobbles things can get very exciting. Obviously there's not much grip around at all, but we would probably grade some of the notes back a wee bit to try to look after the tyres as well."
The last stage of the loop is the longest of the rally at 23 miles – and it's one Kris Meeke's co-driver Paul Nagle is really looking forward to:
"All the Saturday stages are great, but the long one's the best. It's a great stage with a bit of everything in. It's got Tarmac, cobbles, fast gravel, slow gravel narrow, wide, everything.
"This isn't a high-speed rally by any means, so we're never really spending a long time flat in top gear, but we'd be in fourth and fifth for a while in this stage.
"Like I said, there are a lot of surface changes in this stage and that adds an extra something to the pacenotes – I always let Kris know when we're going onto the cobbles or back onto the gravel to help him anticipate what can be a fairly big change in the grip level.
"If we're going from gravel to Tarmac, I'd add a 'slippery' into the notes because so much of the gravel gets pushed onto the first few metres of Tarmac making it really tricky.
"On the cobbles things can get very exciting. Obviously there's not much grip around at all, but we would probably grade some of the notes back a wee bit to try to look after the tyres as well."
Breaking news
FR3.5 - Monaco: We've also had Formula Renault 3.5 qualifying going on in Monte Carlo earlier this morning.
Although the session was a few hours ago, some timing problems in the A group mean it's only now that the order behind the front row has become accurate.
Here's PETER MILLS's full report of a session that ended with Jazeman Jaafar - a podium finisher here for the past two years - on pole ahead of Fortec team-mate Oliver Rowland:
Monaco FR3.5 qualifying: Jaafar leads all-Fortec front row
Although the session was a few hours ago, some timing problems in the A group mean it's only now that the order behind the front row has become accurate.
Here's PETER MILLS's full report of a session that ended with Jazeman Jaafar - a podium finisher here for the past two years - on pole ahead of Fortec team-mate Oliver Rowland:
Monaco FR3.5 qualifying: Jaafar leads all-Fortec front row
Jazeman Jaafar, Fortec, Monaco FR3.5 2015
Breaking news
WRC - Portugal - SS9 summary:
* Meeke goes quickest and retakes second from Mikkelsen by 0.2s
* Latvala misses the stage win by 0.2s but is back to 11s ahead overall
* Ogier can't make any more progress and stays fourth
* Tanak, Sordo, Ostberg and Paddon close right up - 7s covers fifth to eighth
* Meeke goes quickest and retakes second from Mikkelsen by 0.2s
* Latvala misses the stage win by 0.2s but is back to 11s ahead overall
* Ogier can't make any more progress and stays fourth
* Tanak, Sordo, Ostberg and Paddon close right up - 7s covers fifth to eighth
Checkered flag
WRC - Portugal - SS9 results:
1 Meeke 17m11.1s
2 Latvala +0.2s
3 Ogier +1.6s
4 Mikkelsen +1.7s
5 Ostberg +8.4s
6 Paddon +8.7s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Latvala
2 Meeke +11.2s
3 Mikkelsen +11.4s
4 Ogier +21.8s
5 Tanak +43.2s
6 Sordo +47.3s
7 Ostberg +49.7s
8 Paddon +50.2s
9 Kubica +1m52.4s
10 Prokop +3m46.2s
1 Meeke 17m11.1s
2 Latvala +0.2s
3 Ogier +1.6s
4 Mikkelsen +1.7s
5 Ostberg +8.4s
6 Paddon +8.7s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Latvala
2 Meeke +11.2s
3 Mikkelsen +11.4s
4 Ogier +21.8s
5 Tanak +43.2s
6 Sordo +47.3s
7 Ostberg +49.7s
8 Paddon +50.2s
9 Kubica +1m52.4s
10 Prokop +3m46.2s
Breaking news
Formula E - Berlin Tempelhof: Here's the full story of the practice session di Grassi just topped, with results to follow shortly:
Berlin Formula E practice: Di Grassi sets pace
Berlin Formula E practice: Di Grassi sets pace
Formula E - Berlin Tempelhof: It will be interesting to see whether di Grassi can carry his practice form into qualifying. He leads the championship, but has yet to take a pole position.
WRC - Portugal: Kubica, who's in a lonely ninth overall, comes through with an uneventful seventh fastest time.
WRC - Portugal: Paddon comes in sixth quickest and stays eighth overall, but the cool thing is how much this pack is closing up.
Tanak, Sordo, Ostberg and Paddon in fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth are all covered by 7s.
Tanak, Sordo, Ostberg and Paddon in fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth are all covered by 7s.
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WRC - Portugal: Only seventh quickest for Tanak. That keeps him fifth overall, but like Sordo he's fallen right away from the podium fight this morning.
The problem is his tyre choice - he's gone for hards and that wasn't good for SS9.
"This stage was a disaster. I was expecting completely different conditions but it had so much dust and a hard base," he explains.
"It was like doing Monte in the snow with slicks."
The problem is his tyre choice - he's gone for hards and that wasn't good for SS9.
"This stage was a disaster. I was expecting completely different conditions but it had so much dust and a hard base," he explains.
"It was like doing Monte in the snow with slicks."
WRC - Portugal: Latvala's run to the finish isn't quite as strong as Meeke's and he ends up second quickest on the stage by two tenths.
But he was faster than Mikkelsen, and then means his overall lead is back to 11s over Meeke in second.
Latvala felt he was pretty slow in the slippery downhill section at the end of the stage, but then looked at the times and realised everyone else was too.
