WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Touring Car driver’s championship points leader Johan Schwartz continued his hot streak by scoring the TC pole for Saturday’s 40-minute race at Watkins Glen Int’l.

Presented by CrowdStrike, the TC America weekend will showcase two 40-minute TC contests at the renowned 11-turn, 3.4-mile road course.

The 15-minute qualifying session was held under sunny 60-degree Fahrenheit conditions. Early on Rearden Racing’s Paul Terry took his No. 33 Nissan 370z to the top of the charts with a 2:03.319, followed by Joseph Federl (2:03.644) and Jeff Ricca (2:03.675).

A lap later, Schwartz, driving the Rooster Hall Racing No. 80 BMW M240iR Cup assumed the top slot posting a 2:02.490, while Auto Technic Racing’s Tom Capizzi slotted in behind Schwartz with a 2:03.022.

With under five minutes remaining in the session, Federl popped back up to second with a 2:02.862, while Schwartz solidified his top position with a 2:02.482. A lap later Federl improved to a 2:02.686.

At the checkered the times held – Schwartz secured his fourth pole of the 2019 season. Federl will start alongside Schwartz while Terry will start third (2:02.871). Chandler Hull (2:02.919), Schwartz’ teammate Steve Streimer (2:02.938) and Capizzi (2:03.022) round out the top three rows.

In TCR, a red flag with roughly eight minutes to go prematurely ended the session, but not before Michael McCann Jr. put down a lap of 1:57.134 in his No. 3 McCann Racing Audi RS3 LMS.

“It was a long night for the team last night getting the car sorted out, so a big shout out to the guys.  Pole feels great,” said McCann.

Mason Filippi and his No. 12 Copeland Motorsports Hyundai Veloster N will start from the second position with James Walker and the No. 34 Risi Competizione Alfa Romeo third.

TCR championship leader Michael Hurczyn will start his No. 71 FCP Euro VW Golf GTI fourth with teammate Nate Vincent starting fifth in the No. 72 FCP Euro entry.  Bryan Putt and the No. 15 eEuroparts.com Rowe Racing Audi RS3 LMS took the TCR Cup class pole.

Tyler Maxson wheeled his No. 74 Copeland Motorsports Mazda MX5 Cup to the TCA-class pole with a 2:09.986 fastest lap.

“It was a pretty good qualifying session. We only had one lap, but the guys made some adjustments and the car was perfect,” said Maxson.

Nick Wittmer will start from second in his No. 91 TechSport Racing Subaru BRZ tS with Mark Pombo and the No. 59 MINI Cooper JCW third.  Taylor Hagler in the No. 77 X-Factory Racing Honda Civic Si and Nate Norenberg in the No. 60 MINI Cooper JCW round out the top five.

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — The poachers who have turned gamekeepers have been working hard to improve the Formula One game.

All that work will come to fruition when the major new technical rules package is introduced in 2021. The plan is to improve the show, increase overtaking, cut costs and make F-1 more entertaining, more accessible, and more sustainable from a both commercial and environmental perspectives.

Ross Brawn, Nikolas Tombazis, Pat Symonds, Steve Nielson and Rob Smedley all worked for F-1 teams as technical directors and engineers. Now they work for the FIA or Liberty Media’s Formula One company. They are working with other members of the FIA, Formula One, the teams and even the drivers to create an all round better F-1 in the future.

“In the past, the drivers never ran F-1,” Nico Hulkenberg said, “and I think they shouldn’t! But we can be listened to. If there are some crazy ideas, because we drive the cars and know how certain things would impact the driving, the show and the racing, we can say hang on guys this is a bit crazy or too extreme.”

Representing all the drivers, Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton attended meeting with the FIA and Formula One.

“It is going to be a group thing,” Hamilton said. “But what is really encouraging was that the drivers were there, and they (the FIA and Formula One) really took it on board.”

One thing the drivers and fans really want is more passing and fewer processional races. The problem with modern F-1 cars is that they create so much “dirty” air that the car behind loses downforce and the driver can’t get close enough to attempt a pass. Much of that dirty wake is created by the complicated front wings and bargeboards, so 2021 will see the return of ground effects downforce that uses Venturi-type tunnels under the car that do not create as much turbulence. Ground effects first appeared in F-1 in the late 1970s and was eventually banned at the end of 1982.

