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GP2 - Barcelona: First flying laps are underway. As a guidance, Palmer's best this morning was 1m30.448s.
WRC - Argentina: Looks like the struggling Sordo will lose at least another five minutes on this stage.
Green flag
GP2 - Barcelona: Thirty minutes of qualifying kicks off at the Circuit de Catalunya and of the 27 cars present, most head out straight away.
WRC - Argentina: Kubica says the places where he has to drive one-handed because of his unique system were tough on that stage, and he admits a road like that has "nothing to do with my 23 years of [motorsport] experience". He's just trying to take in as much information as possible this weekend.
WRC - Argentina: Kubica comes in with a time just a little faster than team-mate Evans.
WRC - Argentina: Meeke loses a bit of time to Neuville on that stage, the gap between them now 10.1s.
The Citroen driver says the stage was getting "soft and cut up" by the time he was on it, so he took it fairly easy.
The Citroen driver says the stage was getting "soft and cut up" by the time he was on it, so he took it fairly easy.
WRC - Argentina: Elfyn Evans is 1m22s off the pace on Ascochinga.
He admits that taking it easy on this round means the rally is lacking "the thrill" of the last round in Portugal, when M-Sport told him to just push and have fun after an early shunt, but the Welshman accepts "we're here to do a job, and we've got a lot to learn."
He admits that taking it easy on this round means the rally is lacking "the thrill" of the last round in Portugal, when M-Sport told him to just push and have fun after an early shunt, but the Welshman accepts "we're here to do a job, and we've got a lot to learn."
IndyCar - Indianapolis: We're about 15 minutes from the start of today's opening practice session on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Scott Dixon was quickest in practice yesterday, but the weekend is in the process of throwing its first curveball - there's a greasy drizzle of rain; just enough to make the track slippery; not enough for wet tyres. At least, not yet.
GP2 - Barcelona: The first qualifying session of GP2's European season commences in 15 minutes now the F1 cars have finished their Friday practice in Spain.
Jolyon Palmer was fastest this morning, and he leads the points after the Sepang opener too:
Championship standings after two of 22 rounds:
1 Jolyon Palmer 38
2 Julian Leal 28
3 Stoffel Vandoorne 25
4 Simon Trummer 18
5 Felipe Nasr 12
6 Stefano Coletti 12
Full 2014 GP2 statistics on FORIX
Jolyon Palmer was fastest this morning, and he leads the points after the Sepang opener too:
Championship standings after two of 22 rounds:
1 Jolyon Palmer 38
2 Julian Leal 28
3 Stoffel Vandoorne 25
4 Simon Trummer 18
5 Felipe Nasr 12
6 Stefano Coletti 12
Full 2014 GP2 statistics on FORIX
WRC - Argentina: Neuville heard some odd noises from his Hyundai and took it easy for a bit in case of a transmission problem. But he says the biggest issue is that the car loses out hugely to its rivals on traction.
"We're still a bit basic on the suspension side," he admits.
"We're still a bit basic on the suspension side," he admits.
WRC - Argentina: Neuville is in, 24s down on Latvala and 7s off Mikkelsen.
WRC- Argentina: As we know, Ascochinga isn't quite the longest stage of the season so far, but it is the longest time-wise for a single section. Latvala's fastest time in SS3 today was 1m20s longer than Ogier's run through Otates in Mexico in March.
WRC - Argentina: Mikkelsen loses 17s to pacesetter Latvala and says he had to do 20kms with "more or less no power steering" after hitting a stone.
Max Verstappen
European F3 - Pau: Take it from us, Max Verstappen is a Formula 1 World Championship star in the making. He'd never been to Pau, and nor even had his team, Van Amersfoort Racing.
As team boss Frits van Amersfoort said: "This place makes Monaco look like a boulevard."
But his unbelievable late-braking commitment into the final chicane made it look like he was a veteran of the place. It was driving to make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck.
WRC - Argentina: That time is going to put Latvala into the rally lead by 3.3s over Ogier.
Quote
WRC - Argentina: Latvala says conditions were pretty decent.
