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December Rain
The final international open wheeler event of the year saw a second opportunity for new Telefonica Series Champion, Ricardo Zonta, to have another day in the sun in front of his home crowd. But there was no sun, and no Zonta. On a day when nothing shined, it was the Racing Engineering team of Franck Montagny and Justin Wilson who took away all honours.
Qualifying told a different story. In near perfect conditions, Indian driver Narain Karthikeyan (RC Motorsport) scorched around Brazil's premier racing facility in practice with a 1:25.143, almost a second faster than the best time achieved by Formula 3000 during its visit earlier in the year. However in qualifying Karthikeyan would only be fifth fastest. Zonta took the pole with a 1:25.479, still under the Formula 3000 time set by Sebastien Bourdais. There would be two former Formula 3000 champions on the front row as Justin Wilson (Racing Engineering) took second position ahead of Bas Leinders (KTR) who was fighting for second in the championship with Franck Montagny (Racing Engineering). Montagny was buried in eighth, with his work seemingly cut out for him.
Race one though did not obey expectations. Rain lashed the circuit and the race was started behind the safety car. Zonta made the best getaway but in trying to establish a quick gap smashed a tyre barrier before completing a lap. Milka Duno also failed to complete the first lap. The first attempt at a race was stopped after six laps, with conditions woeful.
Up front Racing Engineering made sure of the waterlogged race and completed a dominant 1-2 victory. With Sperafico out of the picture, Villaamil took third. Leinders held onto fourth ahead of another 'ring-in' local, Jaime Melo Jr (Zele Motorsport) who only just held off Antonio Garcia (Adrian Campos Motorsport).
Race two was another wet race, but conditions were considerably better. Zonta again made the best start this time, completing the opening lap ahead of Wilson, Montagny, Leinders, Karthikeyan and Ricardo Sperafico. Once again the race leader was forced to give way to the Racing Engineering duo, this time with Wilson in front. Ricardo Sperafico again moved up to fourth, taking Leinders for the position on the third lap.
Once the stops settled Montagny briefly held the lead, until taking his penalty. He was still second until taken by the flying Antonio Garcia in his best ever result in the Adrian Campos car. Wilson though was too good, racing on to win. Montagny took third ahead of Karthikeyan, Zonta and outgoing champion Jean Christophe Ravier (Epsilon by Graff) in his first result since Valencia.
Montagny's scores gave him second in the championship, as rival Leinders was delayed a couple times too many. Fifth in the title was snatched by the surging Garcia, overhauling Ravier in the final race of the season.
Result of Telefonica World Series by Nissan, Round 9 of 9, Interlagos, Brazil:
Final Standings: Ricardo Zonta 270, Franck Montagny 204, Bas Leinders 184, Justin Wilson 171, Antonio Garcia 82, Jean Christophe Ravier 81, Andre Couto 66, Ander Vilarino 53, Narain Karthikeyan 51, Polo Villaamil 41, Tuka Rocha 39, Nicolas Filiberti 32, Jonathan Cochet and Peter Sundberg 30, Angel Burgueno 25, Rafael Sarandeses 17, Lucioano Gomide 16, Rodrigo Sperafico 12, Felix Porteiro 11, Jaime Melo Jr 9, Paul Edwards 7, Roberto Gonzalez 6, Victor Ordonez, Walter Lechner Jr and Wagner Ibrahim 3, Damien Faulkner 2
Ford Sign Finn Mikko Hirvonen
Finnish youngster Mikko Hirvonen will drive a Ford Focus in next year's World Rally Championship, the company which runs the team said. Hirvonen, 22, has signed a deal with team chief Malcolm Wilson's M Sport company to drive alongside Finn Markko Martin and Frenchman Francois Duval in every event of next year's championship.
"He tested with us recently and we were astounded by his ability behind the wheel," said Wilson. "After just a couple of runs on our forest test tracks he was matching the lap times of more experienced drivers who are familiar with the car."
"He has a natural talent and his enthusiasm knows no bounds. It is an exciting time for rallying with a number of talented young drivers coming through the ranks."
Hirvonen competed in three world rally events this season, taking part in a Renault Clio in the Rally of Finland and the Rally of San Remo, and in a Subaru Impreza in the season-ending Rally of Britain last month.
Ford ended their association with Scottish former world champion Colin McRae this year when they opted to reduce their wages budget to concentrate on developing their car.
Sainz Splits With Moya, Moves Closer To Citroen After Test
The 15-year partnership between former world rally champions Carlos Sainz and Luis Moya has ended, Spanish newspapers reported on Wednesday. Sainz is set to join Citroen after trying out the new Xsara car in the south of France earlier this week but he will be going without Moya after his regular co-driver failed to reach an agreement over money.
Moya, who won the world championship with Sainz at Toyota in 1990 and 1992, said his old partner was not to blame for the split.
"It's not his fault," said Moya, who revealed that he would not be looking for another drive. "I'm sure he's as sad about this as I am. I'm very sad because after 15 years I'd dreamed of retiring alongside Carlos. It wasn't to be, however.
"I've got no plans at the moment to carry on in the World Championship. After 15 years of always having airline tickets in my pocket I just want to disconnect."
In the absence of Moya, Sainz tested the Citroen on Sunday and Monday with another Spaniard, Marc Marti. Citroen have already signed former champion Colin McRae, Sainz's Ford teammate this season, and Frenchman Sebastien Loeb for their first full year in the championship.