Tombazis, the FIA’s head of Single-Seater Technical Matters, said the 2021 car will go from the current 50 percent loss of downforce for the following car at two car distances to about a 5-10 percent loss.

On the tire front, wheel rim size in 2021 will be 18 inches compared to the 13 inches used for decades. Pirelli will create tires that will enable drivers to race, and don’t degrade or force drivers to manage them so much.

“They will need a broader working range and will not be as sensitive as the current tires,” Tombazis said.

Pat Symonds, the chief technical officer at Formula One, said that altering the characteristics of the tires will be a key component in creating closer racing, although requesting Pirelli to produce a super-hard, “Le Mans-type tire” that will go on and on and on is not part of the plan.

“The high degradation target is not the way to go,” he said, “however, we do believe that pit stops are important in F-1 and we know our fans enjoy these two-second stops. Some of the teams are going to help us with this task through simulation.”

A budget cap of $175 million and other cost controls – including a long list of standardized parts — will be introduced.

Formula One’s managing director of Motorsport Ross Brawn states that the performance gap between teams is too great. A key objective is to tighten the field up in 2021 by a nominal factor of around half.

“We have three teams that can win races at the moment, that’s all,” said Brawn. “Over the next couple of years, F-1 will be on a much better path where a really good, moderately-funded team, can cause a lot of trouble. That’s what we want. If you get a Charles Leclerc or a Max Verstappen in a midfield team, it can make a difference.”

The complete 2021 rules package must be in place by the end of October so that the teams can begin designing their 2021 cars.

F-1 engineers and designers are notorious for finding and exploiting loopholes in the regulations, so the poachers turned gamekeepers plan to put the new rules under a “stress test” to eliminate those loopholes. And if there is anybody who knows about loopholes it is these guys!

Ansu Fati became the youngest Barcelona player to score in La Liga but his side were held to a 2-2 draw away at Osasuna on Saturday.

Ansu -- aged 16 years and 298 days -- came on as a substitute and scored his first professional goal after six minutes to equalise for the Spanish champions.

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Another substitute Arthur Melo scored his first goal for Barca in 45 appearances with a curling effort to put the visitors ahead.

The hosts took the lead early as Roberto Torres smashed a volley past Barca goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen.

Barca dominated possession throughout and went ahead through strikes from Ansu and Arthur in the second half.

With less than 10 minutes to go, the hosts were awarded a penalty when the ball struck Gerard Pique's arm and Torres grabbed his second from the spot.

Ernesto Valverde's side have started the campaign with one win, one defeat and one draw.

Before the match, there was a minute's silence held in memory of former manager Luis Enrique's daughter who died from bone cancer.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has said Manchester United need to be more clinical after they were held to a 1-1 draw against 10-man Southampton at St Mary's on Saturday.

United took the lead in the first half through a great strike from Daniel James but failed to create too many chances before Southampton equalised after the break with a Jannik Vestergaard header.

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"We started well, got the game where we wanted it and that's where you have to score the second and the third and finish it off," Solskjaer told BT Sport.

"We weren't clinical enough. We had loads of chances, and the last bit is missing. It's getting there though."

United also opened the scoring against Wolves at Molineux but could only leave with a draw and they have failed to win away in the league since February.

United have only won once this season but Solskjaer is confident his side can turn draws into victories.

"The three other games that we haven't won, we played better than against Chelsea," he added.

"We are dominating and creating chances but haven't been clinical enough in front of goal to win games. We have missed penalties, chances - it's a dip in results but not in form."

Ashley Young, who made his first start of the season against Southampton, also said the team need to be more ruthless in front of goal.

"I think it's two points dropped, even before they went down to 10 men we felt comfortable," Young told BBC Sport.

"We didn't come down here to draw, we came to win. The chances are there, we just need to take them."

SOUTHAMPTON, England -- Is it possible for one man to be his team's best and worst player in the same game?

Every time Paul Pogba got the ball during Manchester United's 1-1 draw against Southampton, you sat up, eyes widened, because it looked like something terrific was about to happen, something you would not want to miss. Then, though, more often than not the complete opposite happened.

