ATLAS F1 - THE JOURNAL OF FORMULA ONE MOTORSPORT
Elsewhere in Racing
Updates from the Rest of the Racing World

By Mark Alan Jones and David Wright, Australia
Atlas F1 Magazine Writers



  NASCAR

Stewart's Short Track Success

Tony Stewart in the #20 Pontiac on his way to the winAt the Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond International Raceway, Tony Stewart was the winner of an event that finished just a little later than scheduled. The race start was delayed by over two hours on Saturday night as rain delayed the start. The race eventually finished late on Sunday afternoon!

The first 60 laps were relatively incident free as Ward Burton led the field from pole. Unfortunately the rain returned around the 60 lap mark, causing the race to be stopped. The rain eventually saw the race called off for the night, to be restarted Sunday afternoon.

On Sunday the race turned into a crashfest, with drivers blaming the sealer that had been recently put on the track for the difficult track conditions. 103 of the race's 400 laps were run under a record-equalling 14 caution periods. Early leader Ward Burton's transmission broke just past half distance. Rusty Wallace caused two accidents after suffering flat tyres, accidentally taking race leader Ricky Rudd in one of them with less than 100 laps remaining, while soon after Jimmy Spencer and Jimmie Johnson collided with each other while contesting the lead.

Meanwhile Tony Stewart, who started 41st after an engine change, managed to avoid most of the carnage to get himself in to contention nearing the end of the race, passing Jeff Gordon with 56 laps remaining for second and taking the lead from rookie Ryan Newman with just under 30 laps remaining, a lead he held on to until the end. Outside the top ten, points leader Sterling Marlin finished 11th, Jimmie Johnson, last start winner at Fontana, finished 31st after colliding with Spencer, while Kurt Busch hit the wall late in the race and had to pit, dropping him from ninth to 27th at the end of the race.

Result of NASCAR Winston Cup, Round 11, Richmond International Raceway, Virginia, United States:

Pos  Driver             Car
 1.  Tony Stewart       Pontiac Grand Prix
 2.  Ryan Newman        Ford Taurus
 3.  Jeff Burton        Ford Taurus
 4.  Mark Martin        Ford Taurus
 5.  Jeremy Mayfield    Dodge Intrepid
 6.  Matt Kenseth       Ford Taurus
 7.  Jeff Gordon        Chevrolet Monte Carlo
 8.  Steve Grissom      Dodge Intrepid
 9.  Ricky Craven       Ford Taurus
10.  Jimmy Spencer      Dodge Intrepid

Standings: Sterling Marlin 1645, Matt Kenseth 1513, Kurt Busch 1454, Mark Martin 1452, Rusty Wallace 1442, Jeff Gordon 1429, Jimmie Johnson 1422, Tony Stewart 1394, Jeff Burton 1343, Ricky Rudd 1330


  MotoGP

Rossi's Spanish Success

Valentino Rossi's reign at the top of world motorcycle racing seems to be assured for a while to come, as he continued on his way to become the first MotoGP class champion by winning the Spanish round of the 2002 championship at Jerez. After suffering some early contact which cost him positions, Rossi came back through the field to take the win as the Honda four stroke showed its class, easily beating the other four strokes and holding out the two strokes as well.

Rossi sat on pole, making it three poles from three races, the only four-stroke bike on the front row at this race. Uncharacteristically, Rossi made a good start and led the field into turn one, followed by Alex Barros, Daijiro Katoh and Tohru Ukawa. Further back, Max Biaggi and Olivier Jacque were judged to have made jump starts. Kenny Roberts was quickly up to fifth and on the tail of Ukawa, the Suzukis returning to Michelin after a disastrous race in South Africa on Dunlops which saw both riders make pit stops for tyres. Up front Barros passed Rossi for the lead before heading down the back straight on lap one, and Ukawa passed Katoh for third before the end of the lap.

