WRC Sardinia, WTCC Moscow
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BTCC - Oulton Park: But it's now Colin Turkington fastest, ahead of Menu, with Dave Newsham third.
BTCC - Oulton Park: For a brief moment we had double champions Alain Menu and Fabrizio Giovanardi one-two...
WRC - Italy: AUTOSPORT Live does have a habit of jinxing people with mid-event suppositions (sorry Andrea Iannone), but should this be the second straight head-to-head defeat of Ogier by Latvala, that will surely be a massive development in the WRC power balance.
There had been fears that Ogier's level of dominance could surpass even that of Sebastien Loeb in the previous era, but if Latvala's mental breakthrough lasts and he's able to go toe-to-toe with his team-mate at every weekend, that's excellent news for the sport.
DAVID EVANS pondered the Latvala/Ogier dynamic in depth after his column following the last round in Argentina:
Can Latvala keep Ogier on the ropes?
There had been fears that Ogier's level of dominance could surpass even that of Sebastien Loeb in the previous era, but if Latvala's mental breakthrough lasts and he's able to go toe-to-toe with his team-mate at every weekend, that's excellent news for the sport.
DAVID EVANS pondered the Latvala/Ogier dynamic in depth after his column following the last round in Argentina:
Can Latvala keep Ogier on the ropes?
WRC - Italy: Ogier doesn't sound too downcast about that time loss to Latvala. He praises his team-mate's time and doesn't give any hint of settling for second yet.
Mikkelsen damage
WRC - Italy: Mikkelsen's VW picked up this bit of damage yesterday afternoon.
A few dents in a rally car is nothing unusual - but the circumstances of this one were: it happened when team-mate Latvala reversed into Mikkelsen's Polo at the refuel.
A contrite Latvala put the incident down to a failure of mutli-tasking ability...
Breaking news
WTCC - Moscow: The morning practice sessions at Moscow Raceway are done and dusted, and it was Yvan Muller fastest in both.
Here's the full story and results:
Moscow WTCC practice report
Here's the full story and results:
Moscow WTCC practice report
BTCC - Oulton Park: It's a miserably wet day at Oulton, but the BTCC cars will soon be heading out for FP1. It should be their first time on the International lay-out since (we reckon!) 1996.
WRC - Italy: Mikkelsen doesn't sound too concerned about losing time to Ostberg on that stage, he says he's happy with his risk-free pace.
Quote
WRC - Italy: This is Robert Kubica's verdict on the start to his day.
"The first stage was OK for us. No risks at all. We are driving smoothly. We'll just be careful and then maybe take a look and drive a bit faster."
Considering how conservative he's being, his times have been very promising indeed. Good stuff from this week's AUTOSPORT magazine cover star.
"The first stage was OK for us. No risks at all. We are driving smoothly. We'll just be careful and then maybe take a look and drive a bit faster."
Considering how conservative he's being, his times have been very promising indeed. Good stuff from this week's AUTOSPORT magazine cover star.
Checkered flag
WRC - Italy - SS10 results:
Stage:
1 Latvala 13m31.6s
2 Ogier +6.3s
3 Ostberg +11.0s
4 Mikkelsen +13.3s
5 Evans +28.1s
6 Kubica +31.1s
Overall positions:
1 Latvala
2 Ogier +28.7s
3 Ostberg +44.7s
4 Mikkelsen +51.0s
5 Kubica +1m28.0s
6 Evans +1m47.4s
Stage:
1 Latvala 13m31.6s
2 Ogier +6.3s
3 Ostberg +11.0s
4 Mikkelsen +13.3s
5 Evans +28.1s
6 Kubica +31.1s
Overall positions:
1 Latvala
2 Ogier +28.7s
3 Ostberg +44.7s
4 Mikkelsen +51.0s
5 Kubica +1m28.0s
6 Evans +1m47.4s
Stopwatch
WRC - Italy: Indeed Latvala does extend his lead, a full 6.3s quicker than Ogier and he brings his advantage up to 29s!
Even VW's official twitter feed is impressed:
"Mamma mia, what a time"
Even VW's official twitter feed is impressed:
"Mamma mia, what a time"
Stopwatch
WRC - Italy: Ogier completes with a time four seconds quicker than Ostberg.
