Updates from the Rest of the Racing World
Atlas F1 Magazine Writers
Enge Game
After joining Team Arden, Enge and Bjorn Wirdheim dazzled the pre-season tests, since then though it has been promise unfulfilled. In Austria, Enge took pole position and led start to finish, claiming his fourth Formula 3000 victory with some style. As of forecasting the next day's result, Arden International had, not just a debut victory, but a 1-2 finish with Wirdheim surviving the battle of the pack for second. Third was Astromega's Mario Haberfeld.
Enge got a good start off the front row to lead the field up towards turn 2 where the two Colonis of Giorgio Pantano and Enrico Toccacelo were caught wide and dropped down field, and Sebastien Bourdais (Super Nova) spun after contact with Ryan Briscoe (Nordic). Pantano recovered into fourth while Toccacelo settled into combat with local hero Patrick Friesacher (Red Bull Jr) for sixth behind David Saelens (European).
Enge now jointly holds the lead on the pointscore with Pantano, having passed the lack lustre former leader, Rodrigo Sperafico.
Result of International Formula 3000 Championship, Round 4, A1-Ring, Austria:
Standings: Giorgio Pantano amd Tomas Enge 17, Rodrigo Sperafico 16, Sebastien Bourdais 14, Mario Haberfeld 12, Bjorn Wirdheim 8, Ricardo Mauricio 7, Antonio Pizzonia 6, Patrick Friesacher 4, Enrico Toccacelo 3
Junqueira's Indy Pole
Now Junqueira is on pole for the biggest race of his life. The Brazilian scorched around the Brickyard with a speed of 231.342mph, the fastest time in over five years, and convicingly faster than Ganassi teammates Jeff Ward (15th) and Kenny Brack (21st).
"When you start from pole," Junqueira said, "you want to keep the position until the rest of the race. It's really difficult for myself, for any kind of driver, to admit you're going to lose a position."
Second fastest was IRL regular Robbie Buhl in his Dreyer & Reinbold Racing GForce-Infiniti, the fastest ever lap by one of the Nissan-Infiniti powered cars, and a best ever qualifying performance from the marque. Buhl's team completed an excellent qualifying weekend with 21 year old teammate Sarah Fisher in ninth position, the best qualifying performance by a woman in Indy 500 history.
Completing the front row will be returning veteran Raul Boesel driving for the Menards operation. Boesel was drafted into the team as an injury replacement for an injury replacement. Boesel came into the Menards team after PJ Jones fractured a vertebrae in his back in a crash during practice for the 500. Jones had earlier replaced the team's IRL regular driver Jaques Lazier who received a similar injury during the IRL event at Nazareth Speedway earlier in the season. The second of the Menard cars has Robby Gordon in eleventh position.
Sixth is another Nissan, the first of the Red Bull backed cars run by Eddie Cheever. Cheever himself is in that position whilst young teammate Tomas Scheckter is tenth fastest. Max Papis, appearing for Cheever's team at Indy in a one-off drive, is 18th.
Seventh is held by IRL series leader Sam Hornish Jr in the Chevrolet-backed Pennzoil Panther Dallara. Alongside is another IRL race winner this year Scott Sharp, in the Team Allegra car.
Of the other notables to qualify, former twice victor Al Unser Jr is in twelfth while 1996 winner Buddy Lazier is 20th. Penske Racing's two cars sit on the fifth row of the grid, with Helio Castroneves a position ahead of Gil de Ferran. Of the other CART interlopers, Team Rahal's car for Jimmy Vasser is 19th, but Team Green is in trouble. Only Michael Andretti has qualified, in 23rd position, while Paul Tracy and Dario Franchitti will be dependent on good runs on bump day to get into the field. Oriol Servia also has yet to qualify the Walker Racing car.
Also looking down the barrel on Bump Day for the first time in his long association with Indy is legendary team owner A.J. Foyt. None of Foyt's three cars have qualified as yet 2000 poleman Greg Ray, the holder of Foyt's legendary #14 Airton Dare and Donnie Beechler head into Bump Day with it all to do, as does veteran two-time winner Arie Luyendyk driving for the Treadway & Associates team. Bobby McGehee has been cleared to race after missing qualifying through injuries from a crash earlier in practice.