The end of lap one showed something that was demonstrated throughout the race, which was the sheer acceleration of the four strokes versus their two stroke counterparts as they accelerated out of the hairpin at the end of the lap. Ukawa passed his teammate Rossi down the straight, while a little further back Roberts on his four stroke Suzuki passed two stroke rider Katoh towards the end of the straight. To make sure he cleared Katoh, Roberts went in a little too deep, sliding out into Rossi who had taken the normal line, the two making contact. Roberts rode on, raising his hand to say 'sorry', as Rossi managed to just save it from the gravel trap, resuming in eighth place, behind Yamaha four stroke rider Carlos Checa. This incident saw Katoh also lose two places as the contact occurred right in front of him. Four corners later that same lap, Rossi was past Checa as they entered the Dry Sack hairpin, where just seconds earlier teammate Ukawa made the same move to take the lead from Barros. As they completed lap two, Rossi outaccelerated Capirossi to move up to sixth.

At this point the jump starts were announced, Max Biaggi first followed by Olivier Jacque. Entering the hairpin at the end of lap three, Rossi passed Biaggi to take fourth, having passed Katoh for fifth heading onto the back straight earlier that lap. Down the back straight on lap four and Rossi was third as Roberts began his slow fall back through the field. Up front Ukawa still led from Barros with Rossi forming a three rider group, dicing with each other. At the end of lap six Rossi passed Barros for second exiting the final corner hairpin, using the four stroke's acceleration to do the job. Meanwhile Max Biaggi received the black flag as he failed to heed the call to come in for a stop-go penalty, coming in to retire the next lap.

Similar to South Africa, Ukawa led Rossi, while the two Pons Honda riders sat just a few bikelengths behind. At the end of lap nine, Jacque took his stop go, dropping him right out of contention. The top four circulated in a tight group, Rossi looking this way and that but not making a successful move. As they began lap 12, the top four became a top five as Katoh joined the group, the order Ukawa, Rossi, Barros, Capirossi and Katoh, though Katoh took fourth place at the Dry Sack hairpin later on lap 12. As they crossed the finish line to complete lap 13, Katoh moved up another place as he moved past Barros, leaving only the two factory Honda four strokes in front of him. After being challenged by Katoh, Rossi renewed his attack on Ukawa, finally making his way through at turn one on lap 17. Immediately he began to edge away from the rest of the leading pack, opening the lead by a few tenths per lap. Behind them Pons teammates Capirossi and Barros had swapped places.

With seven laps remaining, Katoh was on Ukawa's tail, looking for a way past, and at the end of lap 21 Katoh took second place entering the final hairpin, Ukawa just unable to blast back past him. Ukawa tried to hold on to Katoh's tail as Capriossi began to attack Ukawa. Eventually, at the end of lap 24, Capirossi took third place up the inside of Ukawa at the final hairpin. Exiting the hairpin, Ukawa wound on the throttle and accelerated past Capirossi, but entering turn one, Capirossi used the better braking of the lighter two stroke to take third back again. Going down the back straight on lap 25, Ukawa pulled alongside Capirossi, but failed to make the move, but exiting the Dry Sack hairpin Ukawa blasted ahead back into third place.

Capirossi was not done with yet, repeating his move at the final hairpin from the previous lap. As they exited the hairpin and accelerated down the pit straight to begin the second last lap, Ukawa managed to get alongside and just take back third from Capirossi as they entered turn one. At the end of the lap, Capirossi for the third lap in succession took third place from Ukawa at the final hairpin, and for the third lap in a row Ukawa took the place back going down the pit straight. However, like two laps previous Capirossi took the place back under braking for turn one, but Ukawa's wide entry allowed him to blast back up the inside on the exit of the corner to take the place back once again. This was how it stayed as Ukawa protected the inside line at the hairpin on the last lap, Rossi winning from Katoh, Ukawa, Capirossi and Barros.

South Africa appears to have been a minor abberation for Rossi, 'only' finishing second. For the third race this year, a four stroke bike has shown the way home. The biggest problem for the two stroke riders is that some of the tracks coming up will favour the four strokes even more than some of the tracks so far, and that the four strokes still have a lot of development to come, while most of the two strokes aren't being developed at all by the factories as they concentrate on the four strokes.