There was a short period toward the end of the first half in which Pogba relinquished possession three times in the space of around 90 seconds. Two attempted passes, cumulatively of around 15 yards in length, went astray, while the other instance came when he was easily muscled off the ball inside his own half. That, in a nutshell, was essentially his game.

It would have been mind-bendingly frustrating had an ordinary player made such basic mistakes, but for the French World Cup winner to be guilty of such deficiencies is doubly infuriating. He is better than that. There were times in this game when he provided a threat with driving forward runs, but, yet again, his inconsistency loomed large.

Like another United talisman -- Wayne Rooney, who moved to Old Trafford on this day 15 year ago -- Pogba at his best can be a world-class match winner, but at his worst you might as well stick a traffic cone in the middle of the pitch. Such is the range of his club's problems, though, that Pogba's poor performances are highlighted more than his peers at other clubs.

In elite teams, others step up when the main man goes missing. If Kevin De Bruyne has a bad game, Manchester City know David Silva or Bernardo Silva or Raheem Sterling are there. Mo Salah off the pace? Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane, as well as full-backs Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, can pick up Liverpool's slack.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer relies on Pogba because there really is nobody else in midfield. Scott McTominay and Andreas Pereira are game triers but are not going to control many battles, while Juan Mata has settled into the "looks nice but does little" groove and Nemanja Matic moves too slowly (among other things) to be a real factor. Fred, meanwhile, remains absent.

And therein lies the real folly of United's summer in the transfer market. To allow two midfielders -- Ander Herrera and Marouane Fellaini -- to leave without being replaced would be questionable at the best of times, but leaving themselves so deficient of options when they know that their main man is so inconsistent is unforgivable.

A knock-on effect is that too much pressure is being placed on a set of extremely talented but young and inexperienced players. In an ideal world, United should be easing Daniel James into the team, but all of a sudden this 20-year-old, who made his senior debut just over 18 months ago and has one season in the Championship to his name, is their most potent attacker. His fine goal at St Mary's means he has three already this season.

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Ditto Mason Greenwood, who looked lively after coming on, but he is 17 and is now essentially first reserve for Manchester United. Even Marcus Rashford, who is actually only a month older than James, is a senior player when he should be learning alongside someone older and wiser. These youngsters will inevitably be inconsistent, but those dips in performance would matter less if they had more than Pogba as their point of reference.

"We as a team started giving sloppy balls away after about half an hour," Solskjaer said after the game. "Paul was one of [the players responsible for that]. He wasn't any different to anyone else. We as a team didn't play well. In the last half hour he created loads for us.

"Everyone expects everything from him every game," the United manager continued. "He has to defend, he has to attack, he has to win headers, he has to win tackles, he has to dribble, he has to make passes."

Solskjaer meant the wider world when discussing what is expected of Pogba, but in truth he was describing how his team is composed. United lean on one player so much, but that player cannot be relied upon to be the central pillar every week.

"That's just Paul, and he'll thrive on that."

Will he? Solskjaer has always been an optimist, but that is among his most hopeful statements.

When Pogba, who limped away from this game after suffering a late knock, spoke of wanting "a new challenge" in the summer, Solskjaer insisted that he could get what he desired at Old Trafford. But the 26-year-old's recent form has only served to further highlight myriad issues faced by the club.

Since winning at Paris Saint-Germain in March -- a game in which Pogba did not play -- United have won just three of 16 games in all competitions. From the emotion and sentiment of early spring, reality has bitten in the months; this result, against opponents who played the last 20 minutes a man down after Kevin Danso was sent off, was simply the latest example.

"We've dominated the last three games, and we know we're on the right track," Solskjaer said of a team that has claimed five points from its opening four Premier League games. He might "know" that, but with a squad so thin and a team that looks to Pogba to lead every week, it does not look like it to everyone else.

Even if it has struggled to command the attention it deserves in the busiest of British summers, the fourth and final instalment of the Kia Super League has been short on neither quality nor narrative.

Sunday's Finals Day at Hove will be the final chance to watch Western Storm, Loughborough Lightning and Southern Vipers in action, before the women's game's primary short-form competition in England and Wales is replaced by The Hundred next year.

