2014 Banjarnegara landslide, Search and Rescue operation
The search and rescue operation officially ended on 21 December, with 23 people still missing.


2014 Banjarnegara landslide, Cause
Data from Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (Indonesian: Badan Meteorologi Klimatologi Geofisika) shows that 11 days before the disaster the area was hit by heavy rain, around 50% from its annual rainfall. The Indonesian Institute of Sciences later explained that the ground on the area were soaked by the rain, caused the ground to moved. The area was also a steep area causing the place itself "a perfect place for a disaster to be occurred".


2014 Banjarnegara landslide, Aftermath
Shortly after the disaster, Indonesia's President Joko Widodo visited the area with his wife, Iriana Widodo. He also ordered Indonesia's National Soldier to evacuate the remaining citizens in these particular area: Sletri Village, Sampang Village, and Pawesen Village. Hundreds of people were displaced. Most of them were traumatized by the disaster. Volunteers began conducting some research and safe steps to the remaining residents on the "high-risk area". They were also putting some "landslides early warning systems" to prevent similar tragedy to be occurred.


2014 Bank of America 500
The 2014 Bank of America 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on October 11, 2014, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. Contested over 334 laps on the 1.5-mile (2.4 km) asphalt quad-oval, it was the 31st race of the 2014 Sprint Cup Series season, as well as the fifth race of ten in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. It was also ABC's final NASCAR telecast for the foreseeable future. Kevin Harvick scored his third win of the season and first since Darlington in April. Jeff Gordon finished second for the sixth time this season. Jamie McMurray, Joey Logano, and Kyle Busch rounded out the top five. The top rookies of the race were Kyle Larson (6th), Austin Dillon (13th), and Justin Allgaier (15th).


2014 Bank of America 500, Previous week's race
On the final restart with 28 laps to go, Ryan Newman lost the lead to Joey Logano and he held off a hard-charging Kyle Larson to score his fifth win of the season. “It was a crazy race, and I had such a fast Pennzoil Ford," said Logano. It is awesome to be back in victory lane. When the top opened up, the car just took off. Me and the No. 42 (Kyle Larson) were the only ones that seemed to be able to run up there. We had a cat and mouse (with Larson) during portions of the late run. I just had to be able to work the traffic and keep my momentum up. We just have to keep capitalizing going forward.”


2014 Bank of America 500, Report, Background
The race was held at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, United States, 13 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) quad-oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend and the Sprint All-Star Race, as well as the Bank of America 500. The speedway was built in 1959 by Bruton Smith and is considered the home track for NASCAR with many race teams located in the Charlotte area. The track is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports (SMI) with Marcus G. Smith (son of Bruton Smith) as track president.


2014 Bank of America 500, Report, Practice and qualifying
Kevin Harvick was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 27.542 and a speed of 196.192 mph (315.740 km/h). Kyle Busch won the pole with a time of 27.357 and a speed of 197.390 mph (317.668 km/h). “With the way the eliminations are, I would believe we are edging our way to the top,’’ Busch said. “But anything can happen. You just got to pick through it all.’’ "Oh my gosh, it's so fast, so much grip, so much commitment," Jeff Gordon said after qualifying second. "… That's a great place to start this race."


2014 Bank of America 500, Report, Practice and qualifying
Jimmie Johnson, who enters the race twelfth in points, qualified 21st. “Just didn’t have the speed on that final run, I got pretty tight off of (Turn) 4,’’ Johnson said. “I thought we had some hope after the first round. Our second outing we ran a very good lap and just didn’t have any more there on that lap through Turns 3 and 4, got wide and had to let off (the accelerator) a little bit so I didn’t get into the outside wall. Disappointing. No way around it.’’ Trevor Bayne failed to qualify for the race.


2014 Bank of America 500, Report, Practice and qualifying
Kurt Busch was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 28.249 and a speed of 191.157 mph (307.637 km/h). Joey Logano was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of  28.332 and a speed of 190.597 mph (306.736 km/h). Jimmie Johnson tagged the wall in the closing minutes of the session. The damage wasn't enough to warrant rolling out the backup car. “The car’s really fast,” Johnson said. “We were feeling really good about things. The good news is that it’s just a big scratch. Just a little drama.”


2014 Bank of America 500, Race, First half, Start
Prior to the start of the race, Matt Kenseth had to drop to the rear of the field for unapproved adjustments.


2014 Bank of America 500, Race, First half, Start
The race started at 7:54 p.m. Kyle Busch led early in the race, though Jeff Gordon took the lead on lap 14. The first of eight cautions in the race flew on lap 26. It was a planned competition caution. Following the caution, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. won the race off pit road to assume the lead. Earnhardt, Jr. led the restart on lap 31, and promptly lost the lead to Kyle Busch.


2014 Bank of America 500, Race, First half, Start
The second caution of the race flew on lap 96 when Clint Bowyer blew an engine exiting turn 4. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. took just two tires, and exited as the leader. Following the restart on lap 101, Jamie McMurray took the lead. Kevin Harvick then took the lead on lap 105.


2014 Bank of America 500, Race, First half, Start
Paul Menard brought out the third caution on lap 136 after blowing an engine on the backstretch. Describing the incident, Menard said, “Something with the motor. I had a really good car. It’s too bad, awesome car; we had a pit stop problem and went to the back, but drove our way back up into the top 15 or so.”


2014 Bank of America 500, Race, First half, Start
Earnhardt Jr. pitted while the pits were closed to fix a broken shifter. This was similar to what happened to his teammate Jimmie Johnson at Michigan two months prior. Harvick and Gordon traded the lead on the pit road, with Harvick winning the race off.


2014 Bank of America 500, Race, First half, Start
The fourth caution of the race flew on lap 221 after Josh Wise blew an engine. The race restarted on lap 227. The fifth caution of the race flew with 98 laps to go after Brian Vickers got loose and spun in turn 4. Austin Dillon stayed out when the leaders pitted and took over the lead. The race restarted with 92 laps to go, and Kyle Busch retook the lead.


2014 Bank of America 500, Race, First half, Start
The sixth caution of the race flew with 89 laps to go after Joey Logano tapped the left-rear corner panel of Danica Patrick, who connected with the wall. Ryan Newman spun to avoid hitting her. The race restarted with 82 laps to go, and Kyle Larson took the lead with 71 laps to go.


2014 Bank of America 500, Race, First half, Start
The seventh caution flew with 68 laps to go when Michael Annett was slowing with a flat left-rear tire. Brad Keselowski stayed out when the leaders pitted and assumed the lead. The race restarted with 63 laps to go, and Denny Hamlin promptly took the lead. Kevin Harvick retook the lead with 41 laps to go.


2014 Bank of America 500, Race, Second half
In the final 25 laps of the race, a number of lead changes occurred. Kevin Harvick made his final stop with 23 laps to go and handed the lead to Jeff Gordon. Gordon made his final stop with 22 laps to go and handed the lead to Kurt Busch, who in turn made his final stop with 21 laps to go, handing the lead to Austin Dillon. Dillon made his final stop with 20 laps to go, with Ryan Newman assuming the lead. Newman made his final stop with 19 laps to go and Carl Edwards took the lead. Edwards made his final stop with 18 laps to go and handed the lead to Justin Allgaier. Allgaier made his final stop with 16 laps to go and the lead cycled back to Kevin Harvick.


2014 Bank of America 500, Race, Second half
The eighth caution of the race flew with seven laps to go, after Brian Vickers blew an engine. The race restarted with two laps to go and Harvick shot ahead of Jeff Gordon to win the race. “Oh, we came here and tested thinking that this was going to be the hardest round to get through because of Talladega,” Harvick said. “There’s so much that you can’t control there. We wanted to try to control the things that we could control.


2014 Bank of America 500, Race, Second half
We felt like Kansas and here (Charlotte) were playing to our strengths; and just see where it fell after that once we get to the next round. So I’m really proud of everybody at SHR. I’m really proud of all my guys on this team. I just can’t thank everybody enough.” "I'm really proud of that finish, really proud of that effort," Gordon said. " ... Kevin was tough. I knew he was going to be tough once he got out there."


2014 Bank of America 500, Race, Second half, Post race conflict
Keselowski and Hamlin were angry with one another on the cool-down lap. Keselowski made contact with Matt Kenseth on pit road, while Matt had his seatbelt unbuckled and inadvertently rear-ended Tony Stewart, who then backed into the 2 car. In the garage area, Hamlin continued to confront Keselowski by throwing a towel at him before NASCAR officials and crew members escorted Hamlin to the team trailer. While Keselowski was walking to his hauler, he was attacked from behind by Kenseth until he was pulled out by Keselowski's crew chef Paul Wolfe.


2014 Bank of America 500, Race, Second half, Post race conflict
“When the last yellow came out, he got the wave around and when he came by, he swung by my car and tore the whole right front off of it,’’ Keselowski said of Kenseth. We restarted fifth with no right front on it and fell back to 16th and ruined our day. For some reason after the race (Hamlin) stopped in front of me and tried to pick a fight. I don’t know what that was about. He swung and hit at my car.


2014 Bank of America 500, Race, Second half, Post race conflict
I figure if we’re  going to play car wars under the yellow and after the race, I’m going to play, too. Those guys can dish it out and they can’t take it. I gave it back to them and they want to fight. (Brad Keselowski) was doing something with Denny (Hamlin), I don't know," Kenseth said. "The race had ended and he's running into cars on the cool down lap. I mean, the race is over and he comes down pit road and drives into the side of me - that's inexcusable.


2014 Bank of America 500, Race, Second half, Post race conflict
He's a champion and he's supposed to know better." "When you see Matt Kenseth mad enough to fight, you know that this is intense because that's way out of character for him," Harvick said. "Every moment matters in this Chase, and Matt Kenseth knew that that one particular moment could have been the end of his Chase."


2014 Bank of America 500, Race, Second half, Post race conflict
On Tuesday, October 14, NASCAR handed down penalties regarding the events following the race. Brad Keselowski was fined $50,000 and placed on NASCAR probation for the next four Sprint Cup Series championship events through November 12 for violating:


2014 Bank of America 500, Race, Second half, Post race conflict
Tony Stewart was also fined $25,000 and placed on NASCAR probation for the next four Cup Series races through November 12 for the same charges.


