Updates from the Rest of the Racing World
Atlas F1 Magazine Writers
Colin's Safari Tour
Argentina didn't suggest much in the way of form for the rough mid-season event apart from the fact that the Peugeot was a very nice car, but we already knew that. Greece was another matter, and the renowned robustness of the Ford Focus came to the fore. It cast a warning that the rest of the field failed to listen, or they listened but failed, or lacked the ability to do anything about it. Colin McRae jumped right into championship contention with a comfortable win on the roughest event on the calendar, the Safari Rally in Kenya.
After being ceremonially flagged off by Prince Edward in Nairobi, the field were soon being gapped by Makinen and McRae. They each took two stage wins on the opening leg of the rally, before arriving back in Nairobi almost two minutes clear of the third placed Ford of Carlos Sainz. It looked like being a classic confrontation between the two former world champions. One of the other world champions had not fared so well however. Series leader Marcus Gronholm stopped mysteriously with less than 20 kilometres covered. The Peugeot refused to fire, leaving the 2000 champ waiting for rescue.
Attrition is always a hallmark of the Safari, and it's worth noting that six factory cars were lost on day one. In addition to Gronholm, Freddy Loix and Armin Schwarz reduced the Hyundai team to one car before the first stage was completed. Francois Delecour (Mitsubishi), Toni Gardemeister (Skoda) and Petter Solberg (Subaru) were also reduced to spectators before the end of day one.
The lead of the rally changed at the end of the first stage on day two as Makinen's troubles began. Makinen noticed the beginnings of a problem even as they left parc ferme, with both rear dampers leaking fluid. Makinen dropped to fourth in Stage 5 and dropped further after puncturing in Stage 7. Stage 8 delivered the coup de grace with a broken wishbone. Some days it is not worth getting out of bed. With Solberg already out of the event and Toshihiro Arai contesting Group N that was the end of Subaru's rally. Just as icing on the cake, Arai retired with clutch failure with a stage and a half to go while battling for Group N victory.
Peugeot claimed second place through Rovanpera, and they got a second car in the points in the blue car of Gilles Panizzi, but it was a disappointing rally for them. Their two championship contenders both retired through mechanical dramas. In addition to Gronholm's Stage 1 problems Richard Burns's wounded car made it to the service area at the end of Leg 2, but was terminally bogged short of Peugeot's space. Previously a broken bolt on the chassis cross member had broken one corner of the car and would lead to his retirement.
Citroen brought their Xsara to Kenya for the first time as an ultimate test of the car prior to a full championship assault in 2003. Their drivers collected six championship points. On a rally when retirements decimated the rally, Citroen got both cars home, in the points, with one of them on the podium. At the end of Leg 2 Thomas Radstrom was third and Sebastien Loeb was fourth, but Loeb was struck with savage shock absorber problems that dropped him below Martin.
The opening stage decimated Hyundai with mechanical failures striking both Freddy Loix and Armin Schwarz. By Sunday Juha Kankkunen's Accent was a basket case. A clogged intercooler had damaged the engine and it would be a battle to even finish. No one in the event has the experience of Kankkunen, and the veteran world champion Finn dragged his car in to eighth place, and two manufacturer points.
Safari would be a new low for Mitsubishi. Alister McRae and Francois Delecour were uncompetitive, then struck problems. Delecour lost an engine on Stage 3 whilst McRae would drive to the finish with a few broken dampers along the way and was unable to catch even Kankkunen's dying Accent. With speculation over the future of Mitsubishi's major sponsor Marlboro, questions will be
asked over the future viability of Ralliart in the WRC.
McRae took the maximum possible chunk out of Gronholm's championship lead, and suddenly the series is wide open again. After the grind of Africa we return to the forests of Scandinavia for the fastest event on the calendar. The rally, once known as 1000 Lakes, but now as Rally Finland. Peugeot will be back on top form, but will a home rally finally get Makinen's Subaru to the finish?
Result of World Rally Championship, Round 8, Safari Rally, Kenya:
Standings: Marcus Gronholm 37, Colin McRae 30, Carlos Sainz 23, Gilles Panizzi 21, Richard Burns 19, Harri Rovanpera 18, Petter Solberg 15, Tommi Makinen 14, Sebastien Loeb 8, Markko Martin & Philippe Bugalski 7, etc
Manufacturers: Peugeot 83, Ford 69, Subaru 35, Skoda 8, Mitsubishi 7, Hyundai 6 etc
One For Reynard
As at the last start at Toronto, the first attempt at a start was waved off, but second time around polesitter da Matta led the field away. Tora Takagi and Jimmy Vasser got together into turn one with Takagi running into the back of Vasser, which resulted in Vasser spinning. Both had to be pushstarted along with Mario Dominguez. Townsend Bell though was out on the spot. Dominguez, Takagi and Vasser would all pit to inspect damage, the worst of which was a nosecone for Takagi, while Adrian Fernandez was also a visitor, adding fuel.
At the restart da Matta jumped away with Dario Franchitti and Carpentier in pursuit, as they built a small gap quickly on Michael Andretti and Tony Kanaan. The race at the front settled with the highest mover being Paul Tracy, climbing into sixth before lap ten. Another ten laps and the Canadian was fifth as da Matta slowed and peeled off into the pits to end his race just as the first stops were about to begin. Tracy was the first in. His teammate was given excellent service and held the lead after the stops. Scott Dixon joined da Matta in retirement in what was starting to not be the best of days for Toyota teams.
