Updates from the Rest of the Racing World
Atlas F1 Magazine Writer
Rossi Reasserts at Donington
He qualified only eleventh, leaving Valentino Rossi to come from further downfield than anyone has ever done at Donington Park to win. But win he did, leaving little doubt whose name will be etched into the crystal at the end of the year.
Max Biaggi took pole after fellow Italians Loris Capirossi and Valentino Rossi had big falls in practice. It would be the reigning champion Kenny Roberts who would holeshot the start however, exploding from the second row to lead the first lap from Biaggi, Alex Barros, Capirossi, Shinya Nakano, Jurgen van der Goorbergh on the Proton, Olivier Jacque and Carlos Checa. Rossi was down in eleventh after a customary slow start.
Roberts built a small lead while Biaggi and Barros battled for second. Rossi was up to sixth by lap four. Within another five laps Rossi caught and passed the resurgent Jacque and Capirossi.
Barros had been attacking Roberts for the lead, trying to pre-empt when the Suzuki would start to fade down the field as usual. Biaggi though had sensed the presence of his arch rival, and quickly disposed of Barros and Roberts to take the lead.
However, it would only delay the inevitable for Biaggi. Rossi moved passed the fading Suzuki, then the Honda, and set off after Biaggi. On lap 18, Biaggi could hold off Rossi no more, Rossi taking the lead and setting off for the finish. Roberts continued to fall down the field, losing fourth to the flying Noriyuki Haga, although Haga was not able to bridge the gap to third placed Barros. Carlos Checa led home Shinya Nakano ahead of Alex Criville and the battle between Roberts and Jacque.
Rossi has now stretched his lead out to 26 points over Biaggi. From what we've seen so far, it's not likely Biaggi will be able close that gap.
Results of World Motorcycle Championship, Round 8, British Grand Prix, Donington Park, United Kingdom:
Biaggi Bags Dutch Washout
One of the jewels of the MotoGP season, the 2001 Dutch TT was cut short after 15 laps by rain, which is plaguing international motorcycle racing this season. The prospect of poor weather made a fascinating backdrop to the Rossi-Biaggi confrontation dominating the 500s.
When the race was declared, Max Biaggi became the first Yamaha winner of the Dutch TT in eight years. Biaggi and arch rival Valentino Rossi had been dicing furiously as the rain closed in.
Loris Capirossi started on pole on the Sito Pons Honda, but was unable to hold back Alex Barros in the early running. Rossi made one of his trademark poor starts, but followed it with his usual blitz through the field to the front.
At the end of lap 1, Barros led from Biaggi, Norick Abe, Capirossi, Rossi, Kenny Roberts Jr, Carlos Checa and Noriyuki Haga. From there, one of 500 excellent dices ensued, with Capirossi briefly leading until his two countrymen asserted themselves. Lap three saw the loss of two front runners when Norick Abe and Carlos Checa collided.
At the final completed lap Biaggi led from Rossi, with Capirossi just holding out Barros ahead of Nakano and Roberts, with a gap back to Sete Gibernau on his own and well clear of the surviving Repsol Honda of Tohru Ukawa. Repsol leader Alex Criville fell early in the race.
Results of World Motorcycle Championship, Round 7, Dutch Tourist Trophy, Assen, The Netherlands:
Standings (after Donington): Valentino Rossi 161, Max Biaggi 135, Loris Capirossi 103, Alex Barros 89, Shinya Nakano 84, Norick Abe 74, Alex Criville 71, Kenny Roberts Jnr 55, Sete Gibernau 54, Tohru Ukawa 53 etc
Webber Within A Point
Webber won the start after Enge missed a gear, Webber pulling rapidly away. Further back Ricardo Mauricio (Red Bull) and Zsolt Baumgartner (Prost) were eliminated in a turn 1 incident.
The Nordic team then battled over second place, with Tomas Enge and Justin Wilson debating the place. Several times Wilson got a good look, but was unable to pass Enge until a last lap dive into the Adelaide Hairpin. Taking second kept Wilson in the series lead by a solitary point over Webber. Webber was ecstatic with the result, impersonating his hero Michael Schumacher with a huge leap on the podium.
