Updates from the Rest of the Racing World
Atlas F1 Magazine Writers
Panizzi and Peugeot Power On
Despite his position within Peugeot as a tarmac specialist, is it now possible to think of Panizzi as a realistic threat to his two (three if you include Rovanpera) much more illustrious teammates? That decision though does not belong with Panizzi but with team mangement, who decide who races at which event, for Panizzi does not have a full season scheduled.
The other issue to come out of the WRC's visit to Spain was that three competitive stages were cancelled because of poor spectator control. Leg Two had its first two stages blighted when thousands of spectators flooded stages before control was set up. Spectators cars were parked on the side of the route like it was a bicycle race. In all, stages 1, 7 and 8 had to be cancelled and a spectator's car contributed to Carlos Sainz's crash in Stage 10. It was for this reason that near neighbour, the Rally of Portugal was removed from the WRC calendar. There will be some nervous faces in the Rally Catalunya organisers' ranks over the coming months.
As at Corsica, Panizzi won eight stages, more than the rest of the field put together. Twenty six seconds clear on the first day, all Panizzi had to do was consolidate. It sounds simpler than it was but Panizzi was able to gradually gap Richard Burns, who in turn moved gradually away from the pursuing fleet of French cars, the two Citroens of Philippe Bugalski and Sebastien Loeb, and the delayed brake-plagued Pug of Marcus Gronholm. The five French cars were always better than everyone else.
Ford and Subaru now seem to give away a significant disadvantage to Peugeot and Citroen on tarmac. These wins and points are going to have to be made up on the dirt and gravel rallies. Petter Solberg was again best of the rest, although brake problems blighted his rally too. He was catching Gronholm in the end, but the gap was too much. Tommi Makinen retired his Impreza with engine dramas on an early morning transport stage on Leg Two after damaging the front of the car in an off the previous afternoon.
Colin McRae raced home for the final point. The Scot was racing injured after his crash in Corsica, and it hampered him slightly. He was having to take gentler lines while cornering, protecting his vulnerable left hand and ribs. He would press on to sixth. Carlos Sainz was not so lucky, crashing off a large rock after spinning to avoid a parked spectator vehicle on Stage 10.
Behind McRae came Harri Rovanpera in a privately run older Peugeot ahead of the third Ford Focus of Markko Martin. Retirements also claimed several second string cars with Toni Gardemeister retiring his Skoda with no oil pressure. It was not a good rally for Skoda, with Stig Blomqvist stopping early on Leg Two with alternator problems. Engine problems would restrict Kenneth Eriksson to 17th position.
Armin Schwarz struggled with his Hyundai Accent throughout the rally to limp into 16th. Freddy Loix did rather better, being embroiled in a three car battle for ninth near the end of Leg Three.
Result of World Rally Championship, Round 4, Rally Catalunya, Costa Brava, Spain:
Standings: Marcus Gronholm 21, Gilles Panizzi 20, Richard Burns 13, Tommi Makinen 10, Carlos Sainz 9, Philippe Bugalski 7, Sebastien Loeb 6, Colin McRae & Petter Solberg 5 etc
Manufacturers standings: Peugeot 52, Ford 25, Subaru 20, Mitsubishi 6, Hyundai 1
Hornish The Second
Many had chalked the words Team Penske on the IRL silverware before the season started. When CART and IRL had met at Indy the last few years, CART had won. However Sam Hornish and the Pennzoil Panther have had plenty to say on behalf of the IRL veterans. Hornish has taken two wins from three starts in this year's IRL series. At California Speedway, Fontana he had to work for it.
This eliminated the lead Scheckter's teammate Eddie Cheever had, but the entire field had to pit anyway. Reigning CART Champion Gil de Ferran in the Penske Dallara was first out, the team gambling on a fuel only pitstop. It was a gamble that failed as Cheever quickly rounded up de Ferran with Jaques Lazier and Hornish in pursuit. When Cheever's Nissan-Infiniti engine failed less than ten laps from home the stage was set for a fantastic duel.
Hornish, and Jaques Lazier in the Team Menard car, traded the lead over the final two laps, including touching wheels in an extraordinary moment coming through Turn 2 for the final time. Hornish swept around Lazier's highline on the final lap to outsprint Lazier in the dash to the flag. Third was claimed by Laurent Redon, one of the numerically challenged teams supplied with Infiniti engines. The Penske duo claimed fourth and fifth, maintaining top three placing status in the championship.
