Updates from the Rest of the Racing World
Atlas F1 Magazine Writer
Max Biaggi Leads Marlboro Yamaha 1-2
Right from the start, Max Biaggi meant business, taking pole position for the French Grand Prix, held for a second time at the redeveloped Bugatti circuit at Le Mans, which uses the grandstand section of the famous 24 hour sports car circuit but instead twists and turns through the paddock behind the pits.
A huge crowd, in the grip of Le Mans fever, turned out for a thin field of only 20 bikes. Garry McCoy broke his scaphoid bone in a fall in practice and was forced to miss the race. Similarly, Anthony West missed the race after a fall, and disappointingly for the crowd, local rider Olivier Jacque would miss the race from pre-existing injuries.
Reigning 500cc champion Kenny Roberts Jr got the jump and so the Suzuki led the way through the Chicane and round the famous Dunlop sweeper, ahead of the Marlboro Yamahas of Max Biaggi and Carlos Checa, having a well deserved form revival. Next was the Honda of Tohru Ukawa, then Alex Criville, Shinya Nakano and Loris Capirossi. Like Jerez, championship leader Valentino Rossi made a woeful start.
Biaggi was all over Roberts, putting the Suzuki rider under all sorts of pressure before finally sweeping by at Dunlop on lap 4, only to surrender it two laps later after a brief off over a ripple strip. Roberts didn't have the lead long as Carlos Checa outbraked the Suzuki into one of Le Mans many hairpins. The battle allowed Criville to close on Biaggi, bringing with him Ukawa, Nakano and Rossi.
On lap 10, both Ukawa and eighth placed Noriyuki Haga fell in separate incidents. Abe was starting to close in on the leading group, while Rossi started to make his move and was hounding Criville for fourth by half distance. A lap later, fourth was his, with the rapidly fading Roberts next in his sights.
The Yamahas were gone though, and a momentary error by Checa let Biaggi through to the lead, with Biaggi immediately gapping his teammate. From here the only question was how far up the field would the charging Rossi and Abe make it. Rossi was within sight of Checa at the end of the race, while Abe managed to successfully hunt down Criville for fourth. Roberts managed to hang on to sixth, avoiding a fourth consecutive seventh placing.
In the 250cc class, Honda's Daijiro Katoh is having an even bigger impact on the series than Rossi is on the 500s. Katoh notched his fourth win from four starts, the first time since Mike Hailwood in 1966 that this feat has been achieved. Katoh took the win from Tetsuya Harada (Aprilia) after a race long battle that was settled when Katoh claimed the fastest lap of the race to keep Harada behind. Marco Melandri (Aprilia) was third, a remarkable result after a big high side in practice dislocated his shoulder.
Meanwhile, the 125s produced its usual high standard of racing and produced an emotional moment in motorcycle racing. Manuel Poggiali won his first race, but more significantly, he won it on a Gilera. The last time a Gilera had won a race was 45 years ago. Poggiali, the Hondas of Mirko Giansanti and Toni Elias and the Aprilias of Gino Borsoi and Lucio Cecchinello fought out the race with the result coming down to the last corner between Poggiali, Giansanti and Elias. If the race had gone on just a little longer Elias may have won, after a ferocious attack saw him rise from fifth to third in the final two laps.
Back to the 500s, and Rossi's third place has put him even further ahead as the circus moves to Rossi's home race at Mugello. It's also the home race of Biaggi and Loris Capirossi, so a big crowd is certain to turn up to see the three popular Italians face off.
Results of World Motorcycle Championship, Round 4, Le Mans (Bugatti circuit), France:
Pole-Sharp
Ganassi has reversed his earlier decision not to allow his two CART racers, Bruno Junqueira and Nicolas Minassian, to run in the Indy 500. However having already asked Tony Stewart and Jimmy Vasser to stand in for them, Ganassi will now run four cars in the big race. Junqueira will start from row 7 in 20th position, while Minassian's 22nd puts him on the eighth row.
Of the other big names in the field, former winner Buddy Lazier is on the fourth row with Penske's Helio Castroneves and Ganassi's Jimmy Vasser. Scott Goodyear is 16th on row 6, while sharing row 7 with Junqueira is former winner Al Unser Jr and the Team Green entry of Michael Andretti. Former Formula One drivers Eddie Cheever and Eliseo Salazar have made the field in 25th and 28th, while last man in the field, Felipe Giaffone, replaces Raul Boesel who qualified the car in 31st grid position.
The Indy 500 will be held this Sunday.