We're only getting sporadic splits from Latvala, but the hints so far suggest he'll be extending his lead.
We're only getting sporadic splits from Latvala, but the hints so far suggest he'll be extending his lead.
Breaking news
Mikko Hirvonen fire damage
WRC - Italy: The most dramatic incident of Friday (and it was a hotly-contested category) was the fire that destroyed Mikko Hirvonen's Ford Fiesta.
DAVID EVANS has been hearing from M-Sport team boss Malcolm Wilson, who suspects we'll never know what caused the fire.
Wilson and Hirvonen on Sardinia blaze
WRC - Italy: That's encouraging stuff from Ostberg. At the end of day press conference on Friday, his vibe was very much a 'low-risk' one, and it sounded a little like he might stick to a safe pace and let the VWs escape. That's certainly not the case so far.
Stopwatch
WRC - Italy: Ostberg replies in style - he's two seconds quicker than Mikkelsen, bringing the advantage back up to six seconds, and giving him the provisional stage win right now, albeit with Ogier and Latvala still to come.
Stopwatch
WRC - Italy: Andreas Mikkelsen is the first VW to finish the stage, and he's 13s faster than Evans' previous benchmark.
Will that bring him past Ostberg for third? The Citroen started the day just four seconds ahead of the VW, but has been pushing hard on the opening splits.
Will that bring him past Ostberg for third? The Citroen started the day just four seconds ahead of the VW, but has been pushing hard on the opening splits.
WRC - Italy: Kubica is three seconds slower than Evans at the finish, which means the gap between them in the battle for fifth is now down to 19s.
Stopwatch
WRC - Italy: Elfyn Evans wasn't generating any splits this morning (another round of applause for the WRC timing system), but he's just come through fastest, six seconds quicker than Neuville.
That's going to pull the Welshman 11s clear of Martin Prokop, who was 7s slower on the stage but is still having one of his best runs in a World Rally Car yet. The Czech driver was third for a time on Friday.
That's going to pull the Welshman 11s clear of Martin Prokop, who was 7s slower on the stage but is still having one of his best runs in a World Rally Car yet. The Czech driver was third for a time on Friday.
WRC - Italy: Splendid positivity from Kris Meeke. Today he may be first on the road because yesterday was a disaster, but he says he's using it as handy practice for a day when he'll run first on the road on day one because he's the championship leader.
WRC - Italy: The midfielders are coming through now, with Hayden Paddon, Khalid Al Qassimi and Jaroslav Melicharek all completing the stage, but Neuville still fastest ahead of Meeke.
We've got three-minute gaps between the cars this morning to try to minimise the dust issues, so it's taking a while to get to the leaders, and the VWs and Ostberg have yet to get going.
Robert Kubica, meanwhile, is currently closest to Neuville's pace on the splits.
We've got three-minute gaps between the cars this morning to try to minimise the dust issues, so it's taking a while to get to the leaders, and the VWs and Ostberg have yet to get going.
Robert Kubica, meanwhile, is currently closest to Neuville's pace on the splits.
Italy service park
WRC - Italy: Not many tifosi around for first service just after six this morning.
Stopwatch
WRC - Italy: Neuville is quickest of those two by 12s.
WRC - Italy: Next through after Meeke will be Thierry Neuville's Hyundai.
The Korean firm was running one-two for a spell yesterday, but then both Neuville and Juho Hanninen struck trouble on the final stage of the morning.
DAVID EVANS has been getting the lowdown on Neuville's mechanical problems - keep an eye on our news section for more on that shortly - while Hanninen's issue took less explanation: he had a massive, massive shunt.
The Korean firm was running one-two for a spell yesterday, but then both Neuville and Juho Hanninen struck trouble on the final stage of the morning.
DAVID EVANS has been getting the lowdown on Neuville's mechanical problems - keep an eye on our news section for more on that shortly - while Hanninen's issue took less explanation: he had a massive, massive shunt.
WRC - Italy: First on the road today is Kris Meeke, but he's way down the order under Rally 2 after electrical problems sidelined him yesterday when he was running seventh, 15s off the lead.
"The power was going down in stage four," Meeke told AUTOSPORT last night.
"After that stage I searched everywhere for a broken connection, but couldn't find anything. We had to start stage five and stopped about five kilometres from the end."
"The power was going down in stage four," Meeke told AUTOSPORT last night.