2014 Bank of America 500, Race, Second half, Post race conflict
"These penalties are about maintaining a safe environment following the race," said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR senior vice president, competition and racing development. "We knew that the new Chase format was likely going to raise the intensity level and we want our drivers to continue to be themselves. However, the safety of our drivers, crew members, officials, and workers is paramount and we will react when that safety could be compromised."


2014 Bank of the West Classic
The 2014 Bank of the West Classic was a professional tennis tournament played on hard courts. It was the 43rd edition of the tournament, which was part of the WTA Premier tournaments of the 2014 WTA Tour. It took place in Stanford, United States between 28 July and 3 August 2014. It was the first women's event on the 2014 US Open Series.


2014 Bank of the West Classic, Points and Prize Money, Prize money
The total commitment prize money for this year's event was $710,000


2014 Bank of the West Classic, Singles main draw entrants, Other Entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2014 Bank of the West Classic – Doubles
Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears were the defending champions, but they lost to Paula Kania and Kateřina Siniaková in the semifinals. Garbiñe Muguruza and Carla Suárez Navarro won the title, defeating Kania and Siniaková in the final, 6–2, 4–6, [10–5].


2014 Bank of the West Classic – Singles
Dominika Cibulková was the defending champion, but lost to Garbiñe Muguruza in the first round.


2014 Bank of the West Classic – Singles
World No. 1 Serena Williams won her third Bank of the West Classic title in four years, defeating Angelique Kerber in the final.


2014 Bank of the West Classic – Singles
Sabine Lisicki hit the fastest serve of all time in women's tennis, blasting a 131mph serve against Ana Ivanovic in the first round. As a result of her quarterfinals run, former world No. 1, Ivanovic, returned to top ten in WTA rankings for the first time since her loss to Victoria Azarenka at the 2009 French Open. Azarenka had previously replaced Ivanovic in the top ten.


2014 Bank of the West Classic – Singles
This tournament also marked the WTA Tour main-draw debut of future four-time Grand Slam champion and world No. 1, Naomi Osaka.


2014 Bank of the West Classic – Singles, Seeds
The top four seeds receive a bye into the second round.


2014 Bannu bombing
The 2014 Bannu Bombing was a bombing attack by the Taliban that killed twenty six Pakistani soldiers. Thirty-eight other people were injured as a result of the bombing.


2014 Bannu bombing, History
The bomb was first placed in an eighteen-seater van. The bomb then hit an army convoy which killed many Pakistani soldiers. The vehicle where many of the soldiers were was being rented by the Frontier Corps. The vehicle was traveling to Razmak, in North Waziristan. The bomb exploded at an army checkpoint. Fifteen of the twenty security officers that were injured were taken to the Bannu Combined Military Hospital in critical condition.


2014 Bannu bombing, Reaction
According to  TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid, "The bombing was carried out to (avenge) the killing of Maulana Waliur Rehman, commander of TTP South Waziristan, who was killed on May 29, 2013, in a U.S. drone strike in Miranshah." The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, canceled a trip to Davos, Switzerland that he had planned.


2014 Bannu bombing, Retaliation
As a result of the bombing, helicopters operated by the Pakistan Army fired missiles, resulting in the deaths of three militants and two children. The helicopters fired at a road in the village of Musaki.


2014 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell
The 2014 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell (also known as the Torneo Godó) is a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 62nd edition of the event and part of the ATP World Tour 500 series of the 2014 ATP World Tour. It took place at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, from April 21 through April 27, 2014.


2014 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, Doubles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following pairs received wildcards into the doubles main draw:


2014 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell – Doubles
Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares were the defending champions, but lost in the first round to Fabio Fognini and Jürgen Melzer. Jesse Huta Galung and Stéphane Robert won the tournament, defeating Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjić in the final, 6–3, 6–3.


2014 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell – Singles
Kei Nishikori defeated Santiago Giraldo in the final, 6–2, 6–2, to win the Singles title at the 2014 Barcelona Open. He became the first non-Spanish player to win the tournament since 2002.


2014 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell – Singles
Rafael Nadal was the three-time defending champion, but lost to Nicolás Almagro in the quarterfinals, marking his first loss at the event since 2003.


2014 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell – Singles, Seeds
Click on the seed number of a player to go to their draw section.


2014 Bardiani–CSF season
The 2014 season for the Bardiani–CSF cycling team began in February at the Gran Premio della Costa Etruschi. Bardiani–CSF is an Italian-registered UCI Professional Continental cycling team that participated in road bicycle racing events on the UCI Continental Circuits and when selected as a wildcard to UCI ProTour events.


2014 Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council election, Background
The 2014 Barking and Dagenham Council election took place on 23 May 2014 to elect members of Barking and Dagenham Council in England. This was on the same day as other United Kingdom local elections.


2014 Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council election, Background
Labour won all 51 seats on the council in 2010, but by the time of this election had only 44 councillors due to defections with Robert Douglas, Dorothy Hunt, Graham Letchford and Tariq Saeed defecting to the UK Independence Party, and James McDermott, Barry Poulton and Gerald Vincent defecting to the Socialist Labour Party. All of these councillors stood for re-election in the borough representing their new parties (aside from Letchford, who stood in the Enfield Council election), but none retained their seats, with Labour candidates winning all 51 seats for the second consecutive election. The only ward where Labour faced any real challenge was Mayesbrook, where the borough's former Labour mayor Dorothy Hunt, now representing UKIP, failed to win a seat by 12 votes.


2014 Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council election, Background
UKIP stood candidates in every ward for the first time, and finished as runners-up to Labour in every ward except Longbridge. The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats remained on the fringes in the borough. The British National Party, who won 12 seats on the council in 2006, all of which they lost in 2010, declined even further at this election, only standing candidates in three wards and picking up a total of 1,137 votes, placing them sixth overall. Other parties to field candidates in the borough were the Greens, Socialist Labour Party and TUSC. The Europeans Party, a pro-EU party who support the rights of EU citizens in the UK, also stood a candidate. There were also two independent candidates.


2014 Barnet London Borough Council election
The 2014 Barnet Council election took place on 22 May 2014 to elect members of Barnet Council in England. It took place on the same day as other local elections and it resulted in the Conservative party holding on to overall control of the council.


2014 Barnet London Borough Council election, Background
Before the election the Conservatives ran the council with 38 seats, compared to 22 for Labour and 3 for the Liberal Democrats. A total of 247 candidates stood in the election including a full slate of 63 each from the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties. The Green party stood 43 candidates, while there were 9 candidates from UKIP, 5 independents and 1 from Left Unity. Following the death of Green party candidate Jessica Yorke, the poll for Colindale ward was cancelled on 19 May and rescheduled to take place on 26 June.


2014 Barnet London Borough Council election, By-elections between 2014 and 2018, Underhill
The by-election was called following the resignation of Cllr. Amy Trevethan.


2014 Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council election
The 2014 Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 22 May 2014 to elect members of Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections.


2014 Barum Czech Rally Zlín
The 2014 Barum Czech Rally Zlín was the eighth round of the 2014 European Rally Championship season. The event was won by Václav Pech and Petr Uhel.


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting
Elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 2014 proceeded according to rules most recently revised in July 2010. As in the past, the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) voted by mail to select from a ballot of recently retired players, with results announced on January 8, 2014.


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting
The Expansion Era Committee, one of three voting panels that replaced the more broadly defined Veterans Committee following the July 2010 rules change, convened early in December 2013 to select from a ballot of retired players and non-playing personnel who made their greatest contributions to the sport after 1972, a time frame that the Hall of Fame calls the "Expansion Era".


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting
The induction class consisted of managers Bobby Cox, Tony La Russa, and Joe Torre, elected by the Expansion Era Committee, and Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and Frank Thomas, elected by the BBWAA.


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting
The induction ceremonies were held on July 27, 2014, at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. On the day before the actual induction ceremony, the annual Hall of Fame Awards Presentation took place. At that event, the Hall presented two awards for media excellence—its own Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasters and the BBWAA's J. G. Taylor Spink Award for writers. In addition, the Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award was also handed out; under the rules for that award, last presented in 2011, it may be presented no more frequently than every third year.


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
The BBWAA ballot was announced on November 26, 2013. The BBWAA was authorized to elect players active in 1994 or later, but not after 2008; the ballot included the following categories of players:


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
All 10-year members of the BBWAA were eligible to vote, and had until December 31, 2013 to return their ballots to the Hall.


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
The ballot consisted of 17 of the 18 candidates who received at least 5% of the vote in the 2013 election, plus 19 first-time candidates. (The other candidate who received 5% or more of the 2013 vote, Dale Murphy, dropped off the ballot after 15 years.) Voters were instructed to cast votes for up to 10 candidates. Under BBWAA rules, write-in votes were not permitted.


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
Results of the 2013 election by the BBWAA were announced on January 8, 2014. A total of 571 ballots were cast (including one ballot which supported no candidates), with 429 votes required for election. A total of 4,793 individual votes were cast, an average of 8.39 per ballot—the highest per-ballot average since 1960 (8.51 votes per ballot), the first per-ballot average of 8 or higher since 1983 (8.36), and the first per-ballot average of even 7 or higher since 1986 (7.04).


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
According to former BBWAA president Bill Shaiklin, 50% of all voters filled out all 10 available slots on their ballots, up from 22% in 2013. Any candidate who received votes on at least 75% of the ballots would be inducted. Those candidates who received less than 5% of the vote will not appear on future BBWAA ballots, but may eventually be considered by the Veterans Committee.


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
Candidates who were eligible for the first time are indicated with a dagger (†). The candidates who received at least 75% of the vote and were elected are indicated in bold italics; candidates selected in subsequent elections, if any, will be indicated in italics.


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
Jack Morris was on the ballot for the 15th and final time.