Brack Breaks Through
The race started ignominiously when during the first lap, Bruno Junqueira's Lola got unsettled and started a tank slapper exiting turn four. As Junqueira's car lurched back to the right he collided with a sliding Cristiano da Matta, ending both drivers' races, da Matta sliding down the track after receiving a bump from Max Papis. Alex Tagliani also damaged his Player's Reynard and would lose several laps in the pits.
Once underway again, Helio Castroneves led the pack away, ahead of Dario Franchitti, Tony Kanaan, Kenny Brack and Gil de Ferran. The mover in the pack was Paul Tracy, scything through the field after a poor qualifying effort. The first pistops started on lap 49, Alex Zanardi first in, in what would be a bad omen for the Mo Nunn team later in the race. Kanaan pitted immediately after, and already there was a fuel economy question mark on the Hondas. After the first round of pit stops, Castroneves led from Brack, Tracy, Kanaan and Franchitti. Out of the race already were Michael Andretti with a broken gearbox and Bryan Herta with a broken header. It would not be a good day for Team Green as Paul Tracy soon coasted into the pits to join Andretti. Meanwhile, on the track Kenny Brack took the lead for the first time.
Just before the second round of pit stops Dario Franchitti swept by Castroneves for second place. Brack's second pitstop was delayed by a problem with the right rear wheel, but it could have been a lot worse, resuming in third behind Kanaan and Castroneves. On lap 130, Team Green's misery was complete when Franchitti fell out of fifth place, calling into the pits with engine failure. Adrian Fernandez had moved up to sixth with teammate Shinji Nakano close behind when a disastrous pitstop dropped him down the order.
By the final stanza of the race, Kenny Brack had a huge gap on the field, however Tony Kanaan set about bridging the gap while Zanardi closed in on the two Penskes. Zanardi pitted for a splash of fuel on lap 179 and Brack looked secure again. Would Kanaan and the Penskes have to pit again? On lap 185 Kanaan drifted down pitlane and Brack was home. Or so it seemed.
On the track Brack had only a single lapped car protecting him from Castroneves and Kanaan. The lapped car, Oriol Servia, was slow away for the final lap restart and Brack sprinted to his debut victory. Castroneves and Kanaan completed the podium with Christian Fittipaldi salvaging a fourth for the Newman-Haas sqaud ahead of Jimmy Vasser. Brack's Team Rahal team mate Papis was sixth ahead of Alex Zanardi, at last showing some of the speed which caught Frank Williams's eye three years ago.
Results of FedEx CART World Series, Round 4, Motegi, Japan:
Wilson Leads Title Chase After First Corner Chaos
Sebastien Bourdais and Patrick Friesacher qualified on the front row of the grid and led the field away up the hill towards what was once known as Hella Licht on the Austrian circuit of the A-1 Ring. A mistake by Friesacher saw the Red Bull car sideways around the corner, sending himself and Bourdais into the turn 1 gravel, and triggering a chain reaction down the field. Fabrizio Gollin clashed with Antonio Garcia, and Darren Manning struck the pair of them. When the dust cleared nine cars were in the kitty litter: Friesacher, Bourdais, Gollin, Garcia, Manning, Mark Webber, Mario Haberfeld, Ricardo Sperafico and Joel Camathias.
In the queue behind the pace car Bas Leinders led the survivors. Justin Wilson was second ahead of Antonio Pizzonia and Tomas Enge. At the restart, the two Coca-Cola cars pounced, each passing to take the lead and third respectively. From there the race settled, David Saelens the mover in the field, dropping from fifth steadily down the list, while Jaime Melo and Dino Morelli moved up into the points.
Leinders tried one passing move at two-thirds distance at the uphill Turn 2, made famous the following day by Juan Pablo Montoya in his battle with Michael Schumacher. Leinders took the lead but lost it again in the exit, almost dropping to third behind Enge. The order stayed the same to the finish apart from Andrea Piccini's remarkable charge through the depleted field after stalling on the grid to take sixth place.
The next race is the glamour event of the Formula 3000 season, Monaco.
Results of International Formula 3000 Championship, Round 4, A-1 Ring, Austria:
Bayliss Masters Monza
In front of Ducati's home crowd, Troy Bayliss took two excellent race wins and retook the lead in his see-saw battle for the championship with Aprilia's Troy Corser. It was the traditional Monza slipstreaming battles for the Superbikes, with Bayliss and Honda's reigning World Champ Colin Edwards. Controversy reigned over the reprofiled Retifilo chicane, which was rebuilt last year for Formula One. The new Retifilo was deemed considerably more dangerous for the bikes.
