WRC France, Houston IndyCar
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WRC - France: Loeb's time is 0.1s slower than Latvala's and the gap covering the top four is now down to just five seconds.
Stopwatch
WRC - France: All change in the overall classification as Latvala goes 1.0s quicker than Sordo to take the lead!
"It's pretty incredible," he says. "It's one of the craziest rallies I have ever been involved in."
"It's pretty incredible," he says. "It's one of the craziest rallies I have ever been involved in."
WRC - France: Neuville's first to complete the final stage of the day with a time of 3m37.7s. He's quickly followed by rally leader Sordo, who is 0.6s quicker.
"Today was a great day," says Sordo."I'm very happy with my performance and I'm hapy to be fighting with the best in the world."
"Today was a great day," says Sordo."I'm very happy with my performance and I'm hapy to be fighting with the best in the world."
WRC - France: No rain at the moment in Mulhouse, but there is a chill in the air as the wind has begun to pick up.
IndyCar - Houston: A very quick lap of pitlane after that session revealed that most drivers think they can live with the bump at the end of the straight following last night's repair work. Star Mazda is racing on it right now, so far without incident.
And for those wondering, we've opted for the David Lee Roth 'Bump and grid' option.
And for those wondering, we've opted for the David Lee Roth 'Bump and grid' option.
WRC - France: Ten minutes until the final test of the day gets underway, which is a short blast through the Mulhouse town centre.
IndyCar - Houston: It's not a bike race, but rather the drivers inspecting the track before the warm-up.
Checkered flag
IndyCar - Houston: Session over. For what it's worth, Power was quickest.
IndyCar - Houston: It's worth noting that the temporary chicane from yesterday has been removed, so it seems that the organisers were relying on the grinding work to solve the bump problem.
Random fact: Without even trying, AUTOSPORT has thought of two songs with the title 'Bump and grind'. One is by R. Kelly, the other is by David Lee Roth. Feel free to use either as a soundtrack to this weekend.
Random fact: Without even trying, AUTOSPORT has thought of two songs with the title 'Bump and grind'. One is by R. Kelly, the other is by David Lee Roth. Feel free to use either as a soundtrack to this weekend.
IndyCar - Houston: If the amount of air that Will Power and EJ Viso just got at the end of the straight is any guide, the overnight track work hasn't made much difference.
Green flag
IndyCar - Houston: Just to keep everyone on their toes, the IndyCars have just headed out for their warm-up session.
What makes this interesting is that there isn't actually a warm-up session on the schedule. It's only for 10 minutes, and it's a safe bet that the teams want to test the reworked bump at the Turn 1 before they head into qualifying.
What makes this interesting is that there isn't actually a warm-up session on the schedule. It's only for 10 minutes, and it's a safe bet that the teams want to test the reworked bump at the Turn 1 before they head into qualifying.
IndyCar - Houston: The Lights practice session that used to be a qualifying session is over. Jack Hawksworth was quickest.
WRC - France: The last of today's stages gets underway at 18:00 local time, which is 17:00 BST.
IndyCar - Houston: The track problem-related scheduling chaos continues this morning, with the scheduled Indy Lights qualifying session having been changed to a practice session, and the race grid being set by championship points. Sounds like the overnight repair work was a success, then ...
WRC - France: Kubica continues to dominate the WRC 2 category. The former Formula 1 driver isn't pushing nearly as much today but still enjoys a 3m16.7s advantage over Evans, who claimed a brace of stage wins this afternoon.
Checkered flag
WRC - France - SS13: Sordo continues to lead Rally France as we now enter a brief lull before this evening's Mulhouse stage.
The Spaniard's advantage was 2.9 over Latvala after Neuville hit trouble in SS11, but that's now down to a minuscule 0.7s.
Stage: 1 Neuville; 2 Latvala +0.7s; 3 Loeb +0.7s; 4 Ogier +0.8s; 5 Sordo +2.7s; 6 Hirvonen +13.0s.