"For me it was surprisingly good grip, maybe it was worse for [Ogier] being first on the road."
"For me it was surprisingly good grip, maybe it was worse for [Ogier] being first on the road."
Stopwatch
WRC - Argentina: Ogier was right to be sceptical, Latvala is 10s faster and takes over the rally lead!
WRC - Argentina: Ogier completes the stage without issues. He does think running first on the road cost him in places though.
"Good drive, good stage. Some sections were OK, still a little bit damp and I didn't lose too much, but some were dry and for sure I'm going to lose time there. But I'm happy with my driving."
"Good drive, good stage. Some sections were OK, still a little bit damp and I didn't lose too much, but some were dry and for sure I'm going to lose time there. But I'm happy with my driving."
Breaking news
WRC - Argentina: If you're just joining us, cars aren't far from the end of the mega 51km Ascochinga stage, and here are the Friday morning headlines so far...
* Hirvonen and Ostberg both crash out on the opening stage
* Sordo limping through off the pace with suspected turbo problems
* Ogier leads an early VW 1-2-3 with Meeke and Neuville chasing
* Hirvonen and Ostberg both crash out on the opening stage
* Sordo limping through off the pace with suspected turbo problems
* Ogier leads an early VW 1-2-3 with Meeke and Neuville chasing
Crash
WRC - Argentina: Reports coming in that Tanak and co-driver Raigo Mulder were unhurt in what is said to have been a pretty monster crash on SS2.
They went off at the same spot where Ostberg had shunted his Citroen.
They went off at the same spot where Ostberg had shunted his Citroen.
European F3 - Pau: Pau is one of the most sensational places to watch the planet's young guns in action. The tortuous, narrow twists are a fantastic barometer of who's quick - it's the one place where you don't need live timing to find that out.
AUTOSPORT went to the last chicane leading onto the flat-out swerves to the start-finish line for the first free practice session, and to the fast Parc Beaumont right-hander for the second.
Pau European F3 practice report
AUTOSPORT went to the last chicane leading onto the flat-out swerves to the start-finish line for the first free practice session, and to the fast Parc Beaumont right-hander for the second.
Pau European F3 practice report
Crash
WRC - Argentina: Ott Tanak, who is in WRC2 this weekend, has crashed out on the first stage of the day. Waiting for more details.
WRC - Argentina: Looks like Sordo and Marti have decided the problem can't be fixed before service. They're putting the i20 back together again and seem resigned to limping through this next stage too.
WRC - Argentina: Not for the first time in recent WRC history, we're not getting any split times to allow us to keep you updated on drivers' progress on this monster stage.
Neither are we hearing of any dramas, though, with team radios quiet and the tracking system looking smooth.
Back at the stage start, Sordo is continuing to work on his Hyundai, looks like the turbocharger is the issue.
Neither are we hearing of any dramas, though, with team radios quiet and the tracking system looking smooth.
Back at the stage start, Sordo is continuing to work on his Hyundai, looks like the turbocharger is the issue.
Dog
WRC - Argentina: These are hard times at M-Sport already, with its lead runner Hirvonen out of action after that shunt into a wall, and Evans and Kubica both in play-safe tip-toe mode.
But at least team members can cheer themselves up by chatting to a dog this weekend.
This is M-Sport's Rally Argentina dog, hard to say if it's the same one as last year, but they always seem to adopt a stray for the week. The dog was pretty relaxed about Robert Kubica's choice of soft tyres for the rally's opening loop.
WRC - Argentina: Frantic work going on in the refuelling area before SS3 as Sordo tries to fix his Hyundai i20. Doesn't look like it was damage to suspension, judging by where Sordo and co-driver Marc Marti are delving under the bonnet.
WRC - Argentina: Yes, that is WRC2 man Jari Ketomaa in sixth overall - thanks to outpacing Evans, Kubica and Prokop's World Rally Cars, and getting through unscathed.
