WRC Sardinia, WTCC Moscow
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WRC - Italy: This stage should take approximately 13 minutes to complete. Meeke has set a time at the first split, which is 3m19.9s.
Lights out
WRC - Italy: Meeke is the first man onto SS12. He's running under Rally 2 rules today following his retirement on SS5 with a loss of battery power.
Rain
BTCC - Oulton Park: SCOTT MITCHELL reports it has started to rain at Cascades, just as the session resumes. Will it be enough to prevent any improvements?
WRC - Italy: The temperature this afternoon is a toasty 31 degrees Celsius. That means engines and transmission will be subjected to higher than normal stresses and the crews would prefer the stages to be short and sharp.
No luck there this afternoon!
No luck there this afternoon!
WRC - Italy: Ostberg stretched his advantage over Mikkelsen to 9.4s in their fight for third this morning, the duo almost a minute behind the lead.
We'll definitely be keeping an eye on that battle over the course of the next two stages.
We'll definitely be keeping an eye on that battle over the course of the next two stages.
BTCC - Oulton Park: Over in Cheshire, we're waiting for BTCC qualifying to resume after Adam Morgan crashed his Mercedes at Druids. Jason Plato is currently on pole from MG team-mate Sam Tordoff, but the track is dryng so it could be a frantic final 10 minutes.
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WRC - Italy: Latvala feared he would have to stop when his engine problem arose.
“The temperature wet to 132 degrees Celsius and we had a warning,” said the Finn upon completing Monte Lerno.
“I turned the anti-lag system off and went into road mode.
“We expected we would have to retire, but I saw the temperature go down and it was OK.”
“The temperature wet to 132 degrees Celsius and we had a warning,” said the Finn upon completing Monte Lerno.
“I turned the anti-lag system off and went into road mode.
“We expected we would have to retire, but I saw the temperature go down and it was OK.”
WRC - Italy: Ogier managed to reduced the deficit to leader Latvala when the Finn’s engine overheated in extreme temperatures this morning.
The championship leader started the day 22.4s behind his team-mate, who stretched that by more than six seconds in the opening stage, but the conceded 11.0s when his engine overheated while tackling the 59.13km Monte Lerno test.
The gap between the lead pair is currently 17.7s ahead of this afternoon’s loop of stages.
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WRC - Italy: SS12 gets underway at 15:54 UK time, so let’s recap what happened during the opening loop of stages this morning.
WRC - Italy: Welcome back to AUTOSPORT Race Centre Live. We’re ready for another dose of WRC action - are you?
James Dodd Honda Accord
BTCC - Oulton Park: Before heading down to the paddock, the top six for the Super Touring race:
1. John Cleland (Vauxhall Vectra) 1m57.280s
2. James Dodd (Honda Accord) 1m57.729s (pictured)
3. Neil Smith (Alfa Romeo 156) 1m59.469s
4. Graeme Dodd (Nissan Primera) 2m00.286s
5. Paul Smith (BMW 320) 2m01.937s
6. Derek Palmer (Nissan Primera) 2m02.143s
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BTCC - Oulton Park: A watching Mat Jackson has decided he'd like a go in a Super Tourer.
"I want to have a go," said the Ford Focus driver, who has raced historic tin-tops from the 1960s.
"Those were the days. To see them here today is great."
"I want to have a go," said the Ford Focus driver, who has raced historic tin-tops from the 1960s.
"Those were the days. To see them here today is great."
BTCC - Oulton Park: John Cleland quickest in Super Touring qualifying, but a suspension problem means he's in a desperate rush to get the Vauxhall Vectra fixed for this afternoon's race.
WRC - Italy: So not as dramatic as yesterday morning (no one's destroyed a World Rally Car with either rolls or flames), but a very, very intriguing lead battle developing in Sardinia now and third place just as hard fought.
Today's schedule now features a long gap of around five hours before we reconvene to repeat this morning's two stages.
AUTOSPORT Race Centre Live will take a break now for that service pause, before ramping up our coverage again when the rally resumes this afternoon.
Today's schedule now features a long gap of around five hours before we reconvene to repeat this morning's two stages.
AUTOSPORT Race Centre Live will take a break now for that service pause, before ramping up our coverage again when the rally resumes this afternoon.
