Updates from the Rest of the Racing World
Atlas F1 Magazine Writers
And The Winner Is?
With a day to go Tommmi Makinen led. The Subaru Impreza driver had come through to lead after Marcus Gronholm had been too good on Leg 1. On Leg 2 Gronholm had no answer, but on Leg 3 things improved for the Peugeot and he retook the lead on Stage 19. Two stages later and Makinen, trying very hard to regain the lead, misjudged a crest and rolled the Impreza. Makinen would later describe it as the biggest accident of his career. Co-driver Kaj Lindstrom was taken to hospital with a suspected concussion, and Makinen himself was badly shaken.
With Makinen out that left Gronholm to cruise to take another victory for Peugeot, in a year when everyone else is thoroughly sick of silver cars. But Gronholm was disqualified soon after the completion of the final stage, Stage 22. That morning, prior to Sunday's opening stage, Gronholm's 206 died. After receiving advice from nearby Peugeot mechanics, Gronholm was able to fix the problem. The driver and co-driver do have to fix all such problems between services, but the mechanics must be a kilometre from the car, not looking over the driver's shoulder. So for receiving advice on ECU repairs in a place where they shouldn't have been advising from, Gronholm's victory had come to nought.
Overnight Sunday and Richard Burns celebrated as a winner should, but he too was disqualified. In post event scrutineering his Peugeot 206 was found to have an illegally lightweight flywheel. Whilst disappointed, Peugeot is appealing neither exclusion. It was disappointment all round with Harri Rovanpera and Gilles Panizzi both disappearing on Leg 2 with mechanical dramas.
So who had Solberg been fighting hammer and tongs with? The new winner of Rally Argentina, Carlos Sainz. For a rally in which 24 hours ago Ford had been looking good for only fifth, sixth and seventh, first, third and fourth was a marked improvement. While Sainz and Solberg traded blows, Colin McRae and Markko Martin travelled lonely battles, neither threatening those ahead or challenged by those behind. They maintained their pace, not knowing how good their final result would become.
"It's been a bad three days, really. Okay, we've ended up with some points but we didn't have that bit of extra speed that we showed in Cyprus, so we couldn't really compete with the Peugeots or the Subarus. The championship situation's not looking too hot now, so we'll just have to hope things take a turn for the better in Greece," said Colin McRae, who at the time was fourth. Third brought an extra championship point for him, but the analysis remained. The silver and the blue cars had left the white cars gasping in Argentina. The cards did fall their way in the end, but championships are not decided in the same manner.
The other manufacturer to benefit from Peugeot and Subaru's woes was Skoda. Three Octavias were travelling well but off the pace as the rally drew to a close. Some niggling transmission problems struck local hero Gabriel Pozzo and Finn Toni Gardemeister. The problems prevented Pozzo from challenging Juha Kankkunen for what became seventh. Skoda's reliability was rewarded however, with a swag of points for Skoda and two points for Gardemeister and a point for Kenneth Eriksson. It was a lot more than they could have hoped for as the cars completed the final stage.
Mitsubishi though had more to complain about. Alister McRae brough the Ralliart Lancer home in what became eighth in a fraught campaign that started with a puncture and bent steering on Leg 1 and degenerated from there. Francois Delecour was the first major retirement of the event, crashing and rolling on Stage 6. Delecour got the Lancer going again, but pulled over for good on the next stage.
Gronholm is still more than a complete event clear in the championship standings, but the opposition has closed. When before only other Peugeots threatened, now Sainz sits in third position, equal with Burns and only a point behind tarmac specialist Panizzi, whilst Makinen hovers another five points distant. If Tommi can keep it on the island he still looks like the man to take it to the Pugs.
Result of World Rally Championship, Round 6, Rally Argentina:
Standings: Marcus Gronholm 31, Gilles Panizzi 20, Carlos Sainz and Richard Burns 19, Tommi Makinen 14, Petter Solberg 13, Colin McRae 10, Harri Rovanpera 9, Philippe Bugalski 7, Sebastien Loeb 6 etc
Newman's Night
First race of the night was the Winston Open, a 30 lap race for drivers who had competed in a race in 2001 or 2002 but were not already qualified for The Winston, with the winner going through to the main race, The Winston. Jeremy Mayfield sat on the pole and led the field early, with Ryan Newman quickly moving into second and closing in. Carl Long brought out a caution when he spun in turn two, setting up a two lane restart, which allowed Mayfield to pull away from Newman again, who had Ken Schrader on his tail. With eight laps to go Schrader moved past Newman for second, and reduced the gap to Mayfield, but was unable to get close enough to worry Mayfield, who took the win and gained entry to the main race.
Next up was the No Bull Sprint, a 16 lap race with the same field as the Winston Open minus its winner Jeremy Mayfield, with the same rule of the winner going through to The Winston. Jeff Green was on the pole as the field reshuffled during the pit stops between the two races. Green took off in the lead, followed by Newman who dropped to third but made a great start to moved up to second once again. Through turns three and four Newman went under Green into the lead. Lap four saw Kyle Petty through to second past Jeff Green but Newman was never threatened and never headed.
Finally the main race took place, though The Winston itself was a three segment race: a 40 lap race with a compulsory four tyre stop under green flag conditions, the top twenty going through to segment two; a 30 lap segment with the top ten going through to segment three; and a 20 green flag lap sprint to determine the winner of The Winston. Between each race teams could do limited work on their car in a ten minute break between races. Oh, and one final thing... a poll of NASCAR fans had been taken to determine how many places in the final segment would be reversed before it began, the choices being four, six, eight or ten. Automatic entries for the race included winners in the 2001 and 2002 Winston Cup seasons, recent The Winston winners, previous Winston Cup champions. These drivers took a qualifying run which included a pit stop to determine starting positions, with the winners of the first two races of the night starting behind these drivers. Mike Wallace actually ended up starting at the back due to an engine change during the weekend.
