Updates from the Rest of the Racing World
Atlas F1 Magazine Writers
Gronholm in Cyprus
Early in the rally it looked like the Gilles Panizzi led Peugeot domination of recent events had been broken with Colin McRae leading the first two days of the rally. On Sunday it would all go wrong for the flying Scot. McRae was slowly coming under pressure from Gronholm when a mistake by the team left McRae thinking he was in a better position than he actually was, when they gave him the wrong split time on one of the stages. McRae then had to push hard to recover the lost time when the Focus struck a concrete block hidden by bushes in Stage 16 and rolled. McRae and Grist returned to the rally, but the crash caused a power steering failure, and later during the wet Stage 19, a failure of the wipers. A second roll put them out of contention of a rally that looked theirs for the taking.
"I wasn't sure if we could pass Colin this morning," said the 2000 World Champ, "although when we took so much time in the opening stage I thought it might be possible. I attacked again but then he made a mistake, so we had a good lead after that and it was just about not making any mistakes. I'm really happy with the result, because it shows the 206 can win rallies on rough surfaces."
It was another fabulous result for Peugeot with Richard Burns taking second and Harri Rovanpera in fourth. Burns started the final leg in fourth place, running in close company with Tommi Makinen. Burns left it until the final stage of the event to get on top of Makinen and take what became second place. Harri Rovanpera was denied the chance to put more pressure on the two cars in front of him when he rolled gently in Stage 11. Peugeot now sit 1-2-3 in the drivers standings and dominate the manufacturers proceedings.
It could not have been much worse for Ford. The rally promised so much but delivered so little. In additional to McRae's woes, Super 1600 graduate Francois Duval retired from fourth place on Leg 2 with no oil pressure. Equally well placed Markko Martin (who had led the rally outright on Leg 1) ran into brake problems and a fogging screen once the rain started on Leg 2, causing him to drop down the order and out of the points. His chances ended on the same corner as McRae's did in Stage 16 with a similar result. Carlos Sainz however was never in contention with mechancial problems dogging the Spanish-crewed Ford. Sainz would eventually limp home to eleventh.
The rough conditions suited Skoda down to the ground, and the Octavias responded with Kenneth Eriksson driving into the points on merit during the storms that lashed the rally on Saturday. However Eriksson could not maintain his position as brake problems set in. Ninth would be the eventual result, ahead of Toni Gardemeister in 15th. Roman Kresta crashed out of the rally during the Leg 2 storms.
Similarly dead in Stage 12 was Alister McRae in the Mitsubishi Lancer, gearbox the culprit as well. Jani Paasonen driving a third Lancer was also a victim of Leg 2. Differential problems limited the surviving Lancer of Francois Delecour to 13th.
Result of World Rally Championship, Round 5, Cyprus Rally, Cyprus:
Standings: Marcus Gronholm 31, Gilles Panizzi 20, Richard Burns 19, Tommi Makinen 14, Harri Rovanpera and Carlos Sainz 9, Philippe Bugalski and Petter Solberg 7, Sebastien Loeb and Colin McRae 6 etc.
Manufacturers standings: Peugeot 68, Subaru and Ford 27, Mitsubishi 6, Hyundai 2
Edwards Edges Closer
Colin Edwards injected some life into the 2002 World Superbike Championship after second place in race one and a win in race two at the Sugo circuit in Japan. On a track expected to strongly favour Dunlop tyres, the Michelins on Edwards's Honda were up to the task as he scored the best results of the series regulars in both races to close the gap on series leader Troy Bayliss. Bayliss probably had a better weekend than he had hoped for, finishing in the top five in both races, but he lost ground to Edwards, Hodgson and Haga in the title chase.
In race one, polesitter Haga rounded turn one in fourth, behind leader Makoto Tamada, Neil Hodgson and Colin Edwards, with Bayliss a close fifth. On lap two, Edwards passed Hodgson at the entry to the final chicane to take second place, forcing Hodgson wide enough that it allowed Haga to slip through to third. Edwards then took the lead from Tamada at the end of the back straight on lap three, Haga following past Tamada later that same lap. Haga repeated the move on Edwards two laps later, the top trio having a very close battle.
