WRC Finland, IndyCar, DTM, WTCC, Euro F3, BTCC
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Crash
WRC - Finland: Latvala says he hit a "massive, massive hole" and it left his VW with brake damage.
He sounds stressed but is confident the brakes can be fixed on the road section.
He sounds stressed but is confident the brakes can be fixed on the road section.
WRC - Finland: Keeping a 20s lead is good, losing a third of your lead on one stage is bad.
WRC - Finland: Latvala loses 11s to Ogier! His lead is down to 20s.
WRC - Finland: Meeke is 3s down on Ogier and says he had some scares with big impacts on that one too.
On the splits Latvala is 6s slower than Ogier. He may be far ahead right now, but he can't afford to be too careful...
On the splits Latvala is 6s slower than Ogier. He may be far ahead right now, but he can't afford to be too careful...
IndyCar - Mid-Ohio: Still a few minutes away from the first IndyCar session of the day, but any British fans that happen to have found their way to Mid-Ohio this morning have just been rewarded with the sight of Jack Harvey winning pole position for the Indy Lights race.
Stopwatch
WRC - Finland: Ogier is fastest by far at the moment, coming in 11s quicker than Mikkelsen.
But while Mikkelsen says he took it very easy and dodged the rocks as the stage was breaking up, Ogier was more gung-ho. He gets the stage-end reporters to check for damage on his VW, but it seems only cosmetic.
But while Mikkelsen says he took it very easy and dodged the rocks as the stage was breaking up, Ogier was more gung-ho. He gets the stage-end reporters to check for damage on his VW, but it seems only cosmetic.
Crash
WRC - Finland: Slight drama for Hirvonen - he's 12s slower than the Hyundais having had an impact in a rut. The Finn thinks he's broken a damper.
There's a comfortable 1m25s cushion back to sixth-placed Paddon so he's safe enough, but that's surely the end of any lingering hopes of chasing Mikkelsen.
There's a comfortable 1m25s cushion back to sixth-placed Paddon so he's safe enough, but that's surely the end of any lingering hopes of chasing Mikkelsen.
WRC - Finland: Solberg has come through very cautiously, once again he's running out of tyres having had too many punctures.
On the splits, Paddon is the pacesetter right now - going quick enough to inch away from Hyundai team-mate Hanninen rather than being caught.
On the splits, Paddon is the pacesetter right now - going quick enough to inch away from Hyundai team-mate Hanninen rather than being caught.
Breaking news
BTCC - Snetterton: Andrew Jordan update. He is back at the circuit and is currently being checked over to see whether he is OK to take part in qualifying. The team is hopeful of getting the Honda Civic out in time after Jordan's FP1 shunt.
NASCAR - Pocono: Halfway through Saturday's first Cup practice session, Kurt Busch is quickest ahead of Ryan Newman.
Busch led the way in yesterday's practice session too, though he only ended up fourth on the grid.
Busch led the way in yesterday's practice session too, though he only ended up fourth on the grid.
Lights out
WRC - Finland: The 13.627-mile Jukojarvi stage is live, and Kubica sets an early benchmark with 10m31.9s.
Vatanen
WRC - Finland: Former World Rally champion Ari Vatanen was on hand at M-Sport to offer Mikko Hirvonen some advice at lunchtime. The pair are pictured with M-Sport team principal Malcolm Wilson.
Vatanen's own son is, of course, competing in Rally Finland 40 years after AV started his first 1000 Lakes. Max Vatanen led the Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy early on but slipped down the order yesterday.
DTM - Red Bull Ring: That's free practice done for the day, with Augusto Farfus going quickest for BMW, ahead of Christian Vietoris (Mercedes) and Miguel Molina (Audi).
Checkered flag
WRC - Finland - SS19 results:
Stage times:
1 Latvala 6m40.7s
2 Ogier +1.2s
3 Meeke +1.4s
4 Mikkelsen +4.1s
5 Hirvonen +5.7s
6 Hanninen +8.0s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Latvala
2 Ogier +31.1s
3 Meeke +44.8s
4 Mikkelsen +1m24.0s
5 Hirvonen +1m49.2s
6 Paddon +3m25.7s
7 Hanninen +3m53.7s
8 Evans +4m11.6s
9 Breen +7m44.1s
10 Solberg +9m42.3s
Stage times:
1 Latvala 6m40.7s
2 Ogier +1.2s
3 Meeke +1.4s
4 Mikkelsen +4.1s
5 Hirvonen +5.7s
6 Hanninen +8.0s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Latvala
2 Ogier +31.1s
3 Meeke +44.8s
4 Mikkelsen +1m24.0s
5 Hirvonen +1m49.2s
6 Paddon +3m25.7s
7 Hanninen +3m53.7s
8 Evans +4m11.6s
9 Breen +7m44.1s
10 Solberg +9m42.3s
Checkered flag
WTCC - Rio Hondo: Session completed and Lopez remains quickest of all, having made a slight improvement during the final few minutes with a time of 1m43.889s.
