CART

Da Matta Reigns in Monterrey

The FedEx CART series kicked off its season in the slightly surreal surrounds of the Fundidora Park steel mill. And Cristiano da Matta claimed a hat trick. After winning in Australia and at the season ending Fontana race last year, a win in Mexico gave him three consecutive wins for the Newman-Haas operation, a team presently reeling under the loss of long term sponsor K-Mart, who has gone bust in the US.

While Christian Fittipaldi's Lola was carrying the colours of Eli Lilly, da Matta has only Havoline on his car. The team, though, put in their best performance in some time, with Fittipaldi putting a lacklustre 2001 behind him with a strong run to third place behind the Team Kool Green Reynard of Dario Franchitti, in a highly competitive field. While Penske and Arcerio-Blair may have defected, the rest still put on a great show.

The race started dramatically as local hero Adrian Fernandez led the field away from pole position. The yellows were out immediately as Jimmy Vasser, Kenny Brack, Bruno Junqueira and Townsend Bell all got together. Three of the four cars were pit bound immediately. Paul Tracy also pitted after an altercation out on the track with Vasser.

Tagliani took up the early running, taking the lead from Fernandez and kept the lead until lap 27 when, under the pit stop rules, suddenly filed the pointy end of the field pitbound together. This left Carpantier in the lead from Tracy and da Matta. But Carpantier was supposed to pit from a compulsory stop. The black flag was waved at the Players car and da Matta took up the lead.

Da Matta clashed with Shinji Nakano, leading to wing damage for the Brazilian. Da Matta would regain the lead after the second round of pitstops, while late in the race Franchitti closed in helped by traffic and a yellow when Tora Takagi and Tony Kanaan collided. With three laps to go, da Matta raced away from Franchitti to take the win. Fittipaldi finished third ahead of Michel Jordain in a competitive fourth.

FedEx Championship Series, Round 1, Fundidora Park, Mexico

Pos  Driver                Car
 1.  Cristiano da Matta    Lola-Toyota
 2.  Dario Franchitti      Reynard-Honda
 3.  Christian Fittipaldi  Lola-Toyota
 4.  Michel Jordain Jnr    Lola-Ford
 5.  Alex Tagliani         Reynard-Ford
 6.  Scott Dixon           Lola-Toyota
 7.  Patrick Carpentier    Reynard-Ford
 8.  Paul Tracy            Reynard-Honda
 9.  Max Papis             Lola-Ford 
10.  Oriol Servia          Lola-Toyota

Standings: Cristiano da Matta 21, Dario Franchitti 16, Christian Fittipaldi 14, Michel Jourdain Jr 12, Alex Tagliani 10, Scott Dixon 8, Patrick Carpentier 6, Paul Tracy 5, Max Papis 3, Oriol Servia 3 etc

  WRC

Peugeot Power: Panizzi Prevails

On tarmac you tend to look for the French cars. Peugeot and Citroen have a history of developing the old W2L cars into WRC beaters on tarmac without the aid of turbo charging or four wheel drive. As both moved into four wheel drive WRC cars, this ability remained.

Peugeot were utterly dominant. The three little silver cars won twelve out of the sixteen stages, eight of them by Panizzi. The rally looked over on day one with Panizzi already 30 seconds clear of the Subaru of Tommi Makinen in fourth with two World Champion teammates in between them. Makinen, however, crashed out of the rally on Leg Two. Neither rain nor persistent brake problems had any effect on them. Fourth place would be taken, not by another factory car, but by the privateer Citroen Xsara of Philippe Bugalski.

"I'm really happy," said Panizzi. "This is the best victory of my career because we've led right from the start and we've been quick in wet and dry conditions. Apart from the small brake problem, we've had such a good set up that I've been able to attack everywhere. I can't wait for Catalunya now."

Burns chased hard on the final day, but going the wrong way with tyre choice allowed Gronholm to make safe second place. Gronholm could make no dent on Panizzi, and the respective gaps would be 40 and twelve seconds.

After a poor start, continuing changes to the privately run Citroen Xsara saw former winner Bugalski climb to fourth on Leg 2, lose it and regain it again after Colin McRae crashed. Despite the death of W2L, Corsica continues to provide odd results.