The series now travels East, towards Nazareth Speedway.
Result of Indy Racing League, Round 3, Yamaha Indy 400, California Speedway, California, USA:
Standings: Sam Hornish Jr 141, Helio Castroneves 115, Gil de Ferran 112, Jaques Lazier 80, Eliseo Salazar 77, Laurent Redon 66, Felipe Giaffone 65, Jeff Ward 64, Al Unser Jr and Buddy Lazier 60 etc
Le Mans Entry List Released
The Club ACO, organisers of the Le Mans 24 Hours, have published the accepted entry list. Headlining the entry, and favourites to win what will be a hat trick of victories for the men and women of Ingolstadt is Audi, with four cars. The three factory supported cars top the entry, with double defending champions Frank Biela, Tom Kristensen and Emanuele Pirro starting car #1. In car #2 will be recent Sebring 12 Hours winning crew of Audi regulars Rinaldo Capello and Christian Pescatori and Champion Racing Audi's lead driver, Johnny Herbert. In the third car, nominally entered by Audi North America rather than Joest will be Philip Peter, Michael Krumm and Marco Werner.
Panoz Motorsports will again be the main opposition, at least in terms of speed with a pair of heavily revised LMP-1 Roadster S entered by Don Panoz, with drivers like David Brabham, Jan Magnussen, Bryan Herta, Eric van de Poele, David Donohue and Bill Auberlen. Two of last year's maligned LMP07s are entered, now with Mugen-Honda power instead of Elan, for the MBD and Multimatic teams, although the latter is a reserve.
General Motors will have their pair of Cadillac LMP02s on the grid, and ORECA will front their pair of formerly Chrysler backed Dallara-Judds. The French are well represented. As well as the ORECA squad, there will be three Courages - a new Judd powered car from the Courage team, while Le Mans ghost Henri Pescarolo has his pair of Courage-Peugeots. Another experienced French team has a curious entry. DAMS have entered a Panoz and a Lola, with the two cars being used as props for a forthcoming movie about a French comic book hero who races at Le Mans.
Riley & Scott are entering one of their cars using an Elan engine similar to the Panoz team. A pair of the very rapid Dome-Judds and an Ascari make up the prototype field, along with the only GTP car in the field, the Audi-powered Bentley EXP Speed 8. Unlike the majority of the LMP900 class, the Bentley will be a threat to the Audis and represents the biggest threat to Audi, including even the Panoz team.
LM GTS looks to be the best battle in years, with two factory backed Chevrolet Corvettes fighting against a pair of Saleens from Konrad Motorsport and a third of the S7R Coupes for Ray Mallock. Along with the usual array of aging, but still fast Dodge Vipers, are a trio of Ferrari 550 Maranellos. British firm Prodrive have two, one a reserve as well as former Lola prototype team Rafanelli's single entry.
Similarly LM GT is looking very different from the usual fleet of privateer and leased GT3 Porsches. While the Stuttgart stormers still make up over half the entry there are also a pair of Ferrari 360 Modenas, a Spyker C8, and of all things, a Morgan.
Roll on La Sarthe in June!
Troy Too Tough to Tame Down Under
Troy Bayliss had a successful weekend in his home country of Australia by taking wins in both races at the picturesque Phillip Island circuit. Bayliss was on top all weekend, except during the crucial Superpole shootout for pole position, which saw 'Texas Tornado' Colin Edwards edge out Bayliss and grab the pole.
However, Troy Bayliss took the lead from polesitter Colin Edwards right at the start, Edwards on his Honda swapping second place with Aprilia's Noriyuki Haga around lap one before securing second at MG corner, with Neil Hodgson, Ruben Xaus and Ben Bostrom filling out the top six.
Edwards and Haga swapped places twice on lap two, with Edwards establishing himself in second, right on Bayliss's tail. Edwards passed Bayliss for the lead at the start of lap four, while close behind Xaus passed the fading Haga, closing up on to the tail of his teammate Bayliss by lap five, as the top three left the rest of the field behind. Bayliss retook the lead from Edwards on lap seven at Honda hairpin, as the top three diced for position. On lap ten, Haga retired from fifth after his Aprilia suffered problems, with veteran Italian Pierfrancesco Chili retiring his Ducati a few laps later.