But he was faster than Mikkelsen, and then means his overall lead is back to 11s over Meeke in second.
Latvala felt he was pretty slow in the slippery downhill section at the end of the stage, but then looked at the times and realised everyone else was too.
WRC - Portugal: If your code word in Martin Prokop's Stage End Problem Bingo is 'puncture' rather than 'brakes' then now is your time to drink.
He's still hanging in with 10th overall.
He's still hanging in with 10th overall.
Twitter
WRC - Portugal: As Latvala gets into the final part of the stage, he's now on course to extend his gap over Meeke and Mikkelsen by a few tenths.
"#OnIt ;-)" tweets whoever is looking after Latvala's Twitter account while he's driving.
Or tweets Latvala in a piece of high-speed multi-tasking.
"#OnIt ;-)" tweets whoever is looking after Latvala's Twitter account while he's driving.
Or tweets Latvala in a piece of high-speed multi-tasking.
WRC - Portugal: Disappointing stage from Sordo, he's only fifth quickest and a fair way off the pace.
He started the day chasing a podium but he's now just 2.4s ahead of Ostberg in what will probably be sixth depending on how fast Paddon goes.
"Very different to yesterday. Very, very slippery stages, I don't like it and the car is moving a lot. It's like a completely different rally."
He started the day chasing a podium but he's now just 2.4s ahead of Ostberg in what will probably be sixth depending on how fast Paddon goes.
"Very different to yesterday. Very, very slippery stages, I don't like it and the car is moving a lot. It's like a completely different rally."
WRC - Portugal: Meeke is currently on course to trim a bit out of Latvala's overall rally lead too. The Finn is six tenths down on the Brit at the middle split.
Formula E - Berlin Tempelhof: And the bottom 10 in the second and final free practice session:
11 Pic, 1m22.763s
12 Heidfeld, 1m22.820s
13 Bird, 1m22.856s
14 Liuzzi, 1m22.977
15 Senna, 1m22.982s
16 Sarrazin, 1m23.315s
17 Chandhok, 1m23.342s
18 Duran, 1m23.452s
19 Trulli, 1m23.882s
20 Abt, 1m24.773s
11 Pic, 1m22.763s
12 Heidfeld, 1m22.820s
13 Bird, 1m22.856s
14 Liuzzi, 1m22.977
15 Senna, 1m22.982s
16 Sarrazin, 1m23.315s
17 Chandhok, 1m23.342s
18 Duran, 1m23.452s
19 Trulli, 1m23.882s
20 Abt, 1m24.773s
Stopwatch
WRC - Portugal: But Mikkelsen loses both the provisional stage win and second overall again, as Meeke comes through with a great end to the stage to outpace him.
That puts Meeke back into second overall by just two tenths of a second.
That puts Meeke back into second overall by just two tenths of a second.
Formula E - Berlin Tempelhof: And the session has come to an end with no significant changes up front in the closing stages. Here's how the top 10 looks:
1 Di Grassi, 1m22.032s
2 Prost, 1m22.192s
3 D'Ambrosio, 1m22.197s
4 Alguersuari, 1m22.255s
5 Vergne, 1m22.260s
6 Speed, 1m22.308s
7 Piquet Jr, 1m22.416s
8 Buemi, 1m22.452s
9 Da Costa, 1m22.584s
10 Duval, 1m22.601s
1 Di Grassi, 1m22.032s
2 Prost, 1m22.192s
3 D'Ambrosio, 1m22.197s
4 Alguersuari, 1m22.255s
5 Vergne, 1m22.260s
6 Speed, 1m22.308s
7 Piquet Jr, 1m22.416s
8 Buemi, 1m22.452s
9 Da Costa, 1m22.584s
10 Duval, 1m22.601s
Stopwatch
WRC - Portugal: Mikkelsen is fastest so far, by precisely one tenth of a second over Ogier.
Mikkelsen led the way on the morning's opener, in the process jumping Meeke for second overall and getting Latvala's lead down to 9s.
Mikkelsen led the way on the morning's opener, in the process jumping Meeke for second overall and getting Latvala's lead down to 9s.
Formula E - Berlin Tempelhof: Duval has jumped to 10th place. Duran has also set his best lap, but is down in 18th for Amlin Aguri.
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WRC - Portugal: Ostberg completes the stage 6.8s slower than Ogier.
The man we'll need to compare Ostberg to, though, is Paddon - who ended the previous stage just two tenths behind in their battle for seventh overall.
Ostberg feels he's simply going too slowly in the slippery conditions and play it too cool.
"I don't have a perfect feeling and I don't know why," he says.
You started the stage really though, Mads, do whatever you did for the first 10 miles or so again!
The man we'll need to compare Ostberg to, though, is Paddon - who ended the previous stage just two tenths behind in their battle for seventh overall.
Ostberg feels he's simply going too slowly in the slippery conditions and play it too cool.
"I don't have a perfect feeling and I don't know why," he says.
You started the stage really though, Mads, do whatever you did for the first 10 miles or so again!
Stopwatch
WRC - Portugal: Ogier is in with a time of 17m12.7s, quickest so far but he's only had multiple spinner Bertelli and Al Qassimi to beat.
"Our pace is not bad. We'll see at the end of the loop but I'm quite happy," says Ogier.
"Our pace is not bad. We'll see at the end of the loop but I'm quite happy," says Ogier.
By: Matt Beer, Jack Benyon, Mitchell Adam, Mark Glendenning, David Evans, Edd Straw, Peter Mills, Gary Watkins, Glenn Freeman
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