Checkered flag
WRC - Italy - SS11 results:
Stage:
1 Ogier 37m15.8s
2 Latvala +11.0s
3 Ostberg +37.1s
4 Mikkelsen +40.2s
5 Kubica +1m04.4s
6 Evans +1m27.0s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Latvala
2 Ogier +17.7s
3 Ostberg +1m10.8s
4 Mikkelsen +1m20.2s
5 Kubica +2m21.4s
6 Evans +3m03.4s
Stage:
1 Ogier 37m15.8s
2 Latvala +11.0s
3 Ostberg +37.1s
4 Mikkelsen +40.2s
5 Kubica +1m04.4s
6 Evans +1m27.0s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Latvala
2 Ogier +17.7s
3 Ostberg +1m10.8s
4 Mikkelsen +1m20.2s
5 Kubica +2m21.4s
6 Evans +3m03.4s
WRC - Italy: Latvala has finished the stage 11s slower than Ogier and confirms that he did think he would have to retire.
The engine temperature shot up, he switched into road mode briefly, and then saw temperatures go down again so got back on the pace.
The engine temperature shot up, he switched into road mode briefly, and then saw temperatures go down again so got back on the pace.
Crash
WRC - Italy: WRC2 lead contender Yazeed Al-Rahji, who was 10th overall and a close second in WRC2 behind Nasser Al-Attiyah, has stopped. Reports from camera crews of a car upside down but might be related to this.
Stopwatch
WRC - Italy: Ogier is fastest so far, and says the VW team told him Latvala had been stopped, so he slowed down, and then the message was corrected. He reckons that cost him a few seconds.
Stopwatch
WRC - Italy: Ostberg completes the stage three seconds faster than Mikkelsen, which brings the Citroen's advantage up to nine seconds.
Ostberg says that time came despite overheating tyres leaving him very short of confidence and just watching Mikkelsen's splits.
Ostberg says that time came despite overheating tyres leaving him very short of confidence and just watching Mikkelsen's splits.
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WRC - Italy: Mikkelsen takes the fastest stage time away from Kubica by a massive 24s, but on the splits he's still a little slower than third-place rival Ostberg.
"I tried to have a clean stage without mistakes. Of course you can always much more, but then you take risks. It's a long rally, I'm trying to keep the car within the limits and between the rocks."
"I tried to have a clean stage without mistakes. Of course you can always much more, but then you take risks. It's a long rally, I'm trying to keep the car within the limits and between the rocks."
Stopwatch
WRC - Italy: That damage that TV camera crews reported on Kubica's car definitely turned out to be minor. He's through fastest and very happy.
WRC - Italy: Latvala matched Ogier on the next split, but the 7s deficit from earlier on the stage remains.
Stopwatch
WRC - Italy: Evans beats Prokop by 5.4s and took a typically measured approach to that stage, focusing on the Czech's splits and making sure he was still pulling away.
Stopwatch
WRC - Italy: Prokop sets the fastest time so far, beating Neuville by 7s.
That adds 41s to Prokop's lead over Henning Solberg in their battle for seventh, but the Czech still thinks he made too many mistakes on that one.
Great to hear him fired up for a battle and concerned about minor time losses rather than just driving through for finishes.
That adds 41s to Prokop's lead over Henning Solberg in their battle for seventh, but the Czech still thinks he made too many mistakes on that one.
Great to hear him fired up for a battle and concerned about minor time losses rather than just driving through for finishes.
Breaking news
WRC - Italy: Latvala's radio traffic suggests he is concerned about an overheating engine. He's now lost seven seconds to Ogier on the splits.
WRC - Italy: Hyundai's debutant Hayden Paddon is concerned about his i20 potentially overheating and is trying to work on the car after the stage. He was 11th going into this one, just behind the WRC2 lead battle.
Crash
WRC - Italy: Citroen's Al Qassimi reports two spins on the stage, but has made it to the end. He's not impressed with Monte Lerno:
"I don't know how the organisers can do such a stage, it's not good for the drivers and it's not good for the cars."
Al Qassimi, who is currently 12th overall, said only bumping into a tree stopped him going down a big drop in one of his incidents.
"I don't know how the organisers can do such a stage, it's not good for the drivers and it's not good for the cars."
Al Qassimi, who is currently 12th overall, said only bumping into a tree stopped him going down a big drop in one of his incidents.
Checkered flag
BTCC - Oulton Park: So that's it for the first BTCC session back on the International circuit in the wet.