By the start of lap 14, the three rider dice for the lead became a two rider battle, as Xaus faded from the battle between leader Bayliss and Edwards. With four laps to go, Edwards ran wide at Siberia due to a gearbox problem selecting him neutral instead of a gear, giving Bayliss the small margin he needed to be safe from any attack Edwards could mount, going on to take the win ahead of Edwards and Xaus. There was some bad news for Hodgson however, as he lost a race-long fifth place to Bostrom on the last lap.
Race two began similarly to race one, as Bayliss again led at the start, from Haga, Edwards, Bostrom, Hodgson and Xaus, with Bostrom moving to second at Honda hairpin on lap one, and Edwards past Haga for third at MG. Edwards repeated the move to take second from Bostrom on lap two, and the lead from Bayliss on lap three, as Hodgson, Haga and Xaus battled for fourth place. Bostrom soon faded and was under pressure from Xaus, who passed Bostrom for third at Honda hairpin on lap six. Further back, Hitoyasu Izutsu joined the fight for fourth between Haga and Hodgson, with the fading Bostrom soon joining them, as the four of them swapped positions between themselves. Chili's day turned from bad to disastrous as he fell off and out of the race at Siberia.
Up front, Edwards was still only mere bikelengths in front of Bayliss. At the end of lap 12, Bayliss passed Edwards down the pit straight, with Edwards returning the compliment, first by sitting on Bayliss's tail and then passing him back down the pit straight at the start of lap 15. Unfortunately for Edwards, Bayliss also returned the compliment one lap later.
Further back in the field, Izutsu crashed out of a great fourth place on lap 17, losing the front end at MG corner, while Haga led Hodgson and Bostrom for fourth place. Up front, Bayliss steadily extended his lead over Edwards, taking his second win of the day ahead of Edwards and Xaus, with a close fought battle for fourth being taken by Hodgson just in front of Bostrom and Haga.
The next round of the series is at the Kyalami circuit in South Africa, where everyone except Troy Bayliss will be hoping the Aussie's streak towards more wins and a second successive title will be broken.
Results of World Superbike Championship, Round 2, Phillip Island, Australia:
Standings: Troy Bayliss 100, Colin Edwards 69, Ben Bostrom 53, Noriyuki Haga 50, Neil Hodgson 45, Ruben Xaus 43, Hitoyasu Izutsu and Chris Walker 29 etc.
Manufacturers' standings: Ducati 100, Honda 69, Aprilia 50, Kawasaki 36, Suzuki 25
Busch's Brilliant Bristol
Kurt Busch took his first Winston Cup win at the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway after taking a proven but risky decision not to pit in the last 100 laps. Bristol's reputation as a car destroyer continued in 2002, with battle scars on show everywhere, including the nose and side of the winner's car!
Dale Earnhardt Jr took over the lead at the yellow, before an injured Tony Stewart grabbed the lead at a caution period. It was at this point in the race that last week's injuries began to cause pain for Stewart. Earnhardt Jr regained the lead at another caution, holding onto the lead for a long stretch in the race as Stewart's condition worsened. Eventually, Stewart decided it was too much and was replaced by Todd Bodine.
At a caution with just under 100 laps to go, Kurt Busch took the lead as several of the lead lap cars pitted. Last year, Elliott Sadler won the race by staying out on old tyres for over 100 laps at the end of the race. Busch and several cars behind him decided to do the same in 2002. It worked in 2001 and it worked for Busch in 2002, and despite more caution periods he led the rest of the way, apart from a pass by Spencer with just over 50 laps to go, which was repaid immediately by Busch, passing Spencer back the next lap. Elsewhere, points leader Sterling Marlin had his first major problem of 2002, suffering a flat tyre in the middle stages of the race, finishing 19th.
Result of NASCAR Winston Cup, Round 6, Bristol Motor Speedway, Tennessee, USA:
Marlin's Run from the Back to the Front
Sterling Marlin has probably forgotten his dramas in the first two rounds of the season, having now won two of the three rounds since, winning the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 at Darlington Raceway, taking Dodge's third win of the season in only their second year back in the category.
