WRC Poland, Assen MotoGP, Norisring DTM and more
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BES - Paul Ricard: Catsburg finally finds a way pass Ortelli to take fifth in the #12 TDS BMW.
BES - Paul Ricard: Great three-way battle going on for fourth at the moment as less than a second covers Primat, Ortelli and Catsburg.
BES - Paul Ricard: We've just passed the halfway mark, so here's the current order:
1 Meyrick - #7 M-Sport Bentley
2 Demoustier - #98 ART McLaren
3 Wolf - #85 HTP Mercedes
4 Primat - #84 HTP Mercedes
5 Ortelli - #28 Sainteloc Audi
6 Catsburg - #12 TDS BMW
1 Meyrick - #7 M-Sport Bentley
2 Demoustier - #98 ART McLaren
3 Wolf - #85 HTP Mercedes
4 Primat - #84 HTP Mercedes
5 Ortelli - #28 Sainteloc Audi
6 Catsburg - #12 TDS BMW
BES - Paul Ricard: Delight on the M-Sport pitwall as Meyrick takes the lead of the race!
BES - Paul Ricard: Game over for the #8 M-Sport Bentley, but the #7 car is right on Demoustier's bumper. It won't be long before Meyrick takes the lead.
USC - Watkins Glen: Final practice before qualifying for the Six Hours at the Glen is about to begin. Here's the Taylor brothers' Corvette that they're sharing with Max Angelelli.
There's a 53-car field here, which Alex Brundle tells AUTOSPORT works out at one car every 100 metres!
BES - Paul Ricard: Then again, maybe he won't. He's now crawling around the circuit at a snail's pace!
BES - Paul Ricard: Jerome D'Ambrosio has brought his #8 M-Sport Bentley to within 0.4s of Primat's HTP Mercedes. The former F1 driver looks poised to claim fourth.
BES - Paul Ricard: Meyrick is beginning to reel in race leader Demoustier. The gap was 5.618s, but after four laps the Briton has whittled that down to just 1.028s.
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BES - Paul Ricard: Kevin Erste confirms what happened with the #99 ART McLaren earlier on in the race:
"Unfortunately we had to retire after contact with Jaguar. Too bad, we will lose the lead of the championship. Will be stronger in Spa!"
"Unfortunately we had to retire after contact with Jaguar. Too bad, we will lose the lead of the championship. Will be stronger in Spa!"
BES - Paul Ricard: Demoustier is a comfortable 5.861s ahead of Meyrick. The #85 HTP Mercedes of Lucas Wolf is now third having just passed Harold Primat in the #84 HTP Merc.
BES - Paul Ricard: Buhk pits and hands the lead back to the #98 ART McLaren of Demoustier.
BES - Paul Ricard: Demoustier retains the lead ahead of Meyrick. A slow pitstop by the M-Sport crew didn't help matters.
Simon Pagenaud
AUTOSPORT Race Centre Live's mammoth Saturday still has a good few hours to run and our headline event for the European evening will be race one of the Houston IndyCar double-header.
That gets underway at around 8.45pm UK time, and features Simon Pagenaud on his first (yes, really) pole, series returnee Luca Filippi starting an amazing fourth, but Will Power only 18th - which is going to be entertaining.
We'll also be bringing you coverage of the remaining two hours of the Paul Ricard Blancpain Endurance race, the Rally Poland superspecial, and United SportsCar qualifying at Watkins Glen.
BES - Paul Ricard: First stop of the day for the #7 M-Sport Bentley as Smith exchanges places with Andy Meyrick.
BES - Paul Ricard: Parente pits from the lead and Gregoire Demoustier takes over in the #98 ART McLaren.
WRC - Poland: That's nearly the end of this very long day of Rally Poland, but the crews still have to tackle one last run at the Mikolajki superspecial in just under two hours' time.
Mikkelsen's brake issue makes Ogier's fifth win of the year even more secure but the focus for tonight and tomorrow's concluding four stages has to be Latvala's recovery charge.
