Updates from the Rest of the Racing World
Atlas F1 Magazine Writers
Stewart's Short Track Success
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:
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
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:
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.
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
The Month of May Begins
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.
Taylor and Kerr Split Silverstone
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:
One Each For The Factory Alfas
"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.
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
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
Astranomical Thruxton
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:
Aiello Masters The Weather
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 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:
Audi Running Rings Around Le Mans
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 Le Mans 24 Hours will be held over the weekend of June 15/16.
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.
NASCAR
At 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!
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
MotoGP
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
Former World Champion Criville Retires
IRL
Practice 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.
Formula 3
On 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.
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
Reigning 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.
Giovanardi 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.
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
BTCC
As 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.
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
Spa-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.
Almost 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.
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
For 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.
In 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.
Briefs
Former 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.
In 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.
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Volume 8, Issue 19
Atlas F1 Exclusive
A Conversation with Frank Williams
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Rumble on the Ramblas
Jo Ramirez: a Racing Man
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