There have, unsurprisingly, been plenty of reflective thoughts in recent weeks about the rationale behind disbanding six franchises that have found their footing and attracted genuinely passionate fanbases in their short lifespans, but perhaps the build-up to the competition's climax is not the time for that.

Instead, it is a chance to look forward at the two remaining games, with Western Storm strong favourites to lift the title thanks primarily to their all-star batting unit.

The competition's unique format means that by virtue of being group winners - only a Jemimah Rodrigues fifty in a dead rubber prevented them from going through with a perfect record - the Storm go straight into the final, watching on while Vipers and Lightning contest the lunchtime semi-final.

That game's most intriguing subplot involves England's T20I opening pair from this summer's Ashes, both of whom have enjoyed confidence-lifting returns to form after miserable runs against Australia.

Amy Jones made only 26 runs in six white-ball innings across the Ashes but has taken the lessons on board. "I feel like I'm starting a bit slower, but it's not really been a problem as long as I keep my head and don't throw it away," she told the CricketHER website.

"That's been one of the key learnings from the Ashes, is you have time - it's amazing what a bit of pressure can do to you, all of a sudden you feel like third ball you have to play a big shot. I feel a lot more in control and confident to build an innings throughout."

Danni Wyatt, meanwhile, will overtake Rodrigues as the tournament's leading scorer if she can make 40 more runs on Sunday, having herself contributed just 55 in five Ashes innings. Wyatt is as clean a hitter as anyone else in the country on her day, and proved as much against Surrey Stars when she struck a remarkable 60-ball 110, becoming the first English player to score a KSL century in the process - if the Vipers stand a chance, much of the burden will fall on her shoulders.

Jones has led the scoring charts for Loughborough, with 300 at 37.50 and three fifties, but their diminutive South African overseas player Mignon du Preez has been something of a revelation; with a T20I strike rate below 100, she had never previously been a free-scoring player, but has hit 246 runs at a rate of 144.7 in this competition.

Loughborough go into the semi as slight favourites, but will have to make do with only two overseas players. Shabnim Ismail, the South African seamer, was due to replace Hayley Matthews in the squad after the West Indies allrounder left for international duty, but visa issues prevented her playing in the final league game, and as such she is ineligible for Finals Day.

The Vipers, meanwhile will hope that Tash Farrant's flying form continues. Farrant first broke into the England team as a 17-year-old back in 2013, but despite a reasonable return in T20Is has not played international cricket for over a year; she will hope to be on the fringes of the T20 World Cup squad, after taking 12 cheap wickets in the KSL.

But there is a sense that the semi represents little more than a chance to become runners-up, so consistent have the Storm been this season. Unlike last year, they have their full array of stars available on Sunday, and in Rachel Priest, Heather Knight, Fran Wilson and Smriti Mandhana, they have four of the top seven run-getters in the tournament.

The blueprint has been fairly straightforward, with openers Priest and Mandhana flying out of the blocks, Knight knocking it around in the middle overs and Wilson finishing things off. Meanwhile, seamer Freya Davies has 18 wickets in the competition - six more than her nearest rivals.

If it would be fitting for Loughborough to become the KSL's fourth different winner in as many seasons, and testament to the tournament's competitive nature, it is hard to argue that the Storm would not be worthy champions. They have won 25 games across four summers of the KSL, six more than anyone else, and have been the standout team all season - there is a sense that the trophy is theirs to lose.

Trinbago Knight Riders have called upon the services of overseas internationals like James Neesham and Seekkuge Prasanna, and local Trinidad and Tobago talent, for an exhibition game that the T20 franchise will host ahead of this year's CPL. Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard will captain the two sides that will lock horns in the one-off fixture, named the Selector Fan Cup, on September 1, in Port of Spain.

New Zealand allrounder Neesham and Sri Lanka's Prasanna will line up for Pollard's side, which will also feature Denesh Ramdin and Khary Pierre.

Brian Lara, the former West Indies captain who recently worked with the men's national team ahead of the ongoing Test series against India, will be part of Bravo's team. Lara, a Trinidad native, last appeared in a high-profile exhibition game in the Masters Champions League in the UAE in 2016 and the Cricket All-Stars Series in the USA the previous year.