Result of World Motorcycle Championship, Round 3, Jerez, Spain:

Pos  Rider                 Motorcycle
 1.  Valentino Rossi       Honda RC211V
 2.  Daijiro Katoh         Honda NSR500
 3.  Tohru Ukawa           Honda RC211V
 4.  Loris Capirossi       Honda NSR500
 5.  Alex Barros           Honda NSR500
 6.  Norick Abe            Yamaha YZR500
 7.  Nobuatsu Aoki         Proton KR3
 8.  Kenny Roberts         Suzuki GSVR
 9.  Sete Gibernau         Suzuki GSVR
10.  Tetsuya Harada        Honda NSR500

Standings: Valentino Rossi 70, Tohru Ukawa 41, Daijiro Katoh 39, Loris Capirossi 36, Norick Abe 30, Carlos Checa 27, Alex Barros 21, Akira Ryo 20 etc.


Former World Champion Criville Retires

Alex Criville, the only Spaniard to win the 500cc world championship, has announced his retirement from the sport. The 1999 world champion told reporters at a news conference in Jerez on the second day of official qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix that he would not ride again in a decision prompted by health problems.

"I would have liked to have carried on competing, but after mulling over the decision for some time now I have reached the conclusion that I should retire," said a tearful Criville.

The 32-year-old, who announced in February that he was taking a break from the sport because of fainting fits that he has suffered since 1999, said that after an exhaustive series of medical tests he had decided to retire permanently.

"I do not have a serious problem, but I have to give up bikes," he said. "There is no doubt that if I was 20 or so I wouldn't be here now, but now I believe it is the right time to retire for good. Today is a very special day for me, but when you can't compete at the top level and win...then it is better to say goodbye and what better place to do it than at Jerez."

Criville won three consecutive 500cc grands prix at the Jerez track between 1997 and 1999 and said he had chosen the venue so that he could thank the thousands of fans who make the annual pilgrimage to the Southern Spanish circuit.

"I am now going to take a year off and after that I would like to return to the world of bike racing, but as to what role I would have I am not yet sure."

Criville burst onto the scene at the age of 19, winning the 125cc world championship, the youngest rider to win a world title, in 1989 before moving through the 250cc ranks and making his 500cc debut in 1992 for the Honda team. In 1994 he partnered Australia's five-times world champion Mick Doohan and made steady progress after winning his first 500cc GP at Assen.

He won the world title in 1999 by winning six grands prix, but then collapsed in Australia during testing in 2000. Doctors diagnosed the problem initially as stress and the defence of his title ended in a disappointing ninth place finish at the end of the 2000 season.

He finished eighth last year before ending his 10-year association with Honda by signing a two-year contract with Luis d'Antin's Yamaha team in December.

Report provided by Reuters


  IRL

The Month of May Begins

The Borg-Warner trophy, the one the drivers are fighting forPractice for the Indianapolis 500 has begun, with last start victor Scott Sharp claiming initial honours for Kelley Racing. Sharp sizzled his Dallara-Chevrolet around the world's greatest speedway at a speed of 227.571mph. Second fastest was defending champion, Penske's Helio Castroneves. The fence climbing one was mere fractions slower at 227.408mph.

Veteran Al Unser Jr also demonstrated good early speed to be third fastest ahead of the first of CART's interlopers, Bruno Junqueira in the Target Chip Ganassi GForce-Chevrolet. Another former race-winning veteran in the form of Eddie Cheever was fifth fastest in the first of the Nissan-Infiniti powered cars ahead of the fastest of the rookies, Alex Barron.

Some of the stars struggled, with Team Green cars running outside the top ten, Paul Tracy in twelfth, Dario Franchitti in 23rd and Michael Andretti, returning the great Andretti name to the Brickyard, was buried in 27th. Gil de Ferran was 15th while IRL series leader Sam Hornish Jr sat one spot ahead.

The Indy 500 will be held on American Memorial Day Weekend, the 26th of May.


  Formula 3

Taylor and Kerr Split Silverstone

Robbie Kerr, round six winner, in actionOn the support card for the ETCC circus, the British Formula 3 Championship had an act to live up to. Robbie Kerr has been the cause of much attention in the British Formula 3 series this year, and he added to it, taking the race two victory after a fourth in race one. Winner of the weekend though was Mark Taylor, the Manor driver taking his debut victory in race one before following up with a third.

