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Atlas F1 Magazine Writers
Advice: The points tables for most series covered by Elsewhere In Racing are available here. Individual series are linked to their corresponding points table after each report.
Awesome Double Bill
Bill Elliott made it two wins in two weeks after a dominating run at the home of the Indianapolis 500, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, beating off challenges from Tony Stewart and Rusty Wallace on his way to victory.
The race resumed on lap 16, Elliott dropping to fourth as Robby Gordon passed him through turn two. It only took a lap for Stewart to retake the lead, while Elliott was soon back up to second and closing in on Stewart as Earnhardt's gamble failed, dropping him back through the field, dropping back to 16th by lap 25. The next caution came out on lap 37 after Kurt Busch went hard into the turn three wall after apparently being punted by Jimmy Spencer. Another round of pit stops under the yellow saw Elliott nose ahead of Stewart to retake the lead.
Lap 43 and the field was back under green, with Elliott, Stewart and Ryan Newman making a break from the rest of the field. Newman faded back but Stewart ran a clear second behind Elliott. Lap 52 saw the caution out again after Geoff Bodine hit the outside and inside walls at turn one. After another round of pit stops, Elliott still led ahead of Stewart as they restarted on lap 56, their duel resumed once again before Stewart began to fade down the top ten, with Kenseth moving into second place. The next yellow came out on lap 70 for debris on the track.
Racing resumed on lap 85, with Elliott pulling slowly but steadily away from Stewart. As they approached lap 100, Robby Gordon took second from Stewart as Dale Jarrett was on a charge, moving up to fourth on lap 97. Any further move up the field for Jarrett was halted as Casey Atwood brought out the caution flags after crashing hard in turn one. With cars able to make it to the flag with only one more stop if they took advantage of the green, almost the whole field stopped, Jeff Gordon moving up behind Elliott after not taking any tyres. Sterling Marlin didn't pit and led a lap as his team took the chance to score the extra points as his car's engine was not 100%.
Lap 104 and it was green once again, Elliott continuing his run at the head of the field, as a little further back Jarrett charged back to the front, up to fifth by lap 106, passed Martin for third on lap 108 into turn four, and took second from Gordon through turn one on lap 111, Jarrett getting sideways on the exit! Jarrett's pass saw Gordon begin a slide back through the top ten
while Jarrett tried to chase down a two and a half second gap to Elliott. Unfortunately for almost everyone, Elliott was stretching his lead, up to over four seconds.
Elliott Sadler was the cause of the next caution when his front right tyre went flat in turn one and left debris on the track. With everyone in their fuel window, it was busy in pit lane as everyone stopped. A mixture of two and four tyre stops shuffled the field, Jarrett exiting the pits first. The only problem was he still had the catch can, which catches the excess fuel, in the back of the car, which saw him penalised and drop back to 27th position. Bill Elliott was now fifth.
At the restart on lap 134, Martin led the race, just behind Ricky Craven who was ahead of him on the track though at the tail end of the lead lap after pitting just before the caution with a deflating tyre. Going through turn one Craven ran wide as he had another tyre problem, while Tony Stewart took advantage of the mayhem to sneak inside Martin and take the lead into turn two, Wallace and Harvick passing Martin down the backstretch and each other back and forth through turns three and four. Wallace was soon onto Stewart's tail as Elliott moved past Martin for fourth at the end of lap 136, Wallace taking the lead down the backstretch on lap 137, Elliott repeating his move on Martin on Harvick a lap later, zooming onto Stewart's tail within a lap of passing Harvick.
Just when it seemed all over, the caution flags came out for the final time on lap 154 for debris, which set up a four lap dash to the chequer, cars towards the rear of the field taking one final opportunity to pit. A great restart by Elliott when the green was dropped on lap 157 saw him go on to take the win, Wallace finishing second with Kenseth in third. Meanwhile Tony Stewart dropped from fourth to twelfth over the last four laps, while Dale Jarrett recovered from his penalty to finish the day in tenth place. Points leader Sterling Marlin finished the day in 27th, as Kurt Busch's early exit dropped Busch five places in the standings.
Result of NASCAR Winston Cup, Round 21 of 36, Brickyard 400, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indiana, United States:
Standings: Sterling Marlin 2866, Jimmie Johnson 2773, Mark Martin 2757, Jeff Gordon 2741, Rusty Wallace 2695, Bill Elliott 2656, Tony Stewart 2655, Ricky Rudd 2634, Matt Kenseth 2600, Kurt Busch 2580 etc.
