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WRC - Poland - SS17 results:
Stage times:
1 Neuville 7m24.8s
2 Ogier +0.7s
3 Latvala +0.7s
4 Meeke +4.1s
5 Mikkelsen +4.2s
6 Hirvonen +4.7s
Leaderboard:
1 Ogier
2 Mikkelsen +22.8s
3 Hanninen +2m05.6s
4 Neuville +2m10.2s
5 Hirvonen +2m15.9s
6 Latvala +2m54.8s
But the big news from that one: Kubica is out. He hit a big rock and took a wheel off his car.
Stage times:
1 Neuville 7m24.8s
2 Ogier +0.7s
3 Latvala +0.7s
4 Meeke +4.1s
5 Mikkelsen +4.2s
6 Hirvonen +4.7s
Leaderboard:
1 Ogier
2 Mikkelsen +22.8s
3 Hanninen +2m05.6s
4 Neuville +2m10.2s
5 Hirvonen +2m15.9s
6 Latvala +2m54.8s
But the big news from that one: Kubica is out. He hit a big rock and took a wheel off his car.
BTCC - Croft: The works Hondas have made their attack, Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal moving to second and third respectively, but they are still half a second away from poleman Turkington.
WRC - Poland: Ogier was very worried he'd hit something and given himself a puncture on that stage. He hadn't, everything was fine. Good news for Seb, less good for anyone fearing this might be a bit of a flat finish to the rally now.
No troubles for the leading VWs through that stage, but with neither at the absolute maximum, the charging Neuville gets the stage win.
Meeke was fourth quickest, and that's brought him ahead of Prokop into ninth. Next on his list is Henning Solberg, 8.9s in front, though Meeke insists he won't be taking any risks from now on. After his and Ostberg's shunts earlier, Citroen wants a car at the finish.
No troubles for the leading VWs through that stage, but with neither at the absolute maximum, the charging Neuville gets the stage win.
Meeke was fourth quickest, and that's brought him ahead of Prokop into ninth. Next on his list is Henning Solberg, 8.9s in front, though Meeke insists he won't be taking any risks from now on. After his and Ostberg's shunts earlier, Citroen wants a car at the finish.
IndyCar - Houston: Here's the first real curveball of the weekend. This phase of qualifying has just ended, and the second group claimed some pretty big scalps:
Progressing to Phase 2: Takuma Sato, Luca Filippi, Josef Newgarden, Juan Pablo Montoya, Justin Wilson and Mikhail Aleshin.
Eliminated: Graham Rahal, Marco Andretti, Will Power, Sebastian Saavedra, Tony Kanaan.
Wow.
Progressing to Phase 2: Takuma Sato, Luca Filippi, Josef Newgarden, Juan Pablo Montoya, Justin Wilson and Mikhail Aleshin.
Eliminated: Graham Rahal, Marco Andretti, Will Power, Sebastian Saavedra, Tony Kanaan.
Wow.
Stopwatch
BTCC - Croft: Turkington improves again with three purple sectors to move pole to an incredible 1m23.246s.
That probably won't help WSR when it comes to the ongoing arguments about the rear-wheel-drive cars being too fast...
That probably won't help WSR when it comes to the ongoing arguments about the rear-wheel-drive cars being too fast...
WRC - Poland: Latvala doesn't dislodge Neuville from the top of the times on this stage, but he does start chipping away at the gap to his next target, Hirvonen.
With Kubica out, Latvala will be sixth after this stage, but 49.2s behind Hirvonen in fifth.
With Kubica out, Latvala will be sixth after this stage, but 49.2s behind Hirvonen in fifth.
Green flag
BTCC - Croft: The breathless qualifying session is back underway. Dave Newsham has failed the rideheight test so currently has no time to his name.
IndyCar - Houston: Newgarden is the early leader in this session, and in the meantime we're hearing from Ryan Briscoe, who was eliminated from the first group. In short, the team made some set-up changes overnight that didn't work.
WRC - Poland: The battle for third place is getting closer still after a great time from Neuville on SS17.
Hanninen has lost time to both his chasing team-mate and Hirvonen as he struggles with bent steering - which he's tried to fix between stages, but to no avail.
The Finn still holds third for now, but by only 4.6s over Neuville, with Hirvonen completing a three-car pack within 10.3s.
Hanninen has lost time to both his chasing team-mate and Hirvonen as he struggles with bent steering - which he's tried to fix between stages, but to no avail.
The Finn still holds third for now, but by only 4.6s over Neuville, with Hirvonen completing a three-car pack within 10.3s.
IndyCar - Houston: The commentators keep talking about 'this young kid Luca Filippe'. First, it's 'Filippi'. And second, he's 28.
Red flag
BTCC - Croft: Red flag. That will hurt Morgan the most. He had just set a purple sector one and a personal best in sector two.