"After that stage I searched everywhere for a broken connection, but couldn't find anything. We had to start stage five and stopped about five kilometres from the end."
WRC - Italy: This is how things stood at the end of Friday:
1 Latvala
2 Ogier +22.4s
3 Ostberg +33.7s
4 Mikkelsen +37.7s
5 Kubica +56.9s
6 Evans +1m19.3s
And there are a few people missing from that list, for some pretty crazy reasons. More of that through the morning...
1 Latvala
2 Ogier +22.4s
3 Ostberg +33.7s
4 Mikkelsen +37.7s
5 Kubica +56.9s
6 Evans +1m19.3s
And there are a few people missing from that list, for some pretty crazy reasons. More of that through the morning...
WRC - Italy: Welcome back to AUTOSPORT Race Centre Live from Sardinia, where we're just beginning the relatively gentle start to the day that is the 19 kilometres of Monte Olia, before things get really serious with the 59km beast called Monte Lerno.
And we recommend you have a read of EDD STRAW's candid interview with Robert Kubica, who reveals just how much being out of Formula 1 is hurting him.
It's rather brilliant, even if we do say so ourselves!
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Our sister F1 Live facility is up and running at the moment, so click here to find out what is going in in the second free practice session over in Canada.
That rounds off AUTOSPORT Race Centre Live for today.
Our full WRC Rally Italy report will be online in the news section shortly, with further reaction to come on the website during the evening.
Race Centre Live will be back tomorrow at approximately 08:15am UK time to bring you as it happens coverage of the second leg of the rally, as well as some tin-top action courtesy of the BTCC at Oulton Park and the WTCC in Moscow.
Our full WRC Rally Italy report will be online in the news section shortly, with further reaction to come on the website during the evening.
Race Centre Live will be back tomorrow at approximately 08:15am UK time to bring you as it happens coverage of the second leg of the rally, as well as some tin-top action courtesy of the BTCC at Oulton Park and the WTCC in Moscow.
Checkered flag
WRC - Italy: Right, so that's the first leg of Rally Italy done and dusted, so here's how things stand at the moment:
SS9
1 Latvala 17m43.8s; 2 Ogier +1.9s; 3 Kubica +14.7s; 4 Mikkelsen +15.2s; 5 Ostberg 15.5s; 6 Evans +23.3s.
Overall
1 Latvala 1h49m09.5s; 2 Ogier +22.4s; 3 Ostberg +33.7s; 4 Mikkelsen +37.7s; 5 Kubica +56.9s; 6 Evans +1m19.3s.
SS9
1 Latvala 17m43.8s; 2 Ogier +1.9s; 3 Kubica +14.7s; 4 Mikkelsen +15.2s; 5 Ostberg 15.5s; 6 Evans +23.3s.
Overall
1 Latvala 1h49m09.5s; 2 Ogier +22.4s; 3 Ostberg +33.7s; 4 Mikkelsen +37.7s; 5 Kubica +56.9s; 6 Evans +1m19.3s.
WRC - Italy: And Kubica is the last of the main contenders to reach the finish. He does so with the third quickest time of the stage: 17m58.5s.
WRC - Italy: Evans slots into fifth with a time of 18m07.1s.
WRC - Italy: Neuville's time is 18m14.3s.
"I'm really disappointed, but that's rallying," he says with a dollop of sadness.
"It's going to be very difficult tomorrow."
"I'm really disappointed, but that's rallying," he says with a dollop of sadness.
"It's going to be very difficult tomorrow."
WRC - Italy: Ostberg is the slowest of all so far - 15.5s off the pace.
WRC - Italy: Mikkelsen's time is 17m59.0s - 13.3s slower than Latvala.
Stopwatch
WRC - Italy: Latvala manages to complete the stage 1.9s quicker than Ogier!
Quote
WRC - Italy: "I did my best today, but I'm happy with that," says Ogier.
WRC - Italy: Ogier's time at the end of that is 17m45.7s.
WRC - Italy: And Latvala's 0.7s slower than Ogier at the fourth split.
WRC - Italy: Latvala's lost time at the third split. He's now 0.3s down on Ogier.
By: Dan Cross, Mark Glendenning, Matt Beer, David Evans, Kevin Turner, Scott Mitchell, Peter Mills
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