Patrick Friesacher (Red Bull) took a season best fourth place ahead of Darren Manning (Arden), Sebastien Bourdais (DAMS) and the second Super Nova of Mario Haberfeld.
Results of International Formula 3000 Championship, Round 7, Magny-Cours, France:
Enge Re-enters the Fray
Enge got a blinder off the line, pulling quickly away from Webber, who went wide at turn 1, remarkably failing to lose a spot. Moments before, Webber had stalled on the grid but managed to re-fire the car. Further down, drivers weren't so lucky, with Fabrizio Gollin (Coloni) and Giorgio Pantano (Astromega) colliding on the opening lap, forcing both drivers to pit.
Wilson's retirement closed up the top three drivers in the points chase, who are pulling clear of the rest of the drivers in the series.
Results of International Formula 3000 Championship, Round 6, Nurburgring, Germany:
Standings (after Magny-Cours): Justin Wilson 37, Mark Webber 36, Tomas Enge 32, Bas Leinders 12, Jaime Melo, Sebastien Bourdais, David Saelens, Antonio Pizzonia and Darren Manning 8, Ricardo Sperafcio 6, etc
Teams: Coca-Cola Nordic 69, Super Nova 39, KTR and Petrobras 14, European 9, etc
The Scot Strikes Back
Mauricio Guglemin led the race from pole position to start the race but the yellows were out almost immediately as the field bunched up at the first corner hairpin, which saw Patrick Carpentier, Michael Jourdain Jr, Tony Kanaan and Roberto Moreno spat out onto the grass.
Max Wilson then took up the running ahead of Alex Tagliani. Memo Gidley was repaying some of the faith placed in him by Chip Ganassi, moving into third. Out of the race though was Team Green driver Paul Tracy. Tagliani slipped down through the field, as he was passed by Gidley, Adrian Fernandez and Kenny Brack in the space of two laps. Meanwhile, Gidley took the lead from Wilson under brakes at turn 6.
The pitstops started on lap 31, with Memo Gidley first in. Max Wilson pitted soon after, but his pitstop was destroyed after Bruno Junqueira collided with Christian Fittipaldi as they entered the pits. Wilson was unable to get to his pit bay because Junqueira's damaged car blocked the entry to his pit. Wilson's bad luck continued, losing part of his front wing on Zanardi's car as they fought for position. He was then caught speeding in the pits which saw him receive a drive through penalty.
With only a few laps to go, Franchitti took the lead after Gidley stopped for a splash'n'dash for fuel. From there on, Franchitti held a small but comfortable gap to the flag, with Gidley a career-best second, Herta third, then de Ferran, Vasser and Brack.
Just after the chequered flag Franchitti came to a halt, with no fuel. Team Green gambled on fuel strategy, and while Gidley led most of the race, Franchitti picked up the win.
Results of FedEx CART World Series Round 9, Cleveland, Ohio:
Mad Max Conquers Portland's Wet
The race started under wet conditions although it wasn't raining. De Ferran was already in trouble, spinning off during the warmup laps and damaging his front wing. Kenny Brack, Tora Takagi, Helio Castroneves and Tony Kanaan all spun on lap 1, Castroneves losing a lap as he recovered. Kanaan's recovery would be worse as he and Memo Gidley collided, forcing them into the path of Alex Zanardi, taking all three cars out of the race.
Within a lap of going back to green the yellow flags were out again as Takagi and Michael Andretti had a small coming together. On the next restart, da Matta had an off but was push started.
t was all becoming a bit silly. The next green flag lasted less than a lap when Adrian Fernandez spun and stalled, and da Matta had another off.
Second lap of green after the next restart saw Max Wilson and Bryan Herta touch, with Herta sent spinning, leading to another yellow flag period. Elsewhere, Alex Tagliani rotated too. The race briefly returned to green flag racing until Takagi spun and stalled, bringing out the yellows again. After the next restart, there was a few laps of green before Michel Jourdain Jnr spun, bringing out the yellow flags once again.