Trois-Rivieres, Trois Audis
A final pitstop decision to take fresh rubber gave Rinaldo Capello the advantage he needed to pull away from his teammate Frank Biela to give him and series leader Tom Kristensen victory in Le Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres in Canada. It would be a 1-2-3 finish for Audi with Biela and Emanuele Pirro second in the factory Audi and Johnny Herbert and Stefan Johansson third in the Champion Racing R8.
The opening lap was not without drama either as Herbert closed the door on Steven Knight in the MG-Lola into a corner, sending the Audi into a spin while the MG stalled. Kevin Allen spun his Viper in avoidance. The yellows were out and the pace car called for, with Pirro leading across the line first from Herta and the fast starting Magnussen. Herbert dived pitward to have his rear bodywork inspected, while Knight would be unable to continue. Once the race went green again Kristensen was flying, breaking into the top five on the seventh lap. Magnussen too was in a forceful mood, clashing with Leo Hindery's Porsche before taking second from teammate Herta. With less than a tenth of the race completed, Kristensen was through Herta to be up to third place, while Herbert was closing on Herta as the two troubled Audis starred. Within another couple of laps Herta succumbed to the former Formula One star.
The woeful weekend for the LMP675 class continued with Jon Field putting the Intersport MG into the wall after running out of brakes. Kristensen completed his climb up the order, taking second from Magnussen. These two would continue to argue over the position up until the first pitstops. Chris Dyson was shoved into the wall at turn one, forcing the Riley & Scott to limp the whole lap back to the pits for repairs.
Magnussen was the first of the leaders to pit, followed shortly after by Pirro who surrendered the lead to Kristensen. Kristensen in turn handed the lead to Herbert when he pitted. Herbert, having pitted early, had a longer first stint to run. The #1 Audi, now with Biela in command, resumed the lead once Herbert stopped. Other problems struck the Panoz as the Audis gathered momentum. Magnussen clashed with Kevin Buckler in the Racers Group car, spinning the Porsche. Magnussen picked up a stop go penalty for his troubles, which David Brabham served after the Panoz pitstop. Then Brabham stalled and the car briefly went behind the wall before returning to the track. Brabham then had consecutive offs at turn eight, as the problems with the #50 car ran deeper.
Capello was not staying second for long. Like the Champion team, the #2 Audi had taken on four tyres at its last stop and Capello had a better handling car. Biela couldn't keep his teammate at bay. Capello stretched the gap out to 17 seconds at the chequer. The Champion Audi was a lap down in third, but still another three laps ahead of Herta and Auberlen in the Panoz. The troubles that befell the ill handling #50 Panoz saw them drop to sixth behind the leading GTS car. The next prototype to finish was the Dyson Racing Riley & Scott in eleventh.
In LMP675, after bad luck befell the two MGs, the Team Bucknum Pilbeam-Nissan took up the running, but Bryan Willman gave up the class lead after receiving a push start following an off. The subsequent stop/go penalty gave the class lead to the Archangel Lola-Ford that had suffered a qualifying crash. But with only minutes remaining on the clock, the Lola was into the barriers once again, handing the class victory to Jeff Bucknum, Chris McMurry and Bryan Willman in the Bucknum Racing Pilbeam-Nissan. The team were 14th outright, three laps up on the crashed Lola-Ford of Ben Devlin and Marc-Antoine Camirand. Three laps further back was the only other car to finish in the class, the Essex Racing Lola-Nissan of Paul Fix and Melanie Paterson.
GTS was taken by the familiar yellow clad figures of Corvette Racing, with the #4 car of Kelly Collins and Andy Pilgrim driving a flawless race to finish fifth outright, ahead of the lead Panoz prototype. Collins and Pilgrim were able to cut into the championship leads of their teammates in the #3 car. Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell were two laps down on the #4 Chevy. They lost those two laps when O'Connell fenced the car with half an hour to go. With the Oliver Garden Ferrari three laps adrift, the class 1-2 wasn't threatened. Schiattarella and Naspetti claimed third in class and eighth outright. None of the Vipers finished.
The series spends two weeks in Canada, gathering again at Mosport. Kristensen looks set to take the title, two points ahead of the driver he shares his car with. The next competitive driver is Frank Biela, sixteen points adrift. The nearest antagonistic driver is Johnny Herbert, 19 points adrift, while the first non-Audi pilot, David Brabham, is 31 points behind Kristensen.