IndyCar - Houston: And the second group are already out. On track: Will Power, Luca Filippi, Mikhail Aleshin, Takuma Sato, Tony Kanaan, Justin Wilson, Graham Rahal, Marco Andretti, Juan Pablo Montoya, Josef Newgarden and Sebastian Saavedra.
BTCC - Croft: Jordan has come in with some front-end damage, perhaps after hitting the tyres at the chicane.
After the first runs Turkington narrowly leads Jordan and Plato. Matt Neal is fourth, 0.4s off the WSR BMW, and Morgan fifth.
After the first runs Turkington narrowly leads Jordan and Plato. Matt Neal is fourth, 0.4s off the WSR BMW, and Morgan fifth.
IndyCar - Houston: A few late improvements just as the chequered flag waved resulted in two Ganassi cars being bumped from the top six. Progressing to the next round will be Pagenaud, Castroneves, Hinchcliffe, Hunter-Reay, Bourdais and Dixon.
Kimball, Briscoe, Conway, Huertas, Hawksworth and Munoz have been eliminated.
Kimball, Briscoe, Conway, Huertas, Hawksworth and Munoz have been eliminated.
Crash
WRC - Poland: Kubica was running sixth prior to his incident, which brings the recovering Latvala back into the top six.
Further bad news for Kubica is that even though it's late afternoon in Poland, there are still three more stages tonight, so he'll get 20 minutes in Rally2 penalties.
Further bad news for Kubica is that even though it's late afternoon in Poland, there are still three more stages tonight, so he'll get 20 minutes in Rally2 penalties.
Crash
WRC - Poland: Robert Kubica is out of his home rally - he's taken a rear wheel off his Ford on SS17.
Stopwatch
BTCC - Croft: Turkington improves to 1m23.817s to move his WSR BMW on to provisional pole.
The frontrunners are way quicker than last year's pole time of 1m24.4s already.
The frontrunners are way quicker than last year's pole time of 1m24.4s already.
IndyCar - Houston: Incidentally, Kimball's time on the blacks was a 1m00.7s. Ryan Hunter-Reay is the first to benefit from the reds, improving the benchmark to a 1m00.1s.
Stopwatch
BTCC - Croft: Plato improves to 1m23.963s, but is shuffled back to third as Turkington (1m23.900s) and Jordan (1m23.881s) go faster.
IndyCar - Houston: OK, everyone is just switching to reds now. There's probably just enough time for two flying laps.
IndyCar - Houston: The early leader is Charlie Kimball, but given that nobody has switched to reds yet, we'd suggest not reading too much into the current standings. That said, the times are currently in the ballpark of the practice times from yesterday afternoon, so nobody is messing around.
BTCC - Croft: Qualifying is under way, a tad late, and the first driver into the 1m24s is Jason Plato with 1m24.416s.
Reigning champion Andrew Jordan told AUTOSPORT earlier today he thinks pole will be in the 1m23s...
Reigning champion Andrew Jordan told AUTOSPORT earlier today he thinks pole will be in the 1m23s...
Crash
DTM - Norisring: Not strictly DTM related, but there was just a spectacular crash on the first lap of the Scirocco Cup race. Frenchman Yann Ehrlacher got punted into the wall coming onto the front straight and went in hard! He got out of the car under his own steam, but looks like a rather sore young man!
Green flag
IndyCar - Houston: The green flag waves, and Simon Pagenaud leads the first group out onto the track.
IndyCar - Houston: Qualifying is now just a couple of minutes away. Heading out in the first group will be Simon Pagenaud, Ryan Briscoe, Helio Castroneves, James Hinchcliffe, Sebastien Bourdais, Scott Dixon, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Carlos Munoz, Charlie Kimball, Carlos Huertas, Jack Hawksworth and Mike Conway.
Quote
DTM - Norisring: Quote of the weekend (at least DTM-wise) so far goes to BMW motorsport boss Jens Marquardt, who is a little worried about how many M4s are crammed together in the middle of the grid.
"We're quite dense in the middle, so we have to make sure that we don't interfere with ourselves, and get safely through turn one."
"We're quite dense in the middle, so we have to make sure that we don't interfere with ourselves, and get safely through turn one."
Quote
DTM - Norisring: He may be starting from pole position at the Norisring tomorrow, but Robert Wickens isn't counting his chickens just yet:
"As Mercedes we have to take advantage of this opportunity, and bring home as many points as possible.
"Who knows what's going to happen in the race tomorrow. I'll have the best view into Turn 1, but anything can happen in motorsport, and it's not guaranteed that I'll leave the first corner in the lead. We just have to focus on the race and see what happens."
Paul di Resta, meanwhile, says the predicted rain storms heading this way ahead of tomorrow don't worry him.
"We can't control the weather. Our best results have come in the rain this year, so I won't fear it. At the same point, the car has worked well right from lap one, on a track that I've never really felt that comfortable with. I'll take [the result} with both hands and sleep well tonight."