In race one Taylor (Manor Motorsport) blitzed the start to sit on the tail of Fabio Carbone (Fortec Motorsport) with Heikki Kovalainen (Fortec Motorsport) in close company. Into Copse and Taylor swung to the inside and Carbone and Kovalainen clashed causing Carbone to break his front wing and start sliding down the field with a puncture. Michael Keohane (Carlin Motorsport) attacked into Stowe, taking Robbie Kerr (Alan Docking Racing) for fifth, but while trying to pass teammate James Courtney the two collided. Courtney picked up a puncture for his troubles. Kovalainen gradually moved up to attack Taylor but the gearbox died. Keohane recovered to finish third whilst Adam Carroll (Sweeney Racing) in the Scholarship class car was second. Last years car ain't a bad stick, is it?

Courtney was slow away for race two allowing Kerr to move away until Carroll blasted past to lead in the older car. Kovalainen came with him to be second, but soon led. Courtney dropped down the field and had to fight back through the field. Kerr got the better of Kovalainen's better start and retook the lead. Kerr held out Kovalainen for the distance with Taylor third. Bruce Jouanny (Promatecme F3) overcome a poor race one to be fourth, just holding out the recovering Courtney.

Result of British Formula 3 Championship, Round 5 and 6, Silverstone, Great Britain:

Round Five

Pos  Driver              Car
 1.  Mark Taylor         Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
 2.  Adam Carroll        Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda
 3.  Michael Keohane     Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
 4.  Robbie Kerr         Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
 5.  Richard Antinucci   Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
 6.  Bruce Jouanny       Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda

Round Six

Pos  Driver              Car
 1.  Robbie Kerr         Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
 2.  Heikki Kovalainen   Dallara F302 Sodemo-Renault
 3.  Mark Taylor         Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
 4.  Bruce Jouanny       Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
 5.  James Courtney      Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
 6.  Fabio Carbone       Dallara F302 Sodemo-Renault


  ETCC

One Each For The Factory Alfas

Giovanardi leads the packReigning champion Fabrizio Giovanardi bolstered his lead in the European Touring Car Championship with a second and a first in two races held for Round 2 at Silverstone. Alfa Corse teammate Nicola Larini was first and second to complete four consecutive 1-2 finishes in the ETCC this year. It is starting to look as though the title can be painted red already. Giovanardo though was having none of it.

"It was a tough day today," said Giovanardi. "For the moment, I am still at the top of the championship, but I will have to be careful as I saw some very fast Volvo and BMW cars out on the circuit today. But I think it is good for everyone to have good fights like that. I had to push really hard or risk losing the race."

The Alfas were swamped off the line in Race 1, with Rickard Rydell storming to the lead for the first time in the Volvo S60 on a circuit he knows from years of campaigning Volvos in the British Touring Car Championship. Rydell put this knowledge to good use to lead from Jorg Muller (BMW 320i), Giovanardi, Larini and Dirk Muller (BMW 320i). A battle erupted between the Beemers and Alfas allowing the Volvo to skip away a little until on lap seven Rydell fluffed a gear change allowing a high speed train of red and white to drop him to fifth.

Rydell leads at the start of race oneGiovanardi and Dirk Muller were battling for the lead when the two clashed at Abbey with Muller trying to dive inside the Alfa, the incident allowing Larini to scream by into a lead he wouldn't relinquish. Giovanardi held out Jorg Muller for third while Rydell displaced the slowing Dirk Muller for fourth. Paolo Ruberti (Alfa Romeo 156) had to defend all the way to the line to keep Eric Cayrolle (Alfa Romeo 156) from seventh. Further down the field Tom Ferrier (Alfa Romeo 156) was put out for the weekend after missing the chicane and being belted by the BMWs of Jordi Gene and Peter Kox.

For the partial reverse grid Race 2, Ruberti got his pole position start wrong and clashed with Jorg Muller allowing Dirk Muller to lead while the protaganists slid down the rankings. Rydell chased after Dirk Muller with Tom Coronel making a brilliant start to be holding out the factory Alfas for third. Coronel and Giovanardi got physical in their battle, with Coronel losing third as a result. Tommy Rustad's Nissan and Salvatore Tavano's Honda clashed, sending the Primera into the kitty litter. Larini fought his way past Coronel as the leading three bunched together.