Citroen team-mate Loeb finished second, having been the quickest in the first sector but unable to carry that speed through an entire lap.
Mehdi Bennani jumped up to third in the Proteam Honda Civic, demoting Muller to fourth.
The top six from that session:
1 Lopez 1m43.889s; 2 Loeb +0.260s; 3 Bennani +0.399s; 4 Muller +0.409s; 5 Tarquini +0.539s; 6 Michelisz +0.786s
Citroen team-mate Loeb finished second, having been the quickest in the first sector but unable to carry that speed through an entire lap.
Mehdi Bennani jumped up to third in the Proteam Honda Civic, demoting Muller to fourth.
The top six from that session:
1 Lopez 1m43.889s; 2 Loeb +0.260s; 3 Bennani +0.399s; 4 Muller +0.409s; 5 Tarquini +0.539s; 6 Michelisz +0.786s
WRC - Finland: Latvala pips Ogier and Meeke to another stage win, but they all took it easy in the dodgy spot after being warned of the potential for punctures.
Erstwhile WRC2 leader Ketomaa did get a puncture, his second of the day, though he says it happened somewhere either than the much-mentioned hole in a cut.
Erstwhile WRC2 leader Ketomaa did get a puncture, his second of the day, though he says it happened somewhere either than the much-mentioned hole in a cut.
WTCC - Rio Hondo: Halfway through the first practice session and the order at the moment is:
1 Jose Maria Lopez 1m43.915s; 2 Sebastien Loeb +0.670s; 3 Tiago Monteiro +0.804s; 5 Gabriele Tarquini +0.936s; 6 Tom Chilton +1.344s.
1 Jose Maria Lopez 1m43.915s; 2 Sebastien Loeb +0.670s; 3 Tiago Monteiro +0.804s; 5 Gabriele Tarquini +0.936s; 6 Tom Chilton +1.344s.
Stopwatch
WRC - Finland: Mikkelsen is making his fourth place even safer. He's fastest so far and has added another 1.6s to the growing gap over Hirvonen, with Ostberg now gone. He says he's in "such a good rhythm" he doesn't feel any need to back off yet.
Breaking news
European F3
European F3 - Red Bull Ring: MARCUS SIMMONS brings news of a penalty for Max Verstappen...
...but not for that collision with Esteban Ocon at the start this morning, instead for going off-track to pass Antonio Fuoco later in the race.
Verstappen penalised for illegal pass
We'd love to put an image of the Ocon/Verstappen collision in there but haven't received any yet. Instead here's a shot of them on the way to their tangle, so use your imagination from there onwards.
DTM - Red Bull Ring: There's a fair bit of damage to the rear-right of di Resta's Merc. He's lucky qualifying isn't until late.
Meanwhile, there are some dark clouds starting to creep their way over the Red Bull Ring. It could well be pitch dark by the time qualifying (eventually) gets underway...
Meanwhile, there are some dark clouds starting to creep their way over the Red Bull Ring. It could well be pitch dark by the time qualifying (eventually) gets underway...
WRC - Finland: Evans comes to the finish with a right-front puncture. That's cost him about 10s.
Kubica had warned that there was a nasty hole in a cut on the stage but Evans says there wasn't any specific information about where to take care.
Kubica had warned that there was a nasty hole in a cut on the stage but Evans says there wasn't any specific information about where to take care.
WRC - Finland: Hanninen - who's much happier with the stage conditions this afternoon - is quickest by 7s among the early runners. He's now trying to chase down Paddon for what has become sixth.
WRC - Finland: The afternoon loop has begun, and while Kubica and Breen have made it through Mokkipera smoothly, Henning Solberg has picked up his fourth puncture of the event and lost another 40s.
That won't threaten the 10th place he's moved into following Ostberg's exit.