The race restarted on lap 26 with Mark Martin still in the lead, and most cars still yet to make their stops. First lap after the restart and eleven cars pitted, more following on the next couple of laps. The new leaders with ten laps remaining were Michael Waltrip and Jeff Burton, who had yet to stop, a lap clear of the rest of the field, with Johnson, Elliott and Mayfield benefiting from their early stops to lead the rest of the field by more than eight seconds in third, fourth and fifth. Eight laps to go and Waltrip pitted, leaving Burton alone on the track yet to stop.
Five to go and Burton stayed in the lead and on the track. Two to go and Burton stayed on the track, with the time he was losing on old tyres putting him in a position where he could emerge from his stop below 20th place and out of the race. One lap to go and Burton was still on the track. What was Burton thinking? As he came around to complete the final lap, it fell into place. Burton headed down pit lane, made his stop in his pit bay, which was before the start/finish line and crossed the finish in pit lane, taking second place in the race, while Ward Burton, Steve Park and Mike Wallace joined those in the lap fifteen wreck in being eliminated from The Winston after the first segment. Just scraping through were Tony Stewart, Joe Nemechek, Stewart's teammate Bobby Labonte and Ryan Newman in the final place not to be cut, twentieth.
At the restart on lap nine Johnson and Martin continued to lead the field. Last place starter Ryan Newman had moved his way through the field up to ninth as leader Martin blew up on lap 12, bringing out a caution. Five cars pitted under this caution including Jeff Gordon who had earlier bounced off the wall and Tony Stewart. Gordon had to drop to the back of the field after a windscreen washing brush fell off its handle and fell off his car as he exited the pits, while Stewart returned to the pits to fix up some damage to the front right of his car.
The race restarted on lap 20, with Labonte in the prized but worrysome tenth place. Johnson led Elliott and Earhardt Jr as Robby Gordon held off teammate Harvick for tenth, while further back Stewart and Jeff Gordon moved up towards the top ten. Lap 21 saw Bobby Labonte and Jeremy Mayfield run into the side of each other down the back straight, giving each other damage and effectively eliminating each other from the race as they were forced to pit. Stewart moved into tenth as Michael Waltrip and Jeff Gordon fought for eleventh. With thre laps remaining Gordon completed the move, but it was too late to catch let alone pass Stewart, eliminating last year's The Winston's winner. Joining him out of the field amongst others were his teammates Terry Labonte and Joe Nemechek.
Stewart remained in second as Gordon sat on his tail, with Busch, Craven and Earnhardt Jr right behind as ten laps remained. Lap sixteen and Gordon got right on to Stewart's tail, working him loose through turn two. As he backed off to avoid spinning Stewart and move under him, Busch drove into the back of Gordon, spinning Gordon around and bringing out the caution, which saw a few drivers including Earnhardt Jr take to the pits so they could benefit over the last few laps of the race, Earnhardt Jr starting in seventh for the five remaining laps. The first restart was waved off, but the second restart was successful, Newman leading from Busch as Stewart dropped to third, an ailing Elliott dropped to last place and Earnhardt Jr moved to fifth, driving around the outside of Harvick to take fourth at the end of that lap. Up front Newman had edged away from Busch.
Four to go and Earnhardt blew by Stewart as they exited turn two, passing Busch for second as they entered turn one with three to go. With two laps to go he was right on Newman's bumper. Only skilful placement and driving by Newman prevented the clearly faster Earnhardt Jr from passing him for the win. This included a moment on the last lap in turn two when Earnhardt Jr got close to Newman's car, which saw Newman's car edged into a slide, but Earnhardt Jr backed off like Gordon had earlier in the race, saving Newman from crashing and allowing the drivers to hold position.
So Newman won from Earnhardt Jr with Kenseth in third, a trifecta of young guns taking out the top positions in the final standings.
Result of NASCAR Winston Cup, The Winston, Lowe's Motor Speedway, Charlotte, North Carolina, United States:
Rossi Reigns Before the Rain
Valentino Rossi moved another step closer to claiming the inaugural MotoGP title when he won a rain-affected French Grand Prix at the Le Mans circuit, albeit the Bugatti circuit and not the full circuit used next month for the famous 24 hour race. Rossi seemed to toy with the other riders as he dropped back to third at times but took back the lead when he needed to to score his third win in four races this season.
Polesitter Valentino Rossi led an all four-stroke front row, with Yamaha teammates Carlos Checa in second and third on the grid, Rossi's teammate Tohru Ukawa completing the row. Under overcast skies, Rossi got a great start, leading his teammate Ukawa into turn one, followed by Biaggi and Checa on their Yamahas, the top four soon breaking away from the rest of the field, Biaggi giving Ukawa something to think about, as Ukawa did the same to Rossi. The Suzuki four-strokes were stuck in the middle of the pack, fighting with the two-strokes. As they started lap five, the two Hondas started to edge away from the two Yamahas, as Capirossi led the bulk of the field in fifth.
On lap six Katoh made his way past Abe, and followed this a lap later by passing Capirossi to move into fifth, and began to hunt down the leading pack. On lap nine Carlos Checa lowsided and crashed out of the race, while his teammate closed in on the two Hondas. A few drops of rain were falling which may have been responsible for Checa's crash and almost certainly helped Biaggi catch the Hondas.