The running order wasn't significantly changed with Franchitti leading from Carpentier, Andretti, Kanaan and Christian Fittipaldi. On lap 39 the leaders caught Fernandez and dropped him from the lead lap. Lap 49 and Franchitti again started the pitstop cycle, Carpentier assuming the lead for the first time. Carpentier had an excellent pitstop and kept the lead after the second stops. Tracy had now climbed back up to fourth to be in behind his 'sort-of' teammate Andretti.
With Carpentier not being a significant player in the championship race, the positions have not altered, with da Matta still 50 points clear of a tight bunch of Junqueira, Franchitti, Michel Jourdain Jr and now Carpentier. In two weeks' time the series is back on the streets of Canada, this time in Vancouver.
Result of FedEx CART Championship Series, Round 9, Cleveland, Ohio, United States:
Standings: Cristiano da Matta 120, Bruno Junqueira 70, Dario Franchitti 64, Patrick Carpentier 62, Michel Jourdain Jr 62, Kenny Brack 60, Christian Fittipaldi 58, Michael Andretti 52, Alex Tagliani 52, Scott Dixon 52 etc.
The German 500 CART series race due to take place in Lausitz on September 21 has been cancelled.
EuroSpeedway Lausitz's insolvency filing earlier this month was the main reason for the race being cancelled, said CART on its official website on Wednesday.
"Germany is an important market and we are disappointed the race will not be held," said CART president Christopher R Pook. "But the only proposed solution was basically for us to write a large cheque on top of the financial commitment we had already made. We will shift our European focus to other markets."
England is due to stage a CART series race at Rockingham in Northampton on September 14.
Last week, CART vice president of promoter operations Tim Mayer met EuroSpeedway officials, the receiver and local government officials in Germany but was unable to save the race, CART said. Last year's inaugural German 500 race was marred when twice former CART champion and former Formula One driver Alex Zanardi of Italy had both his legs amputated after a high-speed crash.
Report provided by Reuters
Who Else But Rossi?
Polesitter Valentino Rossi was beaten into turn one by Carlos Checa on the four-stroke Yamaha, Mx Biaggi on the other four-stroke Yamaha just behind Rossi as Kenny Roberts led the rest of the field. As the completed lap one the field began to string out, the top seven breaking away from the rest. By the end of lap two the top three had broken away from the rest of the pack, a gap that only got bigger.
Up front Checa was being pushed hard by Rossi, who seemed to be biding his time as he had several looks at passing Checa but ducked back in behind him, while Biaggi sat on Rossi's tail for a short while but was soon dropped off by the leading duo after four laps, Biaggi sitting a second or so behind the leading duo, occasionally catching up but soon dropping back again. Further back in the field Alex Barros was up to fourth place after making a poor start.
Rossi continued to pressure Checa for the lead and continued to look to pass as the race passed half distance, Biaggi dropping further back, putting him out of contention for the win as Checa tried to break a four year stretch without a win. Further back in the field there were several close battles, as up front Rossi looked even harder for a way past as they ran lap 18. As they rounded the final hairpin Checa lost the front end of the bike and slid off the track. He remounted but soon retired.
In series news, it was announced before the start of the weekend that Garry McCoy had signed for 2003 to stay with the Red Bull team, which is still yet to decide what bikes it will use next year, while the Proton KR team has announced plans for a V5 challenger for next season.
Result of World Motorcycle Championship, Round 8, Donington Park, Great Britain:
Standings: Valentino Rossi 195, Tohru Ukawa 108, Max Biaggi 89, Alex Barros 87, Carlos Checa and Norick Abe 72, Loris Capirossi 65, Daijiro Kato 60 etc.
Harvick Happy Again
Kevin Harvick won his first race for 2002 as he held off Jeff Gordon despite a mid-race spin which could have seen his race end in the wall. Instead Harvick saved the car, ending the spin on the grass, continuing on to later take the lead and hold off Jeff Gordon, who continues to run well but just can't quite break through to take the win. Third was Tony Stewart in his Pontiac, a sight which may not be seen much longer as the Joe Gibbs team is switching to Chevrolet for 2003 and may even race Chevrolets at Indianapolis later this month. Series leader Sterling Marlin saw his lead shrink again as he finished a lap down in sixteenth place after a pit infringement cost him a lap.
The race restarted on lap 21 with Newman still in the lead, and began to edge away from the field initially. However, as the race closed in on fifty laps Bill Elliott reeled in Newman. Elliott was then passed by Dale Earnhardt Jr who passed Newman down the back straight on lap 57 to take the race lead as the field began to take green flag stops for tyres and fuel. After all the stops were completed Tony Stewart emerged as the new leader of the race.
Things stayed fairly stable as the field began the second round of pit stops around lap 120, Stewart pitting and handing the lead to Jarrett for a few laps before he pitted as the pit stops continued. Lap 139 and the yellow flags were waving once again thanks to Michael Waltrip's car expiring in a cloud of smoke. Most cars had made their stops except for Jeff Green and Mark Martin who were running at the front of the field as the caution flew. Several cars dived for the pits, though these didn't include Earnhardt Jr who became the race leader again. Sterling Marlin suffered badly as he was penalised a lap for a pit infringement, as only 26 cars remained on the lead lap due to the long green run.