Giovanardi disposed of Rydell on lap 3 and set his sights on the BMW, taking Muller at Copse two laps later. By this time Larini had caught the pair and quickly subjected Muller to intense pressure and two laps later duplicated his teammate's move at Copse. On lap 9 Rydell fought his way past Muller to reutrn Volvo to the ETCC podium for the first time since the days of brutal 240 Turbos of the mid 80s. Ruberti fought his way to fifth leading Fredrik Ekblom (BMW 320i).

The series gathers itself again at Brno in the Czech Republic in two weeks.

Result of European Touring Car Championship, Round 2, Silverstone, Great Britain

Race One

Pos  Driver               Car
 1.  Nicola Larini        Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
 2.  Fabrizio Giovanardi  Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
 3.  Jorg Muller          BMW 320i
 4.  Rickard Rydell       Volvo S60
 5.  Dirk Muller          BMW 320i
 6.  Paolo Ruberti        Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
 7.  Eric Cayrolle        Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
 8.  Tom Coronel          BMW 320i
 9.  Luis Villamil        Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
10.  Fredrik Ekblom       BMW 320i

Race Two

Pos  Driver               Car
 1.  Fabrizio Giovanardi  Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
 2.  Nicola Larini        Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
 3.  Rickard Rydell       Volvo S60
 4.  Dirk Muller          BMW 320i
 5.  Paolo Ruberti        Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
 6.  Fredrik Ekblom       BMW 320i
 7.  Luis Villamil        Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
 8.  Jorg Muller          BMW 320i
 9.  Fabrizio De Simone   BMW 320i
10.  Salvatore Tavano     Honda Civic Type-R

Standings: Fabrizio Giovanardi 36, Nicola Larini 28, Dirk Muller and Rickard Rydell 13, Jorg Muller 8, Fredrik Ekblom and Paolo Ruberti 3

Manufacturers' standings: Alfa Romeo 64, BMW 22, Volvo 13


  BTCC

Astranomical Thruxton

Muller leads teammate ThompsonAs with last year's BTCC, the Vauxhall Astras have proven themselves to be faster, quicker, better funded and better driven. It's hard to fight against that concept. Escpecially with five or six Vauxhalls to choose from. James Thompson won the sprint race on the sweeps of Thruxton, but the feature was won by teammate Yvan Muller.

The feature race win finally gets Muller's championship assualt back on track after a string of poor results. Thompson was second, conceding the win and also bending under the weight of over 60 kg of 'success ballast'. Thompson won the sprint race after a spirited battle ended in tears as Muller's car ground to a halt with a broken tie rod end. Whilst the two factory Vauxhalls cruised to their finish, Matt Neal in the factory assisted egg.com Astra had to suffer the attentions of Anthony Reid (MG ZS), Tim Harvey (Peugeot 406) and Andy Priaulx (Honda Civic). Reid's race came to an end when he clashed with lapped teammate Colin Turkington.

Result of British Touring Car Championship, Rounds 5 and 6, Thruxton:

Round Five

Pos  Driver             Car
 1.  James Thompson     Vauxhall Astra
 2.  Matt Neal          Vauxhall Astra
 3.  Anthony Reid       MG ZS
 4.  Andy Priaulx       Honda Civic Type-R
 5.  Tim Harvey         Peugeot 406
 6.  Dan Eaves          Peugeot 406
 7.  Aaron Slight       Vauxhall Astra
 8.  Paul O'Neill       Vauxhall Astra
 9.  David Leslie       Proton Impian
10.  Gareth Howell      MG ZS

Round Six

Pos  Driver             Car
 1.  Yvan Muller        Vauxhall Astra
 2.  James Thompson     Vauxhall Astra
 3.  Matt Neal          Vauxhall Astra
 4.  Tim Harvey         Peugeot 406
 5.  Andy Priaulx       Honda Civic Type-R
 6.  Dan Eaves          Peugeot 406
 7.  Paul O'Neill       Vauxhall Astra
 8.  Alan Morrison      Honda Civic
 9.  David Leslie       Proton Impian
10.  Warren Hughes      MG ZS


  DTM

Aiello Masters The Weather

Spray and sparks fly from winner Aiello's AudiSpa-Francorchamps is famous for its wet races. Belgium's other major circuit, Zolder does not have the reputation of its more illustrious cousin, but the weather gods did their best to emulate Spa at Zolder when the bewinged monsters of touring cars, the DTM, came to visit.