As they headed around the back of the circuit, Ukawa and Biaggi both passed Rossi, who seemed to be riding a bit cautiously in the slightly damp conditions. One corner later and Biaggi passed Ukawa, making it probably the first time all year that something other than a Honda four-stroke has led a race. The rain stopped as quickly as it begun, bunching the top three close together as the completed lap 10. As they came down the hill after passing under the Dunlop Bridge on lap 11, Ukawa moved down the inside to retake the lead once again.
Up front, Ukawa led from Biaggi, sometimes having a small break, sometimes having almost none, while Rossi was looking left and right for a way past. Meanwhile Katoh and Abe had closed in on the leading four-strokes, though were not yet with them. Lap twelve and we lost Katoh as he crashed at the first chicane, while further back Harada had run off the circuit a few laps earlier, colliding with one of the Gauloises Yamahas, throwing gravel back at the other, eventually ending all three riders' races.
On lap 18 Abe caught the leading pack, with Ukawa edging away again, as some more light rain fell and stopped again, particularly through the first few turns. As quickly as Abe caught Rossi he fell away again, and soon after, heading into the esses before the end of lap 19, Rossi retook second from Biaggi, and set off after Ukawa. Lap 21 and Rossi was on Ukawa's tail, and before the end of the lap he was past, not able to pull away but not under threat either. Again some more light rain fell, and on turn four of lap 23, Rossi's left hand went into the air, soon followed by Ukawa's. The stewards agreed within seconds to red flag the race, with results being declared, as enough laps had been completed. Rossi was so concerned about the track conditions on his way back to the pits that he raised his front wheel into the air twice... By the time the riders made it to parc ferme the track was dry.
While Biaggi made the podium for the first time this season, and Rossi only won by a second or so, it seems clear that Honda is still the best bike, if not by as much as it had been earlier in the year. As in the previous two rounds, it seems that the Honda four-stroke riders are winning the races at the slowest possible speed which will allow them to do so, as they hold onto small leads but have the speed there when they need it.
Result of World Motorcycle Championship, Round 4, Le Mans (Bugatti circuit), France:
Standings: Valentino Rossi 95, Tohru Ukawa 61, Loris Capirossi 45, Norick Abe 43, Daijiro Katoh 39, Alex Barros 29, Nobuatsu Aoki 28, Carlos Checa 27 etc.
Skaife's Superb Season Continues
The first race of the weekend again was a sprint race, held the day previous to the two other 100 km long races, these races featuring a compulsory stop for tyres. Polesitter Jason Bright held the lead at the start from teammate Mark Skaife. This was how they remained until the finish, Ambrose finishing a close third, while further back in the field Russell Ingall retired with engine problems.
At the start of the second race Mark Skaife snatched the lead from teammate Jason Bright at the start, but this was soon overshadowed as Rick Kelly spun in the middle of the pack early on lap one, blocking the track which saw four cars fail to make the restart. At the restart, Skaife once again took the lead, with Greg Murphy making his way past Bright as well, while Ambrose sat on Bright's tail, followed by Murphy's teammate Todd Kelly. At the hairpin on lap one, Craig Lowndes spun out of sixth place, which although initially appearing to be driver error was put down to an engine problem.
At the end of lap three Bright and Ambrose made their compulsory stops, Ambrose losing out when problems with the rear right wheel slowed his pit stop, losing him several positions. Two laps later and race leader Skaife was in with Todd Kelly, and two laps later Kelly's teammate Greg Murphy did the same. A slight problem with a right rear wheel saw Murphy return to the race behind Bright and just behind teammate Kelly.
David Besnard slipped off the track but quickly rejoined the track around lap 27 without losing position. In fact, from lap 18 until the end of the race the positions of the top ten drivers remained identical, Skaife taking the win a few seconds clear of Bright, with the scrapping Kelly and Murphy the only other drivers close to them.
In race three Skaife sat on the pole for the first time all weekend. However, Bright beat him at the start in a mirror image of what Skaife had done to him the previous race, leading Murphy and Kelly just ahead of Besnard. As in race two lap three saw Bright and Ambrose into the pits, both making good stops. Lap five and Besnard was in, exiting pit lane just ahead of Ambrose but losing position to him before the start of the next lap. Lap six saw Skaife in, resuming just ahead of teammate Bright. Laps seven and eight saw teammates Kelly and Murphy respectively pit, Kelly holding on ahead of his teammate when their stops were over. Again the two KMart cars battled with each other, while just behind them were the two Stone Brothers cars of Ambrose and Besnard.
By lap 14 Skaife was back in the lead, as various other drivers further down the field took the lead before making their compulsory stop. It was on this lap that Ambrose was advised by his team to let teammate Besnard through, Besnard heading off after the KMart cars and leaving Ambrose behind. After charging through the field up to 13th from 31st on the grid, Craig Lowndes's day turned bad once again when he retired from race three on lap 18 with another engine problem, while lap 19 saw Steven Richards also move ahead of Ambrose, as he continued to fade. Fellow Castrol driver Russell Ingall had duplicated Lowndes's charge through the field, moving from 30th to 12th by lap 23.
Steven Richards was not finished and took Ambrose at turn five just corners later, which saw Besnard get alongside his teammate heading into the hairpin. Ambrose forced him wide on the exit of the hairpin, allowing Kelly to sneak past him back in to sixth place. Up front Skaife, Bright and Murphy were scrapping, with Bright giving Skaife a hard time and Murphy doing the same to Bright but neither was able to make his way through. Ingall also benefitted from the restart as he moved up to tenth, gaining another place when Bargwanna fell five places on lap 33. Ambrose was hassled over the last few laps but held on to fifth place, as Skaife held on to take the win just ahead of Bright and Murphy.