A further period of green flag racing took place before Paul Tracy and Mauricio Gugelmin collided, bringing out the pace car again, thankfully for the final time. After this there was finally time for some real racing with Papis now leading from Roberto Moreno, Max Wilson and Patrick Carpentier.
From here, the race settled down as the drivers headed to the timed finish, the major change being Christian Fittipaldi fighting his way onto the podium.
Results of FedEx CART World Series Round 8, Portland, Oregon:
Standings (after Cleveland): Kenny Brack 84, Helio Castroneves 70, Dario Franchitti 65, Gil de Ferran 56, Cristiano da Matta 55, Michael Andretti 53, Jimmy Vasser 50, Christian Fittipaldi 48, Scott Dixon 44, Roberto Moreno 41 etc...
Bostrom Does the Double at Home
As happens so often in Superbikes, certain circuits are almost exclusive provenance to the locals. Laguna Seca in California, USA is one of those, with Ben Bostrom taking two wins that revived his flagging hopes of scoring a podium position in the final championship standings.
In the first race, Neil Hodgson made the early running with Troy Corser in pursuit, but local rider Ben Bostrom mowed down the Aprilia and the privately run Ducati to win at home.
Troy Bayliss did his championship hopes no harm at all with a fourth place, and most importantly, ahead of Colin Edwards. Between the title aspirants was the AMA Kwaka of Eric Bostrom., with Ruben Xaus finishing seventh.
In race two Bostrom was never headed, pulling clear of Troy Corser as the race progressed. Corser's second along with the third from race one should cool speculation over the Australian's future with Aprilia.
In third place was a distant Neil Hodgson with Bayliss, Eric Bostrom and Colin Edwards filling the race two positions. Hodgson's rookie teammate James Toseland claimed seventh ahead of Akira Yanagawa.
Results of World Superbike Championship Round 9, Laguna Seca, United States
Bayliss and Bostrom Battle Over Misano
In Italy watch for the Ducatis. It's a simple statement to extrapolate that the Italian bikes would do well at home, particularly with a bike so friendly to privateer outfits. With a win and a second each, factory Duke riders Troy Bayliss and Ben Bostrom each underlined the competitiveness of the 996 despite coming from semi-independent teams.
The performance of Bayliss confirmed his place as leader of the World Championship, particularly after poor results for main rivals, Honda's Colin Edwards and Aprilia's Troy Corser.
Race one was generally a fairly ordinary race by World Superbike standards, with the race quickly settling down once the opening laps had decided the running order. However, Bostrom's race long lead was challenged strongly in the late stages when Bayliss stepped up a notch. Halfway around the final lap Bayliss snatched the lead, and took the race one win.
Third across the line was a very impressive Gregorio Lavilla on the Kawasaki having passed Colin Edwards in the late stages of the race. The closely following Edwards complained that Lavilla had passed under yellow flags, and the officials' report confirmed this, returning third to the defending champion. Fifth was another Kwaka, Akira Yanagawa, ahead of the increasingly consistent Neil Hodgson and the Aprilias of Troy Corser and the young Italian Alessandro Antonello.
Race two was interrupted after the crash of Ludovic Holon. Holon broke his shoulder in the fall and a red flag was required to get medical attention to the rider, causing a full race restart.
Bostrom took no chances with his lead and pushed hard to gap the field. The American had a huge lead by race end with his only rival for pace, Neil Hodgson, badly damaging a tyre with 3 laps to go, ending his points hopes.
Bayliss fought over second with Edwards and Lavilla, the Kwaka clearly liking the Misano layout. Bayliss got clear of Lavilla to take second, while Edwards fell back after his tyres failed to last the distance.
This allowed a career best fourth place for Antonello. Of his team leader, Corser faded down field again, to ninth, complaining of a vibration. There has been much speculation over the state of the relationship between the veteran Australian and Aprilia. The relative performances of Antonello and Corser in this race would certainly do Corser no favours.
Tady Okada and Ruben Xaus followed ahead of sensational Ducati privateer Broc Parkes, Wayne Gardner's protege benefitting from attrition but also bested all the privateer Dukes and several factory machines.