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
The newly eligible candidates included 28 All-Stars, 12 of whom were not on the ballot, representing a total of 83 All-Star selections. Among the candidates were 10-time All-Star and 2-time Cy Young Award winner Tom Glavine, 8-time All-Star and 4-time Cy Young Award winner Greg Maddux, 6-time All-Star Moisés Alou, 5-time All-Star and 2-time MVP Award winner Frank Thomas, 5-time All-Star and 1-time MVP Award winner Jeff Kent, and 5-time All-Stars Luis Gonzalez. The field included 1995 NL Rookie of the Year Hideo Nomo, two MVPs (Kent and Thomas), three Cy Young Award winners (Glavine, Maddux and Éric Gagné). The field included four candidates with at least five Gold Glove Awards: Maddux (18 at pitcher, a record), Mussina (7 at pitcher), Kenny Rogers (5 at pitcher) and J. T. Snow (6 at first base).


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
As in most recent elections, it was expected that the controversy over use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) was likely to dominate the elections. ESPN.com columnist Jim Caple noted in the days before the announcement of the 2012 results that the PED issue and the BBWAA's limit of 10 votes per ballot was likely to result in a major backlog in upcoming elections:


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
Due to the steroid issue and a general lack of consensus, the following players will probably be on the ballot in three years: Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, Sammy Sosa, Jeff Bagwell, John Smoltz, Edgar Martinez, Mark McGwire, Mike Mussina, Jeff Kent, Larry Walker, Alan Trammell, Fred McGriff, Rafael Palmeiro, Lee Smith, Tim Raines, Gary Sheffield, Mike Piazza, Curt Schilling and, of course, Bernie [Williams]. That's 21 players who warrant serious consideration. And that's not counting Barry Larkin, who might be [Ed.


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
– and was] elected this year, and also assuming Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Craig Biggio and Frank Thomas make it their first years on the ballot. Finding room for Bonds, Clemens, Pedro, Johnson and others means I'll have to dump more good players from my ballot than the Marlins dumped after winning the 1997 World Series.


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
Several other players returning from the 2013 ballot with otherwise-strong Hall credentials have been linked to PEDs, among them Mark McGwire (who admitted to long-term steroid use in 2010), Jeff Bagwell (who never tested positive, but was the subject of PED rumors during his career), and Rafael Palmeiro (who tested positive for stanozolol shortly after denying that he had ever used steroids).


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
Players who were eligible for the first time who were not included on the ballot were: Tony Armas Jr., Gary Bennett, Joe Borowski, Jose Cruz Jr., Mike DiFelice, Damion Easley, Scott Elarton, Shawn Estes, Sal Fasano, Keith Foulke, Scott Hatteberg, Geoff Jenkins, Jason Johnson, Ray King, Jon Lieber, Esteban Loaiza, Kent Mercker, Matt Morris, Trot Nixon, Abraham Nunez, Odalis Perez, Tomas Perez, Mark Redman, Alberto Reyes, Ricardo Rincon, Dave Roberts, Rudy Seanez, Shannon Stewart, Tanyon Sturtze, Mark Sweeney, Salomon Torres, Steve Trachsel, Javier Valentin, Jose Vidro, Daryle Ward, and Dmitri Young.


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election, Controversies
Following the vote, a number of writers expressed concern about what they viewed as a flawed election process.


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election, Controversies
It wasn't exactly a perfect day for any of us who care about this process, because it sledgehammered home this painful reminder of the enduring Hall of Fame crisis of the 21st century: We still have no idea how to resolve the fate of many of the greatest players of all time. Now do we?... Is this what we want -- a Hall that attempts to pretend that players who just happen to hold some of the greatest records in the entire record book are now invisible to the naked eye?


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election, Controversies
Short of dropping the required share of the vote well below 75 percent, I think there's a good chance that the voters' failure to elect candidates who not only match but raise the bar on existing inductees has put us in an intractable position. That position will leave many obviously worthy players at the mercy of the Expansion Era Committee, or whatever the veterans committees will be called 10 or 12 years from now. And not to be overly dramatic about it, but there's a reasonable chance that some of those players will either never make it in or be dead by the time they do, the way Ron Santo was when he got his long-overdue induction.


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election, Controversies
It was also revealed that voter Dan Le Batard had allowed Deadspin to use his vote. The website was protesting the "absurd election process" by submitting to BBWAA the results from a poll of its readers. He was subsequently permanently stripped of his Hall of Fame voting privileges.


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Expansion Era Committee
In keeping with the current voting procedure by eras, the BBWAA-appointed Historical Overview Committee, made up of 11 BBWAA members, identified 12 Expansion Era candidates who were judged to have made their greatest contributions after 1972; this group was previously considered in 2011. Although several managers and executives and one umpire from this period were selected between 1993 and 2011, no player from this period has yet been elected by any of the forms of the Veterans Committee. Along with the post-1972 era, these criteria defined the consideration set:


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Expansion Era Committee
The eleven BBWAA-appointed Historical Overview Committee members were Dave Van Dyck (Chicago Tribune); Bob Elliott (Toronto Sun); Steve Hirdt (Elias Sports Bureau); Rick Hummel (St. Louis Post-Dispatch); Bill Madden (New York Daily News); Ken Nigro (formerly The Baltimore Sun); Jack O'Connell (BBWAA secretary/treasurer); Tracy Ringolsby (Fox Sports Rocky Mountain/MLB.com); Glenn Schwarz (formerly San Francisco Chronicle); Claire Smith (ESPN); and Mark Whicker (Orange County Register).


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Expansion Era Committee
The ballot for election by the Expansion Era Committee was released on November 4, 2013, and the Hall of Fame announced the results on December 9. The cutoff for election and summer 2014 induction remains the standard 75%, or 12 of 16 votes.


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Expansion Era Committee
Dave Concepcion, Steve Garvey, Tommy John, Billy Martin, Marvin Miller, Dave Parker, Dan Quisneberry, Ted Simmons and George Steinbrenner each received six or fewer votes.


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Expansion Era Committee
The Expansion Era Committee's 16-member voting electorate, appointed by the Hall of Fame's Board of Directors, was announced at the same time as the ballot of 12 candidates. The Hall officially calls this group the "Expansion Era Committee", but media still generally refer to it as the "Veterans Committee".


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Expansion Era Committee
Players eligible for the first time who were not named on the ballot include Bob Boone, Bill Buckner, Dwight Evans, Keith Hernandez, Fred Lynn, Dale Murphy, Willie Randolph and Frank White. Other first-time eligibles who did not appear on the ballot include manager Lou Piniella and umpire Ed Montague.


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Expansion Era Committee
Following the election, ESPN columnist Rick Reilly accused the committee members of hypocrisy, believing they did not follow the same standard for managers who had alleged or confirmed PED users on their teams as many BBWAA members used in refusing to vote for the same players. Reilly was especially critical of La Russa's election, claiming he "did more for juicers than Jack LaLanne," and added (emphasis in original):


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Expansion Era Committee
In all, the three managers being inducted oversaw at least 34 players who've been implicated as PED users and never noticed a thing wrong. You could build a wing with the admitted and suspected drug cheats they won with: A-Rod, Roger Clemens (Torre), Jason Giambi, Jose Canseco (Torre and La Russa), Mark McGwire (La Russa), Melky Cabrera (Torre and Cox), David Justice (Torre and Cox), Andy Pettitte (Torre), Manny Ramirez (Torre with the Dodgers) and [Gary] Sheffield (Torre and Cox). If we get really lucky, maybe disgraced HGH pitcher Darren Holmes will show up.


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Expansion Era Committee
He played under all three of them! It's just another year in the Hall of Farce, where the codes of conduct shift like beach sand; where the rules for one set of men are ignored for another; where PED poppers can never enter, but the men who turned their backs to the cheating get gleaming, bronze plaques. . . . But for the expansion error committee to let these three managers in — unanimously, no less — after winning hundreds of games with better chemistry is the gold standard of double standards.


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Expansion Era Committee
In July 2016, the Hall announced major changes to its era-based committees, replacing the then-current three voting bodies with four new committees. The era covered by the Expansion Era Committee will now be served by two new panels—the Modern Baseball and Today's Game Committees, respectively covering the 1970–1987 and post-1987 eras. Each new committee will meet twice in a 5-year cycle.


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, J. G. Taylor Spink Award
The J. G. Taylor Spink Award has been presented by the BBWAA at the annual summer induction ceremonies since 1962. Through 2010, it was awarded during the main induction ceremony, but is now given the previous day at the Hall of Fame Awards Presentation. It recognizes a sportswriter "for meritorious contributions to baseball writing". The recipients are not members of the Hall of Fame but are featured in a permanent exhibit at the National Baseball Museum.


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, J. G. Taylor Spink Award
The three nominees for the 2014 award, selected by a BBWAA committee, were announced at the BBWAA's annual All-Star Game meeting on July 16, 2013. They were Roger Angell, longtime essayist for The New Yorker; the late Furman Bisher, longtime columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution; and Mel Durslag, former columnist for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner. Under BBWAA rules, the winner was to be announced either during the 2013 World Series or at the 2013 winter meetings; in recent years, the announcement has been made at the winter meetings.


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, J. G. Taylor Spink Award
On December 10, the Hall announced Angell as the recipient. He received 258 votes from a total of 451 ballots, including four blanks. Bisher received 115 votes and Durslag 74. Angell, who was 93 at the time of announcement, is the first Spink Award recipient to have never been a member of the BBWAA; according to the Hall, the group "limits its membership to writers covering Major League Baseball for daily newspapers, wire services and some Internet outlets." However, the award is not restricted to BBWAA members, and Angell was nominated by the group's San Francisco Bay Area chapter. Angell has written about baseball for The New Yorker for over 50 years, and many of his essays for the magazine have been reprinted in several best-selling books spanning four decades.


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Ford C. Frick Award
The Ford C. Frick Award, honoring excellence in baseball broadcasting, has been presented at the induction ceremonies since 1978. Through 2010, it had been presented at the main induction ceremony, but is now awarded at the Awards Presentation. Recipients are not members of the Hall of Fame but are permanently recognized in an exhibit at the museum. To be eligible, an active or retired broadcaster must have a minimum of 10 years of continuous major league broadcast service with a ball club, a network, or a combination of the two.


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Ford C. Frick Award
The honor is based on four criteria: longevity; continuity with a club; honors, including national assignments such as the World Series and All-Star Games; and popularity with fans. The recipient was announced during the 2013 winter meetings on December 11, following a vote by a 20-member committee composed of the living recipients along with broadcasting historians and columnists.