Overall: 1 Sordo; 2 Latvala +0.6s; 3 Ogier +2.6s; 4 Loeb +5.5s; 5 Neuville +1m09.4s; 6 Novikov +2m09.3s.
WRC - France: Hirvonen continues to struggle to match the pace of those ahead of him. The Finn's time in SS13 is 10m02.4s, which is exactly 13s slower than Neuville.
"It was wet and slippery out there, which made it tough to find a good rhythm," he remarks. "But I came through unscathed, so it's not so bad."
"It was wet and slippery out there, which made it tough to find a good rhythm," he remarks. "But I came through unscathed, so it's not so bad."
Rain
WRC - France: Rain coming down much heavier now the last of the frontrunners are reaching the finish.
Novikiv explains it rather well: "It's been different for everybody because when we started it was dry, and then it (the rain) came."
His time is 10.3s off of Neuville's, which isn't so bad given the current weather conditions.
Novikiv explains it rather well: "It's been different for everybody because when we started it was dry, and then it (the rain) came."
His time is 10.3s off of Neuville's, which isn't so bad given the current weather conditions.
WRC - France: Loeb's set the same time as Latavala - 9m50.1s.
The other Seb comes through 0.1s slower than his fellow countryman and the top four are currently covered by just 5.5s overall.
The other Seb comes through 0.1s slower than his fellow countryman and the top four are currently covered by just 5.5s overall.
WRC - France: Latvala's time is 0.7s slower than Neuville's, meaning he is now just 0.6s behind Sordo in the overall standings!
WRC - France: Slow(ish) time by Sordo who is 2.7s down on Neuville.
"I lost time as some corners were a bit dirty and I lost a bit of confidence," he admits. "I'm happy at the moment and we'll see what happens tomorrow."
Someone tell him he still has the 4.65-kilometre Mulhouse stage to contend today!
"I lost time as some corners were a bit dirty and I lost a bit of confidence," he admits. "I'm happy at the moment and we'll see what happens tomorrow."
Someone tell him he still has the 4.65-kilometre Mulhouse stage to contend today!
Auto GP - Brno: Ghinzani Motorsport has revealed that clutch failure caused front-row starter Kevin Giovesi's opening lap retirement.
"It's a shame for Kevin, but I think the revs were too high at the start," team boss Piercarlo Ghinzani told AUTOSPORT.
"It's a shame for Kevin, but I think the revs were too high at the start," team boss Piercarlo Ghinzani told AUTOSPORT.
WRC - France: Neuville battles through the drizzle to set a time of 9m49.4s.
"I had a good rhythm on this stage," he says. "I reckon my time won't be too bad."
We shall see...
"I had a good rhythm on this stage," he says. "I reckon my time won't be too bad."
We shall see...
Rain
WRC - France: Belting it down in the service park at the moment. Not quite so bad on the stage at the moment as Latvala has his wipers on intermittent speed at the moment.
Breaking news
WRC - France: In case you are just tuning in and wondering what happened Neuville...
IndyCar - Houston: IndyCar has confirmed the qualifying format for today and tomorrow: The field will be split in half for the 30 minute sessions, with each getting 12 minutes of track time.
The schedule for the weekend was thrown into disarray yesterday when three hours of running time were lost due to problems with the track surface at the end of the main straight.
The schedule for the weekend was thrown into disarray yesterday when three hours of running time were lost due to problems with the track surface at the end of the main straight.
Lights out
WRC - France: Third stage of the afternoon has just begun. Loeb set the pace in the first run through this morning with a time of 9m47.2s.
Conditions are much drier on Soultzeren this afternoon as Neuville winds his way through the first stage split.
Conditions are much drier on Soultzeren this afternoon as Neuville winds his way through the first stage split.
IndyCar - Houston: Another warm and humid morning here in Houston, where AUTOSPORT has arrived bright and early for a 'major 2014 announcement' by a team that we're not going to name, only for said team to not show up.
Auto GP - Brno: Still with us? If Ghirelli finishes outside of the points and fails to take the fastest lap, a second place would hand Karthikeyan the title – given the proviso that Sato doesn’t win.
