WRC Spain, Sepang MotoGP
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Breaking news
WRC - Spain: Meeke has also finished the stage, but he's lost five minutes and reports a double puncture.
The really bad news there is that he only has one spare...
The really bad news there is that he only has one spare...
WRC - Spain: Ostberg is 7s off the pace and very disgruntled. He overtook Meeke on the stage but thinks his team-mate should've made that process easier.
His stage-end interview is terse to say the least.
His stage-end interview is terse to say the least.
Checkered flag
WRC - Spain - SS2 results:
Full WRC times are now in for the first stage of the morning.
Stage times:
1 Meeke 4m26.3s
2 Ostberg +1.5s
3 Neuville +1.6s
4 Paddon +2.0s
5 Evans +2.3s
6 Mikkelsen +2.9s
7 Kubica +2.9s
8 Ogier +4.3s
(11 Latvala +6.0s)
Overall leaderboard:
1 Mikkelsen
2 Meeke +1.1s
3 Neuville +1.6s
4 Ogier +3.2s
5 Ostberg +3.2s
6 Sordo +6.0s
7 Latvala +6.2s
8 Paddon +7.5s
9 Hirvonen +7.6s
10 Kubica +9.1s.
Full WRC times are now in for the first stage of the morning.
Stage times:
1 Meeke 4m26.3s
2 Ostberg +1.5s
3 Neuville +1.6s
4 Paddon +2.0s
5 Evans +2.3s
6 Mikkelsen +2.9s
7 Kubica +2.9s
8 Ogier +4.3s
(11 Latvala +6.0s)
Overall leaderboard:
1 Mikkelsen
2 Meeke +1.1s
3 Neuville +1.6s
4 Ogier +3.2s
5 Ostberg +3.2s
6 Sordo +6.0s
7 Latvala +6.2s
8 Paddon +7.5s
9 Hirvonen +7.6s
10 Kubica +9.1s.
WRC - Spain: Meeke is moving again on the tracking system, potentially just in front of Ostberg. That could be tricky.
Breaking news
WRC - Spain: Meeke has stopped his Citroen. Some reports from on the stage suggest he might have a puncture.
Team-mate Ostberg is overtaking him on the stage, so Meeke is losing at least three minutes.
Team-mate Ostberg is overtaking him on the stage, so Meeke is losing at least three minutes.
Quote
WRC - Spain: Neuville sets a great pace despite the dust, second fastest and only a second off Ogier.
But that doesn't stop him being furious:
"Just horrible conditions - really, really dangerous to be honest. I really, really struggled.
"I don't think it's rallying to fight with the dust like this."
But that doesn't stop him being furious:
"Just horrible conditions - really, really dangerous to be honest. I really, really struggled.
"I don't think it's rallying to fight with the dust like this."
Ken Block
WRC - Spain: Ken Block watch: He's come through SS2 13th fastest on the stage and in the same spot overall.
WRC - Spain: Does seem to be a problem developing for Meeke, who is now 20s off the pace.
Quote
WRC - Spain: Hirvonen is third quickest so far on Pesells, ahead of Mikkelsen.
The Finn says he tried to ignore the fact he was blinded by hanging dust...
"I really tried to push even though I couldn't see. I think it's only going to get worse for the boys behind."
The Finn says he tried to ignore the fact he was blinded by hanging dust...
"I really tried to push even though I couldn't see. I think it's only going to get worse for the boys behind."
WRC - Spain: SS2 pacesetter Meeke is a worrying 10s off the pace on the SS3 splits at present.
WRC - Spain: Mikkelsen completes the stage a full 7s slower than Ogier, which will cost him the rally lead.
"I couldn't see anything," he admits, "it's really dangerous. The car is fine, the conditions are just really terrible."
Ogier is now 3.8s ahead of Mikkelsen overall.
"I couldn't see anything," he admits, "it's really dangerous. The car is fine, the conditions are just really terrible."
Ogier is now 3.8s ahead of Mikkelsen overall.
WRC - Spain: Mikkelsen is 3s off Ogier's pace on the splits. It looks like this is a stage where dust hanging in the air is really hurting the crews and being first on the road is turning out rather neatly for Ogier.
Quote
WRC - Spain: Latvala is 2s slower than Ogier on SS3, this is not going the Finn's way so far this morning and that's not good with the title on the line.
"The dust is quite heavy, and I'm struggling with the car," he says.
"The dust is quite heavy, and I'm struggling with the car," he says.
MotoGP - Sepang: Here are the top 10 times from that session:
1) Lorenzo 2m14.503s
2) Marquez +0.242s
3) Pedrosa +1.079s
4) Dovizioso +1.728s
5) A Espargaro +1.871s
6) Barbera +2.190s
7) Bradl +2.203s
8) Iannone +2.290s
9) Hayden +2.365s
10) Crutchlow +2.403s
Rossi ended up 15th, 3.519s off the pace in a troubled session.