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Ford C. Frick Award
Beginning with this year's election, the selection process underwent major changes similar to those instituted for Veterans Committee balloting in 2010. Candidates are now considered every third year, based on the era in which they made their most significant contributions:


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Ford C. Frick Award
Also, the committee that selects the final recipient no longer has a role in determining any of the finalists. In previous years, the selection committee also chose seven of the 10 finalists, but that role has now been given to a Hall of Fame research committee.


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Ford C. Frick Award
Ten finalists from the "High Tide Era" were announced on October 2, 2013. In accord with the new guidelines, seven were chosen by a Hall of Fame research committee. Three were selected from a list of candidates by fan voting at the Hall's Facebook page from September 9 to September 30.


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Ford C. Frick Award
All finalists except King were living when the ballot was announced; the only living finalist who was not active was Van Wieren (who would die six days after the induction ceremony).


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Ford C. Frick Award
On December 11, Nadel was announced as the recipient. He has been a radio broadcaster for the Texas Rangers since 1979. and has been the team's lead radio voice since 1985. Nadel became the first broadcaster associated primarily with the Rangers to receive the award.


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award
Another Hall of Fame honor, the Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award, was also presented at the 2014 Awards Presentation. The award was created in 2008 in honor of Buck O'Neil, a Negro leagues star who went on to become one of baseball's leading ambassadors until his death in 2006. The first award was presented posthumously to O'Neil at the 2008 induction ceremony, and the second was given to veteran baseball executive Roland Hemond in 2011. According to the Hall,


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award
The Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award is presented by the Hall of Fame's Board of Directors not more than once every three years to honor an individual whose extraordinary efforts enhanced baseball's positive impact on society, broadened the game's appeal, and whose character, integrity and dignity are comparable to the qualities exhibited by O'Neil.


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award
As with the media awards, recipients are not members of the Hall of Fame but are permanently recognized by the Hall. In this case, the recipients are listed alongside a life-size statue of O'Neil that stands at the entrance to the museum. Written nominations for the award are accepted by mail at any time; the nomination must specifically state how the nominee meets the traits exemplified by O'Neil.


2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award
On December 4, 2013, the Hall announced that Joe Garagiola would be the 2014 recipient. Garagiola, a former player and broadcaster who received the Frick Award in 1991, is a founder of two organizations that, according to the Hall, "impact baseball in a positive manner"—the Baseball Assistance Team, which has distributed over $28 million in grants to needy members of the professional baseball community since the organization's formation in 1986, and the National Spit Tobacco Education Program, devoted to education on the dangers of smokeless tobacco.


2014 Bashkir presidential election
Snap presidential elections were held on 14 September 2014 in the autonomous republic of Bashkortostan to elect the President of the Republic of Bashkortostan. For the first time after an 11-year hiatus, the highest official of the republic was elected by popular vote.


2014 Bashkir presidential election
In total, 4 candidates for the post of President of Bashkortostan were registered: Rustem Khamitov, Yunir Kutluguzhin, Ivan Sukharev and Ildar Bikbaev. The victory was won by the candidate from the incumbent President Khamitov, who collected more than 80% of the vote.


2014 Bashkir presidential election, Background
On 15 July 2010, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev accepted the resignation of Bashkortostan President Murtaza Rakhimov from the post with the wording “of his own free will." From there, Medvedev appointed the head of the Federal Agency for Water Resources Rustem Khamitov as the acting president of Bashkortostan until he was confirmed by the State Assembly to the post on 19 July 2010. Khamitov's term of office was set to be expired in 2015.


2014 Bashkir presidential election, Background
In 2012, amendments were made to the federal laws "On general principles of organization of legislative (representative) and executive bodies of state power of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation" and "On basic guarantees of electoral rights and the right to participate in a referendum of citizens of the Russian Federation", which returned the election of the highest official persons in all constituent entities in Russia.


2014 Bashkir presidential election, Background
The public coalition For a Prosperous Bashkortostan in October 2012 called for Khamitov to initiate snap elections. At the same time, the Bashkir public organization "People's Referendum" appealed to the residents of Bashkortostan with an initiative to hold a popular referendum on the need for early presidential elections, due to the fact that the current president of the republic was appointed according to the "old scheme" (through the appointment of the President of the Russian Federation and approval of the subject in Parliament).


2014 Bashkir presidential election, Background
In 2013, various media outlets reported that the snap presidential elections in Bashkortostan could be held simultaneously with the elections of deputies to the State Assembly, which then took place on 8 September 2013.


2014 Bashkir presidential election, Background
On 30 May 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted Khamitov's resignation in order to take part in the presidential election, which was set to take place on 14 September 2014 on a single voting day. According to some analysts, the reason for the snap elections was due to the 7th BRICS summit which was set to take place in the capital of Ufa the following year.


2014 Bashkir presidential election, Background
On 18 June 2014, the State Assembly supported the resolution on early elections of the President and thus the start of the election campaign was launched. According to Bashkortostan law, the MP's must make a decision on the appointment of elections no earlier than 100 days, and no later than 90 days before voting day. But since the elections are early, then according to Paragraph 6 in the Article 10 of the Election Code of the Republic of Bashkortostan, the timing of the appointment of elections can be reduced, but not more than by one third. Elections for the President of Bashkortostan are held on the basis of a majoritarian system of absolute majority in a single electoral district, which includes the territory of Bashkortostan.


2014 Bashkir presidential election, Candidates
Candidates for the office of President of the Republic of Bashkortostan are nominated by political parties. The nominee must submit the necessary documents to the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Bashkortostan no later than 20 days from the date of the official publication of the decision on the appointment of elections. The nomination of presidential candidates in Bashkortostan will last until 9 July 2014, and the submission of documents for registration until 19 July.


2014 Bashkir presidential election, Candidates, Selection process, United Russia
Radiy Khabirov was initially considered as a likely rival for Rustem Khamitov in the Bashkortostan United Russia presidential primaries, whose candidacy could suit both the federal authorities and the republican political elite in the person of the former President Murtaza Rakhimov.


2014 Bashkir presidential election, Candidates, Selection process, United Russia
On 11 June 2014 in Ufa, the party delegates identified three candidates at the for the subsequent nomination for the presidency by the United Russia. Acting president Khamitov received 129 votes, State Duma  deputy Rafael Mardanshin 41 votes, President of the Bar Chamber Bashkortostan Bulat Yumadilov 39 votes.


2014 Bashkir presidential election, Candidates, Selection process, United Russia
On 21 June 2014, at a conference of the regional branch of United Russia, Khamitov was approved as a candidate from the party with 209 delegate vote while three votes were for Rafael Mardanshin, and two participants for Bulat Yumadilov.


2014 Bashkir presidential election, Candidates, Selection process, Civic Platform
Former Prime Minister of Bashkortostan Rail Sarbaev was nominated by the Civic Platform on 25 June 2014. In order to be nominated, Sarbaev was obliged to disavow his United Russia membership while the A Just Russia was unable support him. According to political scientists, Sarbaev was the only one of ten candidates who could be a well competitor with Khamitov. Most experts believed that the former president Rakhimov would endorse Sarbaev. According to political scientist Konstantin Kalachev, Sarbaev had good chances of success, and the election would become more interesting and more democratic, telling that “the inhabitants of Bashkiria have missed competitive elections, and the nomination of a candidate of such caliber and with such powerful support radically changes the situation.”


2014 Bashkir presidential election, Candidates, Selection process, Civic Platform
On 9 July 2014, the day when the procedure for nominating candidates from parties for presidency was set to end, Sarbaev was removed at the party congress in the Moscow Oblast by the Civic Platform that nominated him with the saying “in connection with the commission of acts that contradict the interests of the party and inflict her damage.” The head of the Republican Branch of the Civic Platform Aleksey Skrynditsa, claimed that Sarbaev had not known about the decision of the congress and did not participate in it.


2014 Bashkir presidential election, Candidates, Selection process, Civic Platform
According to experts, after Sarbayev's nomination, dubious political strategists began to work actively in the region, and custom-made publications appeared in the federal media. Chairman of the Central Election Commission of Bashkortostan Khaidar Valeev support decision in Sarbaev's removal from the race. According to the Sarbaev, he had already managed to garner 454 signatures (out of the required 457) of municipal deputies for registration. The Democratic Party of Russia Chairman Andrei Bogdanov, explained this decision of his former party members by their unwillingness to quarrel with the local authorities.


2014 Bashkir presidential election, Candidates, Selection process, Civic Platform
Irina Tverdova, Sarbaev's legal commissioner, said that if sufficient evidence was collected, Sarbaev's headquarters intended to sue the Civic Platform and through it recognize the party's decision as illegal. On 16 July, Sarbaev filed a lawsuit against Civic Platform with the Presnensky Court of Moscow and the Supreme Court of Bashkortostan.


2014 Bashkir presidential election, Candidates, Selection process, Communist Party
On 23 June 2014, the participants of the conference of the Bashkir Republican Branch of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) by open vote, out of four proposed candidates, voted for two contenders of whom were Second Secretary of the Bashkir Republican Branch of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Yunir Kutluguzhin and First Secretary of the Iglinsky District Committee of the CPRF Khasan Idiatullin. After that, secret voting took place, during which Kutluguzhin was chosen to be nominee from the CPRF, after receiving 57 delegates.


2014 Bashkir presidential election, Candidates, Selection process, Patriots of Russia
The Bashkortostan Regional Branch of the Patriots of Russia nominated head of the staff of the Public Chamber of Bashkiria Ildar Bikbaev on 22 June 2014 as a presidential candidate.


2014 Bashkir presidential election, Candidates, Selection process, Patriots of Russia
On 18 July 2014, Bikbaev was the first nominee to pass the municipal filter and submitted to the CEC of Bashkortostan with the signatures of 479 deputies in his support.


2014 Basildon Borough Council election
The 2014 Basildon District Council election took place on 22 May 2014 to elect members of Basildon District Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections and elections to the European Parliament. This election was to elect one third of the council, plus one additional seat which was vacant. These seats were last up for election in 2010.


2014 Basildon Borough Council election, Results
The turnout was 32.8%, and there were 160 ballots rejected. All comparisons in vote share are to the corresponding 2010 election.