Checkered flag
WRC - France - SS12: Ogier's stage victory puts him provisional third, behind Sordo and Latvala.
Stage: 1 Ogier; 2 Latvala +0.4s; 3 Sordo +0.7s; 4 Loeb +3.7s; 5 Neuville +4.9s; 6 Novikov +8.8s.
Overall: 1 Sordo; 2 Latvala +2.6s; 3 Ogier +4.5s; 4 Loeb +7.5s; 5 Neuville +1m12.1s; 6 Novikov +1m59.0s.
Stage: 1 Ogier; 2 Latvala +0.4s; 3 Sordo +0.7s; 4 Loeb +3.7s; 5 Neuville +4.9s; 6 Novikov +8.8s.
Overall: 1 Sordo; 2 Latvala +2.6s; 3 Ogier +4.5s; 4 Loeb +7.5s; 5 Neuville +1m12.1s; 6 Novikov +1m59.0s.
Auto GP - Brno: Should Sato achieve a maximum score by winning race two at Brno, and earn the bonus point for fastest lap, a meagre seventh place finish by Ghirelli would suffice for the Italian to eclipse the Euronova driver’s points tally. (Ghirelli is set to start from seventh on the grid).
Complicating matters, Saturday's race one winner Narain Karthikeyan is also well in the mix.
Should Sato take maximum points, Karthikeyan would require a fourth place to overtake the Japanese driver’s points haul.
Complicating matters, Saturday's race one winner Narain Karthikeyan is also well in the mix.
Should Sato take maximum points, Karthikeyan would require a fourth place to overtake the Japanese driver’s points haul.
Auto GP - Brno: Following this afternoon’s tense penultimate race of the season, three drivers remain in contention for the Auto GP crown.
Kimiya Sato goes into tomorrow's title decider third in the drivers' standings, 18 points behind championship leader Vittorio Ghirelli. What permutations could result in the Japanese driver lifting the crown?
Kimiya Sato goes into tomorrow's title decider third in the drivers' standings, 18 points behind championship leader Vittorio Ghirelli. What permutations could result in the Japanese driver lifting the crown?
WRC - France: Ostberg coming towards the finish. The M-Sport Ford man looked on course to set the fifth-quickest time of the stage but seemed to slow down in the final split.
His time at the end is 8m43.2s.
His time at the end is 8m43.2s.
WRC - France: Hirvonen's day continues to go from bad to worse as he loses 11.7s on the overall lead.
Stopwatch
WRC - France: Second consecutive stage on which Ogier has been quickest. The Frenchman sets a time of 8m31.4s which moves him up to third overall, ahead of Loeb.
WRC - France: Loeb says he suffered from understeering in the stage which cost him 3.3s on Latvala.
Stopwatch
WRC - France: Latvala sets the pace with a 8m31.7s. The Finn says the mud on road made life a little difficult for him. Not that difficult, obviously...
WRC - France: Sordo arrives at the finishing line and seems bemused by reporters asking him about his moment in the stage.
"We went a little off," he says."But it's not important."
The Spaniard's time is 8m32.0s.
"We went a little off," he says."But it's not important."
The Spaniard's time is 8m32.0s.
WRC - France: Neuville comes through unscathed and sets a time of 8m36.3s
"I took it steady," says the erstwhile rally leader. "I must stay on the road now."
"I took it steady," says the erstwhile rally leader. "I must stay on the road now."
Lights out
WRC - France: Second run through Valle de Munster is underway. Plenty of mud on some of the corners which will make this 16.37-kilometre test all the more tricky.
As a guidance, Ogier set the quickest time through the stage this morning with a time of 8m27.4s.
As a guidance, Ogier set the quickest time through the stage this morning with a time of 8m27.4s.
By: Scott Mitchell, Sam Tremayne, David Evans, Matt Beer, Peter Mills, Jamie O'Leary, Mark Glendenning, Dan Cross, Pablo Elizalde
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