24 cars have been fast enough to qualify so far. Practice begins again on Wedensday, with Bump Day set for Sunday. The race will be held the following Sunday.
Indianapolis 500 Grid, first four rows:
Bayliss Back-to-Back
Troy Bayliss made it eight from ten as he won both Superbike races at the Monza circuit in Italy. After failing to win either race at the previous round in Sugo, Bayliss returned to winning form as they visited the home country of the Ducati team he rides for. Needless to say, the home crowd was more than pleased, though maybe not quite as much as they may have been if it had been local hero Pierfrancesco Chili taking the wins. Though Bayliss wasn't beaten, at least the other riders are giving him something to think about, and gave him a hard time in both races.
Polesitter Neil Hodgson led the field away on lap one, followed by tBayliss, Colin Edwards and Noriyuki Haga, with local favourite Pierfrancesco Chili up to sixth. Into the Parabolica Haga pulled out of Edwards's slipstream to move to third as they completed lap one. Chili took fifth at the first chicane on lap two, as he began his chase of the leading pack of four. This pack soon became three when Haga retired at the end of lap two, as the lead three riders spread themselves apart. Soon enough normal order was resumed, as the top three became a close pack once more. Lap six saw Bayliss take the lead on the exit of Curva Grande, Hodgson then falling to third when Edwards passed him for second place at the first chicane at the start of lap seven.
As they exited the Parabolica on lap seven, the three riders were tightly bunched together. Slipstreaming and braking saw Hodgson the new leader as he and Bayliss swapped places, with Edwards passing Bayliss but remaining in second as Hodgson outbraked him. Into the second chicane and it was Edwards leading as he slid down the inside of Hodgson, only for Hodgson to pass him back on the run down to Ascari, and Bayliss take second from Edwards as they entered Parabolica at the end of lap eight. Bayliss passed Hodgson at the start of lap nine to take the lead once again. All this dicing helped Chili to slowly reel in the leaders.
Lap ten saw an unusual sight as they entered the first chicane. Leader Bayliss went too deep into the first chicane, running up the escape road. What was even more unusual was that Edwards followed him down the escape road. The incident saw Hodgson in the lead once again, with Chili and Edwards on his tail, Bayliss following a short distance behind. At the start of lap 12 Edwards had a look up the inside of Chili at the first chicane, wisely deciding not to go through at the last moment, avoiding an almost certain collision. At this point in the race Ducati rider Ben Bostrom pulled into the pits with a clutch problem.
Bayliss soon made the lead pack a pack of four riders, rejoining the pack as they started lap 13. Edwards, realising Bayliss was closing, passed Chili at the first Lesmo on lap 13, Bayliss making a move on Chili two corner later that same lap as they entered Ascari. This dicing allowed Hodgson to open up a lead of almost a second over the following pack. Bayliss passed Edwards for second at the second chicane on lap 14 as Chili slowly started to fade. Bayliss and Edwards soon hooked up with Hodgson again, Bayliss taking the lead from him down the back straight entering Parabolica at the end of lap 15. Hodgson tucked into Bayliss's slipstream on the exit of Parabolica to pass him down the pit straight and retake the lead.
With two laps remaining, Bayliss retook the lead by slipstreaming Hodgson down the pit straight. As they started the last lap, Bayliss edged out a small lead but it didn't last long, with the other two riders on his tail as he exited the first chicane. On the run down to Ascari, Hodgson was just unable to make it past Bayliss for the lead. On the run from Ascari down to the Parabolica, Bayliss left the two behind him in the distance as he just pulled away from them to take the win from Hodgson and Edwards. Chili and Ruben Xaus rode good races to finish fourth and sixth respectively.
Race two saw Hodgson win the start again, from Bayliss, Chili and Edwards and Haga side by side. Going into the second chicane Bayliss took the lead, as Edwards and Haga moved ahead of Chili, Chili taking fourth back off Haga on the exit of the chicane before Haga took it back again on the run down to Ascari. Into the first chicane on lap two Chili moved past Edwards and Haga into third, while Haga also lost a place to Hodgson's teammate James Toseland, Haga reclaiming it through Curva Grande. Into the second chicane Ruben Xaus, making a great start, passed Haga and Toseland to
move into fifth.