The race restarted with Earnhardt Jr stretching his lead out to several seconds before the caution lights flashed again for debris on the track as they approached three quarter distance. By this point in the race Jeff Gordon had marched his way up to fourth place. Most of the field pitted, Matt Kenseth winning the race on pit road to be the new leader. The race soon restarted with Kenseth being passed immediately by Earnhardt Jr, though the caution lights were flashing again a few laps later when Elliott Sadler spun on the front straight.
Lap 239 was a busy one. Jimmie Johnson continued his great runs in his rookie year as he passed Earnhardt Jr for third through turns one and two. Elsewhere Stewart was right on Newman's tail as Newman suffered a flat front right tyre. Also at the same time Joe Nemechek had a right front go down through turn one, sending him hard into the wall and bringing out the caution. The question was could anyone make the distance without stopping, and whether these drivers would stop for tyres as the rest of the cars headed for pit lane.
Having studied the Busch race the day before, most cars who needed to pit took two or no tyres, while those who had enough fuel stayed on the track, Kevin Harvick the new leader ahead of Jeff Gordon and his namesake Robby Gordon, Kurt Busch in fourth the best of the drivers who pitted, while Ryan Newman managed to hang on to the lead lap in 14th after his flat tyre.
The race restarted on lap 248 with Kurt Busch taking third from Robby Gordon immediately as Harvick and Jeff Gordon edged away from the rest of the field. Busch lost third to Stewart on lap 255 down the front straight as he attempted to run down the two leading Chevrolets, with Johnson taking fourth from Busch four laps later. Despite their older tyres, Harvick and Gordon were as fast as the other drivers on fresher tyres, Harvick taking the win just ahead of Gordon, followed by Stewart in third and young guns Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman in the next three places.
Result of NASCAR Winston Cup, Round 18, ChicagoLand Speedway, Illinois, United States:
Standings: Sterling Marlin 2483, Mark Martin 2434, Jimmie Johnson 2394, Jeff Gordon 2388, Tony Stewart 2326, Rusty Wallace 2312, Ricky Rudd 2274, Bill Elliott 2230, Kurt Busch 2223, Matt Kenseth 2219 etc.
Bayliss and Edwards Split It Stateside
Colin Edwards finally beat Troy Bayliss in a straight-out fight in the second race at Laguna Seca. Unfortunately for Edwards, Bayliss did a better job in race one as he and teammate Ruben Xaus finished 1-2, demoting Edwards to third after leading most of the race. Nevertheless Colin Edwards's special 'Captain America' livery did the trick as Bayliss failed to win both races and only expanded the gap between them by four points as the duo continued to show why they are the champions of the last two seasons.
Polesitter Colin Edwards won the start and led the field ahead of Troy Bayliss, Neil Hodgson, Eric Bostrom, Noriyuki Haga and Nicky Hayden. Going up the hill on lap one Haga ran wide and allowed Hayden and Ben Bostrom through. At the end of lap one the top three had edged away slightly from the chasing pack. Into the corkscrew on lap two Hayden and Ben Bostrom passed Eric Bostrom. Haga followed through down the pit straight at the end of lap two and was followed by Ruben Xaus, Eric Bostrom dropping from fourth to eighth in half a lap.
Completing lap four there was a pack of five fighting at the front, Haga having already passed Ben Bostrom for fifth earlier in the race. One lap later and Xaus was past Bostrom as well, and began chasing down the leading pack. Lap six saw Haga move up to fourth as he amzingly passed Hayden at the downhill left just after the corkscrew. Haga tried the same move a lap later on Hodgson but failed to make it stick (just!). Early on lap nine Haga moved to third when Hodgson ran wide on two consecutive corners, as Edwards still held on just ahead of Bayliss at the front.
Lap ten and a small error by Bayliss at the Corkscrew saw Haga repeat his earlier move at the following left hander, taking second place in a seemingly relentless charge. Bayliss passed him back at the entry to the hairpin at the start of the next lap but Haga turned inside of him on the exit to take the place straight back.
It took Haga a few laps to catch Edwards but when he got to Edwards he attacked immediately. At the start of lap 13, Edwards ran in a little too hot into the hairpin, and Haga saw his chance, turning inside Edwards. Unfortunately it was too much for his Aprilia's tyres, with the Aprilia lowsiding off the track, just missing Edwards on the way out. The damage sustained was enough to end Haga's day soon after. At about this time Xaus finally made it ahead of Nicky Hayden.
The top five ran as a pack as they passed half distance, with Edwards leading Bayliss, Hodgson, Xaus and Hayden, Hayden just hanging on to the lead pack. As they completed lap 16 Xaus passed Hodgson down the pit straight to move further up the field, right on to the tail of his teammate Bayliss who he started to attack. Bayliss decided this would be a good time to look seriously at passing Edwards, otherwise Xaus would be through instead.
Finally the top three made a small break on Hodgson and Hayden, as the two Ducatis attacked Edwards on the Honda. Hayden dived inside Hodgson at the end of lap 20 to take fourth, Hodgson passing him back down the pit straight, Hayden passing him again into the hairpin at the end of the pit straight.
Meanwhile, up front Bayliss dived down the inside at the hairpin at the start of lap 22, only for Edwards to turn inside him and take the place back on the exit. Bayliss looked and poked for the next couple of laps before finally on lap 24 Edwards made a mistake around the back of the circuit, allowing Bayliss to pass Edwards and Xaus pass both of them, though Bayliss roared pass Xaus up the hill to the corkscrew. Over the remaining laps the two Ducatis of Bayliss and Xaus edged away from Edwards who just held on ahead of Hayden.