Result of American Le Mans Series, Round 7 of 11, Trois-Riviers, Canada:
Standings, LMP 900: Tom Kristensen 139, Rinaldo Capello 137, Frank Biela 123, Emanuele Pirro 122, Johnny Herbert 120, David Brabham 108, Jan Magnussen 102, Bill Auberlen 100, Stefan Johansson 91, Bryan Herta 88 etc.
Standings, LMP675: Jon Field 132, Ben Devlin 116, Jeff Bucknum 91, Chris McMurry 89, Bryan William 88 etc.
Standings, LMGTS: Ron Fellows 157, Johnny O'Connell 149, Kelly Collins and Andy Pilgrim 138, Marc Bunting 103 etc.
Standings, LMGT: Sascha Maassen 143, Lucas Luhr 142, Timo Bernhard 125, Jorg Bergmeister 123, Kevin Buckler 109 etc.
Alzen's Last Gasp
There's something about the Nurburgring that inspires drama. Whilst the DTM no longer screams up and down the 'Green Hell' in the mists to the north-east of the modern Grand Prix, the annual visit to the Nurburgring still seems to inspire the V8 behemoths. Uwe Alzen scored his first win of the year with a desperate dive at the line ahead of series leaders Laurent Aiello and Bernd Schneider. Six tenths covered the trio across the line!
DTM draws crowds rivalling the European Grand Prix, also held at the Nurburging, and it's easy to see why. The crowd were treated to a tremendous qualifying spectacle as Uwe Alzen snatched pole position in the dying moments on a drying surface as the drivers waited as long as they dared to start their qualifying runs. While the hometown hero stole the limelight, the championship heavyweights maintained their close battle. Aiello was second fastest in the Abt Sportline Audi with Schneider's AMG Mercedes in third. Fourth place underlined the strength of Mercedes, Marcel Fassler a mere hundredth behind Schneider, and ably backing up teammate Alzen. The best of the Opels was Alain Menu in fifth with Christian Abt alongside him in the second of the Audis.
Alzen held his advanatge in the qualifying race, holding out Aiello by 0.2 of a second in the sprint to the flag with Schneider hard on Aiello's bootlid. Fassler was merely fourth in his Benz, four seconds clear of the Abt Audis of Abt and Karl Wendlinger.
Off the line in the feature race Fassler was slow away while Schneider was swamped. It seems a DTM weekend doesn't go by without some startline dramas. This time Jean Alesi and Menu clashed, sending both into retirement, while further back Duncan Huisman was spun by Joachim Winkelhock. Over the line Alzen led Aiello, Abt, Martin Tomczyk, Fassler and Schneider. Schneider was under close scutiny from Wendlinger with Manuel Reuter, Timo Scheider and Mattias Ekstrom also close by. Individual battles started to break up the lead gaggle and were further split by spins to Wendlinger, Ekstrom and Winkelhock.
Schneider was now third and closing rapidly on the leading duo. Alzen was fighting to keep the lead but each time across the line Aiello was still second. As they sprinted for the line a final time Alzen made the most of the front position to take the victory. Behind Aiello and Schneider, Fassler got the better of Tomczyk, with Reuter sixth ahead of Schneider. Jager should have been next, but a last lap spin saw teammate Dumbreck take the position.
Aiello now has a 22 point buffer on Schneider who in turn is nine points clear of Ekstrom. With only thirty nine points left on offer, the title is all but Aiello's. Aiello can take the title if he wins the next round at the A-1 Ring in Austria.
Result of Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, Round 7 of 10, Nurburgring, Germany::
Standings: Laurent Aiello 62, Bernd Schneider 38, Mattias Ekstrom 29, Jean Alesi 20, Uwe Alzen 17, Christian Abt 13, Marcel Fassler 11, Martin Tomczyk 7, Alain Menu 6, Timo Scheider and Christijan Albers 5 etc.
Biaggi to Leave Yamaha, Checa Stays
By Simon Evans
Italian Max Biaggi will leave Yamaha at the end of the season but his Spanish teammate Carlos Checa is staying at the MotoGP team.
Yamaha did not mention Biaggi in a later statement confirming that Checa had signed a two-year deal with the factory-owned team to ride the YZR-M1 four-stroke bike. A team source said Biaggi had been told earlier in the week that he was no longer being considered as an option.