Tony Stewart's lead was short lived, being taken out in a multi-car collision which began when he collided with a spinning Buckshot Jones, leading to mayhem as cars piled into a smoke-filled mess. Gordon led for a couple of laps before he pitted to fix damage he suffered as he lightly clipped the spinning Stewart. Marlin led at the restart, but was immediately passed by Dale Earnhardt Jr, Marlin hanging onto Earnhardt's tail, Marlin retaking the lead soon after, holding on to take the win. 1999 Winston Cup champion Dale Jarrett suffered his second engine failure in four races, a rare occurence, while rookies Ryan Newman and Jimmie Johnson finished well in 5th and 6th respectively.
Result of NASCAR Winston Cup, Round 5, Darlington Raceway, South Carolina, USA:
Standings (after Round 6, Bristol): Sterling Marlin 931, Matt Kenseth 832, Rusty Wallace 815, Jimmie Johnson 813, Kurt Busch 794, Dale Earnhardt Jr 791, Ryan Newman 778, Mark Martin 768, Jeff Burton 740, Jeff Gordon 739
The final of the official FIA F3000 tests prior to the Interlagos season opener saw the teams take to Silverstone. Team Arden continued their impressive pre-season form with 'veteran' and former Prost Formula One driver, Tomas Enge fastest, recording a 1:34.40, ahead of rookie teammate Bjorn Wirdheim. Sebastien Bourdais (SuperNova), Giorgio Pantano (Coloni), Patrick Friesacher (Red Bull) and Rodrigo Sperafico (Durango) made up the other rapid runners. Another driver catching attention is Vietnamese-Australian, Rob Nyugen, who has less than a dozen car races in his life and is in only his second season of racing of any description.
Rally
It's tempting to think of the Monte as an aberration. Since the days of black ice back in January there has been only one word in rallying this year. Peugeot. Gilles Panizzi took up the cudgels where he left off in Corsica and pounded the assembled throng into submission again, taking consecutive victories in the 2002 World Rally Championship.
Gronholm gradually overcame his brake problems and started catching Loeb. Under pressure, the Frenchman made a mistake taking a corner in Stage 14 with the wrong attitude, rolling the Xsara out of the event.
Mitsubishi did better than Skoda, but its yardstick is further up the field than Skoda. Francois Delecour and Alister McRae used the rally as an extended test session, although Delecour battled his way into 9th on the last day coming past Loix and the slowing Gardemeister. McRae would finish 13th.
Pos Driver Car
1. Gilles Panizzi Peugeot 206
2. Richard Burns Peugeot 206
3. Philippe Bugalski Citroen Xsara
4. Marcus Gronholm Peugeot 206
5. Petter Solberg Subaru Impreza
6. Colin McRae Ford Focus
7. Harri Rovanpera Peugeot 206
8. Markko Martin Ford Focus
9. Francois Delecour Mitsubishi Lancer
10. Freddy Loix Hyundai Accent
IRL
The scene was set when Hideki Noda ploughed into the back of Tomas Scheckter. Neither were seriously injured after walling what was left of the two Dallaras, although Noda did complain of some back pain.
Pos Driver Car
1. Sam Hornish Jr Dallara-Chevrolet
2. Jaques Lazier Dallara-Chevrolet
3. Laurent Redon Dallara-Nissan
4. Gil de Ferran Dallara-Chevrolet
5. Helio Castroneves Dallara-Chevrolet
6. Felipe Giaffone GForce-Chevrolet
7. Buddy Lazier Dallara-Chevrolet
8. Scott Sharp Dallara-Chevrolet
9. Jimmy Vasser Dallara-Chevrolet
10. Jeff Ward GForce-Chevrolet
Sportscars
Neither of last year's Audi privateers, Champion Racing and Johansson Motorsport will be fronting, but Team Goh have an R8 for Le Mans veterans Yannick Dalmas, Seiji Ara & Hiroki Katoh.
In LMP675 the field is led by a pair of MG-Lolas, one for MG and one for KnightHawk Racing, while a pair of Reynard-Volkswagen turbos also feature in the hands of ROC and Noel del Bello, along with two of the French-built WR specials.