2014 Basildon Borough Council election, Ward Results, Lee Chapel North
The second vacancy was caused by the resignation of an Independent councillor who had been elected in 2012 as a Labour candidate. Malsbury will fill this seat, and will thus be up for re-election in May 2016. Ferguson will fill the seat that was ordinarily due for election in 2014, and will face re-election in 2018.


2014 Basildon Borough Council election, Changes since May 2014
In December 2014, Kerry Smith, the then leader of the UKIP group and newly selected parliamentary candidate for South Basildon and East Thurrock resigned from the party after the release of a tape recording of a private phone call in which he made offensive remarks about fellow UKIP members. Imelda Clancy also left the party later that month, and the two sit as "Independence Group" members on the council, reducing UKIP's strength to ten seats, though they remain the second-largest party ahead of Labour on nine seats.


2014 Basildon Borough Council election, Changes since May 2014
A third independent councilor (originally elected as Labour) joined the Independence Group in January 2015.


2014 Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council election
The 2014 Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council election took place on 22 May 2014 to elect members of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections. These elections were postponed from the usual first Thursday of May in order to coincide with the 2014 European Parliamentary Elections.


2014 Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council election
22 seats out of 60 seats were up for election. Due to the resignation of a councillor elected in 2012, Brighton Hill South had two seats for re-election. The first-placed finisher was elected to a regular four-year term and the second-placed finisher was elected to serve until 2016. Another councillor had stood down in Baughurst and Tadley North, and thus a councillor was elected to fill out the 2011–15 term in that seat.


2014 Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council election
The Conservatives had lost their majority on the council in 2013 due to defections, and since then had operated a minority administration. They lost a single seat (Buckskin) to Labour and continued their minority administration. In Basing, a councillor who had been elected as a Conservative in 2010 was re-elected as an independent.


2014 Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council election, Election Result
The Conservative Party performed best with a third of the vote share, but lost one seat to an independent. Labour retained their position as the largest opposition party, gaining three seats from the Liberal Democrats (Brookvale and Kings Furlong, Brighton Hill North and Brighton Hill South). As such, both the Conservatives and the Labour party won 8 seats in this election, but the Conservatives remained the largest party overall, with 29 seats compared to Labours 17. UKIP won their first elected seat on the council, gaining the second seat in Brighton Hill South that had been vacated by Labour. Alongside the one independent gain, Ian Tilbury held his seat in Overton, Laverstoke and Steventon.


2014 Basque Pelota World Championships
The 2014 Basque Pelota World Championships were the 17th edition of the Basque Pelota World Championships organized by  the FIPV.


2014 Basque Pelota World Championships, Events
A total of 15 events were disputed, in 4 playing areas.


2014 Bassetlaw District Council election
The 2014 Bassetlaw District Council election took place on 22 May 2014 to elect members of Bassetlaw District Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections. One third of the council was up for election.


2014 Bauer Watertechnology Cup
The 2014 Bauer Watertechnology Cup was a professional tennis tournament played on carpet courts. It was the 18th edition of the tournament which was part of the 2014 ATP Challenger Tour. It took place in Eckental, Germany between 27 October and 2 November 2014.


2014 Bauer Watertechnology Cup, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2014 Bauer Watertechnology Cup – Doubles
Dustin Brown and Philipp Marx were the defending champions, but did not compete together this year. Brown partnered Christopher Kas and lost in the quarterfinals. Marx partnered Mateusz Kowalczyk and lost in the first round.


2014 Bauer Watertechnology Cup – Doubles
Ruben Bemelmans and Niels Desein won the title, defeating Andreas Beck and Philipp Petzschner in the final, 6–3, 4–6, [10–8].


2014 Bauer Watertechnology Cup – Singles
Benjamin Becker was the defending champion, but he did not compete that year.


2014 Bauer Watertechnology Cup – Singles
Last year's runner up Ruben Bemelmans won the tournament, defeating Tim Puetz in the final 7–6(7–3),  6–3.


2014 Bayern–Rundfahrt
The 2014 Bayern–Rundfahrt was the 35th edition of the Bayern–Rundfahrt, an annual cycling road race. It was held between 28 May and 1 June, consisting of five stages, the fourth being an individual time trial. The stage race was part of the 2014 UCI Europe Tour, and was rated as a 2.HC event.


2014 Bayern–Rundfahrt
The race was won for the second time – having won the race in 2011 – by Geraint Thomas of Team Sky, who claimed the leader's jersey by winning the time trial stage. Mathias Frank (IAM Cycling) was second and Thomas' teammate Vasil Kiryienka completed the podium.


2014 Bayern–Rundfahrt, Teams
A total of 19 teams took part in the race. 8 were ProTeams, 6 were Professional Continental Teams and 5 were Continental Teams.


2014 Bayleys National Sevens
The 2014 New Zealand National Rugby Sevens Tournament known as the Bayleys National Sevens will be hosted in Rotorua, New Zealand, on the 11 and 12 January 2014. Matches are to be played at the Rotorua International Stadium. Sixteen men's and ten women's provincial teams will qualify to compete in the annual national tournament following three regional tournaments (Southern, Central and Northern regions) in November and December.


2014 Bayleys National Sevens, Format
Teams from the 26 Provincial Unions have to qualify to attend at the National Event in Rotorua. The teams are divided into pools of four teams, who play a round-robin within the pool. The top two teams in each pool advanced to the Cup competition. The four quarterfinal losers dropped into the bracket for the Plate. The Bowl was contested by the third- and fourth-place finishers in each pool, with the losers in the Bowl quarterfinals dropping into the bracket for the Shield.


2014 Bayleys National Sevens, Teams
Teams from each Provincial Unions have to qualify to attend at the National Event in Rotorua. The qualification series started off at Alpine Energy Stadium in Timaru on the 23 November 2013 for the Southern region. Then the Central region qualification was played on 7 December 2013 at the Massey University Rugby Institute in Palmerston North. The series the finished in Hamilton at Waikato Stadium on 14 December 2013 for the Northern region qualification.


2014 Bayleys National Sevens, Pool stage
The first round, or pool stage, sees 16 men's teams divided into four pools of four teams. Each pool was a round-robin of six games, where each team played one match against each of the other teams in the same pool. Teams were awarded three points for a win, two points for a draw and one for a defeat.


2014 Bayleys National Sevens, Pool stage
The teams finishing in the top two of each pool advanced to the cup quarterfinals.


2014 Baylor Bears baseball team
The 2014 Baylor Bears baseball team represents Baylor University in the 2014 college baseball season. Baylor competes in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a charter member of the Big 12 Conference. The Bears play home games at Baylor Ballpark on the university's campus in Waco, Texas. Twenty year head coach Steve Smith leads the Bears, a former pitcher for the team during the 1982 and 1983 seasons.


2014 Baylor Bears baseball team, Ranking movements
^ Collegiate Baseball ranks 40 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranks 30 teams weekly during the season. † NCBWA ranks 35 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranks 30 teams weekly during the season. * New poll was not released for this week so for comparison purposes the previous week's ranking is inserted in this week's slot.


2014 Baylor Bears football team
The 2014 Baylor Bears football team represented Baylor University in the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bears were coached by Art Briles. Playing their 116th football season, this was the team's first in the new McLane Stadium in Waco, Texas. The Bears were members of the Big 12 Conference. They finished the season 11–2, 8–1 in Big 12 play to win a share of the Big 12 title with TCU. They were invited to the Cotton Bowl Classic where they lost to Michigan State.


2014 BeNe Ladies Tour
The 2014 BeNe Ladies Tour is the first edition of the BeNe Ladies Tour, a women's cycling stage race in the Netherlands. It is rated by the UCI as a category 2.2 race and is held between 19 and 20 July 2014.


2014 Beach Handball World Championships
The 2014 Beach Handball World Championships were a twelve-team tournament in both men's and women's beach handball, held at Recife, Brazil from 22–27 July, 2014. It was the sixth edition of the event.


2014 Beach Handball World Championships
Just like two years ago, Brazil again won the gold medal in both, the men's and women's competition.


2014 Beach Handball World Championships, Format
The twelve teams were split into two groups of six teams. After playing a round-robin, the three top ranked team advanced to the Main Round. Every team kept the points from preliminary round matches against teams who also advanced. In the main round every team had 3 games against the opponents they did not face in the preliminary round. The top four teams advanced to the Semifinals. The three bottom ranked team from each preliminary round group were packed into one group. The points won against the teams who were also in this group were valid. Every team played three games and after those round there wereplacement matches from 7th–12th place.


2014 Beach Handball World Championships, Format
Matches were played in sets, the team that wins two sets is the winner of a match. When teams are equal in points the head-to-head result was decisive.


2014 Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup
The 2014 Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup was the fourth edition of the tournament, Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup. It took place at Jumeirah Beach in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from 04 to 8 November 2014. Eight teams participated in the competition.


2014 Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup, Group stage
All matches are listed as local time in Dubai, (UTC+4).


2014 Bedford Gulfstream IV crash
American millionaire philanthropist Lewis Katz and six others were killed in a Gulfstream IV crash in Bedford, Massachusetts, on 31 May 2014. Katz, the co-owner of The Philadelphia Inquirer and several major sports teams, had chartered the twinjet for a day trip from Atlantic City, New Jersey, to Concord, Massachusetts. In addition to several personal friends, he had also invited Edward G. Rendell, a former governor of Pennsylvania, who was unable to accept.


2014 Bedford Gulfstream IV crash
The flight crew consisted of pilot-in-command James McDowell, of Georgetown, Delaware; co-pilot Bauke "Mike" de Vries, of Marlton, New Jersey; and one flight attendant. The pilots attempted to take off with the airplane's gust lock inadvertently engaged, which resulted in the plane overrunning the runway and crashing into a ravine. All seven occupants of the plane were killed.


2014 Bedford Gulfstream IV crash, Accident
After concluding his business in Concord, Katz and his party returned to Hanscom Field in Bedford and boarded the airplane. The airplane prepared to depart at 9:40 pm EDT, lining up on runway 11 under night visual meteorological conditions. As it began its takeoff roll, the pilots realized that they had limited steering control and that the engine throttle levers could not be advanced to full power.