Subaru was expected to fight over the vent with Peugeot. The fight was over early, though, as Peugeot's pace proved supreme. Tommi Makinen didn't stop trying until he aquaplaned off the track on Leg 2, wrecking the Impreza. With the Ford firmly encamped behind Bugalski, a point finish for the blue cars looked remote. Petter Solberg was up to the challenge, though, and reeled in and caught Carlos Sainz to claim fifth for Subaru. But for a spin on the first day and incorrect tyre choice on Leg 3 Solberg might have challenged Bugalski.

Ford had little to be happy about. Colin McRae slid off on Stage 15, hitting a tree. The Scot was airlifted to hospital, but his injuries were relatively minor. The Fords struck problems with tyres during the changeable conditions of Leg Two. Sainz would struggle home for sixth, taking the final point. In the third car, a consistent but uninspiring run, netted Markko Martin eighth.

Seventh was Francois Delecour. Another former winner here, Delecour agreed with his teammate Alister McRae that there was still work to do to bring the Lancer WRC up to scratch. How quickly the heady days of Tommi and the Group A Evos have gone.

It was a troubled debut for Tomasz Kuchar at Hyundai. Brake problems saw the front end of his Accent catch fire at the end of the first stage. With no brakes, the decision was made to retire the car. Freddy Loix and Armin Schwarz continued relatively untroubled, but relatively un-quickly too.

Of the Skodas, Toni Gardemiester finished 12th and Roman Kresta 14th. Kenneth Eriksson raced with his colleagues until the gearbox cried enough.

Next stop for the series is the Iberian peninsula, and the Catalunya Rally, now the only stop south of the Pyrenees. Peugeot looked devastatingly quick on the tarmac. How the rest of the field must be wishing for dirt to play in.

World Rally Championship, Round 3, Tour de Corse

Pos  Driver             Car
 1.  Gilles Panizzi     Peugeot 206
 2.  Marcus Gronholm    Peugeot 206
 3.  Richard Burns      Peugeot 206
 4.  Philippe Bugalski  Citroen Xsara
 5.  Petter Solberg     Subaru Impreza
 6.  Carlos Sainz       Ford Focus
 7.  Francois Delecour  Mitsubishi Lancer
 8.  Markko Martin      Ford Focus
 9.  Freddy Loix        Hyundai Accent
10.  Alister McRae      Mitsubishi Lancer

Standings after Round 3: Marcus Gronholm 18, Tommi Makinen & Gilles Panizzi 10, Carlos Sainz 9, Richard Burns 7, Sebastien Loeb & Harri Rovanpera 6, Colin McRae 4 etc

  Superbikes

Champ Reigns at Valencia

Troy Bayliss left no doubt who he thought was the best of the Superbike riders. In the first major motorcycle event of the year, the reigning champion took two wins from two starts on his Infostrada Ducati 996.

In the first race, the Australian quickly bolted to the front and pulled a gap on the squabbling duo of Noriyuki Haga, immediately impressing on his debut with Aprilia, and Ben Bostrom. It would be a battle the Japanese rider would win.

Colin Edwards (Honda) and Ruben Xaus (Ducati) were delayed behind the privateer Duke of Neil Hodgson, and didn't figure in the podium battle despite their pace. Hitoyasu Izutsu (Kawasaki) had a huge gap over the desperate scrap between veteran Pierfrancesco Chili and Gregorio Lavilla's Kwaka.

Bayliss again took command in race 2 on his spare bike, ahead of Haga who had to fight Edwards as well as Bostrom this time for second. Bostrom faded as the race went on but after Xaus crashed, the American dropped no further down the order. Lonely rides to positions characterised most of the rest of the top ten.