In dismal weather there was no stopping Frenchman Laurent Aiello. In conditions described as torrential, the former British and French Touring Car Champion drove his Audi TT-R superbly to take victory in the Qualifying race, and again in the feature event. Aiello now dominates the championship proceedings with more than double the points of nearest rival, teammate Mattias Ekstrom.

"Of course, this is a great result, both for me and for my team”, said Aiello. "After all, we hardly had any testing in the rain. The higher I rate the performance of our team, to prepare such a perfect set-up for our TT-Rs in these adverse conditions.”

The Safety Car started both races with Aiello finally leading the field away competitively on the sixth lap of the main race. The safety car was back out again after Martin Tomczyk buried his Audi in the sand trap. By this time Joachim Winkelhock (Opel Astra) and Patrick Huisman (Mercedes CLK-DTM) had also had offs with Karl Wendlinger (Audi TT-R) soon to join them.

The safety car had a busy dayAlmost the entire field pitted around this time, either before or after Tomczyk's incident but the only driver to gain much in the safety car queue was Michael Bartels (Opel Astra), although that advantage would bite him. After a miscommunication somewhere, Bartels slipped past the safety car when it first appeared. Bartels was summoned to the pits for a 'please explain', handing the lead back to Aiello.

The two Audis then wound the lead down. Christian Abt moved up to second during the rash of pitstops but was forced to struggle over the distance as both his windscreen and spectacles fogged over, reducing effective visibility to near zero. Third home and leading non-Audi was reigning champion, Bernd Schneider. Ekstrom overcame a poorly timed pitstop to finish fourth ahead of the first of the Opels, Timo Scheider. Former Formula One star now Mercedes AMG driver Jean Alesi was tenth.

Result of Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, Round 2, Zolder, Belgium:

Pos  Driver               Car
 1.  Laurent Aiello       Audi TT-R
 2.  Christian Abt        Audi TT-R
 3.  Bernd Schneider      Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM
 4.  Mattias Ekstrom      Audi TT-R
 5.  Timo Scheider        Opel Astra V8 Coupe
 6.  Christijan Albers    Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM
 7.  Uwe Alzen            Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM
 8.  Michael Bartels      Opel Astra V8 Coupe
 9.  Marcel Fassler       Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM
10.  Jean Alesi           Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM


  Le Mans

Audi Running Rings Around Le Mans

The team to beat, AudiFor the first time in nearly three years it looked like someone might beat Audi at Le Mans. At the first preliminary practice session held on the weekend the rapid Dallara-Judd run by the ORECA outfit topped the timesheets driven by Stephane Sarrazin. Sarrazin left the ORECA car on 3:32.168 when Audi sent out Johnny Herbert and Rinaldo Capello in the last 30 minutes of the weekend. First Herbert lowered the mark by over a tenth then Capello slammed down a 3:30.296 to end debate on the fastest car present. The lead Audi saw Tom Kristensen arrive on a slower car during his hot lap and was third fastest, four tenths from the ORECA Dallara. Fourth fastest was the third Audi led by Michael Krumm. Fifth fastest with an amazing time was the little MG-Lola EX257 with Mark Blundell lapping in the 3:33 bracket, ahead of the Audi-powered Bentley. Seventh was Jan Lammers in the Dome S101 car, amply displaying than anyone carrying the 4 litre Judd V8 will be potential threat. The top ten was rounded out by the second MG, the second ORECA Dallara and Didier Cottaz in the Courage-Judd.

Jan Magnussen was twelfth in the best of the Panoz, with the first of the Cadillacs in 16th. The Lola-MGs dominated LMP675, taking the three quickest cars in class ahead of one of the ROC Reynard-VW turbos.

The slowest car in the field, the Morgan Aero 8In GTS, Team Arden Formula 3000 driver Tomas Enge set the fastest time in the Prodrive Ferrari 360. Second fastest was one of Larbre Competition's venerable Vipers, three seconds distant. Third fastest was the first of the Corvettes, while the Saleens were nowhere in sight, strangled by a reduced air restrictor. GT looks closer at this stage with the Ferraris and the Spyker lapping in close company of the fleet of Porsches. Lucas Luhr was quickest in The Racers Group Porsche 996 GT3, leading Porsche, Ferrari, Porsche, Porsche, Spyker. A distant tail-end charlie was the Morgan Aero 8, lapping at a pace which would see the front runners lapping it on lap 3.