2014 Bedford Gulfstream IV crash, Accident
The plane passed V1, the maximum speed at which the pilots could have aborted takeoff, but they failed to apply the brakes for about ten seconds or reduce the throttles for another four seconds after the crew realized there was a problem. The airplane rolled through the paved overrun area and across a grassy area, collided with approach lights and a localizer antenna, passed through the airport's perimeter fence, and came to a stop in a shallow ravine formed by the Shawsheen River, where its full load of fuel immediately caught fire. All seven people aboard were killed, and the airframe was destroyed by the impact and post-crash fire.


2014 Bedford Gulfstream IV crash, Investigation
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued its final report on 9 September 2015. The NTSB found that the flight crew failed to adhere to required pre-flight procedures. Critically, the pilots failed to conduct a flight control check, which would have revealed that the airplane's "gust lock" system, which protects the elevator, ailerons, and rudder from wind gusts while the airplane is parked by locking them in place, was still fully engaged and prevented use of those control surfaces. A review of data from the airplane's quick access recorder revealed that the pilots had neglected to perform complete flight control checks before 98 percent of their previous 175 takeoffs in the airplane, indicating that this oversight was habitual and not an exceptional event.


2014 Bedford Gulfstream IV crash, Investigation
The gust lock handle also included an interlock mechanism intended to limit the throttle levers to just enough power for taxiing and idle while engaged. According to Gulfstream, this had been intended to prevent pilots from attempting to take off with the gust lock engaged. However, post-accident testing on other Gulfstream-IV airplanes found that, with the gust lock handle in the ON position, the forward throttle lever movement that could be achieved was three to four times greater than intended.


2014 Bedford Gulfstream IV crash, Investigation
The NTSB concluded that the probable cause of the accident was the flight crew's failure to perform the flight control check before takeoff, which led to their attempt to take off with the gust lock system engaged, and their delay in aborting the takeoff after they became aware that the controls were locked.


2014 Bedford Gulfstream IV crash, Investigation
The NTSB also cited as contributing factors the flight crew's habitual noncompliance with checklists, Gulfstream's failure to ensure that the Gulfstream-IV gust lock / throttle lever interlock system would prevent an attempted takeoff with the gust lock engaged, and the Federal Aviation Administration's failure to detect this defect during the Gulfstream IV's airworthiness certification.


2014 Bedford Gulfstream IV crash, Aftermath
Following the accident, the FAA issued an Airworthiness Directive that gave operators three years to retrofit the gust lock systems on their Gulfstream-IV jets, and Gulfstream immediately announced that it would redesign the gust lock system. The families of Katz and the pilots later filed wrongful-death lawsuits against the manufacturer.


2014 Beijing Guoan F.C. season
The 2014 Beijing Guoan F.C. season was their 11th consecutive season in the Chinese Super League, established in 2004. They competed in the AFC Champions League and Chinese FA Cup.


2014 Beijing Guoan F.C. season, Players, First team squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2014 Beijing Guoan F.C. season, Players, Reserve squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2014 Beijing ePrix
The 2014 Beijing ePrix, formally the 2014 FIA Formula E Evergrande Spring Beijing ePrix, was a Formula E motor race that was held on 13 September 2014 at the Beijing Olympic Green Circuit in Beijing, China. It was the first Championship race of the single-seater, electrically powered racing car series' inaugural season. The race was won by Lucas di Grassi for the Audi Sport ABT team, ahead of Franck Montagny and Sam Bird.


2014 Beijing ePrix, Report, Race
Nicolas Prost claimed pole position for the race for the e.dams-Renault team and, with the exception of one lap during the pit stops, led the race up until the final corner. That was the moment when Nick Heidfeld had closed the gap to Prost and made an overtaking manoeuvre. Prost hit Heidfeld while they were side to side, sending the German driver into a spin. Heidfeld's car then hit the kerb sideways, and flipped into the barrier. The collision forced both drivers to retire from the race, and Lucas di Grassi went through to claim victory.


2014 Beijing ePrix, Report, Race
Montagny finished second, while Daniel Abt was third on track, but was penalised 57 seconds for exceeding "the maximum permitted electrical power during the race," relegating him to tenth position, which promoted Bird to the final place on the podium. Jaime Alguersuari and Katherine Legge also received 57-second penalties: Alguersuari for the same transgression, and Legge for a pit violation.


2014 Beijing ePrix, Report, Race
Despite his retirement, Prost collected three championship points for his pole position, and Takuma Sato, who was also unable to complete the race, gained two points for recording the fastest lap of the race. During the race, three drivers were able to gain benefit from a "fan boost" which gave them an extra 30 kilowatts of power for two five-second stints. The drivers voted to receive this were Bruno Senna, Legge, and Di Grassi. However, none of the drivers actually used the boost of energy during the race, leading the organization to mandate the use for coming races.


2014 Belarusian Athletics Championships
The 2014 Belarusian Athletics Championships was the national championship in outdoor track and field for Belarus. It was held from 24–26 July at Neman Stadium in Grodno.


2014 Belarusian First League
The 2014 Belarusian First League is the 24th season of 2nd level football in Belarus. It started in April and finished in November 2014.


2014 Belarusian First League, Team changes from 2013 season
The winners of last season (Slutsk) were promoted to Belarusian Premier League. They were replaced by last-placed team of 2013 Belarusian Premier League table (Slavia Mozyr).


2014 Belarusian First League, Team changes from 2013 season
The runners-up of last season (Gorodeya) lost the promotion/relegation play-off to Dnepr Mogilev (11th-placed Premier League team) and both clubs stayed in their respective leagues.


2014 Belarusian First League, Team changes from 2013 season
Two teams that finished at the bottom of 2013 season table (SKVICH Minsk and Polotsk) relegated to the Second League. They were replaced by two best teams of 2013 Second League (Gomelzheldortrans and Neman Mosty).


2014 Belarusian First League, Team changes from 2013 season
Neman Mosty eventually refused promotion due to insufficient financing and returned to Second League. They were replaced by Zvezda-BGU Minsk, who finished 3rd in the Second League.


2014 Belarusian First League, Team changes from 2013 season
Vedrich-97 Rechitsa were renamed to Rechitsa-2014 before the start of the season.


2014 Belarusian First League, League table, Promotion play-offs
The 12th placed team of 2014 Premier League (Dnepr Mogilev) will play a two-legged relegation play-off against the third placed team of 2014 Belarusian First League (Vitebsk) for one spot in the 2015 Premier League.


2014 Belarusian Premier League
The 2014 Belarusian Premier League was the 24th season of top-tier football in Belarus. It began in March 2014 and ended in November 2014. BATE Borisov are the defending champions, having won their 10th league title last year.


2014 Belarusian Premier League, Format
The format of the competition stayed the same as the previous season. The league took place in two phases. The first phase consisted of regular double-round robin tournament between 12 teams. The best six teams qualified for the championship round, which will determine the champions and the participants for the 2014–15 European competitions. The remaining six teams play in the relegation group, where the top five teams will secure places in the 2015 competition, sixth team (12th overall) will play a two-legged relegation play-off against the third-placed team of the First League. All points collected during the first phase will count for the second phase as well. The league will be expanded to 14 teams for 2015 season and further expanded to 16 teams for 2016.


2014 Belarusian Premier League, Teams
Slavia Mozyr were relegated to the First League after finishing on the last (12th) position in 2013 season. Slutsk, the champions of 2013 First League, made their debut in the top flight.


2014 Belarusian Premier League, Teams
Dnepr Mogilev, as the 11th-placed team in 2013 Premier League, had to compete in the relegation/promotion playoffs against First League runners-up Gorodeya. Dnepr won the playoff, 3–1 on aggregate, and both team retained positions in their respective leagues.


2014 Belarusian Premier League, First phase, Results
Each team will play twice against every other team for a total of 22 matches.


2014 Belarusian Premier League, Championship round
The best six teams of the first phase will play two times against every other team for a total of 10 matches.


2014 Belarusian Premier League, Championship round, Results
The best six teams of the first phase will play twice against every other team for a total of 10 matches.


2014 Belarusian Premier League, Relegation group, Results
The last six teams of the first phase will play twice against every other team for a total of 10 matches.


2014 Belarusian Premier League, Relegation playoffs
The 12th-place finisher of this season (Dnepr Mogilev) played a two-legged relegation play-off against the third team of the 2014 Belarusian First League (Vitebsk) for one spot in the 2015 Premier League. Dnepr Mogilev were relegated to the Belarusian First League after losing the first leg 0–2, before drawing 1–1 in the second.


2014 Belarusian Premier League, Relegation playoffs
Vitebsk won 3–1 on aggregate and gains promotion to the Belarusian Premier League.


2014 Belarusian Premier League (women)
The 2014 Belarusian Premier League (women) was the 24th season of women's league football under the Football Federation of Belarus.


2014 Belarusian Premier League (women)
The league was won by FC Minsk, its second consecutive title. By winning, FC Minsk qualified to 2015–16 UEFA Women's Champions League.


2014 Belarusian Premier League (women)
With two clubs, Viktorya-86 Brest and FK Molodechno, withdrawing from the league, 7 club contested, playing 24 matches each.


2014 Belarusian Super Cup
The 2014 Belarusian Super Cup was held on 15 March 2014 between the 2013 Belarusian Premier League champions winners BATE Borisov and the 2012–13 Belarusian Cup winners Minsk. BATE won the match 1–0 and won the trophy for the fourth time.


2014 Belarusian municipal elections
27th convocation local councils of Republic of Belarus elections were held on 23 March 2014. 1328 Local Deputy Councils were filled with 18,816 representatives. Moreover, at the same time elections of single deputy to House of Representatives of National Assembly were held in Gomel-Navabielicki 36 electoral district where government-favoured candidate was removed from elections just before 2012 parliamentary election, and the only candidate left did not receive enough support.


2014 Belarusian municipal elections
The last time significant representation of independent from executive power deputies in Councils could have been observed after 2003 Municipal elections, resulted in a lot of candidates from opposition UCP, BPF, Assembly parties elected. After that, 2007, 2010, 2014 elections resulted in only single elections to Councils of opposition parties representatives.