That won't threaten the 10th place he's moved into following Ostberg's exit.
Red flag
DTM - Red Bull Ring: The session has been stopped 20 minutes in, thanks to Paul di Resta going into the wall. He's out of the car and OK.
Green flag
DTM - Red Bull Ring: The second free practice session is under way, and Jamie Green and Mattias Ekstrom are straight under the quickest time set in FP1.
WTCC - Rio Hondo: The start of Saturday morning's first practice session in Argentina has been delayed by at least half an hour due to unspecified track issues.
That's good news for AUTOSPORT's PETER MILLS as due to extreme-weather-related airport madness in Buenos Aires in the middle of the night, he's still charging towards the track in a hire car.
That's good news for AUTOSPORT's PETER MILLS as due to extreme-weather-related airport madness in Buenos Aires in the middle of the night, he's still charging towards the track in a hire car.
Mads Ostberg
WRC - Finland: Here's the Citroen team inspecting Ostberg's car after it was sidelined from fifth with rollcage damage.
Citrean's deputy team principal Marek Nawarecki told AUTOSPORT: "On the last stage Mads Ostberg hit a rock in a rut - we don't know exactly what - and he felt a strong impact on the car. During the service we saw part of the rollcage was bent and it's not possible to continue in the rally."
The impact was on the front-right of the DS3 WRC's sumpguard and bent one of the bars going off the top of the strut.
Ostberg departed for the hotel immediately. His co-driver Jonas Andersson told AUTOSPORT: "It was something in the rut, a stone or something - but there was no stone. So, now back to the hotel and nothing. We're gutted."
Twitter
NASCAR - Pocono: The Sprint Cup race isn't until tomorrow as usual, but today some of the field will be busy in either the Truck race at Pocono or the Nationwide event taking place at Iowa, plus there are two Cup practice sessions.
The first one is in an hour, and Dale Earnhardt Jr is not impressed:
"Back at work. Practice in an hour. I'm not awake yet. Don't be racin me till the 11:30 practice."
The first one is in an hour, and Dale Earnhardt Jr is not impressed:
"Back at work. Practice in an hour. I'm not awake yet. Don't be racin me till the 11:30 practice."
Twitter
V8 Supercars - Queensland: We all felt Scott McLaughlin was being particularly generous and understanding with Michael Caruso after his mate punted him out of the race two lead earlier today.
Now McLaughlin names his price for that forgiveness...
"By the way @michaelcarus0 I like either a Corona or a nice Peroni and if you're gonna get me a spirit it's Greygoose Vodka - Cheers boss #slab"
Now McLaughlin names his price for that forgiveness...
"By the way @michaelcarus0 I like either a Corona or a nice Peroni and if you're gonna get me a spirit it's Greygoose Vodka - Cheers boss #slab"
Breaking news
BTCC - Snetterton: Here's the full report from this morning's practice sessions plus complete results from both:
Snetterton BTCC practice round-up
Snetterton BTCC practice round-up
BTCC - Snetterton: Jason Plato may have difficulty maintaining his argument that the rear-wheel-drive cars need slowing down if that sort of performance continues - the front-wheel-drive MG man tops FP2 by 1.2s from points leader Colin Turkington.
WRC - Finland: So with Ostberg gone, this is what the lead order will look like when we resume.
1 Latvala
2 Ogier +29.9s
3 Meeke +43.4s
4 Mikkelsen +1m19.9s
5 Hirvonen +1m43.5s
6 Paddon +3m15.5s
7 Hanninen +3m45.7s
8 Evans +3m46.6s
9 Breen +7m26.9s
10 Solberg +8m49.0s
1 Latvala
2 Ogier +29.9s
3 Meeke +43.4s
4 Mikkelsen +1m19.9s
5 Hirvonen +1m43.5s
6 Paddon +3m15.5s
7 Hanninen +3m45.7s
8 Evans +3m46.6s
9 Breen +7m26.9s
10 Solberg +8m49.0s
Breaking news
Mads Ostberg
WRC - Finland: Citroen confirms that Ostberg is out of the rally. The rollcage of his DS3 was indeed damaged.
WRC - Finland: Just over half an hour to go before Rally Finland gets going again for a repeat of the morning's five stages.
With only three stages on the Sunday itinerary, what's coming up next is going to be pretty vital for the drivers still in close battles.
With only three stages on the Sunday itinerary, what's coming up next is going to be pretty vital for the drivers still in close battles.