Unfortunately for Xaus he lowsided off his bike at the first chicane on lap three, wasting all his good early work. At the same time, Hodgson passed Bayliss on the exit of the chicane, retaking the lead but not for long, as Bayliss took it back at Ascari. Lap four and Edwards passed Chili for third at the second chicane, and lap five Edwards passed Hodgson on the entry to Curva Grande to move into second place, Haga passing Chili for fourth on the entry to the second chicane, the lead of the race being contested by a group of six riders. Chili returned the favour and more by making a late move at the Parabolica, which forced Haga to run wide and lose a place to Toseland as well. Haga was soon fourth however as Chili and Toseland both fell at the next corner, the first chicane on lap six, after apparently going in too deep under brakes. Haga was however not up with the leading pack of three after these incidents.
Hodgson took second place back from Edwards at the first chicane on lap seven, with the next pass at the front over a lap later as Edwards passed Hodgson back coming up to Ascari on lap eight.
As they completed lap nine Bayliss fell to third as he was passed by both Edwards and Hodgson in a similar move to race one, as Hodgson passed Edwards as well to become the new race leader. Into Ascari we had the third leader in a lap as Edwards passed Hodgson. At the start of lap eleven the top three were side by side as they each tried their hardest to take the lead, Hodgson just winning the battle ahead of Bayliss, with Edwards dropping form first to third, with Bayliss taking the lead as he stuck it up the inside of Hodgson through Curva Grande. Meanwhile all this dicing had allowed Haga to make it up to the lead pack, passing Edwards on the entry to Parabolica as they completed lap eleven.
Haga continued his move forward, taking Hodgson around the outside as they entered Curva Grande on lap twelve. Hodgson lost another place as Edwards passed him on the entry to Parabolica at the end of the twelfth lap, losing it immediately as he ran wide through the Parabolica turn, regaining and losing it again down the pit straight, before Edwards took it back again through Curva Grande on lap thirteen. All this battling allowed Bayliss to lead the second place battle by over a second. Haga lost two places as they started lap fourteen after being slipstream passed by both Edwards and Hodgson down the pit straight, as Bayliss pulled another second on the battle.
Into the first chicane on lap fifteen Hodgson sneaked down the inside of Edwards for second, as Bayliss extended his lead to over two and a half seconds. Edwards made any earlier pass in the race look average as he took Hodgson back through the exit of Curva Grande, Haga following past Hodgson on the exit of the second chicane, moving up into second past Edwards as they began lap sixteen with Edwards taking back second as they entered the second chicane, Haga returning the favour once again as he retook second entering the Parabolica. Haga then dropped from second to fourth as Edwards and Hodgson both passed him as they began lap seventeen, Bayliss's lead now over three and a half seconds.
Haga moved back into third as they entered the Parabolica to begin the last lap as the pack of three fought hard to make sure they beat the other two home. Down the straight they were side by side, Hodgson demoting the other two riders and moving from fourth to second as they entered the first chicane. In doing this, he compromised his exit from the chicane which saw them entering Curva Grande separated by inches, Edwards taking back second as he rode through the middle of Curva Grande sideways. Hodgson was not done with yet however, retaking second as they entered Ascari, Haga watching all the action in front of him.
Coming down the straight to enter the final corner, Hodgson stayed to the inside to try to prevent being passed, but Edwards slipstreamed and passed him down the outside well before the turn. Hodgson then moved over to the normal racing line, giving Haga a tow which saw Haga move down the inside to take third and drop Hodgson down to fourth. Hodgson outbraked Haga into the turn, going around the outside of him as they went through the Parabolica. As they exited the Parabolica, the three of them were once again separated by inches, with Edwards just holding onto second ahead of Haga who narrowly beat Hodgson to the line, Bayliss taking an easy win ahead of the momentous
battle for second, second to fourth being split by 65/1000ths of a second, fifth more than twenty seconds behind.
Result of World Superbike Championship, Round 5, Monza, Italy:
Standings: Troy Bayliss 224, Colin Edwards 186, Neil Hodgson 131, Noriyuki Haga 103, Ben Bostrom 102, Ruben Xaus 96, James Toseland 68, Gregorio Lavilla 58 etc.