2014 Belarusian municipal elections, General information
Alexander Lukashenko signed decree on holding elections on 16 December 2013. On 17 December CEC approved budget of expenditure for elections as BYR 100 billion (USD 10.5 million), having 60% of budget to be spent on electoral commissions reimbursements; deputy by-election in Gomel expenditures were set as high as BYR 1.25 billion (USD 130 thousand).


2014 Belarusian municipal elections, General information
Out of 18,816 deputies of 1328 local Councils most represent rural councils:


2014 Belarusian municipal elections, General information
On 8 December 2013, in a week before decree on holding elections signed, amendments to electoral legislation entered into effect, and upcoming elections were held under the new rules. For example, agitation for elections boycott was prohibited; also candidates were obliged to print agitation materials at their own cost, however, limited to BYR 1.3 or 3.9 million (USD 135 or 405 respectively) depending on the council level.


2014 Belarusian municipal elections, Candidates nomination. Electoral campaign
Deputy candidates nomination started on 12 January 2014 and went on till 10 February. Candidates registration was hold on 11–20 February; after the later the agitation campaign started and went on till 22 March. Preliminary voting was held on 18–22 March.


2014 Belarusian municipal elections, Candidates nomination. Electoral campaign
23,799 applications were provided for 18,816 seats, among which 22,784 were approved. Thus, there were on average 1,2 candidates for seat in total in Belarus. The lowest competition was for places in rural and town councils (1.1 candidate per seat), with a bit higher rate in local city councils (1.2) and district councils (1.3). Other councils had much higher competition: regional city councils — 2.1, regional councils — 2.3. The highest competition appeared to be in Minsk, where seats in 57 electoral districts were applied by 345 candidates, among which 270 registered, resulting in 4.7 candidate per seat.


2014 Belarusian municipal elections, Candidates nomination. Electoral campaign
63,8% deputy candidates were nominated by citizens via signatures collection, 32,7% were nominated by workers' associations, 3,4% were nominated by political parties. Among other parties the most nominations were made by Communist Party of Belarus (277), Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus (159), Belarusian Left Party "A Just World" (119), United Civic Party of Belarus (111), Republican Party of Labour and Justice (51), Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Assembly) (50) and BPF Party (35).


2014 Belarusian municipal elections, Candidates nomination. Electoral campaign
47,3% candidates were acting local councils' deputies, with the share of women among candidates as large as 46,3%, citizens under 30 — 5,2%. The highest number of candidates worked in social sphere (education, culture, science, healthcare) — 28,2%, and agriculture — 22,7%. 11,8% of candidates worked in government authorities and institutions, and 9,7% in manufacturing, transport, and construction. However, among Minsk City Council candidates, 24,1% represent social sphere, 20,7% — manufacturing, transport, and construction, 16,3% — private businesses.


2014 Belarusian municipal elections, Candidates nomination. Electoral campaign
In Gomel-Navabielicki 36 electoral district 7 candidates contested single deputy seat in House of Representatives.


2014 Belarusian municipal elections, Candidates nomination. Electoral campaign
Under the Law "On the status of Local Council deputy" the Council deputy is responsible and reports to the voters. The Council deputy shall periodically, at least semi-annually report to the voters on his/her activities and progress with electoral programme implementation.


2014 Belarusian municipal elections, Elections process. Turnout
On 18–21 March 24,92% Belarusians voted preliminary. According to human rights advocates and independent observers, практикуется vote enforcement was imposed during municipal elections to students, state institutions employees and military servicemen.


2014 Belarusian municipal elections, Elections process. Turnout
In total, 5,591,103 people, or 77,3% voters participated in elections, taking into account preliminary election.


2014 Belarusian municipal elections, Results
Elections took place in 18,809 districts, in 7 other districts re-elections were appointed: in 3 districts no candidate received majority vote, in 4 districts elections did not take place due to absence of candidates.


2014 Belarusian municipal elections, Results
4 pro-presidential parties succeeded. Agrarian Party (Belarus) (6), Belarusian Socialist Sporting Party (2), Communist Party of Belarus (206), Republican Party of Labour and Justice (34).


2014 Belarusian municipal elections, Results
Belarusian Socialist Sporting Party   2 deputies   (0,01% of total number.)


2014 Belarusian municipal elections, Results
Communist Party of Belarus   206 deputies    (1,1% of total number.)


2014 Belarusian municipal elections, Results
Republican Party of Labour and Justice   34 deputies     (0,2% of total number.)


2014 Belarusian municipal elections, Assessments
«...withdrawal of printed agitation materials of candidates; low-quality production of printed agitation materials; unjustified agitators detention, including candidates detention; obstruction of media use by opposition candidates; electoral commissions spread of inconsistent information on candidates' criminal record, including publication of scandalous reports on candidates with no criminal conviction; unjustified withdrawal of candidate registration, and unjustified rejections to register candidates»


2014 Belfast City Council election
Elections to Belfast City Council were held on 22 May 2014 – on the same day as other local government elections in Northern Ireland – as part of the process of local government reform provided for in the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 2014.


2014 Belfast City Council election
The councils elected in the 2014 local elections across Northern Ireland operated in shadow form for one year, with the 26 councils which they replaced existing in parallel. The local government reorganisation and electoral administration is founded by the Local Government Bill.


2014 Belfast City Council election
This reform saw the Belfast City Council area expand from 51 to 60 wards. Expansion saw some areas along the western, southern and eastern fringes of Belfast incorporated into the city, with a total of 53,000 additional residents and 21,000 households transferred from bordering council areas. A total of 60 councillors were elected.


2014 Belfast City Council election, Changes during the term, – Suspensions
Ruth Patterson (Independent) was suspended from the council from 4 March 2019 to the end of her term in May.


2014 Belgian Basketball Supercup
The 2014 Belgian Basketball Supercup, for sponsorship reasons the Generali Supercup, was the 18th edition of the game since its official foundation of the actual cup in 1997. It was traditionally played in De Stormmeeuw, in Knokke. The 2013–14 Champion and Cup winner Telenet Oostende won its fourth Supercup, by crushing Port of Antwerp Giants 103–62.


2014 Belgian Cup Final
The 2014 Belgian Cup Final, named Cofidis Cup after the sponsor, was the 59th Belgian Cup final and took place on 22 March 2014 between Lokeren and Zulte Waregem. It was won by Lokeren with the only goal coming from Alexander Scholz. For Lokeren it was their second cup win in three years.


2014 Belgian Cup Final, Match, Summary
Zulte Waregem had the best opportunities in a closed first half. Both Idrissa Sylla and Mbaye Leye saw their shot hit the post, while Lokeren only had one decent chance, the header of Nill De Pauw going wide.


2014 Belgian Cup Final, Match, Summary
In the second half, the goal by Jens Naessens was correctly disallowed for offside. With just under an hour played, Alexander Scholz headed the ball into the top corner of the goal, which would remain the only goal of the game as Zulte Waregem did not manage to break through the Lokeren defence in the last half-hour, even though they saw most of the ball.


2014 Belgian Grand Prix
The 2014 Belgian Grand Prix (officially the 2014 Formula 1 Shell Belgian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Stavelot, Wallonia, on 24 August. It was the twelfth round of the 2014 Formula One World Championship and the 58th Belgian Grand Prix held as part of the series. Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo won the 44-lap race starting from fifth position. Nico Rosberg finished second for Mercedes and Williams ' Valtteri Bottas was third.


2014 Belgian Grand Prix
Although Rosberg won the pole position by posting the fastest lap in qualifying, he was immediately passed by his teammate Lewis Hamilton and the second Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel at the start. He returned to second after Vettel made a driver error at Les Combes corner and took the lead following contact with the right-hand front wing end plate and Hamilton's left-rear tyre on lap two. Rosberg made a pit stop to replace the front wing at the conclusion of lap eight, relinquishing the lead to Ricciardo. Over the course of the remainder of the race, Ricciardo maintained the lead and responded to the faster Rosberg in the final ten laps to achieve his second victory in a row and the third of his career.


2014 Belgian Grand Prix
Rosberg was booed by the crowd and received an undisclosed punishment from Mercedes for hitting Hamilton; the two were allowed to race each other with no team orders used. The result kept Ricciardo third in the Drivers' Championship as Rosberg increased his lead over Hamilton to 29 points after Hamilton retired with bodywork damage. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso maintained fourth from Bottas in fifth. Mercedes retained its lead over Red Bull in the Constructors' Championship with seven races left in the season.


2014 Belgian Grand Prix, Background
The race was the 12th of the 19 rounds in the 2014 Formula One World Championship and the 58th Belgian Grand Prix Formula One race. It was held at the 20-turn 7.004 km (4.352 mi) Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Stavelot, Wallonia on 24 August. Tyre supplier Pirelli brought four types of tyre to the race: two dry compounds (yellow-banded soft and the white-banded medium) and two wet-weather compounds (intermediate and full wet).


2014 Belgian Grand Prix, Background
The drag reduction system (DRS) had two activation zones for the race, one was on the straight linking the Bus Stop chicane and La Source corner, and the second was on the Kemmel Straight linking Radillion and Les Combes turns. Following the 2013 race, new debris fences were erected at La Source turn, the barrier on the inside of turn 11 was renewed and track drainage was improved.


2014 Belgian Grand Prix, Background
Entering the race, Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg led the World Drivers' Championship with 202 points, eleven ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton in second. Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull was third with 131 points after winning the preceding Hungarian Grand Prix four weeks earlier and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso was fourth with 115 points. Valtteri Bottas for the Williams team was fifth with 95 points. Mercedes led the World Constructors' Championship with 393 points and they were ahead of Red Bull in second with 213 points. Ferrari were with 142 points and Williams were seven points behind in fourth. With 98 points, Force India held fifth place.


2014 Belgian Grand Prix, Background
At the preceding Hungarian Grand Prix, Hamilton ignored team orders from Mercedes to allow Rosberg to pass him in the final laps. He reduced the Drivers' Championship deficit to 11 points with a third-place finish as Rosberg took fourth. The two discussed how the situation should be diffused in a meeting on the night of 21 August, three days before the Belgian Grand Prix. For his part, Hamilton said he desired a recreation of his best form from earlier in the season and sought to put his recent below-par qualifying performances behind him,


2014 Belgian Grand Prix, Background
"I had some difficult weekends in the first part of the season, but then a bit of good fortune at the last race in Budapest kept me from damaging my car on the wall during that first lap, so hopefully that was a sign that my fortunes are changing at just the right time. There were so many positives to take from the opening eleven races, but both myself and the team always want more and know we are capable of more. The aim is to put the more difficult times of some of the previous weekends behind us and to recreate the best moments at every race from now on. I love driving at Spa, so there are few better places to start."