Reports provided by Reuters
Rossi Predicts Closer Title Battle In 2003
Next year's MotoGP world championship will be far more closely-fought with at least 10 riders in with a chance of winning races, according to title holder Valentino Rossi.
"It will be a fantastic championship in 2003," the 23-year-old Italian told the daily Gazzetta dello Sport after turning out at the southern Spanish Jerez circuit for his first test since winning the crown in Brazil in September. "There are at least six or seven riders who can win the title and every race will see at least 10 of us fighting for victory."
Rossi dominated last season with 11 wins in 16 races but he cautioned that 2003, which sees Ducati coming into the series and world superbike champion Colin Edwards moving to Aprilia, would be very different.
"Forget a championship like 2002. Nobody will win 10 grands prix or take the title with four races to spare," said the Honda rider. "Every finish will help in the end. I will have to race under pressure. It won't be like in 2002 when I quickly built up a big advantage. But I am not worried."
Rossi singled out Brazilian Alex Barros, who has moved to Yamaha, and his own compatriot and major rival Max Biaggi on a Honda as the favourites for the championship along with himself and said he hoped his Honda got better.
"We have already told Honda where to improve. This work needs to be done immediately because Yamaha made a big step at the end of the season. They were at our level from Brno."
Report provided by Reuters
'Foggy' Untroubled By Lack Of Malaysian Round
Carl Fogarty's new world superbike team, backed by Malaysian oil giant Petronas, have put a brave face on Malaysia being scrubbed from next year's championship calendar. The Sepang circuit was included for the first time on a provisional 2003 calendar in August but was omitted from the final list of 12 rounds released by the International Motorcycling Federation (FIM).
"From a team point of view, we don't decide the calendar and we're happy to go racing wherever the races are on," a spokesman for the Foggy Petronas team said on Wednesday.
The Sepang round, which had been intended to replace the races at Kyalami in South Africa, was dropped along with two dates on the provisional calendar which had no host countries confirmed.
The Foggy Petronas team was set up in November 2001 with Britain's four-times superbike world champion Fogarty at the helm. They had intended to race last season but delays in the arrival of the engines for the new bike caused them to put off their debut until next season.
The new team, with Australia's former world champion Troy Corser and aggressive British rider James Haydon on the new FP1 bike, will be a boost to a championship which has suffered from the defection of leading manufacturers to the rival MotoGP series. World champion Colin Edwards and Australian Troy Bayliss, who fought a thrilling duel for the superbike title last season, will both be racing MotoGP in 2003.
The FIM said that the Malaysian round had been put back to early 2004, but gave no reason for the decision. The 2003 season now starts on March 2 in Valencia, Spain and will end on October 19 at Magny Cours with a French round, which replaces last year's races at Germany's Eurospeedway.
Report provided by Reuters
Formula Nissan
"I wished for rain and there it was!" said Wilson. "In the first race it was almost impossible to drive. If you reach more than 8 kph the car goes aquaplaning. I finished second following Franck (Montagny) in a crazy race. The victory in the second race was due to some nice overtaking and an excellent pit stop."
The race was restarted and Bas Leinders led the field around to complete the first lap but Leinders was not able to hold back the Racing Engineering squad and Montagny fought his way to led with Wilson second before another lap was completed. Behind Leinders was Polo Villaamil (Adrain Campos Motorsport) ahead of Ander Vilarino (Epsilon by Graff). Brazil's Sperafico twins were in the Repsol Meycom cars and Ricardo was making his presence felt, moving into sixth, then past Vilarino into fifth. Two laps later and he was through the fading Leinders into fourth and set off after Villaamil. Sperafico though was destined not to finish.
In the drying conditions, there was only one choice to make in the compulsory pit stops. Off with the wets and on with the slicks. Montagny and Leinders were first in to make the change but Montagny was caught speeding in pitlane and had a drive through penalty to show for it. The following lap, Zonta too was caught by the speed gun.
Race One
Pos Driver Team
1. Franck Montagny Racing Engineering
2. Justin Wilson Racing Engineering
3. Polo Villaamil Adrian Campos Motorsport
4. Bas Leinders Keerbergs Transport Racing
5. Jaime Melo Zele Motorsport
6. Antonio Garcia Adrian Campos Motorsport
7. Narain Karthikeyan RC Motorsport
8. Tuka Rocha Gabord Competicion
9. Wagner Ibrahim GD Racing
10. Andre Couto Vergani Racing
Race Two
Pos Driver Team
1. Justin Wilson Racing Engineering
2. Antonio Garcia Adrian Campos Motorsport
3. Franck Montagny Racing Engineering
4. Narain Karthikeyan RC Motorsport
5. Ricardo Zonta Gabord Competicion
6. Jean-Christophe Ravier Epsilon by Graff
7. Ander Vilarino Epsilon by Graff
8. Paul Edwards Keerbergs Transport Racing
9. Rodrigo Sperafico Repsol Meycom
10. Tuka Rocha Gabord Competicion
Rally
He will make his debut for the team in Monte Carlo in January and has already posted some impressive times at a test track in Cumbria, England.
"The new deal with Citroen meant a drastic reduction in the money available for salaries," Moya was quoted as saying in Marca newspaper. "I'm 42 years old and I've got two children. If I was 30 I'd have accepted but this has become a high risk sport. Every two rallies someone ends up in hospital and for the money on offer it's just not worth it."
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Volume 8, Issue 50
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