He was in amazingly determined mood at the end of Goldap, and if he can keep up that sort of pace and attitude, he surely has a great shot at dismissing Hanninen, Hirvonen and Neuville.
Mikkelsen's brake issue makes Ogier's fifth win of the year even more secure but the focus for tonight and tomorrow's concluding four stages has to be Latvala's recovery charge.
He was in amazingly determined mood at the end of Goldap, and if he can keep up that sort of pace and attitude, he surely has a great shot at dismissing Hanninen, Hirvonen and Neuville.
BES - Paul Ricard: No problem for Chiyo it seems, who was asked to let Smith through on the previous lap so the #35 RJN Nissan team could concentrate on winning the Pro-Am category.
BES - Paul Ricard: Two hours to go and here's the current order:
1 Parente - #98 ART McLaren
2 Smith - #7 M-Sport Bentley
3 Chiyo - #35 RJN Nissan
4 Dusseldorp - #85 HTP Mercedes
5 Buhk - #84 HTP Mercedes
6 Leclerc - #8 M-Sport
1 Parente - #98 ART McLaren
2 Smith - #7 M-Sport Bentley
3 Chiyo - #35 RJN Nissan
4 Dusseldorp - #85 HTP Mercedes
5 Buhk - #84 HTP Mercedes
6 Leclerc - #8 M-Sport
Checkered flag
WRC - Poland - SS19 results:
Stage times:
1 Latvala 17m21.7s
2 Ogier +8.1s
3 Neuville +12.6s
4 Hirvonen +15.0s
5 Solberg +25.9s
6 Meeke +26.9s
Leaderboard:
1 Ogier
2 Mikkelsen +59.7s
3 Neuville +2m18.8s
4 Hirvonen +2m28.9s
5 Hanninen +2m42.5s
6 Latvala +2m44.0s
Stage times:
1 Latvala 17m21.7s
2 Ogier +8.1s
3 Neuville +12.6s
4 Hirvonen +15.0s
5 Solberg +25.9s
6 Meeke +26.9s
Leaderboard:
1 Ogier
2 Mikkelsen +59.7s
3 Neuville +2m18.8s
4 Hirvonen +2m28.9s
5 Hanninen +2m42.5s
6 Latvala +2m44.0s
BES - Paul Ricard: And Smith pulls off possibly the easiest overtake we'll see this year. Does Chiyo have a mechanical issue?
BES - Paul Ricard: Smith has closed the gap to Chiyo and is all over the back of the #35 RJN Nissan.
BES - Paul Ricard: Fastest man on track at the moment is Smith in the #7 M-Sport Bentley, who is the only driver lapping below the two-minute mark.
WRC - Poland: Ogier, meanwhile, had a very smooth stage and is now a very dominant leader.
Further back, we thought we might see Meeke snatch eighth from Solberg on that stage, but the Norwegian's strong pace and a cautious run from Meeke mean the Ford is still 3.7s ahead.
Meeke said his problem was that on the first run he had been driving on a puncture for most of the stage, so was tackling much of it at full speed for the first time.
Further back, we thought we might see Meeke snatch eighth from Solberg on that stage, but the Norwegian's strong pace and a cautious run from Meeke mean the Ford is still 3.7s ahead.
Meeke said his problem was that on the first run he had been driving on a puncture for most of the stage, so was tackling much of it at full speed for the first time.
BES - Paul Ricard: Parente is very much in control of things at the moment in the #98 ART McLaren. He's 4.687s ahead of the chasing field.
WRC - Poland: Mikkelsen lost half a minute to Ogier on that one.
"No brakes, no brakes..." he says. "It's not easy when you touch the pedal and it goes straight to the floor."
He says the problem affected the whole stage. That hands Ogier an even more massive lead, but Mikkelsen's second place is still safe as he was nearly two minutes clear of Neuville.