2014 Belgian Grand Prix, Background
Rosberg said he would not underestimate the duel for the championship due to pace of the other teams, "In Formula One you just can't afford to give away any advantage and I know that both the team and myself will be working harder than ever to keep improving and maintain our position right to the very end. On top of that, the battle with Lewis has been so close all season – and it could well stay that way right up to the final race – so every last point will be crucial in that contest, too."


2014 Belgian Grand Prix, Background
There were 11 teams (each representing a different constructor) each entering two race drivers for the event with a solitary driver change. Three-time co-winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and 2011 Formula Nippon champion André Lotterer drove in lieu of Kamui Kobayashi at Caterham. At 32 years, 288 days old, Lotterer was the oldest driver to debut in Formula One since Giovanni Lavaggi at the 1995 German Grand Prix and it was his first time in a Formula One car since testing for Jaguar in 2002.


2014 Belgian Grand Prix, Background
Marussia announced that GP2 Series competitor and test and reserve driver Alexander Rossi would be entered in place of regular driver Max Chilton, because of reported "contractual issues" but the organisation who represented Chilton said that he relinquished his role "voluntarily". Chilton's seat was subsequently reinstated following a successful request to the stewards by Marussia, meaning Rossi drove only in the first practice session. In that session, Sauber reserve driver Giedo van der Garde drove Esteban Gutiérrez's car.


2014 Belgian Grand Prix, Practice
Per the regulations for the 2014 season, three practice sessions were held, two 90-minute sessions on Friday and one 60-minute session on Saturday. In the first session, held in dry weather, Rosberg was fastest with a lap of 1 minute, 51.577 seconds, almost a tenth of a second quicker than his teammate Hamilton in second. Ferrari's Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen were third and fifth, separated by Jenson Button's McLaren in fourth. Force India's Sergio Pérez led McLaren's Kevin Magnussen, the other Force India of Nico Hülkenberg, Ricciardo and Bottas in positions six to ten.


2014 Belgian Grand Prix, Practice
During the session, Alonso briefly stopped at the edge of Eau Rouge corner with engine problems, and his teammate Räikkönen spun leaving the La Source hairpin before his car's energy recovery system overheated. Button's DRS was lodged open, Vettel's session ended early with a temperature-related exhaust failure and Marcus Ericsson spun his Caterham at the La Source hairpin.


2014 Belgian Grand Prix, Practice
Hamilton set the day's fastest lap on the soft compound tyre during a qualifying simulation in the second session at 1 minute, 49.189 seconds. Rosberg was 0.604 seconds slower in second and Alonso was third. Felipe Massa of Williams was fourth, Button fifth and Bottas sixth. Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat, Ricciardo, Magnussen and Hülkenberg followed in the top ten. Just after eight minutes into practice, Pastor Maldonado ran onto the grass on the outside exiting Rivage corner and heading into Pouhon turn. He lost control of his Lotus, speared across into a barrier on the inside, causing a red flag.


2014 Belgian Grand Prix, Practice
The right-rear wheel was deranged from Maldonado's car and track marshals cleared debris. He was transported to the circuit's medical centre for a pre-cautionary check-up and was later released with no injuries found. A gearbox fault caused Gutiérrez to spin soon after at Blanchimont corner, prompting a second stoppage since he was unable to continue driving.


2014 Belgian Grand Prix, Practice
After the second session, Vettel, whose ignition failed in one cylinder breaking the exhaust and overheating the kinetic motor–generator unit, changed his engine, his fifth of the season. He avoided incurring a ten-place grid penalty because he reverted to an old engine used in the preceding Hungarian Grand Prix. Heavy overnight rain made the circuit damp and little on-track activity occurred in the final session's first half an hour. Wet and intermediate tyres were used before the dry soft and medium tyres for the rest of the session as teams prepared for qualifying. Bottas was fastest on the drying track with a lap of 1 minute, 49.465 seconds late in the session. Ricciardo, Rosberg, Räikkönen, Hamilton, Alonso, Kvyat, Button, Massa and Toro Rosso's Jean-Éric Vergne completed the top ten.


2014 Belgian Grand Prix, Qualifying
Saturday afternoon's qualifying session was divided into three parts. The first part ran for 18 minutes, eliminating cars that finished the session 17th or below. The 107% rule was in effect, requiring drivers to reach a time within 107 per cent of the quickest lap to qualify. The second part lasted 15 minutes, eliminating cars that finished 11th to 16th. The final 12-minute session determined pole position to tenth.


2014 Belgian Grand Prix, Qualifying
Cars who progressed to the final session were not allowed to change tyres for the race's start, using the tyres with which they set their quickest lap times in the second session. Heavy rain returned 40 minutes before qualifying commenced and accompanied a hailstorm, making the circuit slippery. Although it later stopped, uncertainty over the weather caused teams to use wet-weather tyres. Rain returned at the conclusion of the first session and it remained for most of the following session before turning sunny for the final session.


2014 Belgian Grand Prix, Qualifying
Rosberg was fastest in the first and third sessions and took his first pole position at Spa-Francorchamps, his fourth in a row, his seventh of 2014, and the 11th of his career with a time of 2 minutes, 5.591 seconds. He was joined on the grid's front row by his teammate Hamilton whose front left brake disc was grazed, causing his car to jerk; Hamilton lost time by changing his braking points. Vettel and Alonso took third and fourth after their first timed laps of the final session and both drivers could not better the two Mercedes.


2014 Belgian Grand Prix, Qualifying
Ricciardo qualified fifth after running wide at Blanchimont corner on his final lap. A loss of time in the first third of the lap caused Bottas to start from sixth. An understeer from flat-spotting his front tyres at the La Source hairpin in the second session put Magnussen seventh. Multiple driving errors from Räikkönen left him eighth. Ninth-placed Massa had a grazed front right disc in the track's heavy braking zones. Traffic on his warm-up lap comprised his tyre warming and slowed him. Button took tenth after locking his brakes cresting a hill into Les Combes corner.


2014 Belgian Grand Prix, Qualifying
Kvyat was the fastest driver not to qualify in the top ten because he was demoted to 11th in the final seconds of the second session. An exhaust system fault limited his teammate Vergne to three timed laps and 12th place. The wet track prevented Pérez in 13th from going faster. Sauber's Adrian Sutil pushed hard to start from 14th and a loss of rear car control left Lotus' Romain Grosjean in 15th.


2014 Belgian Grand Prix, Qualifying
Marussia driver Jules Bianchi entered the second session for the second successive year in Belgium and the third time in the last four races; he took 16th after balance issues at Les Combes corner and brake grazing problems caused him to run deep at Bruxelles turn. Maldonado, 17th. failed to progress beyond the first session after spinning on his fastest lap. Hülkenberg in 18th could not progress past the first session for the first time since the 2012 season due to a loss of brake feel and a minor driver error. A lack of battery power put Chilton 19th and powertrain problems left Gutiérrez in 20th. Lotterer in 21st out-qualified his Caterham teammate Ericsson in 22nd by almost a second.


2014 Belgian Grand Prix, Qualifying, Qualifying classification
The fastest lap in each of the three sessions is denoted in bold.


2014 Belgian Grand Prix, Race
The race began from a standing start at 14:00 Central European Summer Time (UTC+02:00). The weather at the start was dry with dark clouds, and some rain had fallen. The air temperature was between 13 to 15 °C (55 to 59 °F) and the track temperature from 21 and 31 °C (70 and 88 °F); forecasts on Sunday predicted rain to fall but not with the same intensity as on Saturday. Every driver, except for Sutil, began on the soft compound tyres.


2014 Belgian Grand Prix, Race
The soft compound tyre was predicted to be 13 seconds faster over 15 laps and degradation rate research prompted most teams to make two pit stops for their drivers. As the Ferrari mechanics were about to start Alonso's car on the grid, it failed to respond because its battery had been emptied for unspecified reasons.


2014 Belgian Grand Prix, Race
They retrieved a jump-start battery from their garage and used it on his car, giving Alonso a five-second time penalty taken at his first pit stop since Ferrari broke a regulation mandating all team personnel to vacate the track 15 seconds before the start of the formation lap. Alonso's mechanics completed the installation of the spare battery before the last car passed him, allowing him to start from fourth.


2014 Belgian Grand Prix, Race
Although he stopped slightly outside of his grid slot and reversed to find a good angle, Hamilton used his teammate Rosberg's slower start to lead into the La Source hairpin. Vettel out-braked Rosberg on the left and passed him going uphill towards Eau Rouge corner putting himself between the two Mercedes. He deployed 160 hp (120 kW) of electrical energy on the Kemmel Straight as Hamilton attempted to prevent Vettel from clinging onto his slipstream by defending on the right, encouraing Vettel to steer left and he out-braked Hamilton on cold tyres.


2014 Belgian Grand Prix, Race
He locked his tyres and used the run-off area to rejoin the track in third, behind Rosberg but ahead of Ricciardo. Elsewhere, Bianchi and Grosjean made contact at the exit to the La Source hairpin, puncturing Bianchi's right-rear tyre and forcing him into the pit lane for a replacement wheel. At the end of the first lap, Hamilton led his teammate Rosberg by half a second, with Vettel third. Alonso and Ricciardo were fourth and fifth. Maldonado became the first driver to retire from the Grand Prix with a suspected exhaust failure causing smoke to emit from the rear of his car on lap two.


2014 Belgian Grand Prix, Race
That lap, Hamilton again went defensive but this time from Rosberg, his teammate, who slipstreamed him. Rosberg put Hamilton on the outside line as his front wing was level with Hamilton's side pod when the two entered Les Combes corner. As Hamilton was halfway through the left-hand turn, his left-rear tyre got punctured by Rosberg's front right wing endplate. A section of endplate was launched airborne; much of Rosberg's front wing remained intact. Hamilton's tyre delaminated at the exit to Pouhon corner and it caused downforce-related bodywork damage.