Courtney Doubles Up at Knockhill
The pre-season favourite took his fourth pole position of the year and was never headed in race one. This despite the fact the race was bunched up several times for accidents. Robbie Kerr collided with Mark Taylor while trying to pass Bruce Jouanny. Courtney's Carlin teammate Michael Keohane was also eliminated in an accident. Ronnie Bremer and Heikki Kovalainen stayed ahead of the carnage to claim the other podium results.
Race two was scarcely much different with Courtney putting in another lights to flag victory. Keohane chased his team leader home for a relatively unchallenged second, whilst a damaged Bremer (his front wing was broken in a clash with Keohane) clung to third, until a late race gearbox failure removed him from the results. Bruce Jouanny inherited third instead. Jouanny had been in a group with Robbie Kerr and Mark Taylor, squabbling behind Bremer until Kerr was eliminated in an accident again, plunging the series leader down the points standings. Taylor also retired, leaving fourth to be picked up by Alan van der Merwe in a best ever Formula 3 finish.
Result of British Formula 3 Championship, Round 7 and 8, Knockhill, Great Britain:
Standings: James Courtney 113, Robbie Kerr 84, Bruce Jouanny 81, Michael Keohane 74, Mark Taylor 54 etc
Montagny and Zonta Kick Off Telefonica Series
The new Telefonica World Series finally comenced last weekend, with Franck Montagny and former BAR driver Ricardo Zonta each taking a win at the Communitat Valencia circuit in Spain. Montagny takes the lead in the series with a second and a first in the two races to lead Zonta by three points.
Montagny got the jump in the first race to lead from Rafael Sarandeses and Zonta. The Safety Car was brought out early after a multi-car incident involving Wilson, Ander Vilarino, Angel Burgueno and Peter Sundberg with Wilson and Sundberg out on the spot. Zonta capitalised on the restart, quickly forcing his way past Sarandeses before hunting down Montagny to take the inaugural Telefonica World Series victory. Sarandeses kept third ahead of F3000 refugess Bas Leinders and Nicolas Filiberti.
With Zonta buried at the back of the grid, race two saw Montagny romp away at the start uncontested. Leinders and Burgueno gave chase initially. Burgueno clashed with Tuka Rocha and retired. Zonta stormed thruugh the field from the back to finish third behind Ander Vilarino while Bas Leinders faded to fourth.
Result of Telefonica World Series, Round 1, Comunitat Valencia, Spain:
Standings:Franck Montagny 37, Ricardo Zonta 34, Bas Leinders 20, Rafael Sarandeseses and Ander Vilarino 15 etc
Formula 3000
It must be frustrating to be Tomas Enge. Late last year the dream was fulfilled, the former Nordic driver was now a Formula One driver. But the Prost team collapsed leaving Enge without an immediate future. Enge found a seat back in Formula 3000 for a fifth season in Formula One's feeder category.
The fireworks of the opening lap proved to be flattering with the only real position battle at the front being Friesacher and Toccacelo, a battle elevated to fifth with the retirement of Saelens. Antonio Pizzonia provided some entertainment, storming through the field from a poor grid position, but fell one short of gaining a championship point for his efforts.
Pos Driver Team
1. Tomas Enge Arden International
2. Bjorn Wirdheim Arden International
3. Mario Haberfeld Team Astromega
4. Giorgio Pantano Coloni
5. Patrick Friesacher Red Bull Junior
6. Enrico Toccacelo Coloni
7. Antonio Pizzonia Petrobras Junior
8. Ricardo Sperafico Petrobras Junior
9. Rob Nguyen Team Astromega
10. Nicolas Kiesa PSM Racing
IRL
It was a mixed weekend for the stars with some on top, while others are looking down the barrel of missing the race entirely. Johnny Herbert in particular has a tough week ahead after rain washed out day two of qualifying. But for Bruno Junqueira, it was a sweet moment indeed. A year ago things were looking decidedly shaky for the then reigning Formula 3000 Champion as Chip Ganassi Racing plunged from the dizzy heights of success with Juan Montoya and Alex Zanardi.
Fourth on the grid belong to a team attempting a unique double. Mo Nunn racing is running cars in both the IRL and CART series this year. While Tony Kanaan continues to lead the CART program, Felipe Giaffone has been racing in the IRL, and has rewarded the team with a second row spot. Alongside is Kanaan in the sister car, underlining the strong team performance of Mo Nunn Racing.