Current West Indies internationals in the likes of Sunil Narine and Lendl Simmons will turn out for Bravo's side, with young players like Ali Khan, Tion Webster, Amir Jangoo and Akeal Hossein also featuring in the mix.

Defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders will kick off their CPL 2019 campaign on September 4, against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, in Port of Spain.

Bravo XI: Brian Lara, Lendl Simmons, Amir Jangoo (wk), Tion Webster, Dwayne Bravo (capt), Javon Searles, Yannic Cariah, Sunil Narine, Ali Khan, Akeal Hossain, Sheeno Berridge, Jayden Seales, Isiah Rajah, JP Barrie, Dexter Sween

Pollard XI: Denesh Ramdin (wk), Mark Deyal, Kieron Pollard (capt), Jimmy Neesham, Seekkuge Prasanna, Joshua De Silva, Khary Pierre, Terrance Hinds, Anderson Phillip, Jon Russ Jaggesar, Jalarnie Seales, Leonardo Julien, Nicholas Alexi, Kjorn Ottley, Yannick Ottley, Daron Cruickshank

Australia are pondering a radical change to their batting line-up for the Old Trafford Test, considering the inclusion of Mitchell Marsh at the expense of Matthew Wade to increase their complement of right-handers.

The around-the-wicket line from Stuart Broad and Jofra Archer in particular has been a source of considerable angst for the tourists, while the most productive Australian batsmen by far have been Steven Smith and his stand-in Marnus Labuschagne.

In order to fit both Smith and Labuschagne into the team there will likely be a change at the top of the order, but the selection chairman Trevor Hohns has hinted that Wade may be omitted to allow Marsh to play as a third right-hander in the top six - the allrounder made 74 batting at No. 3 in Derby.

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"He played very well that innings he made a hundred," Hohns said of Wade. "Unfortunately things have not quite gone his way since then. That will certainly be an area we are having a look at.

"It has been difficult up top for both teams, the opening bowlers with that new ball, conditions that seem to have prevailed, it has been very, very difficult for any player who has batted in the top three. We are mindful of that. We are also mindful of the England bowlers have bowled very well to our guys, particularly our left-handers, so we will certainly look at that as well."

Labuschagne is certain of retaining his place thanks to a trio of half-centuries after substituting for Smith at Lord's and Headingley. Where he bats will be another conversation, though it appears most likely he will move up to No. 3 behind David Warner and Usman Khawaja.

"Absolutely, there's no doubt about that. He's been terrific with the opportunity he was given in Lord's, unfortunate opportunity of course," Hohns said of Labuschagne seizing his moment. "He's certainly made every post a winner and made the most of every opportunity he has been given. Adding that to the fact he can bowl some handy legspin as well, he's a prime contender.

"Very hard for me to say just where [Labuschagne will bat] but he's an option everywhere, as we have seen. He can bat at three, he can bat at four, he can bat in the middle and he can bowl handy legspinners, so he's a good option for us."

Mitchell Starc's impressive outing at Derby, where he combined an improved level of control with his customary speed and knack for hitting the stumps, underlined that he will be a genuine contender for Old Trafford. This is not only because it promises to be the fastest surface of the series, but also because releasing Starc would allow Australia the luxury of having two fresh fast bowlers available for the final Test of the series at the Oval.

"He's certainly given us a good option there. We'll have a look at the pitch of course and we have heard that it is renowned for being possibly the quickest in the country. That will all be taken into account," Hohns said. "Right from the start of the tour it was made very clear what was expected of our bowlers and where we wanted them to bowl.

"Mitchell has taken all that on board and he was worked very very hard to improve his game in that area. We all know he is an aggressor, so we can't expect him to change the way he bowls too much. But he is doing everything he possibly can to bowl in the right areas and the right channels.

"With our bowling unit in particular, we have tried to manage our bowlers, so we will certainly be taking that in to account. In the past we have generally used the same ones but I think a lot of the Test matches in the past were spaced out a little more. In this instance right now we are very thankful to have five, six of our top fast bowlers all fit at the same time. We haven't had that for a long time. It's quite a luxury actually."