Mark Skaife's start to the season doesn't just feel dominant, it is. Eight wins from ten races, with second place finishes in the other two. It is also the first time one driver has won the first four rounds since Allan Moffat in 1977, despite several one-sided championships in the meantime. Even if other drivers are performing consistently well, they will not beat Skaife to the title unless they consistently beat him. That is not happening at the moment, and doesn't look too likely to happen in the near future either...
Result of V8Supercar Championship Series, Round 4, Hidden Valley, Australia:
Standings: Mark Skaife 1044, Greg Murphy 577, Marcos Ambrose 508, Todd Kelly 459, Jason Bright 427, Craig Lowndes 403, Garth Tander 401, Steven Richards 398, Steven Johnson 273, Tony Longhurst 257
Indy Cars Are Go!
The most disappointed would have to be Johnny Herbert, who missed Bump Day, and therefore, the race, because of commitments to ALMS team Champion Racing, and spent Bump Day pounding around a wet Sears Point in an Audi R8. Herbert had hoped to attempt both events, but had been unable to find an aircraft of sufficient range and speed to get him from IMS to Sears Point in time.
Relief though for Barry Green, with all three cars into the field, and for A.J. Foyt who got two of his cars into the field before the rains came again, wrecking the chances of his third driver Donnie Beechler.
The field itself lacks for nothing in quality and represents the cream of open wheeler racing in the US. Indy 500s are rarely dull, and this year's doesn't look like being an exception.
Roll on Sunday!
Indianapolis 500 Grid, full starting grid:
Alesi Atop The Podium
One memorable day in Canada in 1995 the world cried along with Jean Alesi as he took what would be his only Grand Prix victory. At the time it had been his first race win in six years. It's taken a bit longer this time, but seven years down the track, and only three rounds into his new series, Alesi has struck it big with a dominant performance in his Mercedes-Benz at Donington.
As Reuter led the field away in the qualifying race, Joachim Winkelhock (Opel Astra) stalled. Uwe Alzen (Mercedes CLK-DTM) was then left with no choice but to belt his countryman, putting both cars out on the spot. Neither driver was hurt. The safety car was called for as the mess was cleaned up. Elsewhere on the lap another car was in the wall as Mucke and Oliver clashed. Alesi won the first lap battle and led the field away from the safety car with Martin Tomczyk chasing hard. Tomczyk would be unable to find a way past. Reuter recovered his composure to claim third ahead of Marcel Fassler, Timo Scheider and Alain Menu.
Alesi won the start of the feature race with AMG teammate Bernd Schneider close behind. Schneider was right behind Alesi when he dived for the pits to make his compulsory stop. Schneider was pinged for speeding in the pits though, forcing a second visit to the pits, and ending his chances. This brought Menu up to second as the pitstops began in earnest. Alesi took up the lead again after the pitstops were completed with Menu closing in. A puncture ended Menu's run, bringing the Abt Sportsline cars up into the podium positions. The two Audis had stormed through the field with Christian Abt starting on the tenth row of the grid while Mattias Ekstrom started from pitlane. Christijan Albers and Karl Wendlinger fought a tough battle over fourth with Albers in the end forcing his way past, scraping paint as he went. Marcel Fassler faded into sixth ahead Patrick Huisman and the recovering Menu.
Result of Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, Round 3, Donington Park, Great Britain:
Standings: Laurent Aiello 25, Jean Alesi 17, Mattias Ekstrom 16, Christian Abt 12, Bernd Schneider 7, Martin Tomczyk 5, Timo Scheider and Christijan Albers 4, Karl Wendlinger 3 etc
Giovanardi's Brno Blitz
What is it about red Italian machines right at the moment? Michael Schumacher has collected five out of six, Ducati's Troy Bayliss has been etched onto the World Superbike crown already with eight from ten, and even in Australia the not very Italian but still very red Holden of Mark Skaife is four from four. Fabrizio Giovanardi's Alfa Romeo has now won five out of six events in the European Touring Car Championship.
Dirk Muller lit them up perfectly to start the first race, bolting past the front row Alfa Romeos to lead into turn one with Rickard Rydell, Giovanardi, Nicola Larini and Jorg Muller taking up formation behind the fleeing BMW. But he would not flee for long as Rydell and Giovanardi gobbled Muller up before reaching the stripe to end the first lap. Rydell and Giovanardi then attacked each other. The two clashed repeatedly until Rydell's Volvo spun off the track. Whilst Giovanardi slowed, Dirk Muller and Larini took up the lead positions. Giovanardi took his teammate by lap three and was lining up Muller again. Further back Luis Vilamil scrambled past Jorg Muller for fourth while James Hanson in the second Volvo got past Peter Kox and Fredrik Ekblom.
Giovanardi moved into the lead on lap five, taking Muller under brakes at the end of pit straight. From there Giovanardi controlled the race. Muller too was equally secure in second. Hanson moved through the field, but fell short of threatening Larini for third, indeed struggling to keep Jorg Muller's BMW behind.
Dirk Muller again blitzed them at the start taking his unrelated namesake Jorg with him. Jorg led into the first corner from Dirk and the fast starting Luis Vilamil in the best of the Alfas. Larini was quickly up to fourth with Hanson fifth. There were two early spinners in Villamil and Kox, dropping them down the order. While Rydell, coming from the back, broke into the top ten by the end of the second lap. By lap three the two Alfas caught up to the Muller 'brothers', Giovanardi displacing Larini on the way. With the Alfas closing fast Dirk took the lead from Jorg. Giovanardi was through to second shortly afterward, and suddenly it seemed BMW's excellent start was just filling in time.