Bayliss' holeshot start saw him leading the field, screaming towards the new Retifilo. As the field threaded through, pre-race fears were justified as bikes clashed and fell mid-pack. Down towards the Lesmos, Bayliss led from Neil Hodgson and Colin Edwards. Edwards was on a mission though, and swept past the two Ducatis on the entrance to the Ascari chicane, only to lose the lead to the swifter Ducatis down the back straight. Across the line it was Bayliss, Hodgson, Edwards, Akira Yanagawa, Ruben Xaus and hometown hero Pierfrancesco Chili.
The top three continued to swap poistions, while attrition took its toll on the big names. Ben Bostrom crashed his Ducati at the Parabolica, while Troy Corser fumbled at the new Retifilo, taking Chili down with him. Hodgson and Edwards pulled a small gap on the furious battle for third between Bayliss, Xaus and Tadayuki Okada, which was shortened when Okada also fell victim to the Retifilo. Xaus and Bayliss closed up to the leaders. Back in fifth snarled a pack led by Regis Laconi, then Aprilia test rider Alessandro Antonello getting his first run of the year, fighting with the Kawasakis of Yanagawa and Gregorio Lavilla.
The lead battle was fierce with Bayliss, Edwards and Xaus constantly swapping with Hodgson to stay in touch. With a lap to go Hodgson and Xaus fell around the back of the course. It was a moment of anguish for the Ducati Infostrada team that was swept away a lap later when Bayliss powered past Edwards on the back straight, elbows touching, and exploded out of the Parabolica to win by the smallest of margins. Yanagawa led home the distant third battle from Lavilla and Laconi, leaving Suzuki's Stephane Chambon to lead home a long list of privateer Ducatis.
For Race 2 it was Edwards who got the jump, leading Bayliss and Chili who had launched like the Space Shuttle, from Antonello, making the most of his limited race time, followed by Hodgson and Okada. Antonello was quickly passed Chili to become the top Italian, and hunting for the leaders. Further back James Toseland fell, completing a miserable weekend for the GSE Ducati rider. Okada was charging through the field, taking Chili into the Ascari on lap 3 and quickly closing on Antonello. Down the back straight the power of the Honda reigned, but half a lap later Antonello was out with a blown engine. Further back Yanagawa and Corser were making inroads on those around them, up to 7th and 9th respectively.
Up front, Bayliss resumed his enthralling battle with Edwards, the pair gapping the field, and drafting each other on Monza's back straight while topping 300 kph. Okada was close by, however Chili was dropping back towards the again impressive Ruben Xaus. Monza continued to snatch bikes from the bitumen as Lavilla fell at the Parabolica. By lap 12 the race had settled down, with Yanagawa leading the chase for fifth from Xaus, Hodgson, Regis Laconi and Stephane Chambon after Corser disappeared.
As the laps wound down Bayliss pulled away from Edwards to win, while Yanagawa on a mission took Chili and Okada for third. Xaus held on for sixth, salvaging some of the disappointment from a lost podium spot in Race 1.
Bayliss now has a 28 points lead over Corser, with Edwards only two points further behind before the circus crosses the English channel for Donington Park.
Results of World Superbike Championship, Round 5, Monza, Italy:
Standings: Troy Bayliss 150, Troy Corser 122, Colin Edwards 120, Akira Yanagawa 79, Ben Bostrom and Pierfrancesco Chili 74, Gregorio Lavilla 68, Neil Hodgson 58, Regis Laconi 54, Makoto Tamada 50 etc
Capello Wins After Johansson Spins
Polesitter Rinaldo Capello in the Audi ran wide at the first turn allowing Emanuele Pirro through to the early lead with Jan Magnussen in the lead Panoz second, ahead of the Audis of Capello and Johansson. Capello quickly regained second, muscling past Magnussen. Johansson followed through to third. All this allowed Pirro to quickly build an early lead. Johansson used John Graham's Reynard to great effect to take second, and set off after Pirro, immediately starting to close the gap. A lap later Graham radioed to his pits that the Reynard was on fire, ending his chances in the LMP675 class. Graham pulled over, acquired tools and attempted to fix the problem himself.
Meanwhile Magnussen lost another position, this time to teammate Klaus Graf. Shortly afterwards, both Panoz cars were pinged for passing under yellows and given stop/go penalties. Sensationally, race leader Pirro was also pinged. This allowed the privately owned Gulf Audi of Stefan Johansson through to the lead.