Superbikes
Race One
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Troy Bayliss Ducati 998 F 02
2. Colin Edwards Honda VTR 1000 SP2
3. Ruben Xaus Ducati 998 F 02
4. Ben Bostrom Ducati 998 F 02
5. Neil Hodgson Ducati 998 F 01
6. Hitoyasu Izutsu Kawasaki ZX-7RR
7. Gregorio Lavilla Suzuki GSX-R750
8. James Toseland Ducati 998 F 01
9. Chris Walker Kawasaki ZX-7RR
10. Lucio Pedercini Ducati 998 RS
Race Two
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Troy Bayliss Ducati 998 F 02
2. Colin Edwards Honda VTR 1000 SP2
3. Ruben Xaus Ducati 998 F 02
4. Neil Hodgson Ducati 998 F 01
5. Ben Bostrom Ducati 998 F 02
6. Noriyuki Haga Aprilia RSV 1000
7. James Toseland Ducati 998 F 01
8. Gregorio Lavilla Suzuki GSX-R750
9. Chris Walker Kawasaki ZX-7RR
10. Juan Borja Ducati 998 RS
NASCAR
The race began with Robby Gordon leading pole sitter Jeff Gordon into turn one, but Robby was immediately black flagged for passing the pole sitter before the start of the race, dropping him to the rear of the field, handing the lead back to the other Gordon, Jeff. Traffic, caution periods and the occasional pass saw the lead change, Jimmy Spencer taking the lead from Gordon before Gordon retook it, then Jeff Burton led, Gordon again and Spencer again when Gordon spun himself out of contention and hard into
the wall.
Six races in, and it's Dodge 3, Ford 2, Pontiac 1 and Chevrolet 0. 2001 champion Jeff Gordon hasn't finished in the top five since the end of September last year. The other Gordon, Robby, spun Dale Earnhardt Jr in the pitlane post-race in a carbon copy of the move Tony Stewart pulled on Jeff Gordon at the same race last year, which cost Stewart $10 000 and several months probation. Robby's move was in retaliation for Earnhardt Jr colliding with him earlier on the cooldown lap, with Earnhardt Jr's collision being preceded by Gordon, a lap down, not letting Earnhardt Jr through late in the race. Gordon was fined $10,000 and placed on probation for the next five months, while Earnhardt Jr was fined $5,000.
Pos Driver Car
1. Kurt Busch Ford Taurus
2. Jimmy Spencer Dodge Intrepid
3. Ricky Rudd Ford Taurus
4. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet Monte Carlo
5. Bobby Labonte Pontiac Grand Prix
6. Matt Kenseth Ford Taurus
7. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Monte Carlo
8. Jerry Nadeau Chevrolet Monte Carlo
9. Rusty Wallace Ford Taurus
10. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Monte Carlo
After qualifying on pole, Ricky Craven led early before being passed by Steve Park, returning for his first race since a huge accident in the Busch series late in 2001, Park leading until he tangled with a car he was trying to lap. Jeff Gordon took over the lead, leading throughout several cautions until Tony Stewart took the lead as Gordon got caught in traffic with less than 80 laps remaining. By this time, Sterling Marlin had moved up into the top three after starting from 41st position after changing an engine before the race.
Pos Driver Car
1. Sterling Marlin Dodge Intrepid
2. Elliott Sadler Ford Taurus
3. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Monte Carlo
4. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet Monte Carlo
5. Ryan Newman Ford Taurus
6. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Monte Carlo
7. Rusty Wallace Ford Taurus
8. Matt Kenseth Ford Taurus
9. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Monte Carlo
10. Bill Elliott Dodge Intrepid
Briefs
In the BTCC, the works Vauxhall squad looks again to be the team to beat, although they will start the season without their defending champion, Jason Plato who was dropped by the team, and has since moved to ASCAR. James Thompson and Yvan Muller have shown the pace in the pre-season along with privateer Vauxhall driver, Matthew Neal. Scottish veteran David Leslie is leading a team of Proton Impians and former two wheel star Aaron Slight continues his four wheel career in a Vauxhall Astra. Warren Hughes and Anthony Reid fronting the MG team, Tim Harvey leads the show at Peugeot while Honda makes its return to the series it has tried to win for most of the last decade.
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Volume 8, Issue 13
Atlas F1 Exclusive
The One Engine Rule: Mosley's Choice
The One Engine Rule: Back to the Future
The One Engine Rule: What it All Means
The One Engine Rule: Jo's View
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Renault Resurgence
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