Results of World Superbike Championship, Round 8, Misano, Italy:
Standings (after Laguna Seca): Troy Bayliss 276, Colin Edwards 223, Troy Corser 215, Ben Bostrom 197, Neil Hodgson 177, Pierfrancesco Chili 153, Gregorio Lavilla 120, Akira Yanagawa 118, Tadayuki Okada 113, Ruben Xaus 92 etc..
MotoGP
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Valentino Rossi Honda NSR500
2. Max Biaggi Yamaha YZR500
3. Alex Barros Honda NSR500
4. Noriyuki Haga Yamaha YZR500
5. Carlos Checa Yamaha YZR500
6. Shinya Nakano Yamaha YZR500
7. Alex Criville Honda NSR500
8. Kenny Roberts Jnr Suzuki RGV500
9. Olivier Jacque Yamaha YZR500
10. Loris Capirossi Honda NSR500
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Max Biaggi Yamaha YZR500
2. Valentino Rossi Honda NSR500
3. Loris Capirossi Honda NSR500
4. Alex Barros Honda NSR500
5. Shinya Nakano Yamaha YZR500
6. Kenny Roberts Jr Suzuki RGV500
7. Sete Gibernau Suzuki RGV500
8. Tohru Ukawa Honda NSR500
9. Jurgen vd Goorbergh Proton KR3
10. Noriyuki Haga Yamaha YZR500
Formula 3000
One thing is fairly clear. The International Formula 3000 series is now a race in three. Nordic Racing's Justin Wilson and Tomas Enge and SuperNova's Mark Webber have taken all the wins this year and are 20 points clear of Bas Leinders in fourth place. It was the Australian who was the first of the three to take three race wins with a dominant performance at Magny-Cours.
Pos Driver Team
1. Mark Webber Super Nova Racing
2. Justin Wilson Coca-Cola Nordic Racing
3. Tomas Enge Coca-Cola Nordic Racing
4. Patrick Friesacher Red Bull Junior Team
5. Darren Manning Arden Team Russia
6. Sebastien Bourdais DAMS
7. Mario Haberfeld Super Nova Racing
8. Giorgio Pantano Team Astromega
9. David Saelens European Minardi
10. Antonio Pizzonia Petrobras Junior Team
In the five races so far this year, the winners have been Wilson, Webber, Enge, Wilson, Webber. Obviously, it was Tomas Enge's turn again. So Enge took his second win of the season at the Nurburgring, running away from pole position and maintaining a gap over the slow starting Mark Webber. It was another showcase of how much like Formula One that Formula 3000 has become, with not a single overtaking manoeuvre in the top ten all race, apart from the retirement of series leader Justin Wilson.
At the end of the first lap, Enge led Webber, Ricardo Sperafico (Petrobras), David Saelens (European), Ricardo Mauricio (Red Bull), Antonio Pizzonia (Petrobras), Darren Manning (Arden) and Justin Wilson (Nordic). Wilson would not last long though, spinning repeatedly with a faulty front brake caliper. From there the top seven continued as they were to the finish.
Pos Driver Team
1. Tomas Enge Coca-Cola Nordic Racing
2. Mark Webber Super Nova Racing
3. Ricardo Sperafico Petrobras Junior Team
4. David Saelens European Minardi
5. Ricardo Mauricio Red Bull Junior Team
6. Antonio Pizzonia Petrobras Junior Team
7. Darren Manning Arden Team Russia
8. Sebastien Bourdais DAMS
9. Andrea Piccini European Minardi
10. Patrick Friesacher Red Bull Junior Team
CART
The Grand Prix of Cleveland featured the return of Dario Franchitti - almost unseen in CART since the days of the legendary season long spar with Juan Montoya back in 1999.
After the second round of pitstops, Gidley led from Gil de Ferran, Roberto Moreno, Dario Franchitti and Bryan Herta, while elsewhere Scott Dixon was taken out by Tora Takagi.