Biaggi, who has been sponsored by the Marlboro tobacco brand for nine years, said he had not yet made a decision on which team he will race with next term but Ducati and Honda are the most likely candidates. Yamaha announced two weeks ago that Marlboro's sponsorship of the team would cease at the end of the year.
Biaggi won three 250cc world titles with Aprilia before he moved up to 500cc with Honda in 1998. The Roman finished second in the championship with Honda and joined Yamaha in 1999. He is currently third in the championship behind Honda's Italian Valentino Rossi and Japan's Tohru Ukawa.
Biaggi said money had not influenced his decision to leave Yamaha. "We never discussed the salary," he told Gazzetta. However the Italian did admit that Marlboro's decision could affect his choice of future team. The sponsor is expected to link up with Ducati.
"My relationship with Marlboro is certainly important for me and could effect my choices. But I don't want to talk yet about what will happen next season. The only thing I can say is that I want guarantees about technical issues and about competitiveness. That means I want to have a bike that will allow me to fight for the title or else to be part of a long-term project that has the right potential to develop," said Biaggi.
The Italian said he was happy with his four seasons spent with Yamaha. "I'm happy with the results I have obtained with Yamaha. On the contract I have never been the number one driver because I have the same set-up as Checa, but I became number one on the track," he said. "I hope that for the rest of this season Yamaha maintain equal treatment for us, even if I am not going to be with them in 2003."
Checa, 29, said in the Yamaha statement that he had turned down several other approaches for next season. "Yamaha was my first choice because of the people and because I believe it gives me the best chance for success. My goal since 1999 has been to win the championship with Yamaha and I hope that we can achieve it next year."
The Spaniard is currently fifth in the championship after ending up sixth overall for the last two years. The team said discussions were continuing with potential teammates for Checa.
Report provided by Reuters
He has undergone surgery in a Monaco hospital and will not recover in time for the ninth round this weekend, his team added.
Panizzi, who currently lies fifth in the championship with 21 points, will not be replaced for the event. His British teammate Richard Burns lies just two points behind him in the championship.
The rider said the banned substance was present because he had switched the medicine he used for his hay-fever allergy while travelling and was not aware of its presence in the new medication. The FIM had no option but to ban him, however, and he will also lose the points and prizes gained from the Austrian Grand Prix.
The decision was made at a meeting of the FIM's International Disciplinary Court, composed of president Alexander Gontard, Frantisek Schulmann and Santiago Puig y Viladomiu, in Mies, Switzerland, on Monday. Coppins was also forced to pay a fine of $5,000 and to cover the costs of the hearing but has 10 days to make an appeal against the decision.
The Honda rider is now third in the 250cc world championship with 160 points, behind leader Mickael Pichon, of France, and German Pit Beirer.
Both reports provided by Reuters
NASCAR
Polesitter Tony Stewart led the field into turn one, closely followed by the screaming horde, running two and three-wide down the backstretch while up front Bill Elliott was glued to Stewart's rear bumper. This was how it stayed until the backstretch on lap 11, when Elliott moved to the inside of Stewart, but Stewart hung on around the outside and retook the lead as they exited turn four. Just as Stewart regained the lead, Mike Wallace and Brett Bodine crashed exiting turn two, bringing out the first caution of the day. Drivers took the opportunity to pit under the yellow, Dale Earnhardt Jr taking just fuel moved to the lead ahead of Stewart and Elliott.
During the pitstops under the caution, Stewart took two tyres to regain the lead, while Elliott took four and dropped to fifth. Elliott moved up to fourth on lap 74, and second on lap 76, to once again make it Stewart and Elliott in the top two positions, Stewart letting Elliott take the lead on lap 78. Soon after the lead changed another caution hit the speedway after Jeremy Mayfield's engine failed. Most of the field but not the three leading cars took the opportunity to take another pit stop.
Down the backstretch on lap 139 Stewart let Elliott by for the second time in the race, as Elliott moved his Dodge on to the back of Wallace's Ford as they completed lap 140. Lap after lap the duo of Wallace and Elliott ran nose to tail, Elliott running slightly lower through the turns but unable to make the pass until the exit of turn two on lap 149 when Elliott was finally able to get his nose inside Wallace, running side by side down the back straight before Wallace had to let Elliott through into turn three, Elliott edging away as the laps ran down.