The Le Mans 24 Hours will be held over the weekend of June 15/16.


  Briefs

  • Tomas ScheckterFormer Jaguar test driver Tomas Scheckter has received an official warning from the Indy Racing League after a crash that left fellow driver Jaques Lazier with a lower spinal fracture and concussion. Scheckter collided with Lazier in the American series' last race, at Nazareth, as he attempted to overtake on the inside of a corner and both cars piled into the wall.

    But Scheckter is desperate to put the latest setback behind him and admitted he would trade anything to see Lazier back on track. "Rules are rules and I'm going to go by them," said Scheckter. "So I'll take my punishment and move. But I just wish Jaques was better and I'd swap my Indy 500 drive if he could be in a car this month."

    The South African driver was dropped by Jaguar last year and crashed into his new IRL team boss Eddie Cheever at the first race this season.

  • Ducati will unveil their new MotoGP challenger in a ceremony to be held at the Italian circuit of Mugello on May 30th. The four stroke machine with the Desmosedici four cylinder will be lapped for the first time in public. It is expected the test rider will be experienced Superbike rider and reigning Superbike World Champion for Ducati, Troy Bayliss.

  • Australian Ed Ordynski has claimed the opening round of the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship in a retirement-marred Rally of Canberra which saw Mitsubishi claim its first international rally victory of the year. Local Australian and New Zealand Mitsubishi crews claimed the major placings with the first APRC championship contender, Italian Nico Caldarola, coming home fifth. Caldarola now leads the series from New Zealand's Brian Green.

  • The winning Duez/Babini ViperIn an upset, the Dodge Viper of Marc Duez and Fabio Babini have triumphed in the second round of the FIA GT Championship. The Paul Belmondo-run Viper survived to finish the race when many faster cars struck problems. Winners of the opening round the Lister Storm team struggled at various points during the race. Bobby Verdon-Roe and Paul Knapfield finished second, running out of laps to catch the Viper, and also suffering the indignity of a late race engine problem, while series leaders Jamie Campbell-Walker and Nicolaus Springer finished a lap down in fourth after pit stop dramas. The Larbre Viper of Christophe Bouchut, David Terrien and Vincent Vosse finished third.


  Upcoming Events Calendar

  • May 11 - International Formula 3000 Championship, Round 4; A-1 Ring, Austria
  • May 12 - World Superbike Championship, Round 5; Monza, Italy
  • May 12 - British Formula 3 Championship, Round 4; Knockhill, Great Britain
  • May 16 - World Rally Championship, Round 6; Rally Argentina, Argentina
  • May 18 - NASCAR Winston Cup, The Winston; Lowe's Motor Speedway, Charlotte, North Carolina, United States
  • May 19 - World Motorcycle Championship, Round 4; Le Mans Bugatti, France
  • May 19 - Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, Round 3; Donington, Great Britain
  • May 19 - American Le Mans Series, Round 2; Sears Point Raceway, California, United States
  • May 25 - International Formula 3000, Round 5, Monte Carlo, Monaco
  • May 26 - NASCAR Winston Cup, Round 12; Lowe's Motor Speedway, Charlotte, North Carolina, United States
  • May 26 - Indy Racing League, Round 5; Indianapolis 500, Indiana, United States
  • May 26 - British Formula 3, Round 5; Croft, Great Britain


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Volume 8, Issue 19
May 8th 2002

Atlas F1 Exclusive

A Conversation with Frank Williams
by Karl Ludvigsen

Interview with Pat Symonds
by Will Gray

Rumble on the Ramblas
by Thomas O'Keefe

Jo Ramirez: a Racing Man
by Jo Ramirez

Tech Focus: Innovations in a GP Car

Austrian GP Review

The 2002 Austrian GP Preview
by Craig Scarborough

Local History: Austrian GP
by Doug Nye

Columns

The Austrian GP Quiz
by Marcel Borsboom

The F1 FAQ
by Marcel Schot

Rear View Mirror
by Don Capps

Bookworm Critique
by Mark Glendenning

Elsewhere in Racing
by Mark Alan Jones & David Wright

The Grapevine
by The F1 Rumours Team



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