Race two began without Ruben Xaus who crashed on the warmup lap. Eric Bostrom made a good start and a demon late braking move into the hairpin to take the lead at the start of the race, followed by Edwards and Bayliss, while Hodgson and Haga battled hard for fourth, Hodgson winning out and Haga dropping to eighth as Eric Bostrom opened up a small lead. By the end of lap two Haga was seventh, and one lap later he was fifth as Edwards had some serious looks up the inside of Bostrom.
Finally on lap five Edwards passed Bostrom for the lead down the pit straight. Around the back of the circuit Hodgson took third from Bayliss, making it a bad lap for Bayliss. Lap six saw Bayliss try to pass Hodgson unsuccessfully around the outside at the hairpin at the end of the pit straight, Bayliss making the pass at the end of the lap when Hodgson was too aggressive into the final hairpin and was baulked. Bayliss began to pressure Bostrom who was still hanging on to the tail of leader Edwards, as a train of bikes battled for the second race in a row.
Lap ten saw Bayliss finally pass Bostrom down the pit straight and head off after Edwards. It also saw Hodgson lose a place as he went in way too deep at the final hairpin, and was lucky to stay upright, almost allowing Haga to get past Bostrom down the next straight. Lap 14 and Hodgson passed Haga back to regain fourth after his earlier mistake. At the final hairpin Hayden took a dive down the inside of Haga, lost the front end and took them both into the gravel, ending Haga's race and losing Hayden several positions.
Meanwhile Hodgson closed in on Eric Bostrom for third place, as Bayliss really attacked Edwards. A mistake at the Corkscrew on lap 18 took some pressure off Edwards while putting it on Bayliss as he fell back towards Bostrom and Hodgson, Hodgson moving to third less than a lap later. Bayliss caught Edwards but Hodgson began to attack him at the same time, so none of the leading three could take a rest.
Finally, at the same place as he took the lead in race one, Bayliss passed Edwards on lap 23 in race two, though unlike race one, he didn't hold on to it for long, going too deep into the final hairpin allowing Edwards to get alongside and take the inside line all the way down to the hairpin to take the lead back from Bayliss. Bayliss wasn't giving up though, getting almost alongside up the hill on laps 25 and 26 but was unable to make it through.
At the end of lap 26 Bayliss wound too much power on at the exit of the final hairpin, allowing Hodgson through to second, shoring up Edwards's position in the lead. Bayliss knew he couldn't win but he still wanted second, taking second place on the entry to the hairpin at the end of the pit straight only to lose it to Hodgson on the exit but by hanging around the outside through the hairpin was able to take second back on the run to the next right hander. Hodgson hadn't given up taking second back on the entry to the next left hander, Bayliss taking second back on the exit of the same corner! That was how they stayed, Edwards winning ahead of the duelling Bayliss and Hodgson, with Eric and Ben Bostrom not that far behind.
Result of World Superbike Championship, Round 9; Laguna Seca, California, United States:
Standings: Troy Bayliss 405, Colin Edwards 352, Neil Hodgson 221, Ben Bostrom 184, Noriyuki Haga 182, Ruben Xaus 172, James Toseland 124, Chris Walker 108 etc.
Bernd's Back
Bernd Schneider has always looked like the driver best able to take the series fight to Laurent Aiello's rampant Audi. At the Europseedway, so it would prove. DTM's only triple champion made a brilliant start from his second grid position to take control of the race. After a perfect pitstop Schneider had too much on the field and won as he pleased, along the way taking second place in the championship from Mattias Ekstrom and cutting Aiello's lead to 21 points.
Aiello then took a lights to flag victory in the damp qualifying race. On a drying track Aiello was too good as Abt got the better of Schneider to take second into the first corner, with Tomczyk also sneaking through to third. Left on the grid though was Jean Alesi, the former Formula One star stalling. Schneider recovered third quickly and Ekstrom quickly put Tomczyk back to fifth. Schneider moved up to second on the second lap and they stayed that way to the finish with Abt third ahead of Ekstrom, whilst Tomczyk got the better of a three car battle with Marcel Fassler and Winkelhock.
Race two began with stallers again, Abt and Wendlinger giving the Abt Sportsline the first hint that things wouldn't go their way. Up front Aiello outjumped Schneider but the Mercedes outdragged the Audi to the first corner with the sensational Opel of Joachim Winkelhock. Schneider settled into the lead from Aiello, Winkelhock, Ekstrom, Fassler and Tomczyk. Alesi, recovering from his awful start clashes with Uwe Alzen ended with Alzen off track and out. Winkelhock was quickly under fire, dropping to fifth by lap five.
Abt reached seventh as the pitstops began. Aiello pitted a lap later and was held up as the stop was slow, dropping him to fourth behind Schneider, Ekstrom and Fassler. Abt was now sixth but soon started attacking Winkelhock in a battle that would last till race's end. Manuel Reuter pushed past the pair of them to finish fifth as the top four settled after the pitstops. Abt and Alesi finished seventh and eighth despite theire woeful starts, but the wiinner was Schneider, his first win for the season.
Result of Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, Round 6, Lausitzring, Germany:
Standings: Laurent Aiello 54, Bernd Schneider 33, Mattias Ekstrom 29, Jean Alesi 20, Christian Abt 13, Marcel Fassler 8, Alain Menu 6, Timo Scheider, Christijan Albers and Martin Tomczyk 5 etc.
Dirk Muller And BMW Dethrone Alfa
In front of a huge home crowd, Dirk Muller took his BMW to a pair of hard fought victories at Oschersleben over teammate Jorg Muller. Rickard Rydell took his Volvo to a pair of thirds on the first weekend of the new weight and rev limits. The best Alfa Romeo result was a fourth for series leader Fabrizio Giovanardi. It's far too early to suggest that Alfa may have been slugged too much, but they were soundly beaten.
Coronel threw away his pole as Ekblom charged through into the lead followed by Dirk Muller. Further behind there was chaos as James Hanson, Paolo Ruberti, Tom Ferrier and Salvatore Tavano clashed. Ferrier and Tavano would be out for the weekend, while Hanson limped to the pits. Ruberti was able to rejoin the race immediately. Dirk Muller put the blowtorch on Ekblom, pressuring hard ahead of Coronel while Jorg Muller and Rydell traded places a couple of times. Jorg Muller managed to break away from Rydell, and closed quickly on Coronel. Rydell rejoined the battle, bringing Jordi Gene and Fabrizio Giovanardi with him. It couldn't last and there was contact with Coronel spearing off the circuit. The bad sportsmanship flag was shown to Jorg Muller. Ruberti meanwhile had to retire after a second incident, this time with Eric Cayrolle.
Up front and Dirk Muller took the lead after hitting and spinning Ekblom when Muller out braked himself, also collecting a bad sportsmanship flag for his troubles. Jorg Muller caught his 'brother' and Dirk was forced to defend. Dirk hung on to take his first win of the season. Rydell picked his way through the Mullers' victims to take third whilst Giovanardi took fourth ahead of the flying Fabrizio de Simone and Larini.
Dirk Muller though had enough in the tank to cover the advancing threat of Jorg Muller to take his second ETCC victory. Rydell was third ahead of Gene, the recovering de Simone and Larini. Giovanardi was a miserable 11th and out of the points. The Alfas still maintain a 1-2 championship position but Dirk Muller is now within striking distance of Larini's second position.
Result of European Touring Car Championship, Round 6, Oschersleben, Germany:
Standings: Fabrizio Giovanardi 84, Nicola Larini 66, Dirk Muller 53, Jorg Muller 45, Rickard Rydell 32, Frederik Ekblom 9, Paolo Ruberti, Jordi Gene & James Hanson 5, Fabrizio de Simone 4 etc.
Muller's Revenge
Yvan Muller has not had the best of seasons. While the Vauxhall team are obviously a class ahead of the rest of the field, James Thompson, and more particularly Yvan Muller have not been able to capitalise as well as perhaps they should have. Muller took the feature race win, after failing to finish the sprint race, to close within 20 points of his teammate. The other manufacturers continue to make progress with Andy Priaulx's Honda second ahead of Anthony Reid's MG.
Thompson got the jump in the feature only to be blown away by Muller, who was not disadvantaged by Thompson's 66 kilograms of performance penalty. Muller then drove largely a lonely race but was unable to run at full pace because of an overheating engine, then a pitstop which was too crowded delayed him further allowing Andy Priaulx to get away in the lead after the stops. Priaulx though had a rubbing tyre, and the smoke was clouding his vision. Muller pounced when the Honda was delayed by a class car and ran away to win from there. Anthony Reid and Dan Eaves drove consistent runs to be third and fourth while Thompson retired with engine dramas. Colin Turkington completed the best BTCC weekend of his life with fifth place, just behind Eaves's Peugeot.
After the races had finished BTCC organisers applied points penalties to Warren Hughes, Paul O'Neill and Phil Bennett for breaching the engine regulations. There is a five-point penalty for using any engine beyond the four assigned at the start of the season. This is Bennett's second engine penalty.
Muller closes on his teammate while Matt Neal had a miserable weekend - pointless, he has fallen into Muller's clutches with only three points separating Muller from second position.
Result of British Touring Car Championship, Rounds 11 and 12, Croft, Great Britain:
Standings: James Thompson 118, Matt Neal 101, Yvan Muller 98, Anthony Reid 74, Andy Priaulx 66, Paul O'Neill 65, Warren Hughes and David Leslie 55, Dan Eaves 37, Tim Harvey 35 etc.
Scuderia Italia Threepeat
A third consecutive victory for BMS Scuderia Italia's Ferrari 550 Maranello has seen its drivers Andrea Piccini and Jean-Denis Deletraz jump to the lead of the GT Championship, taking it from the Lister Storm team of Jamie Campbell-Walter and Nicolaus Springer who have held it all season. The Lister pairing made it as hard as they could, finishing only a second behind the Ferrari.
The second Larbre Viper of Vosse and Rosenblad came home fourth ahead of the second of the Carsport Vipers (Gollin and Cappellari). The lead Larbre car of Bouchut and Terrien had transmission failure and failed to finish while Kumpen and Hezemans in the Carsport car finished 19th after being slowed first by a puncture, then the car refused to fire after the second pitstop. The second Lister got home for a rare finish in sixth position ahead of the second of the Belmondo Vipers.
In N-GT Stephane Ortelli retired his Porsche from the lead battle allowing a fight to develop between the JMB Ferrari of Bertolini and Grabagnati and the Porsche teams from Peter and RWS. In the final stint Philip Peter gradually hunted down Antonio Garcia to take the class win with the Ferrari fading to third ahead of a gaggle of 996 GT3 Porsches.
Result of FIA GT Championship, Round 6, Oschersleben, Germany:
Standings: Jean-Denis Deletraz and Andrea Piccini 31, Jamie Cambell-Walter and Nicolaus Springer 30, Christophe Bouchut and David Terrien 24, Mike Hezemans, Anthony Kumpen, Vincent Vosse, Marc Duez and Fabio Babini 16 etc.
N-GT: Christian Pescatori and Andrea Montermini 35, Stephane Ortelli 30, Toto Wolff 26, Andrea Garbagnati and Andrea Bertolini 21 etc.
George also concluded that League officials were correct in determining that Castroneves' No. 3 car was ahead of Paul Tracy's No. 26 car on Lap 199 when the yellow caution period commenced, and that ample evidence supports that determination.
Barry Green and Paul Tracy have both expressed their disappointment with the decision but will not be taking the issue further.
Rally
McRae lost 16 seconds on the opening leg to Tommi Makinen, but yet another retirement to the Subaru driver left McRae in a lead that was measured in minutes. It was too large a lead to peg back, even supposing you could start to peg back the fleeing Scot. In the end, second was claimed by the Peugeot of Harri Rovanpera with Thomas Radstrom coming home third in the Citroen.
McRae then inherited a two-minute lead over his Spanish teammate, and almost three minutes over Harri Rovanpera. The rally effectively ended at that point. A problem could have always befallen McRae, but he was not going to lose the rally for any other reason. McRae's lead became even more secure when Sainz stopped with engine failure. His lead would probably have been greater but for being held up behind the slowing Makinen in Stage 5. With no problems in Leg 3 McRae maintained his gap over Rovanpera to win and close within seven points of Gronholm in the championship chase. The team's third Focus also finished, brake problems besetting Markko Martin who still finished in fourth place, backing up his team leader and helping to put Ford back into the manufacturers race.
Young Roman Kresta had the drive of his still-new factory career to bring his Skoda Octavia home to collect points. Kresta was four seconds behind Panizzi at the end of Saturday but any chance of catching the Peugeot would be denied by the car after a broken wheel bearing and a broken damper separately delayed Kresta. Whilst drivers points eluded him, three manufacturers points moved Skoda past Mitsubishi to take fourth place. That more than made up for the loss of Toni Gardemeister to suspension failure of Friday and Kenneth Eriksson to a broken gearbox on Saturday.
Pos Driver Car
1. Colin McRae Ford Focus
2. Harri Rovanpera Peugeot 206
3. Thomas Radstrom Citroen Xsara
4. Markko Martin Ford Focus
5. Sebastien Loeb Citroen Xsara
6. Gilles Panizzi Peugeot 206
7. Roman Kresta Skoda Octavia
8. Juha Kankkunen Hyundai Accent
9. Alister McRae Mitsubishi Lancer
10. Karamjit Singh Proton Pert
CART
Cristiano da Matta's winning streak came to an abrupt end at Cleveland. Da Matta has been nigh on unbeatable in the last couple of months, and was leading again when mechanical problems claimed his Lola-Toyota. After that Patrick Carpentier took control of the race in the Forsythe-run Reynard-Ford. The Forsythe team has been the only leading team to keep using the Reynard chassis after the collapse of the British manufacturer. Carpentier demonstrated that the car is very definitely a winning option, comfortable leading in Team Green Lola-Honda drivers Michael Andretti and Paul Tracy.
The lap record tumbled as the third stops approached with Tracy getting to keep the award as Kenny Brack started the third stop cycle under greens again. Franchitti lost second when he arrived for his third stop with no motive power. Andretti took the lead when Carpentier pitted, but Carpentier retook it when Andretti made his stop. Lap 88 saw the start of the final stops, again with Brack leading the way as his surviving teammate Bruno Junqueira ground to a halt before turn 4. Less than ten laps later another Toyota failed and Christian Fittipaldi was left with the long walk back to the pits. Carpentier holds out his final stop some 14 laps after Brack started the fourth stops and holds a 20 second lead over Andretti upon resuming. Andretti closed during Carpentier's out lap but never got closer than ten seconds. Tracy hung on to third while Kenny Brack would be the only Ganassi car to take the chequer, and the first Toyota in fourth. Alex Tagliani completed the great result for the Forsythe team with fifth place ahead of Jimmy Vasser.
Pos Driver Car
1. Patrick Carpentier Reynard-Ford
2. Michael Andretti Lola-Honda
3. Paul Tracy Lola-Honda
4. Kenny Brack Lola-Toyota
5. Alex Tagliani Reynard-Ford
6. Jimmy Vasser Lola-Ford
7. Tora Takagi Reynard-Toyota
8. Tony Kanaan Lola-Honda
9. Michel Jourdain Jr Lola-Ford
10. Shinji Nakano Lola-Honda
German CART Race Cancelled
MotoGP
Valentino Rossi celebrated his 100th GP start with yet another win to make it seven from eight for the year as he put one hand on the 2002 title, despite a fall during Friday morning practice which saw him suffer bruising and a small fracture in his left thumb. Rossi's cause was ironically helped when teammate Tohru Ukawa also had a crash on Friday morning, Ukawa having a huge crash in the Craner curves, the team and Ukawa deciding to sit out the rest of the weekend, leaving Rossi's closest title contender sitting on the sidelines.
This handed the lead to Rossi, who with a comfortable enough lead over Biaggi went on to complete the rest of the race to take the win, Biaggi finished two seconds behind in second with Barros the only other rider in the same race as them finishing third, as Abe in fourth finished over 22 seconds behind Rossi, while Abe was six seconds clear of Jacque in fifth.
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Valentino Rossi Honda RC211V
2. Max Biaggi Yamaha YZR M1
3. Alex Barros Honda NSR500
4. Norick Abe Yamaha YZR500
5. Olivier Jacque Yamaha YZR500
6. Sete Gibernau Suzuki GSVR
7. Daijiro Katoh Honda NSR500
8. John Hopkins Yamaha YZR500
9. Nobuatsu Aoki Proton KR3
10. Shinya Nakano Yamaha YZR500
NASCAR
Polesitter Ryan Newman kept the lead at the start, which was soon followed by a caution on lap four when Ward Burton spun on the front straight. The race got back underway but was soon under yellow again when Ward Burton left his driveshaft on the track. A lot of the drivers in the second half of the pack took the opportunity to take a pit stop at this time.
The race was once again underway on lap 196 but only two laps later the yellows were out again as Kevin Harvick got loose down the front straight, finally spinning in turns one and two. Other cars took avoiding action, some ending up with damage to their cars. The race restarted on lap 202 with Earnhardt Jr just leading Newman, Newman eventually moving ahead down the front straight on lap 209, Stewart also passing Earnhardt a few laps later.
Pos Driver Car
1. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Monte Carlo
2. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Monte Carlo
3. Tony Stewart Pontiac Grand Prix
4. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Monte Carlo
5. Ryan Newman Ford Taurus
6. Kurt Busch Ford Taurus
7. Bill Elliott Dodge Intrepid
8. Robby Gordon Chevrolet Monte Carlo
9. Mark Martin Ford Taurus
10. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet Monte Carlo
Superbikes
Race One
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Troy Bayliss Ducati 998 F 02
2. Ruben Xaus Ducati 998 F 02
3. Colin Edwards Honda VTR 1000 SP2
4. Nicky Hayden Honda RC51
5. Neil Hodgson Ducati 998 F 01
6. Eric Bostrom Kawasaki ZX-7RR
7. Aaron Yates Suzuki GSX-R750 Y
8. Ben Bostrom Ducati 998 F 02
9. James Toseland Ducati 998 F 01
10. Mat Mladin Suzuki GSX-R750 Y
Race Two
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Colin Edwards Honda VTR 1000 SP2
2. Troy Bayliss Ducati 998 F 02
3. Neil Hodgson Ducati 998 F 01
4. Eric Bostrom Kawasaki ZX-7RR
5. Ben Bostrom Ducati 998 F 02
6. James Toseland Ducati 998 F 01
7. Pierfrancesco Chili Ducati 998 RS
8. Aaron Yates Suzuki GSX-R750 Y
9. Doug Chandler Ducati 998 R
10. Chris Walker Kawasaki ZX-7RR
DTM
The weekend started in Aiello's favour though, the Team Abt Sportsline driver taking pole position by two tenths of a second over Schneider's Mercedes. Abt Sportsline dominated qualifying with Aiello on pole, Christian Abt third, Mattias Ekstrom fourth, Karl Wendlinger seventh and the team junior car of Martin Tomczyk in fifth. The best of the Opels was Joachim Winkelhock in eighth.
Pos Driver Car
1. Bernd Schneider Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM
2. Mattias Ekstrom Audi TT-R
3. Marcel Fassler Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM
4. Laurent Aiello Audi TT-R
5. Manuel Reuter Opel Astra V8 Coupe
6. Joachim Winkelhock Opel Astra V8 Coupe
7. Christian Abt Audi TT-R
8. Jean Alesi Mercedes Benz CLK-DTM
9. Martin Tomczyk Audi TT-R
10. Timo Scheider Opel Astra V8 Coupe
ETCC
Tom Coronel took advantage of the new regulations to take his first ETCC pole ahead of Fredrik Ekblom, both in BMWs. It was a very different look front row. The Mullers were next, Dirk ahead of Jorg with Rydell fifth in the first non-BMW. Jordi Gene was next ahead of the first of the two factory Alfas, Giovanardi ahead of Nicola Larini. Of the other manufacturers, Tommy Rustad's Nissan was twelfth, Salvatore Tavano's Honda was 14th and the new Ford Focus of Thomas Klenke was 17th.
With the top six reversed for race 2 de Simone was able to outdrag Larini to take the early lead, whilst the Mullers were quickly past Rydell and Giovanardi. Dirk Muller and Larini were soon embroiled in a fierce battle. Within a couple of laps it was a three-way battle with Jorg Muller joining in. After being shuffled back by Jorg, Dirk Muller took the pair of them with a brilliant move. Larini and Jorg Muller continued to battle hard and soon both lose another spot as Rickard Rydell duplicates Dirk Muller's move. Jorg finally disposes of Larini, but having lost those positions he now takes fourth instead of second. Meanwhile Dirk Muller had caught de Simone and passed him to take the lead. A lap later and Jorg Muller and Rydell catch de Simone with Muller quickly through to second. Rydell would take longer, and have to tap the BMW to do it, sending it spinning, allowing Jordi Gene through as well.