Twitter
MotoGP: We mentioned just now that there are reports that Crutchlow has secured permission to quit Ducati and join LCR Honda.
Or he might, as his Twitter feed this morning suggests, become an author...
"I have never thought to write a book. I think it would be funny though, end of the year. Talk about my passion for the weather and Bananas...
"I wouldn't be too worried about people reading it either! Be good to just read it myself I think…! Sometimes things are a blur."
That's AUTOSPORT Race Centre Live's mum's Christmas present sorted.
Or he might, as his Twitter feed this morning suggests, become an author...
"I have never thought to write a book. I think it would be funny though, end of the year. Talk about my passion for the weather and Bananas...
"I wouldn't be too worried about people reading it either! Be good to just read it myself I think…! Sometimes things are a blur."
That's AUTOSPORT Race Centre Live's mum's Christmas present sorted.
WRC - Finland: If Ostberg, who is currently fifth overall, is prevented from rejoining, that would be the second time in as many days that what initially seemed to be a minor incident has caused sufficient rollcage damage to rule a frontrunner out.
Yesterday it was Theirry Neuville's Hyundai that had to park in midday service - which was ironic because he'd had what seemed a small excursion in the morning whereas team-mate Hanninen had rolled his i20 and done less damage...
Ostberg did report that he'd had an impact with some stones on the final stage before service, but he felt he'd got away with it, despite initially fearing a puncture.
Yesterday it was Theirry Neuville's Hyundai that had to park in midday service - which was ironic because he'd had what seemed a small excursion in the morning whereas team-mate Hanninen had rolled his i20 and done less damage...
Ostberg did report that he'd had an impact with some stones on the final stage before service, but he felt he'd got away with it, despite initially fearing a puncture.
Breaking news
WRC - Finland: Mads Ostberg's Citroen is being investigated by the FIA scrutineers for possible rollcage damage after hitting large stones on the last stage, reveals DAVID EVANS.
Breaking news
And if you're just joining us on this Saturday lunchtime, here's an overview of the morning's events so far:
* Latvala storms away in the Rally Finland lead
* BTCC champion Jordan hospitalised after practice crash
* Blomqvist wins opening Red Bull Ring European F3 race after Ocon and Verstappen collide
* A Nissan/Volvo lead tangle opens the door for more Whincup success in V8 Supercars
* Latvala storms away in the Rally Finland lead
* BTCC champion Jordan hospitalised after practice crash
* Blomqvist wins opening Red Bull Ring European F3 race after Ocon and Verstappen collide
* A Nissan/Volvo lead tangle opens the door for more Whincup success in V8 Supercars
Breaking news
MotoGP: No two-wheeled action this weekend as we await the end of MotoGP's summer break at Indianapolis a week from now, but keep an eye on the news pages in the coming days as they might be busy.
German and Italian publications are reporting that Cal Crutchlow has negotiated an exit from his Ducati contract - just days after declaring he was staying put - so he can join LCR Honda.
With the motorcycle world also expecting Jorge Lorenzo to finally tie down a new Yamaha deal and Suzuki to announce its line-up for its 2015 MotoGP return in the coming days, a lot of jigsaw pieces could be in place by the time the bikes hit the track in America.
You can follow the Indy MotoGP race day, plus the Watkins Glen NASCAR Sprint Cup and Road America United SportsCar races, in a US special Race Centre Live next Sunday evening UK time.
But plenty more to come this weekend first.
German and Italian publications are reporting that Cal Crutchlow has negotiated an exit from his Ducati contract - just days after declaring he was staying put - so he can join LCR Honda.
With the motorcycle world also expecting Jorge Lorenzo to finally tie down a new Yamaha deal and Suzuki to announce its line-up for its 2015 MotoGP return in the coming days, a lot of jigsaw pieces could be in place by the time the bikes hit the track in America.
You can follow the Indy MotoGP race day, plus the Watkins Glen NASCAR Sprint Cup and Road America United SportsCar races, in a US special Race Centre Live next Sunday evening UK time.
But plenty more to come this weekend first.
Breaking news
BTCC - Snetterton: Here's more on what happened to Jordan in the first practice session this morning.
By: Matt Beer, David Evans, Marcus Simmons, Mark Glendenning, Dan Cross, Andrew van Leeuwen, Kevin Turner, Peter Mills
Published:
Lap:
