Updates from the Rest of the Racing World
Atlas F1 Magazine Writers
Advice: The points tables for most series covered by Elsewhere In Racing are available here. Individual series are linked to their corresponding points table after each report.
Busch's Homestead, Tony's Title
It certainly wasn't Tony Stewart's greatest race, but it was the most important one. Eighteenth place meant that Stewart was the 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup champion, despite a valiant late-season and late race charge by Mark Martin to finish the race in fourth position, who ended the day 38 points behind Stewart after Roush's appeal against Martin's post-race penalty at Rockingham was dismissed the day before the Homestead race. In the middle of this there was a race going on, one which saw Kurt Busch take his fourth win of the season, another late season Roush win, after several Hendrick cars had shown good speed but not enough to deny Busch in the end.
On to the race, and Kurt Busch took his first pole of the year, retaining the lead at the start of the race. Before there was time for too much to happen Dave Blaney slammed into the turn one and two wall, bringing out the caution on lap 3. The race was soon back underway on lap 6 with Busch continuing to lead, Dale Earnhardt Jr running close behind, before taking the lead on lap 11, Joe Nemechek eventually also moving ahead of Busch. The two championship contender were moving closer to each other, as Tony Stewart faded after qualifying well while Mark Martin was racing through from near the back. Jimmie Johnson was also marching his way through the field, up to fifth by lap 40 after starting 16th.
Lap 44 saw Nemechek take the lead from Earnhardt Jr after steadily stalking him down. Green flag stops began on lap 55 and lasted seven laps, Earnhardt Jr assuming the lead at their completion from Nemechek and Dale Jarrett, who had pitted much earlier in the race after a deflating tyre problem. Johnson and Busch were moving forward again, taking fourth and fifth place respectively on lap 73 from Jarrett, just before the caution came out on lap 75 for debris in turn one. Everyone hit pitlane, some taking two tyres, other four, Nemechek leading Johnson and Rusty Wallace off pit road. During this pit period there was a fire in the Bobby Labonte pit when fuel ignited, a crewman suffering minor burns.
Lap 104 and it was green again, Wallace again suffering at the restart through turns one and two, this time falling back to ninth place, while at the front Earnhardt Jr took second place as they completed lap 105. Just a few laps later there was a fight for third place, with contact between Spencer and Harvick allowing Greg Biffle, substituting in the #44 Dodge, to pass both of them, while Harvick quickly dropped several places. Meanwhile points leader Stewart took 10th place on lap 111, as he fought to make it closer to the front.
Lap 118 and Johnson was moving up again, taking third from Biffle with a tap, Jarrett and Spencer following past Biffle. It was soon after this that Earnhardt Jr's day began to go bad, as his engine had begun to go sour, and Earnhardt Jr began to slowly drift down the standings. Jimmie Johnson was continuing to move forward and completed it by taking the lead from Joe Nemechek on lap 134. Lap 150 saw green flag stops begin, while on the track Martin's move upwards saw him pass Stewart who was falling back again. After the stops were completed Nemechek returned to the lead, ahead of Johnson, Spencer and Jarrett.
The race restarted on lap 205, Stewart and Johnny Benson getting back onto the tail of the lead lap, while at the front of the field Nemechek was right on Jarrett's tail, Busch joining them to make it a three-way battle. Lap 228 saw Mike Wallace take sixth place from Mark Martin, Elliott Sadler and Gordon doing the same during the next lap, dropping Martin to ninth. Lap 234, 44 to go, and Nemechek finally passed Jarrett to retake the lead, while a little further back Johnson passed Busch for third two laps later, Jeff Burton taking fourth from Busch a lap later. Almost as soon as this happened another caution came out, on lap 228, for fluid dropped from Matt Kenseth's car which had just blown up. This allowed Stewart and Benson to get back on the lead lap, making things even harder for Martin to win the title.
Most lead lap cars pitted, and most of these took two tyres. Those who differed included Jarrett and Stewart who took four tyres, dropping to 15th and 20th respectively, while Johnson took just fuel and moved up to second. Ryan Newman didn't pit and took over the lead, ahead of Johnson, Busch, Gordon, Nemechek and Martin. The race restarted on lap 234 but was almost immediately back under caution on lap 237 as John Andretti blew up through turns three and four, leaving oil and a smoke haze over the track. In the short green time Stewart had moved up five places, while Busch was up to second ahead of Johnson.
With just four laps remaining, Martin gained two places as Newman lost two in a three car move into turn one which saw Jeff Gordon pass one car and get passed by another to stay fifth! It was the last roll of the dice for Martin but it wasn't enough, as even though Stewart had dropped back to eighteenth, he was still in front in the title chase. Which is how it ended, Busch taking another late season win ahead of Joe Nemechek and Jeff Burton, Mark Martin fourth ahead of Jeff Gordon and Ryan Newman. Stewart's eighteenth place finish meant another runner's up position in the standings for Martin as Tony Stewart became 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup champion in his fourth year in the series after finishing runner up to Jeff Gordon in 2001.
Result of NASCAR Winston Cup, Round 36 of 36, Homestead-Miami Speedway, United States:
Final Standings: Tony Stewart 4800, Mark Martin 4762, Kurt Busch 4641, Jeff Gordon 4607, Jimmie Johnson 4600, Ryan Newman 4593, Rusty Wallace 4574, Matt Kenseth 4432, Dale Jarrett 4415, Ricky Rudd 4323 etc.
Stewart Wins NASCAR Title, Now Must Win Over Fans
By Lewis Franck
On the way to his Winston Cup drivers' championship, Tony Stewart has become NASCAR's enfant terrible which is bad news for a sport that has worked hard to improve its image.
An 18th place finish in the season finale on Sunday was enough to allow Stewart to clinch the crown ahead of Mark Martin, becoming the first modern driver to win the title while under probation for mostly off-track antics.
Unlike other motorsports in the United States, the Winston Cup champion becomes a goodwill ambassador for the popular series, taking part in a myriad of public appearances and interviews. In the past 25 years, the series has done much to shrug off its homespun, southern hillbilly ambience to a slick, polished group of teams and drivers who spend as much time burnishing corporate sponsors' image as driving to win.
No one typifies the 'new NASCAR' more than Jeff Gordon. At 31 years of age, he's won 61 races, four drivers' championships and $50 million in prizemoney in only 10 years of competition.
In contrast, Stewart, a former Indy Racing League champion, appears unshaven, surly and combative with the media at times. He's the same age as Gordon but has only four seasons on the circuit, coming up through the rough and tumble world of small tracks in the United States midwest. Stewart is more at home racing on short tracks, known as bullrings, and eating junk food.
Earlier this year NASCAR fined him $10,000 for striking a photographer after a race at Indianapolis, then his sponsor added another $50,000 to the penalty. At another race he slapped a tape recorder out of a reporter's hands.
All of the off-track activities are a chore for Stewart, and unlike Gordon, he isn't ready to be the poster boy for the stock car racing series. Richard Petty, the only living seven-time champion and viewed as a gentleman from the earlier era, recently criticised Stewart in an American newspaper.
When asked if the unwritten duties would be difficult to complete Stewart said: "I'm not really even concerned about it.
"I haven't made a thought about it. Maybe we'll see if we can hire Richard Petty to do it for me. He is a great ambassador for our sport. I'm not an ambassador for anything. I'm a simple kid from a small town in Indiana. All I've done for the last 23 years is drive race cars."
Report provided by Reuters
The Next Generation
When you think of rally drivers, invariably you think of a long line of Scandinavians, the Swedes, the Danes, and of course the Finns. But not so much the Norwegians. Petter Solberg threatens to run right through that image, as Subaru's young gun took his first ever WRC victory at the RAC in Wales.
"I just can't believe it," said Solberg. "I have to thank everyone in the team, all the crew, mechanics and engineers, and also Phil (Mills), of course, who's been terrific. I had a late scare when I had to preserve the engine in the final few kilometres but in the end, we still set the fastest time! To get second in the championship after such a long year and so many hard events is terrific as well. I really just want to enjoy the moment."
The win also settled the intensely close battle for second in the championship. In what had become almost a winner take all situation, Solberg did just that. While Martin didn't have the legs over the last day, he took great credit from the performance on a rally when so many of the event's guns struck problems. After Colin McRae struck trouble on the first day, sliding off the track and getting stuck in a mud patch, McRae would then be affected on Leg Two by a broken windscreen, one of a rash of broken windscreens that plagued Stage 9, including teammate Carlos Sainz.
Tommi Makinen, like McRae, was delayed on Leg One after spinning. Once having dropped down the field, Makinen was not able to make any more impression on the front-runners than McRae. Attrition brought Makinen back into the points, and fourth was what Makinen had gained by rally's end, a minute behind Sainz and 24 seconds ahead of McRae.
Bad luck finally caught up to Peugeot. After a season that fell their way the final rally of the season was not a good one. The battle was expected to be a battle between Richard Burns and Marcus Gronholm, but neither would finish. Gronholm quickly established himself at the front of the field but Burns flattened his exhaust on Stage 3, dropping the local hero out of the top ten. Burns fought his way back into the points by Stage 8, but was still two minutes down on Gronholm.
While second in the drivers championship attracted the attention of the public, another championship battle, perhaps even more important, was under way. Hyundai, Mitsubishi and Skoda were all equal fourth in the manufacturers standings, and each was desperate to claim an advantage on the other and gain the voting rights at the FIA council that goes with fourth place. Until the Peugeots crashed out, none of them was set for points at all.
At the start of the final day Hyundai held the upper hand with Freddy Loix in ninth and Juha Kankkunen tenth, but out of the points, and with the Peugeot of Rovanpera, now at last trouble free, hard on their heels. Toni Gardeimeister was the best Skoda in twelfth and Mitsubishi had packed up and gone home. By day's end Loix was in eighth. With no less than four Fords ahead of them, eighth became sixth in the manufacturers standings and the point was Hyundai's. Veteran Kankkunen followed his team leader home in ninth. Armin Schwarz caught fire in Stage 7 and the damage to both car and crew, which thankfully was only fume inhalation, put them out of the event.
Mitsubishi had nothing to take home except three damaged cars. They lost their position as one of rallying's top four with two cars laying wrecked in Stage 10, the other damaged during Leg One. Jani Paasonen again filled in for the injured and missing Alister McRae. Paasonen was distracted for a crucial moment by the commotion around Marcus Gronholm's wreck and promptly duplicated it, thankfully rolling short of the throng of people around the Peugeot.
Francois Delecour made it past his teammate but crashed soon afterwards after confusion over an instruction from stand-in co-driver, Dominique Savignoni. Delecour immediately and loudly blamed Savignoni and the scene was captured on video by the in-car camera, which was quickly beamed around the world in time to make the evening news. Briton Justin Dale, driving a third Lancer like Paasonen had earlier in the year, didn't make it past the opening stages of Leg One after rolling his Lancer when the low sun temporarily saw him lose sight of where he was going.
Similarly Citroen had no good news. Sebastien Loeb climbed as high as seventh by Stage 15 but the penultimate Stage 16 brought the little red car undone with suspension failure. Thomas Radstrom had not fared any better, venting an engine's worth of oil on Stage 8 after holing the sump.
Vying with Solberg for happiest man in the paddock was Daniel Sola. 21st may not seem much to celebrate, but driving the little Citroen Saxo, Sola drove from the front to win the Super 1600 class. And that made him the Junior World Rally Champion.
Result of World Rally Championship, Round 14 of 14, RAC Rally, Great Britain:
Final Standings: Marcus Gronholm 77, Petter Solberg 37, Carlos Sainz 36, Colin McRae 35, Richards Burns 34, Gilles Panizzi 31, Harri Rovanpera 30, Tommi Makinen 22, Markko Martin 20, Sebastien Loeb 18 etc.
Manufacturers: Peugeot 165, Ford 104, Subaru 67, Hyundai 10, Skoda and Mitsubishi 9
Junior Championship: Daniel Sola 37, Andrea Dallavilla 29, Janne Tuohino 15, Giandomenico Basso 14 etc.
Brack's Finale
With many drivers, and some teams, leaving CART after this race, it was a race that everyone wanted to win. But as is the case at any motor race, there can be only one winner, and in his final race before likely heading to the IRL, Kenny Brack took the win at the revived and revised Hermanos Rodriguez race circuit in Mexico City. On top of the drivers and teams leaving the series, there was a sour note in that there was a fire in the Mo Nunn pits when Tony Kanaan's car left with the fuel hose still attached, two crew members suffering first and second degree burns.
A left rear suspension failure ended Mario Dominguez's day early after 16 laps, while Kanaan continued to lead from Fittipaldi and Franchitti who were closer but not looking to pass. Lap 20 saw most of the field make their required stop, the remainder of the field, who had topped off under the first yellow, pitting over the next two laps, the top ten places remaining unchanged after the stops, Kanaan continuing to be pressured by Fittipaldi at the front. As they moved towards the second round of stops da Matta closed in on Junqueira.
At the second round of stops Fittipaldi pitted a lap early, neither gaining or losing relative to Kanaan but Franchitti leapfrogged both of them. Part of the problem was that when Kanaan left the pits, the fuel hose was still attached, methanol spilling all over the place and burning with an invisible flame. Crew members scattered as they tried to move away from the spill and put themselves out while people began spraying foam and throwing water at them to put them out. Andretti also lost three places at the pit stops while Junqueira finally moved ahead of Takagi.
The race restarted on lap 56, Brack and da Matta dicing for second into turn one, Brack holding on, while Dominguez edged away as he got ready to make his final stop, doing so on lap 62, dropping down to 14th when he did so. The top three of Brack, da Matta and Junqueira were now running close together as they battled to take the final win of the season. That was how things finished, with no-one able to get close enough to make a pass, Brack taking the victory from da Matta and Junqueira.
Result of FedEx CART Championship Series, Round 19 of 19, Hermanos Rodriguez, Mexico:
Final Standings: Cristiano da Matta 237, Bruno Junqueira 164, Patrick Carpentier 157, Dario Franchitti 148, Christian Fittipaldi 122, Kenny Brack and Jimmy Vasser 114, Alex Tagliani 111, Michael Andretti 110, Michel Jourdain Jr 105, Paul Tracy 101, Tony Kanaan 99, Scott Dixon 97, Adrian Fernandez 59, Tora Takagi 53, Oriol Servia 44, Shinji Nakano 43, Mario Dominguez 37, Max Papis 32, Townsend Bell 19, Darren Manning 4, Andre Lotterer 1
Gommendy Takes Macau
Formula 3 held its 'battle of the championships' in Macau, and it was the French series that came off best. New French Formula 3 Champion Tristan Gommendy took second in the first race and took advantage of a slow starting polesitter and the Safety Car to win the Intercontinental Cup, better known as the Macau Grand Prix.
Initially though it looked as though Japan would hold sway. Italian Paolo Montin was quickest in practice around one of the most challenging street circuits ever devised. The Japanese Formula 3 runner's up placegetter followed that up with pole position. Gommendy would start alongside on the front row, but gave up his shot at pole after crashing in qualifying. Third was the German runner's up, Kousuke Matsuura of Japan, with Heikki Kovalainen from the British series in fourth ahead of India's Narain Karthikeyan and French rookie Olivier Pla. Brit Ronnie Bremer had a nasty accident in qualifying that brought the session to a halt for a while.
Montin gave best at the start to Gommendy but swept the Frenchman aside at turn one and never looked like being caught. Olivier Pla triggered a pile-up involving James Courtney, Vitantonio Liuzzi and Jo Merszei. Gommendy was also caught and passed by Matsuura but Matsuura was unable to hold second and Gommendy returned to second. Matsuura would slip to sixth letting Karthikeyan through to third then Kovalainen and Yuji Ide completed the top five.
With the gap now closed up, Gommendy charged at the restart, taking the lead from Kovalainen, while behind the new battle for third saw Takashi Kogure tap Montin into a spin and was hit by Ide. Gommendy quickly opened up a gap and won by two seconds from Kovalainen with Kogure taking third ahead of Katsuyuki Hiranaka and the recovering James Courtney.
Result of Formula 3 Intercontinental Cup, Macau, China:
Monaro Magnificent
It was distinctive, controversial, even unmistakable. The new Holden Monaro outlasted the opposition to record an emphatic victory to win the inaugural Bathurst 24 Hour. The Monaro, specially built for the event by V8 Supercar outfit Garry Rogers Motorsport and driven by Holden-supported V8 Supercar drivers Garth Tander, Steven Richards, Cameron McConville and Nathan Pretty drove a confident race.
At the start, Garth Tander in the big Holden took up the front running the first time up Mountain Straight ahead of Bowe in the Ferrari. David Brabham led the rest of the field in the Cirtek Porsche. After 27 laps of the Monaro and the Ferrari running away from the field at two seconds a lap, the Ferrari blew its engine. The Prancing Horse Racing team immediately set about changing to the spare. This brought Cirtek into second with the Seikel Porsche led by Bathurst veteran Andrew Bagnall into third. Bagnall though crashed at the top of the Mountain on lap 62. This brought Rollcentre Racing's Mosler-Chevrolet up into third.
The Monaro lasted until lap 100 before pitting with fuel pump problems that required major surgery on the fuel system. Both the Monaro and the Ferrari rejoined, only for the Ferrari to lose a second engine after a fire. Cameron McConville brought the Monaro back up to third by midnight, and was slowly reeling in the second placed Mosler. Lap 226 saw the troubled Nash Porsche out of the race after crashing in the Esses and the remaining Porsche of Prancing Horse Racing had been significantly delayed. Running like trains, the Austrian Duller Motorsport team of BMW M3s had climbed into fourth and fifth.
At 1:50pm the Porsche challenge ended when dual Bathurst winner Allan Grice crashed at Reid Park clipping a kerb while putting another lap on the Mosler. The right rear of the car was badly damaged and the crew launched into repairs. It would take over half an hour before the Mosler would take second from the Porsche. The Porsche was repaired but Darren Palmer crashed at Griffins Bend after the repaired suspension failed immediately.
The Monaro wound down the final hour to take the inaugural Bathurst 24 Hour, after 532 laps. It was Steven Richards' third major Bathurst victory, Garth Tander's second, and the first for Cameron McConville and Nathan Pretty.
The Rollcentre Racing Mosler-Chevrolet of Martin Short, Mark Pashley, Charles Lamb and Dilantha Malagamuwa finished second, 23 laps down. A result every bit as remarkable as the Holden. Both cars had more than doubled the amount of kilometres in their racing lives to take the top spots, when other more proven cars couldn't last the distance.
Dominating the hodge-podge Class 10, the Duller Motorsport BMWs finished third and fourth outright with Howard Redhouse, Peter Hannen and Domenic Beninca taking the overall podium ahead of Ian Donaldson, Robert Brooks, Robert Wilson and Andrew Donaldson. The two older body shape M3s ran like trains all day, as BMWs are want to do in endurance races. For a team with expectations of top five, this wasn't bad at all. A very distant third in class was the first of the Mirage Cup cars of Gary Young, Gary Quartly and Anthony Robson some 46 laps down on the class winners.
The first international team to show any faith in the race, Sterling Motorsport, was the only finisher in Class 3, completing 496 laps at the hands of VJ Angelo, Rich Shaw, Matthew Marsh and Ross Buckingham, taking fifth outright in a fantastic result for the little BMW Z3 M Coupe.
The Holden Commodore V8 of Scott Loadsman, Ian Luff, Ray Lintott and David Russell took class 9, GT-Production. Second was the BMW 323i of Wayne Moore, Roger Townshend, Klark Quinn and Tony Blanche. Formula One circuit designer Hermann Tilke along with Peter Hansen and Melinda Price took third in the Ross Palmer Motorsport Honda S2000.
Potentially the organisers, and PROCAR supremo Ross Palmer, could have taken a bath over the event with certain aspects of the event exposed. It was a risk, but now everyone involved is enthusiastically talking about December 2003, and even links with the Daytona 24 Hour.
Result of Bathurst 24 Hour, Mount Panorama, Australia:
Huisman Hauls In Guia
The second race was a harder fought affair with recent Minardi driver Anthony Davidson leading Muller in the charge after Huisman in the second race. Muller pushed hard but had to retire with engine problems early in the race. This brought Couto up into the battle for second but Couto crashed spectacularly, bringing out the Safety Car. Larini disposed of Davidson at the restart. Try though the Italian might, Huisman reversed the form from the ETCC and kept Larini at bay. Franz Engstler took third ahead of the Toyota of Nobuteru Taniguchi as attrition bit into the second race.
Result of Guia Races, Macau:
"As a youngster, I enjoyed my motocross career and have always loved riding motorbikes, so when I was offered this opportunity I jumped at the chance to get back out on track on two wheels," Blundell said. "Having competed in the Rally GB with my great little MG, I'm used to slipping and sliding in mud, although I hope I don't end up covered in the stuff next month.
"The Supermoto format of combining motocross style off-road racing with the tarmac on-track element really appeals to me. It's got an extreme element with the mud, dirt tracks, peaks and troughs providing the thrills, but also has the technical side with the track racing needing precision and strategy.
"Supermoto is big in the States and is rapidly gaining in popularity in Europe. It's been described as rally cross for bikes, so it should produce lots of stunning action and be a great spectacle for the fans. As I've now done rallycross in a car, I just have to have a go on a bike!"
The British Winter Supermoto Championship held its opening round at Lydden Hill and moves on to Cadwell Park on 24 November, prior to the Brands Hatch event on 8 December. There will be 24 races per day, with 24 starters per race.
NASCAR
Another car to show speed and lead late in the race was Ryan Newman, who was crowned 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year, outscoring Jimmie Johnson, who finished one place and seven points ahead of him in the Winston Cup points battle, thanks to a different points scheme used in the Rookie of the Year title. Another interesting happening on the weekend was four time champion Jeff Gordon taking his first provisional starting position after 10 years and 329 races in the series!
The race restarted on lap 80, Jeff Gordon doing his best to get back on the lead lap as he moved ahead of Nemechek at the restart, while the rest of the field jostled through turns one and two, Jimmy Spencer taking third from Wallace in the bump and grind. Before too much else happened there was a caution on lap 94 when Michael Waltrip pounded the wall in turns one and two, allowing Gordon to get himself back on the lead lap. As expected everyone headed for pit lane, again two or four tyres being the order of the day, with Nemechek retaining the lead ahead of Wallace and Harvick.
Spencer was having a good day despite being told he was not required by Ganassi next year, passing Johnson for second place on lap 166. In the battle of the championship contenders Martin was 12th and Stewart 22nd, a position which would see Stewart champion. Jarrett took second from Spencer on lap 185 as the pair closed in on leader Nemechek, though Spencer was beginning to fade. A pivotal moment for the championship occurred when Nemechek put Stewart a lap down on lap 192. Spencer's good day came to an end when he hit the turn one wall hard after a right rear tyre deflated, bringing out the caution on lap 196, Stewart unable to get back on the lead lap. The field pitted again, Jarrett leading Nemechek and Busch off pit road, while Martin was 6th and Stewart 21st, the first car a lap down, the title still in Stewart's hands.
The race went back to green again on lap 245, Nemechek passing Gordon for fourth almost immediately, and passing Johnson for third soon after, while just in front Newman and Busch battled for the lead, Newman trying to hold on with his older tyres. 18 laps to go saw Sadler take sixth place from Martin, Burton taking seventh from Martin two laps later. At the front of the field Nemechek had closed on the leading duo, but before he got to them Busch finally passed Newman to take the lead with eleven laps remaining. Nemechek pounced on Newman a lap later as Newman's tyres finally cried enough. With eight laps to go Gordon passed Johnson for fourth place, Martin passing Johnson a corner later, as a lap later Burton took third from Newman.
Pos Driver Car
1. Kurt Busch Ford Taurus
2. Joe Nemechek Chevrolet Monte Carlo
3. Jeff Burton Ford Taurus
4. Mark Martin Ford Taurus
5. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Monte Carlo
6. Ryan Newman Ford Taurus
7. Bill Elliott Dodge Intrepid
8. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Monte Carlo
9. Elliott Sadler Ford Taurus
10. Bobby Hamilton Chevrolet Monte Carlo
"I make a habit of getting in trouble and everybody expects me to get into trouble," an unrepentant Stewart said. "I'll enjoy it (the championship)... but it won't change me in any way."
Gordon, ironically, is on Stewart's side. "I told Tony what makes a great champion is what he does sitting in that cockpit and not what he does outside the seat," Gordon said. "A great champion to me is somebody who knows how to drive a race car, knows how to do it week in and week out at a lot of different tracks, works well with his team and wins races," he added.
Rally
When Marcus Gronholm crashed out of the rally late in Leg Two the battle for the lead was handed over to the sport's two rising stars, with Estonian Markko Martin holding a 1.6 second lead over Norwegian Solberg. With only four stages to be decided it would be a nerve wracking final day. Solberg flew over Stage 14, winning by three seconds over Richard Burns, and more importantly 21 seconds up on Martin. Martin closed the gap on Stage 15 to twelve seconds after winning the stage. Solberg struck back on Stage 16 returning the gap to 21 seconds, giving the Subaru driver the buffer he needed, but for good measure, won the final stage anyway to win by 24 seconds.
On the final day Sainz sat in third position, poised to use his experience to battle with his younger rivals. As it turned out, Sainz lacked pace to chase the leaders and had to settle for third. Similarly McRae was unable to make an impression in his battle for fourth with Tommi Makinen. So while McRae took fifth, the final driver's point also went to Ford. British Rally Champion Mark Higgins claimed sixth place using a fourth factory backed Focus. It bodes well for Ford, who are losing the World Champion veterans, that Martin and Higgins may be able to still carry Ford forwards in 2003.
Two stages later the battle was irrelevant. In Stage 9 Gronholm reported hydraulic problems, problems sufficient to cause Gronholm to use the manual gear changer in the Peugeot 206. On Stage 10, Gronholm rolled into retirement. Burns had climbed into third position by Stage 15, but on Stage 16, he too crashed out of the rally. Harri Rovanpera was delayed by a litany of small problems and was unable to compete with the Subarus and Fords and had to be content with seventh. Gilles Panizzi was steady throughout the event to finish eleventh on a surface that Panizzi is not comfortable on.
On behalf of Skoda, Toni Gardemeister chased hard, but with two Hyundais to be vanquished the odds always looked long. Differential problems blighted all three Skodas but the problems weren't serious. All three made the finish with Gardemister in tenth. Kenneth Eriksson would claim thirteenth and Roman Kresta fifteenth.
Pos Driver Car
1. Petter Solberg Subaru Impreza
2. Markko Martin Ford Focus
3. Carlos Sainz Ford Focus
4. Tommi Makinen Subaru Impreza
5. Colin McRae Ford Focus
6. Mark Higgins Ford Focus
7. Harri Rovanpera Peugeot 206
8. Freddy Loix Hyundai Accent
9. Juha Kankkunen Hyundai Accent
10. Toni Gardemeister Skoda Octavia
CART
At the start, Bruno Junqueira ran off at turn one, while Jimmy Vasser and Paul Tracy collided at the same turn. Further around the track Junqueira ran off the track again, resuming in ninth place. While under the caution for Tracy and Vasser's incident, Mexican Luis Diaz, substituting for the injured Adrian Fernandez, retired with engine problems. Kanaan was now the leader ahead of Christian Fittipaldi, Dario Franchitti and Brack, the race back to green on lap four. The leaders began to stretch the gaps between each other, no battles for position taking place, the first battle being between Tora Takagi and Junqueira for eighth place, before Takagi moved up onto Dominguez's tail to challenge for seventh.
Just under ten laps later Kanaan was handed a drivethrough penalty for the fuel spill, dropping him from second place to sixth place. Just a few laps later the caution flags came out after Michael Andretti crashed heavily towards the end of the lap. During the caution period everyone except Mario Dominguez made their final pit stop, with everyone exiting the pits in a big bunch, Brack winning the battle in pit lane to move up to second while Franchitti dropped from the lead to sixth place, the top six now Dominguez, still needing to make another stop, Brack, Da Matta (leaping up from eighth), Carpentier, Junqueira and Franchitti.
Pos Driver Car
1. Kenny Brack Lola-Toyota
2. Cristiano da Matta Lola-Toyota
3. Bruno Junqueira Lola-Toyota
4. Patrick Carpentier Reynard-Ford
5. Dario Franchitti Lola-Honda
6. Tora Takagi Reynard-Toyota
7. Scott Dixon Lola-Toyota
8. Tony Kanaan Lola-Honda
9. Oriol Servia Reynard-Toyota
10. Alex Tagliani Reynard-Ford
Formula 3
"It's simply fantastic," said Gommendy. "It's fantastic for me and the team, because a lot of work has gone into this and I would just like to say congratulations to them. I have won the French championship this year and now I have won Macau, this is just fantastic."
Monto bogged down at the strt of race two and was swamped. Kovalainen took up the lead chased by Ide, Karthikeyan and Gommendy, himself a slow starter. Further back Bruce Jouanny bounced his Dallara off the walls cleaning up Robbie Kerr in the process. Karthikeyan was out on lap four, a victim of Macau's merciless walls. Gommendy pressured Ide until he got passed and Matsuura immediately attacked Ide. Both then had offs, bringing out the safety car.
Race One
Pos Driver Car
1. Paolo Montin Dallara F302 TOM's-Toyota
2. Tristan Gommendy Dallara F302 Sodemo-Renault
3. Narain Karthikeyan Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
4. Heikki Kovalainen Dallara F302 Sodemo-Renault
5. Yuji Ide Dallara F302 Sodemo-Renault
6. Kousuke Matsuura Dallara F302 Spiess-Opel
7. Robert Doornbos Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
8. Bruce Jouanny Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
9. Richard Antinucci Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
10. Robbie Kerr Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
Race Two
Pos Driver Car
1. Tristan Gommendy Dallara F302 Sodemo-Renault
2. Heikki Kovalainen Dallara F302 Sodemo-Renault
3. Takashi Kogure Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
4. Katsuyuki Hiranaka Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
5. James Courtney Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
6. Milos Pavlovic Dallara F302 Spiess-Opel
7. Hiroki Yoshimoto Dallara F302 TOM's-Toyota
8. Vitantonio Liuzzi Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
9. Olivier Pla Dallara F302 Sodemo-Renault
10. Robert Doornbos Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
Sportscars
There had been much discussion over the merits of the Monaro, with Prancing Horse Racing lead driver John Bowe particularly critical, insisting the a car built with such freedom of construction should not be allowed to race in the form presented. Bowe's co-driver Brad Jones took pole position in PHR's Ferrari 360 Michelotto but the Monaro then recorded a lap time two and a half seconds faster in the morning warm-up. It was a shattering demonstration of intent.