Pos Driver Car
1. Bill Elliott Dodge Intrepid
2. Rusty Wallace Ford Taurus
3. Matt Kenseth Ford Taurus
4. Ryan Newman Ford Taurus
5. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Monte Carlo
6. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Monte Carlo
7. Steve Park Chevrolet Monte Carlo
8. Robby Gordon Chevrolet Monte Carlo
9. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Monte Carlo
10. Dale Jarrett Ford Taurus
ALMS
It was a result that had been put in doubt after a qualifying had to be red flagged early. The Archangel Motorsports Lola-Ford driven by Marc-Antonie Camirand had crashed on pit straight bringing a premature end to the session. Both Panoz and the #2 Audi were caught out with Pirro taking pole from Herbert, Bryan Herta in the second Panoz, and James Weaver in the Dyson Racing Riley & Scott. Jan Magnussen in the lead Panoz was seventh while Kristensen was buried in 20th.
The second round of pitstops saw Biela lose the lead to Herbert. Biela shortened his stop by only taking on fuel. He would need a shortened stop as the track went yellow after Tom Weickardt crashed his Viper in turn one. With the pressure off, Herbert took fresh tyres at his pitstop. With Johansson in command of the Champion Racing entry he immediately started hunting down Biela once the track was green again. However Johansson was sent pitward after taking the lead, the Swede penalised for passing under yellows and having to serve a stop/go, dropping to third behind Rinaldo Capello in the #2 car.
In GT, the Racers Group Porsche struck problems after clashing with the lead Panoz. With their main opposition damaged, Alex Job Racing stormed to a 1-2 finish with their Porsches, Sascha Maassen and Lucas Luhr nine seconds clear in ninth outright of teammates Timo Bernhard and Jorg Bergmeister. Kevin Buckler and Michael Schrom brought the Racers Group car home four laps down on the Job cars to third in class and twelfth outright.
Pos Drivers Car
1. Tom Kristensen/Rinaldo Capello Audi R8
2. Emanuele Pirro/Frank Biela Audi R8
3. Johnny Herbert/Stefan Johansson Audi R8
4. Bill Auberlen/Bryan Herta Panoz LMP01
5. Kelly Collins/Andy Pilgrim Chevrolet Corvette C5-R (GTS)
6. Jan Magnussen/David Brabham Panoz LMP01
7. Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell Chevrolet Corvette C5-R (GTS)
8. Domenico Schiattarella/ Ferrari 550 Maranello (GTS)
Emanuelle Naspetti
9. Lucas Luhr/Sascha Maassen Porsche 996 GT3 RS (GT)
10. Timo Bernhard/Jorg Bergmeister Porsche 996 GT3 RS (GT)
DTM
"I have driven several good races already," said Alzen, "but this was a very special one, as it was so close over the entire distance. My conclusion: team happy, I am happy, maybe I finally broke my duck." Alzen struggled to find a negative.
Alzen led the field into pitlane with Aiello stapled to his bumper. This left Abt in the lead for two laps until his stop, leaving Tomczyk in front. There was much squabbling between those freshly emerged from the pits, with Schneider making up much lost ground, taking Fassler and Ekstrom in one move. Abt ran too wide at pit exit, wide enough to cross the white line, prematurely entering the traffic stream. Abt received a stop/go for his troubles, ending his chance of a win, or even a half decent points haul.
Pos Driver Car
1. Uwe Alzen Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM
2. Laurent Aiello Audi TT-R
3. Bernd Schneider Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM
4. Marcel Fassler Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM
5. Martin Tomczyk Audi TT-R
6. Manuel Reuter Opel Astra V8 Coupe
7. Timo Scheider Opel Astra V8 Coupe
8. Peter Dumbreck Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM
9. Christian Abt Audi TT-R
10. Mattias Ekstrom Audi TT-R
MotoGP
"I have had four years of great satisfaction at Yamaha but without being able to realise my dream of winning the world championship," Biaggi told the Italian daily Gazzetta dello Sport. "Although I would have been happy to stay after meeting the Yamaha management and having asked for certain guarantees, I realised that there no longer existed the conditions to continue."
Briefs
Frenchman Gilles Panizzi has been ruled out of this weekend's Rally of Finland through injury, his Peugeot team said. Panizzi, who has won two events this season, fractured his right shoulder in an accident at his home last week.
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Volume 8, Issue 32
Atlas F1 Exclusive
Absolute Domination, Part I: The Champion
Absolute Domination, Part II: The Races
Absolute Domination, Part III: Patrick Head
Atlas F1 Special
Ground Supremacy
Measuring the Quintuple Champs
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View from the Paddock
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