With two laps to go Giovanardi completed the inevitable and took the lead to win his fifth race of the year. Dirk Muller held on to second from the closing Larini. Behind Jorg Muller were the two Volvos, with Hanson unable to maintain the pace of the front-runners while sixth was perhaps the best Rydell could have hoped for.
Giovanardi now leads the series by a massive 20 points over teammate Larini with Dirk Muller the best of the rest on less than half of Giovanardis score. The title is effectively over already.
Result of European Touring Car Championship, Round 3, Brno, Czech Republic:
Standings: Fabrizio Giovanardi 56, Nicola Larini 36, Dirk Muller 25, Rickard Rydell 14, Jorg Muller 13, James Hanson 5, Fredrik Ekblom and Paolo Ruberti 3, Luis Villamil 1
Manufacturers: Alfa Romeo 92, BMW 39, Volvo 19
Panoz Point
"I was pushing, pushing, pushing hard, but the car was not nice in the dry. Johnny got closer and closer, but I was driving as hard as I could, it wasn't nice," said Magnussen. "Obviously I was informed about the gap the whole time, it kept coming down, which wasn't very nice. He came closer and close and closer, and they told me to drive harder. I drove flat out, as hard as I could. But it was nice to win."
Tom Kristensen set the pole lap and led the race for the first five laps while the safety car controlled proceedings during the rain. When the rain stopped the pace car peeled off and Kristensen led Rinaldo Capello's Audi and David Brabham's Panoz across the line. The next two cars should have been Jon Field's Lola-MG and Gunnar Jeannette's Panoz, but the Lola-MG was having electrical dramas coping with the weather and Jeannette damaged the LMP-1 Roadster's nose in the morning warm-up. With the #49 Panoz being an older model than the #50 and #51 cars, there was no spare nose cones at the circuit and the Jeannette/Donohue car was withdrawn.
David Brabham was the form car in the conditions, the Panoz picking off the two Audis within twenty minutes of the start. The Audi opposition began to stumble when Capello spun a couple of laps later. That, along with multiple spins to Ryan Hampton in the Lola-Mazda, brought out the safety car. Capello pitted immediately and plunged down the standings when Frank Biela resumed. This brought the MBD Panoz-Honda of Scott Maxwell up into third, the much maligned LMP07 revelling in the conditions.
The two Audis continued to recover on track, but not long after halfway Audi lost the race. Herbert limped into the pits with a flat tyre and Pirro crashed. Both resumed, but the damage to the silver car was too great and Pirro parked the car in the pits and walked away. After replacing the rear end, Pirro resumed and continued on to finish 14th. All this elevated Bryan Herta into third in the second of the two Panoz LMP01s.
Herbert recovered the lap that was lost then gradually hunted down the Panoz. With four laps to go the gap was 13 seconds, then 9, then 6. On the last lap Herbert was mere car lengths short, but short he was and Magnussen took the win he might not have taken a lap later. In a bizarre post-chequer incident, Herbert and John Graham in the 9th placed Panoz-Mugen almost touched forcing Herbert against the wall. The Audi then spun down the straight while the Panoz ground to a halt at turn 1.
Herta brought the second Panoz home in third a lap down. A consistent run rewarded the Dyson Racing Riley & Scott with fourth place. Then came the class cars.
Just as amazing as the GTS Corvettes was the drive of the Alex Job Racing GT Porsche 996 of Sascha Maassen and Lucas Luhr. Only three laps down on Magnussen and an astonishing sixth outright. The nearest car was the eleventh placed Racer's Group Porsche of Kevin Buckler and Marino Franchitti. The second Alex Job Porsche took third for Timo Bernhard and Jorg Bergmeister.
LMP675 was decimated by attrition with the Archangel Motorsports Lola-Millington of Ben Devlin and Dave McEntee being the most advanced at the finish in 18th place. The two Lola-MGs completed the class podium, the KnightHawk car leading the InterSport car.
The next race for the ALMS is at Mid-Ohio in late June, but a large portion of the ALMS field will cross the Atlantic for the Le Mans 24 Hours, now only four weeks away.
Result of American Le Mans Series, Round 2, Sears Point Raceway, United States:
Dutch Delivery
Also having their last hit out prior to Le Mans were the cars running the other side of the Atlantic in the FIA Sportscar Series. In the tight confine of Imola, the Racing For Hollard car run by Dutch veteran Jan Lammers was simply too good, underlining the potential competitiveness of those cars using the four litre Judd V8. With Panoz winning in the US, and the form of Judd powered cars in the FIA Sportscar series and the Grand-Am series in the US, Audi have been placed on notice. Their third straight win will not be the formality it was last year.
Hillebrand led from the start, pursued closely by Cottaz as the front row moved away from the field. Cottaz soon started to run conservatively as temperatures climbed in the Judd V8. The gap was maintained for most of the first half of the race. The safety car appeared after the Lucchini-Alfa of Peroni stopped on the circuit. Taking advantage of the situation, the Dome team skipped out their lead to over half a minute. It was a gap that would not be caught, the chequerboard-liveried Dome taking the flag of the similar design after 77 laps with Boris Derichebourg second in the Courage.
The battle for third was decided in favour of the debutant R&M car of Baldi and the comeback race of former Formula 3000 champ Vincenzo Sospiri after an injury-enforced layoff of some three seasons. They also caught their protagonists the Durango team on the hop at the safety car period. The Durango should have finished fourth, but were DNFed on a technicality as they were in the pits during the final lap.
This promoted the SR2 class Lucchini-Alfa Romeo of Collini, Mancini and Riccitelli into fourth. Riccitelli fought with the older Lucchini car to come from over a lap behind to pass team leader Leonardo Maddalena in the 2002 car as the laps wound down. What we didn't know was Maddalena had a suspension problem leaving the newer car an easy target for its teammate.
Only eight cars finished the race. Lammers and Hillebrand now lead the points standings from Derichebourg & Cottaz.
Result of FIA Sportscar Championship, Round 3, Imola, Italy
Standings, SR1: Jan Lammers and Val Hillebrand 42, Boris Derichebourg and Didier Cottaz 38, Olivier Beretta 35, Jean-Christophe Boullion 30, Mauro Baldi, Sebastien Bourdais and Nicolas Minassian 20, Franck Montagny 15 etc
Standings, SR2: Gianni Collini and Fabio Mancini 50, Piergiuseppe Peroni and Mirko Savoldi 40, Mattias Andersson and Niklas Loven 36 etc
Rally
Nothing much of any importance happened on Thursday, Friday or Saturday of Rally Argentina. Some drivers led. More of them didn't. What decided the rally were a series of unrelated incidents on Sunday, and a post event analysis of those events on Monday.
This should have left Petter Solberg to take his debut victory. He'd been fast throughout the rally but on the final leg while battling for what was then fourth position Solberg quite literally got lost in the fog and overshot some of Philip Mills's instructions and lost sufficient time to be eventually classified 2nd.
In hindsight Hyundai will probably be disappointed. Their Finnish living legend Juha Kankkunen finished seventh, one out of the driver's points, but there were some manufacturers' points to be garnered. Armin Schwarz and Freddy Loix both retired on Leg 2, which in the light of the performance of the other manufacturer backed drivers, could have been point scoring results. But at least one of their cars finished.
Pos Driver Car
1. Carlos Sainz Ford Focus
2. Petter Solberg Subaru Impreza
3. Colin McRae Ford Focus
4. Markko Martin Ford Focus
5. Toni Gardemeister Skoda Octavia
6. Kenneth Eriksson Skoda Octavia
7. Juha Kankkunen Hyundai Accent
8. Alister McRae Mitsubishi Lancer
9. Gabriel Pozzo Skoda Octavia
10. Ramon Ferryros Mitsubishi Lancer
NASCAR
The Winston is a non-championship event for Winston Cup drivers, but the financial rewards for winning mean everyone is out there to take the win. After blowing an engine with two laps to go when leading comfortably in the Winston Open last year, Ryan Newman made up for it this year by winning The Winston, despite being almost eliminated in the first segment of the three part race.
Pole sitter Matt Kenseth took the lead into turn one, the leading few in single file and clear of the rest of the field running side by side. Matt Kenseth was joined by his teammate Mark Martin on his tail, remaining clear of the field as Steve Park spun on lap six in turn two, bringing out a caution. Some cars pitted under the yellow to fix damage but these cars still needed to pit again under green. Mark Martin took the lead at the restart as Jeff Gordon also moved ahead of former leader Kenseth. At the end of lap ten Jimmie Johnson pitted after suffering a flat left front tyre, rejoining over a lap behind the field. The two Dodges of Bill Elliott and Jeremy Mayfield also came in in the next couple of laps. Lap fifteen proved to be an important lap for the results of the race as Sterling Marlin, Rusty Wallace, Dale Jarrett and Bobby Hamilton were eliminated from the race as Ward Burton spun Marlin and the others were left with nowhere to go, bringing out the caution once again. Some of those who pitted earlier and were a lap down changed tyres once again under yellow, as they lost almost no position.
Race two began with Jimmie Johnson on the pole after winning segment one, Jeff Burton alongside him after his first race strategy brilliance. Unfortunately for Burton, the clutch which had slipped in race one gave up at the start of race two, allowing Jimmie Johnson to go into a comfortable lead, Mark Martin and Bill Elliott running second and third as Elliott Sadler spun in turn two on lap three. Under the caution, Kevin Harvick bumped his car into the side of Ryan Newman, while Elliott Sadler threw his helmet at Newman's car, scoring a direct hit, a few cars including Harvick making a pit stop.
For the final segment of the race, nearly 60% of the fans chose to invert all ten placings, with tenth placed Tony Stewart becoming the pole man, while Jimmie Johnson, winner of segments one and two started tenth and last. Ryan Newman, almost eliminated earlier in the night, moved from seventh to fourth while Earnhardt Jr who had action around him all night, moved from second to ninth. At the start Stewart led the field away as Harvick moved underneath teammate Robby Gordon for second. Meanwhile at the back Earnhardt and Johnson had moved up a place. Closer to the front Gordon and Newman moved past Harvick at the start of lap two as they closed in on leader Stewart. Lap three and Newman was second as he passed Gordon down the backstretch. Starting lap five and Newman took the lead, pulling out a small advantage, while segment one and two winner sat stuck in eighth position.
Pos Driver Car
1. Ryan Newman Ford Taurus
2. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet Monte Carlo
3. Matt Kenseth Ford Taurus
4. Kurt Busch Ford Taurus
5. Jimmie Johnson Robby Gordon
6. Tony Stewart Pontiac Grand Prix
7. Robby Gordon Chevrolet Monte Carlo
8. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Monte Carlo
9. Ricky Craven Ford Taurus
10. Bill Elliott Dodge Intrepid
MotoGP
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Valentino Rossi Honda RC211V
2. Tohru Ukawa Honda RC211V
3. Max Biaggi Yamaha YZR M1
4. Norick Abe Yamaha YZR500
5. Kenny Roberts Suzuki GSVR
6. Nobuatsu Aoki Proton KR3
7. Loris Capirossi Honda NSR500
8. Alex Barros Honda NSR500
9. Regis Laconi Aprilia RS3
10. Jeremy McWilliams Proton KR3
V8 Supercars
Mark Skaife made it four from four at Hidden Valley in the far north of Australia, as HRT and sister TWR team KMart showed the way over the weekend, with their four drivers scoring the most points over the round. In series news, prequalifying is no longer, but this has resulted in other changes relating to pit stops, including pit boom sharing, and after being reintroduced at the start of the season, compulsory pitstops are once again banned from being taken under yellow flag conditions.
By lap 18 Skaife was back in the lead, as various other drivers further down the field took the lead before making their compulsory stop. Second was Bright, followed by Kelly with Murphy attached to his rear bumper, while Ambrose's teammate was next up in fifth place. Further down the field the two Garry Rogers cars ran in formation in seventh and eighth as well as the two Shell Helix Falcons in eleventh and twelfth. Meanwhile Ambrose had climbed his way back to ninth after his slow pit stop, where he ran up to the two Garry Rogers cars.
Lap 24 saw Murphy ahead of Kelly, just before the safety car came out onto the track as some trackside grass had somehow caught fire. This bunched the field up and so when the field were set back racing again on lap 29, turn one was full of action From the inside to outside, fighting for fourth through to seventh, Ambrose, Richards, Kelly and Besnard entered turn one four wide, side by side, coming out of it in the order Ambrose, Richards, Besnard and Kelly. In the skirmish Kelly lost three places, Besnard lost one, Richards gained one and Ambrose gained three, as the four drivers reversed the order they had been in previously.
Race One
Pos Driver Car
1. Jason Bright Holden Commodore VX
2. Mark Skaife Holden Commodore VX
3. Marcos Ambrose Ford Falcon AU
4. Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VX
5. Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VX
6. Craig Lowndes Ford Falcon AU
7. Steven Richards Holden Commodore VX
8. John Bowe Ford Falcon AU
9. David Besnard Ford Falcon AU
10. Glenn Seton Ford Falcon AU
Race Two
Pos Driver Car
1. Mark Skaife Holden Commodore VX
2. Jason Bright Holden Commodore VX
3. Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VX
4. Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VX
5. David Besnard Ford Falcon AU
6. Steven Richards Holden Commodore VX
7. Garth Tander Holden Commodore VX
8. Jason Bargwanna Holden Commodore VX
9. Marcos Ambrose Ford Falcon AU
10. Brad Jones Ford Falcon AU
Race Three
Pos Driver Car
1. Mark Skaife Holden Commodore VX
2. Jason Bright Holden Commodore VX
3. Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VX
4. Steven Richards Holden Commodore VX
5. Marcos Ambrose Ford Falcon AU
6. Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VX
7. David Besnard Ford Falcon AU
8. Garth Tander Holden Commodore VX
9. Russell Ingall Holden Commodore VX
10. Brad Jones Ford Falcon AU
IRL
Rain again descended on Indianapolis Motor Speedway, badly affecting the chances of several drivers making the field. But we do have 33 cars qualified (just), so a full field of open wheelers will taken the green flag on Sunday.
Pos Driver Team
Pole Bruno Junqueira Chip Ganassi GForce-Chevrolet
2. Robbie Buhl Dreyer & Reinbold GForce-Infiniti
3. Raul Boesel Menards Dallara-Chevrolet
4. Felipe Giaffone Mo Nunn Racing GForce-Chevrolet
5. Tony Kanaan Mo Nunn Racing GForce-Chevrolet
6. Eddie Cheever Cheever Racing Dallara-Infiniti
7. Sam Hornish Jr Panther Racing Dallara-Chevrolet
8. Scott Sharp Delphi Dallara-Chevrolet
9. Sarah Fisher Dreyer & Reinbold GForce-Infiniti
10. Tomas Scheckter Cheever Racing Dallara-Infiniti
11. Robby Gordon Menards Dallara-Chevrolet
12. Al Unser Jr Corteco/Bryant Dallara-Chevrolet
13. Helio Castroneves Team Penske Dallara-Chevrolet
14. Gil de Ferran Team Penske Dallara-Chevrolet
15. Jeff Ward Chip Ganassi GForce-Chevrolet
16. Laurent Redon Mi-Jack Dallara-Infiniti
17. Rick Treadway Treadway & Associates GForce-Chevrolet
18. Max Papis Cheever Racing Dallara-Infiniti
19. Jimmy Vasser Rahal-Letterman Racing Dallara-Chevrolet
20. Buddy Lazier Delta Faucet GForce-Chevrolet
21. Kenny Brack Chip Ganassi GForce-Chevrolet
22. Richie Hearn Sam Schmidt Motorsports Dallara-Chevrolet
23. Billy Boat CURB Records Dallara-Chevrolet
24. Arie Luyendyk Treadway & Associates GForce-Chevrolet
25. Michael Andretti Team Green Dallara-Chevrolet
26. Alex Barron Blair Racing Dallara-Chevrolet
27. Shigeaki Hattori Epson Dallara-Infiniti
28. Dario Franchitti Team Green Dallara-Chevrolet
29. Paul Tracy Team Green Dallara-Chevrolet
30. Airton Dare A.J. Foyt Racing Dallara-Chevrolet
31. Greg Ray A.J. Foyt Racing Dallara-Chevrolet
32. George Mack 310 Racing GForce-Chevrolet
33. Mark Dismore Sam Schmidt Motorsports Dallara-Chevrolet
DTM
On DTM's long awaited return to Britain, Alesi took the lead from pole sitter Manuel Reuter at the start of the qualifying race, and was able to stand tall as his opposition collapsed in the feature race. The Abt Sportsline team claimed second and third places, with Christian Abt leading young tearaway Mattias Ekstrom.