The Monaro climbed into second around daybreak. The gap to the Cirtek Porsche now was ten laps and looking insurmountable at present pace. Clutch problems struck the Mosler during mid morning, slowing them sufficiently for the lead Duller BMW of Peter Hannen into third. The race changed dramatically just before midday when a driveshaft failed in the Porsche letting the Monaro into the lead, briefly. The Monaro stopped to change an engine drive belt and some continuing differential problems were looked at. The two cars had fifteen laps on the Mosler so the race was on as to who would take up the lead. The Monaro was out first and put two laps on the Porsche before it rejoined.
"We come here with a car that had only done 500 kilometres before this weekend and got it through 24 hours," said Garry Rogers Motorsport lead driver Garth Tander. "That's fantastic and a real tribute to the guys who have built it over the past nine months."
Class 5, the Australian GT-Performance category, was taking by experienced campaigners Peter Boylan, Damien White and Peter McKay in a BMW M3, completing 491 laps for sixth outright, just nine laps ahead of the Peters Motorsport Subaru STi of Brett Peters, Gary Deane, Robert Rubis and John Falk. Scott Anderson, Wayne Boatwright, Ross Almond and Ross Halliday were third in another STi.
Pos Drivers Car
1. Garth Tander/Steven Richards/ Holden Monaro 427C
Cameron McConville/Nathan Pretty
2. Martin Short/Mark Pashley/ Mosler MT900R Chevrolet
Charles Lamb/Dilantha Malagamuwa
3. Howard Redhouse/Peter Hannen/ BMW M3 (class 10)
Domenic Beninca
4. Ian Donaldson/Robert Brooks/ BMW M3 (class 10)
Robert Wilson/Andrew Donaldson
5. VJ Angelo/Ric Shaw/ BMW Z3 M Coupe (class 3)
Matthew Marsh/Ross Buckingham
6. Peter Boylan/Damien White/ BMW M3 (class 5)
Peter McKay
7. Brett Peters/Gary Deane/ Subaru Impreza WRX STi (class 5)
Robert Rubis/John Falk
8. Scott Anderson/Wayne Boatwright/ Subaru Impreza WRX STi (class 5)
Ross Almond/Ross Halliday
9. Trevor Haines/Mark King/ Ford Falcon T3TE50 (class 5)
Trevor Sheumack/James Phillip
10. Scott Loadsman/Ian Luff/ Holden Commodore SS (class 9)
Ray Lintott/David Russell
Touring Cars
Duncan Huisman stamped his authority on the Guia Touring Car races at Macau, taking pole position before racing away to take a pair of victories, successfully defending his title and maintaining family honour after older brother Patrick won in 2000.
Race One
Pos Driver Car
1. Duncan Huisman BMW 320i
2. Andre Couto BMW 320i
3. Nicola Larini Alfa Romeo 147
4. Peter Scharmach BMW 320i
5. Anthony Davidson Honda Civic
Race Two
Pos Driver Car
1. Duncan Huisman BMW 320i
2. Nicola Larini Alfa Romeo 147
3. Franz Engstler BMW 320i
4. Nobuteru Taniguchi Toyota Altezza
5. Simon Harrison Ford Focus
Briefs
Blundell, who made his rallying debut in the Rally of Great Britain at the weekend, will debut in another new sport after choosing the Supermoto Series to put his motorcycle skills to the test. Jack Lilley Racing have provided Blundell, a Motocross champion at 16, with the 640cc single cylinder CCM Supermoto bike for the race on December 8.
Upcoming Events Calendar
Please Contact Us for permission to republish this or any other material from Atlas F1.
 Email to Friend
Volume 8, Issue 47
Atlas F1 Exclusive
Interview with Bobby Rahal
Articles
The Arrows Saga Continues
Technical Focus
Columns
Rear View Mirror
Elsewhere in Racing
The Grapevine
> Homepage |