"No brakes, no brakes..." he says. "It's not easy when you touch the pedal and it goes straight to the floor."
He says the problem affected the whole stage. That hands Ogier an even more massive lead, but Mikkelsen's second place is still safe as he was nearly two minutes clear of Neuville.
BES - Paul Ricard: First pitstops made by the #19 Falcon Mercedes and #1 WRT Audi teams. Haupt and Ramos drop down to 29th and 30th respectively.
WRC - Poland: That amazing time from Latvala has brought him to within 1.5s of Hanninen for fifth.
He's 15.1s off fourth-placed Hirvonen and 25.2s from Neuville in third, having gone fastest by 12.6s on this stage. Game on for third tomorrow then.
He's 15.1s off fourth-placed Hirvonen and 25.2s from Neuville in third, having gone fastest by 12.6s on this stage. Game on for third tomorrow then.
WRC - Poland: Possible problem for second-placed Mikkelsen, who has lost at least 10s by the mid-stage splits.
WRC - Poland: Latvala reveals he had a bit of teasing from co-driver Miikka Anttila after comparing the stages to Rally Finland - and was told that if he couldn't be fast 'in Finland', then he should go home...
Latvala definitely was fast.
Latvala definitely was fast.
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WRC - Poland: Latvala comes through with the fastest time so far by 13s. He definitely could get himself into podium contention again, and crikey, he sounds a lot more combative than 24 hours ago when he was giving up on this really.
"I did what I could. I did absolutely everything I could - I didn't care at all about the ruts. I just went and attacked."
"I did what I could. I did absolutely everything I could - I didn't care at all about the ruts. I just went and attacked."
WRC - Poland: Hanninen is 20s slower than Neuville, and he loses fourth place to Hirvonen as a result.
That steering problem has cost him badly this afternoon and evening. He says it's fine in the fast sections but very difficult to place the Hyundai properly in ruts and slow corners.
That steering problem has cost him badly this afternoon and evening. He says it's fine in the fast sections but very difficult to place the Hyundai properly in ruts and slow corners.
BES - Paul Ricard: Parente is managing to stretch his lead over Chiyo. The gap between the leading duo was just 0.5s a couple of laps ago, but is now 2.311s.
BES - Paul Ricard: Smith finally finds a way past Dusseldorp on lap 20 and the #7 M-Sport Bentley driver is now up to third place.
WRC - Poland: Hirvonen's pace relative to Neuville improves on the later splits and only loses two seconds. That puts the gap between them at 10s, and it looks like Hirvonen has a shot at taking fourth from Hanninen on this one.
Stopwatch
WRC - Poland: Neuville was fastest of the first batch of cars and looks set to add a good few seconds over Hirvonen in their battle, with Hanninen likely to come under more pressure from the Ford for fourth.
But the man setting the quickest pace on the opening splits now is Latvala, who is trying chase down the Neuville/Hanninen/Hirvonen pack.
But the man setting the quickest pace on the opening splits now is Latvala, who is trying chase down the Neuville/Hanninen/Hirvonen pack.
BES - Paul Ricard: Race leader Parente has just lost the best part of a second as he filters his way through backmarkers. Can Chiyo take advantage?
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WRC - Poland: Now he's up to third, Neuville is trying to cool his pace a bit, as he's confident he can hold off any attacks from Hanninen and Hirvonen. "I'm trying to be clever," he says.
BES - Paul Ricard: Buhk seizes a rare opportunity in the #84 HTP Mercedes and passes Seefried at the final corner to take fifth!
BES - Paul Ricard: Great bit of defensive driving by Dusseldorp, who now has the Smith's Bentley very much in his mirrors. How long can absorb this pressure and retain third?
By: Dan Cross, Matt Beer, Marcus Simmons, Glenn Freeman, Andrew van Leeuwen, Sam Smith, Kevin Turner, David Evans, Mark Glendenning, Charles Bradley, AUTOSPORT staff
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