"As Mercedes we have to take advantage of this opportunity, and bring home as many points as possible.
"Who knows what's going to happen in the race tomorrow. I'll have the best view into Turn 1, but anything can happen in motorsport, and it's not guaranteed that I'll leave the first corner in the lead. We just have to focus on the race and see what happens."
Paul di Resta, meanwhile, says the predicted rain storms heading this way ahead of tomorrow don't worry him.
"We can't control the weather. Our best results have come in the rain this year, so I won't fear it. At the same point, the car has worked well right from lap one, on a track that I've never really felt that comfortable with. I'll take [the result} with both hands and sleep well tonight."
Breaking news
BTCC - Croft: Series boss Alan Gow has just confirmed Chris Stockton has withdrawn from the meeting with engine issues.
The Chevrolet Cruze driver purchased Aiden Moffat's RML-built engine after the Oulton Park round, after Moffat switched to a TOCA unit, and handed it to Neil Brown Engineering to prepare.
The car showed promise in free practice, but has now had to be withdrawn.
The Chevrolet Cruze driver purchased Aiden Moffat's RML-built engine after the Oulton Park round, after Moffat switched to a TOCA unit, and handed it to Neil Brown Engineering to prepare.
The car showed promise in free practice, but has now had to be withdrawn.
World Rallycross - Kouvola: Day one of the Finnish round of World Rallycross is done, and it's the works-blessed Volkswagen of Anton Marklund that leads. Here's HAL RIDGE's Saturday round-up:
Kouvola World Rallycross day one report
Kouvola World Rallycross day one report
United Sportscars - Watkins Glen: In fact, Priaulx's team-mate Bill Auberlen set the time in their car right at the end of that session, his 1m44.896s comparing to Priaulx's 44.942s. Andy was saying just yesterday how closely matched they were, and now they've proved it!
United Sportscars - Watkins Glen: Antonio Garcia was fastest in GTLM for Chevrolet, but BMW's Andy Priaulx has been bang on the pace and was just a tenth of a second slower. This is Priaulx's first-ever race weekend here, although he has tested his Z4 at the Glen.
United Sportscars - Watkins Glen: Second practice for the Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen has just ended with ex-F1, Indycar and NASCAR racer Christian Fittipaldi topping the times with a 1m39.542s, a quarter of a second clear of Richard Westbrook's similar Corvette DP.
"Not bad, and getting better," Westbrook told AUTOSPORT as he walked back from the pits. "This circuit is a proper classic, I love driving here."
"Not bad, and getting better," Westbrook told AUTOSPORT as he walked back from the pits. "This circuit is a proper classic, I love driving here."
Watkins Glen
USC - Watkins Glen: AUTOSPORT editor CHARLES BRADLEY is at classic American venue Watkins Glen for tomorrow's six-hour United SportsCar race.
Here's his view for practice from the Esses - "like an uphill Craner Curves."
IndyCar - Houston: Will Power and Simon Pagenaud topped the two practice sessions yesterday, and pleasingly, the verdict from all the drivers that AUTOSPORT spoke to was that the track problems that plagued last year's event have largely been cured. It's still bumpy, but that's standard fare for street courses in the US.
European F3 - Norisring: Luckily we've just found a screen giving us second-best times, and it means a double pole for Verstappen. The rest of the top 10 is reshuffled into this order for race three: Blomqvist, Rosenqvist, Ocon, King, Ferrucci, Giovinazzi, Dennis, Fuoco and Auer.
IndyCar - Houston: Meanwhile, in a city low on 16-year-old Dutchmen, the IndyCar field is getting ready to qualify for the first race of this weekend's double-header.
So far, the word for the weekend has been 'condensation'. Houston at this time of year is like the tropics, and it's so humid that your sunglasses fog up completely the instant you walk outside.
So far, the word for the weekend has been 'condensation'. Houston at this time of year is like the tropics, and it's so humid that your sunglasses fog up completely the instant you walk outside.
European F3 - Norisring: This is ominous for anyone who isn't a 16-year-old Dutchman. Verstappen did five flying laps in the wet, and each one was faster than the best anyone else managed on wet-weather Hankooks. For the record, the wet times were Verstappen 57.282, King 58.665, Ocon 58.827. And it looks like it's going to rain tomorrow...
WRC - Poland: The WRC2 field have just made it through SS16, and this weekend it's being dominated by sometime WRC underdog hero Ott Tanak. He's just over a minute clear of Autotek/DMACK team-mate Jari Ketomaa.
European F3 - Norisring: Hooray. Verstappen out on wets to entertain us.
European F3 - Norisring: Nearly everyone in the pits now. Top 10 completed by King, Auer, Giovinazzi, Dennis and Latifi. The last named amusingly shows up as AUTOSPORT sister photo agency 'LAT' on the timing screens.
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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