Problems struck the Panoz team, with Graf pitting with a broken suspension rocker, while Jan Magnussen was reporting steering problems. To rub salt into the wound, Magnussen picked up another stop/go for passing under yellows. Any threat to Audi ended at this point.
Ian McKellar pulled the Saleen into the pits with major oil leak problems. Capello was the first Audi to pit for fuel and a windscreen. At the one hour mark, with Johansson still to pit, the Gulf Audi lead from Capello, Frank Biela in the second factory Audi, Didier de Radigues (Reynard-Judd), Earl Goddard (Lola B2k40), and the GT BMW V8s of Dirk Muller and JJ Lehto. De Radigues pitted soon after for Eric van de Poele, keeping the LMP675 lead. Toni Seilar in the Saleen was leading GTS. The sole Porsche in GTS driven by Bernando Sa'Nogueira caught fire and limped in to the pits to be drenched in foam. Elsewhere Terry Rymer's Porsche 996 GT3 retired with driveshaft problems.
With 100 laps completed at the 2 hour 20 minute mark, Kristensen led the race from Biela after Biela made a fuel stop. Third was van de Poele in the Reynard ahead of the Gulf Audi, after changing a rear end, with Guy Smith aboard now. Next were the two BMWs in GT. The Konrad Saleen continued to lead the limping battle in GTS. Elsewhere in the field the Roock Lola was delayed after the fire extinguisher went off in the cockpit.
From here it was just a matter of winding down the remaining laps, as the Joest team delivered another Audi R8R demonstration. The de Radigues/van de Poele Reyanrd performing similar on LMP675 to take third. The BMW M3s took GT in fifth and sixth places while eighth would be the top GTS, the #26 Saleen.
"I jump in the car and I'm in the lead. The car was perfect, so when you are in the lead with this it is good." said Tom Kristensen. "I drove as quick as I could, making sure I didn't make any mistakes with back markers, it all worked very well."
Results of European Le Mans Series, Round 2, Jarama, Spain:
Moto Grand Prix
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Max Biaggi Yamaha YZR500
2. Carlos Checa Yamaha YZR500
3. Valentino Rossi Honda NSR500
4. Norick Abe Yamaha YZR500
5. Alex Criville Honda NSR500
6. Kenny Roberts Jr Suzuki RGV500
7. Loris Capirossi Honda NSR500
8. Alex Barros Honda NSR500
9. Sete Gibernau Suzuki RGV500
10. Jurgen vd Goorbergh Proton KR
Standings: Valentino Rossi 91, Norick Abe 57, Max Biaggi 54, Loris Capirossi 45, Alex Criville 44, Shinya Nakano 42, Kenny Roberts Jr 37, Alex Barros 35, Carlos Checa 28, Garry McCoy and Tohru Ukawa 27 etc.
Indy 500
For all the hype about the big name visitors to America's great race, the top two places on the grid have gone to IRL regulars Scott Sharp and Greg Ray. Sharp qualified his Delphi Automotive Systems Dallara-Aurora on pole with a fastest four lap time of 2:39.2658, an average speed of 226.037 miles per hour. Greg Ray was second fastest at 225.195 mph in the Team Menard car. Third fastest is the joint effort of two of the biggest names in US racing, Foyt Racing and Richard Childress Racing. Robby Gordon setting a average of 224.995 mph. IRL regular Mark Dismore, defending CART champion Gil de Ferran and former Indy 500 winner Arie Luyendyk make up the second row. The third row cosists of Tony Stewart in the first of four Chip Ganassi cars, Jeff Ward and Robbie Buhl.
CART
It has been a long time coming, but Sweden's Kenny Brack has finally pulled off his debut CART victory. In what was essentially a battle won in the pits, Brack's Ford-powered Lola had the speed to match his Honda powered rivals and was able to complete the Twin Ring 500 at Motegi, Japan with three pitstops, while almost all the Honda teams made splash'n'dash stops near the end.
With ten laps to go, Gil de Ferran's car started smoking and was shown the black flag. The Penske team were slow responding and de Ferran spent several laps oiling the racing line. Whilst some commentators voiced their disgust, Nicolas Minassian crashed into the turn 4 wall, bring out a last minute yellow. De Ferran finally pitted and climbed from the car.