World Superbike Championship, Round 1, Comunitat Valenciana, Spain

Race One

Pos  Rider                Bike
 1.  Troy Bayliss         Ducati 998 F02
 2.  Noriyuki Haga        Aprilia RSV1000
 3.  Ben Bostrom          Ducati 998 F02
 4.  Colin Edwards        Honda VTR1000 SP2
 5.  Ruben Xaus           Ducati 998 F02
 6.  Neil Hodgson         Ducati 998 F01
 7.  Hitoyasu Izutsu      Kawasaki ZX-7RR
 8.  Gregorio Lavilla     Suzuki GSX-R750
 9.  Pierfrancesco Chili  Ducati 998RS
10.  Chris Walker         Kawasaki ZX-7RR

Race Two

Pos  Rider                Bike
 1.  Troy Bayliss         Ducati 998 F02
 2.  Noriyuki Haga        Aprilia RSV1000
 3.  Colin Edwards        Honda VTR1000 SP2
 4.  Ben Bostrom          Ducati 998 F02
 5.  Neil Hodgson         Ducati 998 F01
 6.  Hitoyasu Izutsu      Kawasaki ZX-7RR
 7.  Chris Walker         Kawasaki ZX-7RR
 8.  Juan Borja           Ducati 998 RS
 9.  Steve Martin         Ducati 998 RS
10. James Toseland        Ducati 998 F01

  V8 Supercars

Skaife Hot in Adelaide

As a new season begins with a new control tyre supplier, some things don't change in V8 Supercars. Holden Racing Team's Mark Skaife qualified on pole and won both races in a dominant performance by HRT and his Holden counterparts, despite a quirk in the rules that saw him involved in the pre-qualifying session for the round.

While teams may have hoped that the switch from Bridgestone to Dunlop control tyres for 2002 would cause problems for the team which has won the title five times in the last six years, and all but one race at the Adelaide event in previous years, they were to be disappointed, as HRT qualified 1-2, and won both races.

The Adelaide 500 comprises two 250km races involving two compulsory pit stops, one for tyres and one for fuel, with the first race held on Saturday and the second one held on Sunday, both days featuring +30 C temperatures. Saturday's race began with pole sitter Skaife losing out in the run up to turn one to his teammate Jason Bright, closely followed by the rest of the roaring pack. On lap 3, Shell Helix Racing's Paul Radisich retired with an engine problem, having only just made the grid after a 200+ km/h crash at the Dunlop sweeper the previous day in practice. Fluid on the track from his car ended CAT Racing driver Simon Wills and Caltex Havoline driver Wayne Gardner's day.

Out front, the HRT duo were extending their lead over the rest of the field by about a second a lap, pitting for fuel around one third distance along with most of the field. When the safety car came out around half distance, most drivers made their second compulsory stop, leaving them a clear run until the finish. An incident occurred here which eventually saw Garth Tander credited an extra lap due to an alleged error by the safety car when it picked up the leader.

On lap 47, Castrol Perkins Racing's Steven Richards spun Valvoline Cummins Racing's Jason Bargwanna, which saw Betta Electrical's rookie Max Wilson, switching to the series after competing in open wheelers, collide head on with the stationary Bargwanna. On lap 59, Wilson's engine failed, laying oil on the track, including the fast Dunlop sweeper, catching Super Cheap's Steven Ellery unawares, as he clouted the wall at 200+ km/h, bringing the safety car out again.

The race eventually restarted with Skaife right on teammate and leader Bright's tail. On lap 72, Bright became another victim of the Dunlop sweeper, clouting the wall hard enough to break the car's rear axle free from its mountings, forcing him to retire a lap later. This allowed Skaife, who had sat in second position behind Bright all day to take a comfortable win ahead of Tander and K-Mart Racing's Greg Murphy, a fine effort by Murphy after starting 15th after clouting the wall in the top 15 shootout.

Sunday's race began with the driver who led most of day one's race, Jason Bright, starting in 22nd position, as starting positions were determined by the driver's finishing position in the first race of the weekend. At the start, Murphy took the lead from Skaife and Tander into turn one as Wilson exited the race at the back of the pack after contact at the chicane. The safety car came out on lap 2, but not before Skaife had passed Murphy for the lead at the hairpin. The race soon resumed, with Skaife and Murphy running away like Bright and Skaife had on day one.