Pos Driver Car
1. Jean Alesi Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM
2. Christian Abt Audi TT-R
3. Mattias Ekstrom Audi TT-R
4. Christijan Albers Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM
5. Karl Wendlinger Audi TT-R
6. Marcel Fassler Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM
7. Patrick Huisman Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM
8. Alain Menu Opel Astra Coupe
9. Bernd Maylander Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM
10. Peter Dumbreck Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM
ETCC
"Our car is the strongest one around the circuit. The others are improving but not enough. Still, we have to work a lot to stay ahead," said Giovanardi.
Race One
Pos Driver Car
1. Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
2. Dirk Muller BMW 320i
3. Nicola Larini Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
4. James Hanson Volvo S60
5. Jorg Muller BMW 320i
6. Luis Villamil Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
7. Fredrik Ekblom BMW 320i
8. Peter Kox BMW 320i
9. Paolo Ruberti Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
10. Eric Cayrolle Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
Race Two
Pos Driver Car
1. Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
2. Dirk Muller BMW 320i
3. Nicola Larini Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
4. Jorg Muller BMW 320i
5. James Hanson Volvo S60
6. Rickard Rydell Volvo S60
7. Paolo Ruberti Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
8. Tom Coronel BMW 320i
9. Fabrizio de Simone BMW 320i
10. Jordi Gene BMW 320i
Sportscars
The ALMS teams had a last hit out before Le Mans with the Grand Prix of Sonoma at Sears Point Raceway in California. It hadn't looked like an upset was on the cards. Race day would dawn with thick clouds overhead. It was raining when the race started under yellows. David Brabham took the lead inside the first half hour and Jan Magnussen kept the big roadster clear of the fast closing Johnny Herbert (Audi R8).
Third would be a contended position, with Clint Field in the InterSport Lola-Judd taking the position before the end of the first hour. Field would hold the position for half an hour before Frank Biela in the Joest Audi would complete his charge back up the order. By this time Brabham had surrendered the lead to Kristensen. At the half way point Brabham dived for the pits sending Magnussen out with an excellent stop. Champion's stop was slower and Herbert resumed in second place.
GTS had a dramatic day with several cars running at the front. The factory Corvettes gradually forced their way to the front and drove clear with Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell finishing fifth outright only two laps down and only a minute from the Riley & Scott prototype, a lap ahead of their colleagues in seventh. Third place in the category would go to the dying laps as Domenico Sciattarella (Olive Garden Ferrari 550) and Terry Borcheller (Konrad Saleen S7R) squabbled over the position. The two touched and the Saleen limped into the pits with a broken nose. Borcheller did not lose third in class though, as the Ferrari was disqualified.
Pos Drivers Car
1. Jan Magnussen/David Brabham Panoz LMP01
2. Johnny Herbert/Tom Kristensen Audi R8
3. Bryan Herta/Bill Auberlen Panoz LMP01
4. James Weaver/Chris Dyson Riley & Scott Mk III A Lincoln
5. Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell Chevrolet Corvette C5-R (GTS)
6. Lucas Luhr/Sascha Maassen Porsche 996 GT3 RS (GT)
7. Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins Chevrolet Corvette C5-R (GTS)
8. Clint Field/Mark Neuhaus Lola B2K/10 Judd
9. John Graham/Didier de Radigues Panoz LMP07 Mugen
10. Milka Duno/Scott Maxwell Panoz LMP07 Mugen
Val Hillebrand put the Dutch Dome-Judd on pole, four tenths up on the Courage-Judd driven by Didier Cottaz in front of thinner opposition in the absence of ORECA's Dallara-Judd and Pescarolo's Courage-Peugeots. Third was the Durango-Judd of Jean-Phillipe Belloc, just ahead of Mauro Baldi in the pristine new R&M-Judd.
Pos Drivers Car
1. Jan Lammers/Val Hillebrand Dome S101 Judd
2. Boris Derichebourg/Didier Cottaz Courage C60JX Judd
3. Mauro Baldi/Vincenzo Sospiri R&M Judd
4. Gianni Collini/Fabio Mancini/ Lucchini 2001 Alfa Romeo
Luca Riccitelli
5. Ranieri Randaccio/Leonardo Maddalena Lucchini Alfa Romeo
6. Niklas Loven/Mattias Andersson Lola B2K/40 Nissan
7. John Stack/Sam Hignett Pilbeam MP484 Nissan
8. Ralph Moog/Christian Vann Lola B98/10 Ford
Briefs
Renaud Derlot has taken victory in the first of the season's international Formula 3 events, the European Cup, held on the long-running street circuit of Pau in France. Derlot took the lead after a grid pile-up eliminated three front runners, including pole sitter Tristan Gommendy. After that Derlot was never headed despite close attention from Bruno Besson. James Courtney took the final podium position after a vicious battle with Kousuke Matsuura.
Saleen are seeking a reduction in the performance penalty placed on the GTS class Saleen S7R cars at the start of the year. With Le Mans only a month away, early practice demonstrated how much speed the Saleens have to make up to be competitive in the GTS class. The penalties were imposed by both ALMS and Le Mans organisers Automobile Club de l'Ouest after Saleen were unable to build sufficient quantities of road legal S7Rs. The penalty, which has been too severe, has been reduced in ALMS, but not for Le Mans, and Saleen are working against time to produce enough of the high powered sports coupe to have the penalties removed prior to Le Mans.
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Volume 8, Issue 21
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