Pos Driver Car
1. Kenny Brack Lola-Ford
2. Helio Castroneves Reynard-Honda
3. Tony Kanaan Reynard-Honda
4. Christian Fittipaldi Lola-Toyota
5. Jimmy Vasser Reynard-Toyota
6. Max Papis Lola-Ford
7. Alex Zanardi Reynard-Honda
8. Shinji Nakano Reynard-Honda
9. Scott Dixon Reynard-Toyota
10. Roberto Moreno Reynard-Toyota
Formula 3000
The Nordic team have put their stamp on this year's championship, having won three of the four races held this year, and sit first and second in the championship. This time a large slice of luck helped Justin Wilson to his second victory of the season, and a commanding seven point championship lead.
Pos Driver Team
1. Justin Wilson Coca-Cola Nordic Racing
2. Bas Leinders Keerbergs Transport Racing
3. Tomas Enge Coca-Cola Nordic Racing
4. Antonio Pizzonia Petrobras Junior Team
5. Jaime Melo Jr Durango Formula SRL
6. Andrea Piccini European Minardi F3000
7. Dino Morelli Team Astromega
8. David Saelens European Minardi F3000
9. Rodrigo Sperafico Petrobras Junior Team
10. Nicolas Filiberti F3000 Prost Junior Team
Superbikes
Race 1
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Troy Bayliss Ducati 996 R
2. Colin Edwards Honda VTR1000 SP2
3. Akira Yanagawa Kawasaki ZX 7RR
4. Gregorio Lavilla Kawasaki ZX 7RR
5. Regis Laconi Aprilia RSV1000
6. Stephane Chambon Suzuki GSX R750
7. Lucio Pedercini Ducati 996 RS
8. Giovanni Bussei Ducatu 996 RS
9. Mauro Sanchini Ducati 996 RS
10. Marco Borciani Ducati 996 RS
Race 2
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Troy Bayliss Ducati 996 R
2. Colin Edwards Honda VTR1000 SP2
3. Akira Yanagawa Kawasaki ZX 7RR
4. Tadayuki Okada Honda VTR1000 SP2
5. Pierfrancesco Chili Suzuki GSX R750
6. Ruben Xaus Ducati 996 R
7. Neil Hodgson Ducati 996 RS
8. Regis Laconi Aprilia RSV1000
9. Stephane Chambon Suzuki GSX R750
10. Alex Gramigni Yamaha R7
Sportscars
A thin field of 21 cars greeted the start at Jarama for the second Round of the European Le Mans Series, also the last hit out for the cars in the series run by Don Panoz prior to the sportscar classic, the 24 Heures du Mans. Again it looked like Audi would be untroubled after practice, especially with only the generally disappointing Panoz LMP07 for opposition.
While leading, Johansson spun into the gravel at Turn 1 and lost the lead. The car limped back into the pits for a gearbox change. Johansson complaining of fluid on the rear brake calipers as the cause for the off. With Tom Kristensen taking over the #1 Audi, Biela took the lead. Further down the field, Sascha Maassen in the only Porsche giving the BMWs a fight in GT spun off into the gravel.
Pos Driver / Co-driver Car
1. Rinaldo Capello / Tom Kristensen Audi R8R
2. Emanuele Pirro / Frank Biela Audi R8R
3. Didier de Radigues / Eric van de Poele Reynard 01Q Judd
4. Stefan Johansson / Guy Smith Audi R8R
5. Dirk Muller / Frederik Ekblom BMW M3 GTR
6. JJ Lehto / Jorg Muller BMW M3 GTR
7. Randy Pobst / Emanuele Collard Porsche 996 GT3 RS
8. Franz Konrad / Toni Seiler / Walter Brun Saleen S7R
9. Mel Hawkins / Earl Goddard Lola B2K40
10. Piers Masarati / Mark Humphrey Porsche 996 GT3 RS
Briefs
The saga of which nation British touring car folk hero Matt Neal will race in has deepened. After leaving the British factory Peugeot team over sponsorship issues, Neal has been racing the Neal family-run Team Dynamics Nissan Primera in the European Touring Car Championship. However, Neal will now pack the Primera away and join the Shell Championship Series in Australia, in selected events in the lead up to the Australian endurance season. Neal had signed to race for Paul Morris Motorsport in the longer races and will now be joining Paul Morris in the team's second Holden Commodore for a total of four events including the legendary Bathurst 1000.
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Volume 7, Issue 21
Atlas F1 Special
Interview with Burti
Silly Season Review
Yearly Roar
Monaco GP Preview
The Monaco GP Preview
Tech Preview and Track Map
Focus: Graham Hill at Monaco
Audio: A Lap of Monaco with MS
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Elsewhere in Racing
The Monaco Trivia Quiz
Bookworm Critique
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