Pos Driver Car
1. Dario Franchitti Reynard-Honda
2. Memo Gidley Lola-Toyota
3. Bryan Herta Reynard-Ford
4. Gil de Ferran Reynard-Honda
5. Jimmy Vasser Reynard-Toyota
6. Kenny Brack Lola-Ford
7. Cristiano da Matta Lola-Toyota
8. Roberto Moreno Reynard-Toyota
9. Alex Tagliani Reynard-Ford
10. Mauricio Gugelmin Reynard-Toyota
'Mad' Max Papis made an emotional return to the winner's circle after a win in chaotic conditions at the Portland round of the FedEx CART World Series.
The race again restarted for several laps before Fernandez spun, bringing out the yellows for the seventh time in less than 35 laps. Most of the field pitted under these yellows, during which Paul Tracy collided with Bruno Junqueira as Tracy exited his pit stop, putting Junqueira out of the race and earning Tracy a penalty. The race again went back to green before Shinji Nakano crasheed.
Pos Driver Car
1. Max Papis Lola-Ford
2. Roberto Moreno Reynard-Toyota
3. Christian Fittipaldi Lola-Toyota
4. Max Wilson Lola-Ford
5. Patrick Carpentier Reynard-Ford
6. Dario Franchitti Reynard-Honda
7. Scott Dixon Reynard-Toyota
8. Michael Andretti Reynard-Honda
9. Oriol Servia Lola-Ford
10. Cristiano da Matta Lola-Toyota
Superbikes
Race 1
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Ben Bostrom Ducati 996R
2. Neil Hodgson Ducati 996RS
3. Troy Corser Aprilia RSV1000
4. Troy Bayliss Ducati 996RS
5. Eric Bostrom Kawasaki ZX 7RR
6. Colin Edwards Honda VTR1000 SP
7. Ruben Xaus Ducati 996R
8. Tadayuki Okada Honda VTR1000 SP
9. Doug Chandler Kawasaki ZX 7RR
10. James Toseland Ducati 996RS
Race 2
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Ben Bostrom Ducati 996R
2. Troy Corser Aprilia RSV1000
3. Neil Hodgson Ducati 996RS
4. Troy Bayliss Ducati 996R
5. Eric Bostrom Kawasaki ZX 7RR
6. Colin Edwards Honda VTR1000 SP
7. James Toseland Ducati 996RS
8. Akira Yanagawa Kawasaki ZX 7RR
9. Regis Laconi Aprilia RSV1000
10. Ruben Xaus Ducati 996R
Race 1
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Troy Bayliss Ducati 996R
2. Ben Bostrom Ducati 996R
3. Colin Edwards Honda VTR1000 SP
4. Gregorio Lavilla Kawasaki ZX 7RR
5. Akira Yanagawa Kawasaki ZX 7RR
6. Neil Hodgson Ducati 996RS
7. Troy Corser Aprilia RSV1000
8. Alessandro Antonello Aprilia RSV1000
9. Tadayuki Okada Honda VTR1000 SP
10. Ruben Xaus Ducati 996R
Race 2
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Ben Bostrom Ducati 996R
2. Troy Bayliss Ducati 996R
3. Gregorio Lavilla Kawasaki ZX 7RR
4. Alessandro Antonello Aprilia RSV1000
5. Tadayuki Okada Honda VTR1000 SP
6. Ruben Xaus Ducati 996R
7. Broc Parkes Ducati 996RS
8. James Toseland Ducati 996RS
9. Troy Corser Aprilia RSV1000
10. Piefrancesco Chili Suzuki GSXR750
Briefs
Hiroki Katoh and John Nielsen took a debut win for the Dome S101 at Brno round of the FIA Sports Car Championship. In heavy rain, Nielsen stormed away from the start and was only headed after pitstops.
Date Venue
March 2 Homestead
March 17 Phoenix
April 21 Nazareth
May 26 Indianapolis 500
June 8 Texas
June 16 Pike's Peak
June 29 Richmond
July 7 Kansas
July 20 Nashville
July 28 Michigan
August 11 Kentucky
August 25 Gateway
September 8 Chicagoland
September 15 Texas
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Volume 7, Issue 28
Atlas F1 Special
Hakkinen 2001: Chronicles of Desperation
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