1) Lorenzo 2m14.503s
2) Marquez +0.242s
3) Pedrosa +1.079s
4) Dovizioso +1.728s
5) A Espargaro +1.871s
6) Barbera +2.190s
7) Bradl +2.203s
8) Iannone +2.290s
9) Hayden +2.365s
10) Crutchlow +2.403s
Rossi ended up 15th, 3.519s off the pace in a troubled session.
Checkered flag
MotoGP - Sepang: Chequered flag is out here in Malaysia, and Marquez doesn't improve his time. Lorenzo takes the session.
Stopwatch
WRC - Spain: Ogier completes SS3 with a benchmark time of 15m28.7s.
MotoGP - Sepang: Lorenzo had been on course to improve further there, but encountering traffic at the final corner cost him time.
Marquez is back on his bike for one last-ditch effort to depose Lorenzo, with less than two minutes on the clock.
Marquez is back on his bike for one last-ditch effort to depose Lorenzo, with less than two minutes on the clock.
Stopwatch
WRC - Spain: Ogier is still setting the pace on the Pesells splits despite running first on the road. Intriguing.
WRC - Spain: Decent start from Robert Kubica - not too happy with his pacenotes or his driving, but equalling rally leader Mikkelsen for sixth fastest on the stage.
Crash
MotoGP - Sepang: Andrea Iannone, currently seventh quickest, has gone down at the final corner, and it looks as if he may have injured his elbow.
Marquez and Pedrosa are both back in the pits now, so it's probably safe to assume that Lorenzo will keep hold of the top spot for the remaining four minutes.
Marquez and Pedrosa are both back in the pits now, so it's probably safe to assume that Lorenzo will keep hold of the top spot for the remaining four minutes.
Hayden Paddon
WRC - Spain: Sordo just underwhelmed, but his young Hyundai team-mate Paddon impresses by coming through fourth fastest on Gandesa.
"In the middle of the road, nothing too special, but OK," is his fairly Antipodean summary.
WRC - Spain: Our next stage Pesells is, at 16 miles, four times longer than Gandesa, so it's going to be the first one that really starts shaping the order. Ogier is very narrowly fastest at the opening splits so far.
MotoGP - Sepang: Pedrosa now goes third, 1.079s down on Lorenzo, but Rossi is back in the pits with only seven minutes left of this session.
WRC - Spain: Sordo bursts our bubble with a time 5.3s off the pace and only eighth quickest. He's a bit vague as to why that wasn't quicker.
MotoGP - Sepang: Pedrosa and Rossi are languishing well down the order in comparison to their pace-setting team-mates at the moment.
Pedrosa is seventh fastest, 2.776s off the pace, while Rossi can be found all the way down in 13th, a whole 3.519s slower than fellow factory Yamaha man Lorenzo.
Pedrosa is seventh fastest, 2.776s off the pace, while Rossi can be found all the way down in 13th, a whole 3.519s slower than fellow factory Yamaha man Lorenzo.
MotoGP - Sepang: Marquez improves on his third lap, but it's still 0.384s slower than Lorenzo, as Aleix Espargaro goes third aboard his Open class Forward Yamaha.
WRC - Spain: At present, and we shouldn't be too confident of anything being settled before Sordo turns up, our lead order overall is:
1 Mikkelsen; 2 Meeke; 3 Neuville; 4 Ogier; 5 Ostberg; 6 Latvala.
1 Mikkelsen; 2 Meeke; 3 Neuville; 4 Ogier; 5 Ostberg; 6 Latvala.
MotoGP - Sepang: Marquez had that lap ruined when he got stuck behind the slower bike of Broc Parkes, meaning he doesn't improve.
Most riders are now back on track, and Bradl is now back up to third, albeit 1.6s slower than his factory Honda counterpart Marquez.
Most riders are now back on track, and Bradl is now back up to third, albeit 1.6s slower than his factory Honda counterpart Marquez.
WRC - Spain: Evans is fourth fastest on the stage, another man to beat overnight leader Mikkelsen, though as he was outside the top 10 in Barcelona, the Welshman won't be bothering the VWs yet.
Lights out
WRC - Spain: With three minute gaps between cars today following drivers' complants about potential dust levels, we're going to be overlapping a bit now, with the midfielders still coming through Gandesa as the leaders start Pesells, which has just gone live for Ogier.
MotoGP - Sepang: Marquez's first lap of this stint falls 0.528s short of Lorenzo, but he's set the quickest first sector on his second.
Pol Espargaro is now back on track, so whatever problem he had was quickly resolved.
Pol Espargaro is now back on track, so whatever problem he had was quickly resolved.