Checkered flag
WRC - Argentina - SS2 results:
Stage:
1 Ogier 18m25.8s
2 Latvala +2.8s
3 Mikkelsen +4.4s
4 Meeke +6.7s
5 Neuville +8.9s
6 Ketomaa +47.4s
Overall:
1 Ogier
2 Latvala +7.0s
3 Mikkelsen +7.9s
4 Neuville +14.3s
5 Meeke +16.0s
6 Ketomaa +56.9s
Stage:
1 Ogier 18m25.8s
2 Latvala +2.8s
3 Mikkelsen +4.4s
4 Meeke +6.7s
5 Neuville +8.9s
6 Ketomaa +47.4s
Overall:
1 Ogier
2 Latvala +7.0s
3 Mikkelsen +7.9s
4 Neuville +14.3s
5 Meeke +16.0s
6 Ketomaa +56.9s
Lights out
WRC - Argentina: Ascochinga is go, Ogier begins the 51kms.
WRC - Argentina: Sordo lost three minutes due to whatever is wrong with his Hyundai. He didn't stop to speak to reporters at the end of the stage so we're not yet sure of the nature of his drama.
WRC - Argentina: Kubica is the slowest of the healthy cars on that stage, a minute off Ogier's time.
After crashing... a lot... throughout the season so far, Kubica is changing his approach this weekend and just focusing on getting to the finish. So don't expect anything spectacular from the popular Pole for now.
After crashing... a lot... throughout the season so far, Kubica is changing his approach this weekend and just focusing on getting to the finish. So don't expect anything spectacular from the popular Pole for now.
WRC - Argentina: Robert Kubica won't be too far behind Sordo's limping Hyundai on the road at the end of this stage.
WRC - Argentina: Ascochinga is the stage that Kris Meeke has some experience of from his time competing on this event as a round of the 2010 Intercontinental Rally Challenge.
"I did about 10 or 12 miles of Ascochinga in the Peugeot [207 S2000] and it was a great stage, one I really enjoyed," he said.
Despite his limited experience of the stage, Meeke and co-driver Paul Nagle made a fresh set of pace notes for this and every Argentina test.
"I did about 10 or 12 miles of Ascochinga in the Peugeot [207 S2000] and it was a great stage, one I really enjoyed," he said.
Despite his limited experience of the stage, Meeke and co-driver Paul Nagle made a fresh set of pace notes for this and every Argentina test.
WRC - Argentina: We're only five minutes away from the next stage starting, and it's the big one.
The Ascochinga-Agua de Oro is the longest stage of the rally – but not the longest of the season so far. At 32.23 miles, it is still 1.13 miles shorter than the Otates monster in Mexico.
Ogier was quickest through that stage at 36m40.1s – how close to the half-hour mark can the stage winner get through this one?
The Ascochinga-Agua de Oro is the longest stage of the rally – but not the longest of the season so far. At 32.23 miles, it is still 1.13 miles shorter than the Otates monster in Mexico.
Ogier was quickest through that stage at 36m40.1s – how close to the half-hour mark can the stage winner get through this one?
WRC - Argentina: Meeke slots the Citroen into fourth place, between Mikkelsen and Neuville.
WRC - Argentina: Very careful pace from Elfyn Evans, who is 47s slower than Ogier's time.
The Welshman did promise pre-rally that he was going to be taking it very easy this weekend.
The Welshman did promise pre-rally that he was going to be taking it very easy this weekend.
WRC - Argentina: Possibility of trouble for the other Hyundai, though, with reports that Dani Sordo is slow on the stage.
WRC - Argentina: One Hyundai through safely as Thierry Neuville completes the stage fourth fastest, 8s down on Ogier.
WRC - Argentina: Andreas Mikkelsen is third fastest, 4s down on Ogier in what is a VW one-two-three for now...
...and is probably going to be for quite a while unless Kris Meeke or the Hyundai boys can do something special.
...and is probably going to be for quite a while unless Kris Meeke or the Hyundai boys can do something special.
Crash
WRC - Argentina: More detail on the Ostberg incident - he hit a rock after 16kms, taking a wheel off the DS3.
By: Matt Beer, David Evans, Mark Glendenning, Dan Cross, Marcus Simmons, Peter Mills, Scott Mitchell
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