Bright was on a charge, moving up to 12th by the end of lap 12. Radisich's day turned from bad to worse as a mechanical problem forced him out just short of one third distance. A safety car soon after saw most drivers take advantage of the opportunity to get both compulsory stops out of the way, with the main exceptions being Bright, Pirtek Racing's Marcos Ambrose and Shell Helix Racing's Steven Johnson, who were the top three as the race resumed.

Ambrose and Johnson were dispatched, but Bright held on to the lead ahead of Skaife, which is how things stayed until the Dunlop sweeper claimed its final victim when Ford Credit Racing's Glenn Seton clouted the barrier after clipping the inside kerb, which brought out the safety car, allowing Bright, Ambrose and others to make their final pit stops with less penalty than under racing conditions.

The race resumed on lap 57, with Skaife leading from Murphy and Richards, with Bright back down in eleventh, though he wouldn't stay there for long. Bright passed Bowe, K-Mart Racing's Todd Kelly, and Castrol Perkins Racing's Russell Ingall on successive laps. On lap 60 Bright passed 00 Motorsport's Craig Lowndes, only to be repassed by Lowndes and Ingall later on that lap before Bright repassed Ingall again on that same lap, following this with passes on Lowndes, Tander and Richards over the next few laps to move up into third place.

All this good work was undone when he lost the car under braking at the hairpin, dropping to 6th, followed by a lurid slide, bouncing off the tyre barries two corners later dropping Bright further to ninth. At the same time as Bright was charging, so was Ambrose, having moved up from ninth to sixth. Just as a good finish looked certain, smoke from the exhaust pipes ended Ambrose's day. Bright managed to recover some ground after his error, finishing 5th right on the tail of Lowndes's Falcon, while Skaife, Murphy and Richards shared another all-Holden podium.

With the 2000 and 2001 series champion Skaife winning both races of the first round in 2002, it's not looking good for everyone else, particularly those aboard a Ford, with fourth place the best result for Ford in both races, as Ambrose and Lowndes spent their weekend looking at the rear bumpers of the Holdens.

Results of V8Supercar Series, Round 1, Clipsal Adelaide 500, Australia

Race One

Pos  Driver            Car
 1.  Mark Skaife       Holden Commodore
 2.  Garth Tander      Holden Commodore
 3.  Greg Murphy       Holden Commodore
 4.  Marcos Ambrose    Ford Falcon
 5.  Craig Lowndes     Ford Falcon
 6.  Steven Richards   Holden Commodore
 7.  Tony Longhurst    Ford Falcon
 8.  Steven Johnson    Ford Falcon
 9.  Todd Kelly        Holden Commodore
10.  Jason Bargwanna   Holden Commodore

Race Two

Pos  Driver            Car
 1.  Mark Skaife       Holden Commodore
 2.  Greg Murphy       Holden Commodore
 3.  Steven Richards   Holden Commodore
 4.  Craig Lowndes     Ford Falcon
 5.  Jason Bright      Holden Commodore
 6.  Garth Tander      Holden Commodore
 7.  Russell Ingall    Holden Commodore
 8.  John Bowe         Ford Falcon
 9.  Jason Bargwanna   Holden Commodore
10.  Steven Johnson    Ford Falcon

Standings: Mark Skaife 400, Greg Murphy 288, Garth Tander 240, Steven Richards 208, Craig Lowndes 192, Steven Johnson 120, Jason Bargwanna 116, Todd Kelly 108, Marcos Ambrose 104, Tony Longhurst 102 etc

  Upcoming Events Calendar

• March 22 - World Rally Championship, Round 4, Rally Catalunya, Spain
• March 23 - Formula Nippon, Round 1, Suzuka, Japan
• March 24 - World Superbike Championship, Round 2, Phillip Island, Australia
• March 24 - NASCAR, Round 6, Bristol Motor Speedway, Tennessee, United States
• March 24 - Indy Racing League, Round 3, Fontana, California, United States
• March 29 - Queenstown Gold Rush Hillclimb, Queenstown, New Zealand
• March 30 - International Formula 3000, Round 1, Interlagos, Brazil
• March 31 - Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix, Interlagos, Brazil
• April 1 - British Touring Car Championship, Round 1, Brands Hatch, Great Britain
• April 1 - British Formula 3 Championship, Round 1, Brands Hatch, Great Britain