WRC - Spain: A Citroen one-two in the stage times now as Mads Ostberg goes second, 1.5s behind Meeke.
Still to come: Elfyn Evans, Martin Prokop, Dani Sordo, Hayden Paddon, Robert Kubica, Yuriy Protasov, Khalid Al Qassimi, Ken Block
Still to come: Elfyn Evans, Martin Prokop, Dani Sordo, Hayden Paddon, Robert Kubica, Yuriy Protasov, Khalid Al Qassimi, Ken Block
Stopwatch
MotoGP - Sepang: Lorenzo just keeps getting quicker and quicker, getting down to a 2m14.503s before pitting.
Marquez is back on circuit now, so we'll see if the newly-crowned two-time champion can respond.
Meanwhile, an unhappy-looking Pol Espargaro has just brought his Tech 3 Yamaha to the pits with some kind of mechanical gremlin, so that could be his session over.
Marquez is back on circuit now, so we'll see if the newly-crowned two-time champion can respond.
Meanwhile, an unhappy-looking Pol Espargaro has just brought his Tech 3 Yamaha to the pits with some kind of mechanical gremlin, so that could be his session over.
Quote
WRC - Spain: Told that the helicopter camera crew thought he was looking pretty spectacular, Meeke replies that the helicopter was flying too low and throwing dust up.
"It's not on. We need television, but it affects the safety of the crew and spectators."
Other than that, he's pretty pleased. He was 4s off Mikkelsen on the Barcelona streets but he's just taken 3s of that back and is up to second overall.
"It's not on. We need television, but it affects the safety of the crew and spectators."
Other than that, he's pretty pleased. He was 4s off Mikkelsen on the Barcelona streets but he's just taken 3s of that back and is up to second overall.
Stopwatch
WRC - Spain: Now Kris Meeke deposes Neuville from the top of the stage times - the Citroen coming in 1.6s faster.
Stopwatch
MotoGP - Sepang: A more modest improvement for Lorenzo that time around, shaving less than a tenth off his previous effort.
Most of the other top runners are in the pits now, so it seems as good a time as any to do a quick run-down of the leading times:
1) Lorenzo 2m15.109s
2) Bradl +1.597s
3) Crutchlow +1.797s
4) Dovizioso +1.983s
5) Pedrosa +2.170s
6) Hernandez +2.275s
Most of the other top runners are in the pits now, so it seems as good a time as any to do a quick run-down of the leading times:
1) Lorenzo 2m15.109s
2) Bradl +1.597s
3) Crutchlow +1.797s
4) Dovizioso +1.983s
5) Pedrosa +2.170s
6) Hernandez +2.275s
Stopwatch
WRC - Spain: Thierry Neuville was ambivalent about his drive at the end of the stage, but he shouldn't have been because he was fastest!
That brings the Hyundai ahead of Ogier for second overall, putting him behind only Mikkelsen.
The road conditions are only going to get better for the cars still to come, so Neuville's prediction that his team-mate Dani Sordo could have a very good Friday may well be spot on. The Spaniard is 10th on the road.
That brings the Hyundai ahead of Ogier for second overall, putting him behind only Mikkelsen.
The road conditions are only going to get better for the cars still to come, so Neuville's prediction that his team-mate Dani Sordo could have a very good Friday may well be spot on. The Spaniard is 10th on the road.
WRC - Spain: Mikko Hirvonen, who is still somehow fourth in the championship, has slotted into third place between Ogier and Latvala in the first of the M-Sport Fords.
Stopwatch
MotoGP - Sepang: Lorenzo is in a class of one with Marquez sitting in the pits, beating his best time by another 1.1s.
Crutchlow remains second, from Stefan Bradl, Andrea Dovizioso and Pedrosa. Marquez is now down to 11th, two places behind Rossi.
Crutchlow remains second, from Stefan Bradl, Andrea Dovizioso and Pedrosa. Marquez is now down to 11th, two places behind Rossi.
WTCC - Suzuka: The WTCC drivers believe the decision to compete on Suzuka's full Grand Prix circuit layout this weekend should address overtaking difficulties apparent on previous visits to the venue.
The series raced on the 1.2-mile Suzuka East circuit between 2011 and 2013, often with processional results. Following the introduction of faster TC1 spec cars this season, the 3.608-mile Grand Prix circuit appears on the WTCC calendar for the first time.
We'll have more from the leading WTCC drivers on this topic on the AUTOSPORT news pages later today.
The series raced on the 1.2-mile Suzuka East circuit between 2011 and 2013, often with processional results. Following the introduction of faster TC1 spec cars this season, the 3.608-mile Grand Prix circuit appears on the WTCC calendar for the first time.
We'll have more from the leading WTCC drivers on this topic on the AUTOSPORT news pages later today.
By: Matt Beer, Jamie Klein, Peter Mills, David Evans
Published:
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