Final top 6:
1. Turkington (BMW), 1m53.113s
2. Collard (BMW), 1m54.028s
3. Plato (MG), 1m54.394s
4. Hynes (MG), 1m54.537s
5. Austin (Audi), 1m54.592s
6. Shedden (Honda), 1m54.684s
Final top 6:
1. Turkington (BMW), 1m53.113s
2. Collard (BMW), 1m54.028s
3. Plato (MG), 1m54.394s
4. Hynes (MG), 1m54.537s
5. Austin (Audi), 1m54.592s
6. Shedden (Honda), 1m54.684s
WRC - Italy: Reports of some minor damage to Kubica's Ford in the second half of the stage, although his splits up to that point were very encouraging and were pulling him further ahead of Evans.
Stopwatch
WRC - Italy: Ogier is coming back at Latvala, taking three seconds out of him at the first split...
...but at the next marker, Latvala has replied and the deficit is down to half a second.
...but at the next marker, Latvala has replied and the deficit is down to half a second.
WRC - Italy: Neuville comfortably beats Meeke's limping Citroen's time, but is far from happy with how the Hyundai feels in the almost-first-on-the-road conditions.
DAVID EVANS heard from Hyundai team boss Michel Nandan this morning. How did going from running first and second to having one car way down the order and the other completely destroyed feel? Judging by Nandan's comments, not as bad as you'd expect...
Hyundai upbeat despite disasters when leading
DAVID EVANS heard from Hyundai team boss Michel Nandan this morning. How did going from running first and second to having one car way down the order and the other completely destroyed feel? Judging by Nandan's comments, not as bad as you'd expect...
Hyundai upbeat despite disasters when leading
WRC - Italy: Kris Meeke becomes the first man to reach the finish of Monte Lerno, and it took him 39 minutes.
He describes the stage as "interesting, but not in the right way" as "the car wanted to swap ends all the time".
An impact with a rock just a few corners onto the stage caused a bit of damage at the rear and didn't help the handling.
He describes the stage as "interesting, but not in the right way" as "the car wanted to swap ends all the time".
An impact with a rock just a few corners onto the stage caused a bit of damage at the rear and didn't help the handling.
Kruuda livery
WRC - Italy: That mention of Kruuda prompted the AUTOSPORT newsdesk to return to looking at pictures of his wild, cartoon-liveried car as we continue to try to decide whether it's awesome or terrible.
Here's a close-up shot that will give you an idea of the theme...
WRC - Italy: We had a change of lead in WRC2 on the opening stage, with Nasser Al-Attiyah surging ahead of Yazeed Al-Rahji.
They're just 3.7s apart in the battle for the class win and ninth overall.
Both are driving Ford Fiestas, as is third-placed Bernardo Sousa.
The much-anticipated challenge from the latest generation of French cars hasn't come to much so far. Sebastien Chardonnet is two minutes adrift in fifth in the Citroen DS3 R5, while Karl Kruuda retired the Peugeot 208 T16 with a mechanical issue yesterday.
They're just 3.7s apart in the battle for the class win and ninth overall.
Both are driving Ford Fiestas, as is third-placed Bernardo Sousa.
The much-anticipated challenge from the latest generation of French cars hasn't come to much so far. Sebastien Chardonnet is two minutes adrift in fifth in the Citroen DS3 R5, while Karl Kruuda retired the Peugeot 208 T16 with a mechanical issue yesterday.
Green flag
BTCC - Oulton Park: We're back underway, with just under 15 minutes to go. Turkington is quickest, from Collard, Plato, Shedden and Jordan.
BTCC - Oulton Park: Abbott's car is being towed back. It doesn't look damaged.
BTCC - Oulton Park: The cause is Hunter Abbott, whose Audi has stopped on circuit.
Red flag
BTCC - Oulton Park: The session has been red flagged. All cars are making their way back to the pitlane. It's unclear what the cause is at present.
Stopwatch
WRC - Italy: Evans is now the fastest man on the splits. The current top three (Latvala, Ogier and Ostberg) are yet to begin.
WRC - Italy: Still a fair way to go on Monte Lerno, but at the first set of splits for the Rally 2 and midfield runners, Neuville is again setting the initial pace.
By: Dan Cross, Mark Glendenning, Matt Beer, David Evans, Kevin Turner, Scott Mitchell, Peter Mills
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