Race One
Pos Driver Car
1. Dirk Muller BMW 320i
2. Jorg Muller BMW 320i
3. Rickard Rydell Volvo S60
4. Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
5. Fabrizio de Simone BMW 320i
6. Nicola Larini Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
7. Jordi Gene BMW 320i
8. Luis Villamil Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
9. Eric Cayrolle Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
10. Tommy Rustad Nissan Primera
Race Two
Pos Driver Car
1. Dirk Muller BMW 320i
2. Jorg Muller BMW 320i
3. Rickard Rydell Volvo S60
4. Jordi Gene BMW 320i
5. Fabrizio de Simone BMW 320i
6. Nicola Larini Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
7. Luis Villamil Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
8. Tom Coronel BMW 320i
9. Fredrik Ekblom BMW 320i
10. Tommy Rustad Nissan Primera
BTCC
James Thompson led flag to flag in the sprint race as retirements marred the frontrunners. Paul O'Neill, Tim Harvey and Tom Chilton all caught fire, Matt Neal had a suspension breakage, Priaulx speared off, Aaron Slight and David Leslie clashed briefly, Reid punctured, Warren Hughes clouted a barrier, Neal, Harvey and Gareth Howell crashed together late in the race. It all conspired to let Thompson win as he chose ahead of the recovering Leslie with the steady Colin Turkington taking third.
Round Eleven
Pos Driver Car
1. James Thompson Vauxhall Astra Coupe
2. David Leslie Proton Impian
3. Colin Turkington MG ZS
4. Andy Priaulx Honda Civic Type-R
5. Warren Hughes MG ZS
6. Alan Morrison Honda Civic Type-R
7. Aaron Slight Vauxhall Astra Coupe
8. Carl Breeze Peugeot 406 Coupe
9. Dan Eaves Peugeot 406 Coupe
10. Norman Simon BMW 320i
Round Twelve
Pos Driver Car
1. Yvan Muller Vauxhall Astra Coupe
2. Andy Priaulx Honda Civic Type-R
3. Anthony Reid MG ZS
4. Dan Eaves Peugeot 406 Coupe
5. Colin Turkington MG ZS
6. Paul O'Neill Vauxhall Astra Coupe
7. David Leslie Proton Impian
8. Phil Bennett Proton Impian
9. Gareth Howell MG ZS
10. Aaron Slight Vauxhall Astra Coupe
FIA GT
Piccini made a poor start to be fifth at the end of lap one but swiftly climbed up the order so that when Deletraz climbed aboard the car had risen to second behind the Lister, which had led most of the race. The Lister team rolled the dice at the final stop only changing tyres on one side of the car to shorten the pitstop but it wouldn't be enough. The final hour of the race was dramatic as Deletraz, Campbell-Walter and Marc Duez battled, Duez in the Belmondo Viper finishing third. The Viper faded towards the end of the race on tyres well past their prime.
Pos Drivers Car
1. Andrea Piccini/Jean-Denis Deletraz Ferrari 550 Maranello
2. Jamie Campbell-Walter/ Lister Storm
Nicolaus Springer
3. Fabio Babini/Marc Duez Chrysler Viper GTS-R
4. Vincent Vosse/Carl Rosenblad Chrysler Viper GTS-R
5. Fabrizio Gollin/Luca Cappellari Chrysler Viper GTS-R
6. Bobby Verdon-Roe/Paul Knapfield Lister Storm
7. Paul Belmondo/Claude-Yves Gosselin Chrysler Viper GTS-R
8. Toto Wolff/Philipp Peter Porsche 996 GT3-R (N-GT)
9. Antonio Garcia/Horst Felbermayr Jr Porsche 996 GT3-R (N-GT)
10. Andrea Garbagnati/Andrea Bertolini Ferrari 360 Modena (N-GT)
Briefs
After considering the appeal of Team Green, IRL President and CEO Tony George has upheld the existing result, confirming Helio Castroneves's victory in this year's Indianapolis 500. In a statement released by IRL it said (Tony) George determined that the decision by Indy Racing League officials as to the placement of the race cars at the commencement of the yellow caution period immediately after an accident on Lap 199 "is a judgement call and is not protestable nor appealable under the Rule Book."
Toyota has made the decision to pull its Formula One test driver Ryan Briscoe out of the struggling Formula 3000 team Nordic Racing. The defending series champions have struggled to make progress all year with handling appearing to be a major problem. Toyota will now place its young Australian in the German Formula 3 series, while Nordic has named Swede Thed Bjork as Zsolt Baumgartner's new teammate.
Date Circuit
March 2 Homestead-Miami Speedway
March 23 Phoenix International Raceway
April 13 Twin Ring Motegi
May 25 Indianapolis Motor Speedway
June 7 Texas Motor Speedway
June 15 Pikes Peak International Raceway
June 28 Richmond International Raceway
July 6 Kansas Speedway
July 19 Nashville Superspeedway
July 27 Michigan International Speedway
August 10 Gateway International Raceway
August 17 Kentucky Speedway
August 24 Nazareth Speedway
September 7 Chicagoland Speedway
September 21 California Speedway
October 12 Texas Motor Speedway
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Volume 8, Issue 29
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Jo Ramirez: a Racing Man
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