Johnny Herbert has a tough decision to make. He has yet to qualify the Beck Motorsports Dallara-Chevrolet, but Bump Day clashes with Herbert's commitments to Champion Racing's Audi R8 in the ALMS event at Sears Point.
Pos Driver Car
Pole Bruno Junqueira GForce-Chevrolet
2. Robbie Buhl GForce-Infiniti
3 Raul Boesel Dallara-Chevrolet
4 Felipe Giaffone GForce-Chevrolet
5 Tony Kanaan GForce-Chevrolet
6 Eddie Cheever Dallara-Infiniti
7 Sam Hornish Jr Dallara-Chevrolet
8 Scott Sharp Dallara-Chevrolet
9 Sarah Fisher GForce-Infiniti
10. Tomas Scheckter Dallara-Infiniti
11. Robby Gordon Dallara-Chevrolet
12. Al Unser Jr Dallara-Chevrolet
Superbikes
Race One
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Troy Bayliss Ducati 998 F 02
2. Neil Hodgson Ducati 998 F 01
3. Colin Edwards Honda VTR 1000 SP2
4. Pierfrancesco Chili Ducati 998 RS
5. James Toseland Ducati 998 F 01
6. Ruben Xaus Ducati 998 F 02
7. Gregorio Lavilla Suzuki GSX-R750 Y
8. Alessandro Antonello Ducati 998 RS
9. Eric Bostrom Kawasaki ZX-7RR
10. Steve Martin Ducati 998 RS
Race Two
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Troy Bayliss Ducati 998 F 02
2. Colin Edwards Honda VTR 1000 SP2
3. Noriyuki Haga Aprilia RSV 1000
4. Neil Hodgson Ducati 998 F 01
5. Gregorio Lavilla Suzuki GSX-R750 Y
6. Lucio Pedercini Ducati 998 RS
7. Eric Bostrom Kawasaki ZX-7RR
8. Broc Parkes Ducati 998 RS
9. Ben Bostrom Ducati 998 F 02
10. Chris Walker Kawasaki ZX-7RR
Formula 3
Three pole positions and a long held series lead was all the consolation James Courtney has been able to take from this year's British Formula 3 Championship so far. The Jaguar test driver took the hottest seat in Formula 3 this year, taking the lead driver position at Carlin Motorsport vacated by Jordan driver Takuma Sato. Courtney's first win of the season was rapidly joined by his second as the British Formula 3 series made its annual trip to Scotland.
Round Seven
Pos Driver Car
1. James Courtney Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
2. Ronnie Bremer Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
3. Heikki Kovalainen Dallara F302 Sodemo-Renault
4. Bruce Jouanny Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
5. Alan van der Merwe Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
Round Eight
Pos Driver Car
1. James Courtney Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
2. Michael Keohane Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
3. Bruce Jouanny Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
4. Alan van der Merwe Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
5. Shinya Hosokawa Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
Formula Nissan
The one make series of Dallara built and Nissan powered open wheelers has been touted as a rival series to the International Formula 3000 Championship, and indeed does have a couple of former F3000 teams and several drivers running, including 2001 champion Justin Wilson.
Race One
Pos Driver Team
1. Ricardo Zonta Gabord Competicion
2. Franck Montagny Racing Engineering
3. Rafael Sarandeses 7Up GD Racing
4. Bas Leinders Keerbergs Transport Racing
5. Nicolas Filiberti Zele Motorsport
Race Two
Pos Driver Team
1. Franck Montagny Racing Engineering
2. Ander Vilarino Epsilon by Graff
3. Ricardo Zonta Gabord Competicion
4. Bas Leinders Keerbergs Transport Racing
5. Jean-Christophe Ravier Epsilon by Graff
Briefs
Hendrick Motorsports and Jerry Nadeau have split. The decision was made mutually. In three seasons with Hendrick, Nadeau has just one victory to his credit, and six other finishes in the top five. Hendrick is currently 28th in the Winston Cup. Nadeau will drive the MPV Motorsport Pontiac in the 'Winston Open' qualifying race this weekend, substituting for the injured Johnny Benson.
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