On lap nine Edwards passed Haga for the lead at the end of the back straight. Still the leaders rode as a trio, keeping each other on their toes. Tamada finally was able to pass Haga at the end of the back straight on lap 16. Although Tamada was able to edge away from Haga and catch Edwards, he was unable to pass him, Edwards going on to take the win ahead of Tamada and Haga.
In race two, Hodgson led into turn one ahead of Haga and race one winner Edwards, followed by Ben Bostrom, Akira Yanagawa and Tamada. As they completed lap one, the top four had broken away, with Haga right on Hodgson's exhaust pipes. Lap two saw Tamada move up to fifth, and close in on the leading four. On lap three Haga moved down the inside of Hodgson at the final chicane to snatch the lead, while on lap four Tamada moved up to fourth at the end of the back straight, repeating his move from two laps previous.
The leading four ran close together, with Hodgson passing Haga at turn one on lap eight, waving to him as he did so. Two laps later, Edwards repeated the move, taking second place from Haga, Tamada taking third from Haga later that same lap. By this point in the race Bayliss had made his way up to fifth, about a second behind Haga. On lap 12 Tamada repeated the move he had made three times earlier in the race to take second place from Edwards. By lap 15 the top four was a top five as Bayliss joined the back of the pack.
On lap 16 Tamada took the lead, while further back Bayliss passed Haga at the start of lap 17 into turn one, Haga slowly fading backwards. After taking the lead, Tamada cleared out, setting a fastest lap on his first clear lap. Edwards took second place from Hodgson at turn one on lap 20. Throughout the remaining laps Edwards, Hodgson and Bayliss battled but remained in the same positions, Tamada taking the win easily ahead of them, Haga holding on for fifth.
Four rounds down and the battle for the title has opened up to at least a two-horse race, with 2000 champion Edwards leading the charge. The next round is at Monza in Italy, which sees Ducati and Aprilia competing on home soil.
Result of World Superbike Championship, Round 4, Sugo, Japan:
Standings: Troy Bayliss 174, Colin Edwards 150, Neil Hodgson 98, Ben Bostrom 95, Noriyuki Haga 87, Ruben Xaus 86, James Toseland 57, Chris Walker 52
Too Sharp For Penske
But the strategy didn't allow for a fight to the finish. When Scott Sharp was able to push de Ferran hard over the last laps after a rain-enforced pace car period de Ferran responded and kept Sharp at bay. De Ferran's pace though wasn't the issue as the red and white Dallara slowed suddenly on the back straight allowing Sharp and the closely following Felipe Giaffone to blaze past. Through the final two corners Sharp maintained his advantage and became the first driver to win an IRL event in six consecutive seasons.
The race was marred with a heavy accident at half distance. Tomas Scheckter and Jaques Lazier collided in turn 4 before sliding up the track and hitting the wall. Both were awake when flown from the track via helicopter to hospital.
Lazier suffered a lower spinal fracture, but has full movement of his extremities. Scheckter has a lung contusion. Both drivers were concussed and recovered in Lehigh Valley Hospital, Allentown, Pennsylvania, and were released from the hospital on Tuesday. Lazier is undergoing further evaluation at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis but has not been admitted at this point in time.
The yellows were out again when Treadway wrecked a nosecone on the wall on lap 53, and again on lap 91 when Sarah Fisher and Billy Boat had a light coming together. Elsewhere on the same lap Jon Herb hit the wall hard in turn 4. The beginning of rain was reported as the pace car queue formed.
Result of Indy Racing League, Round 4, Firestone Indy 225, Nazareth Spweedway, Pennsylvania, USA:
Standings: Sam Hornish Jr 154, Gil de Ferran 149, Helio Castroneves 145, Felipe Giaffone 105, Scott Sharp 98, Jaques Lazier 90, Laurent Redon 81, Al Unser Jr 78, Eliseo Salazar and Alex Barron 77 etc.
Earnhardt Top at Talladega
Polesitter Jimmie Johnson led the early laps, as the field ran two and three wide around the track, as they did most of the day. Soon he was passed by Dale Earnhardt Jr, showing his usual strength on the restrictor plate tracks. Apart from Jeremy Mayfield and Michael Waltrip leading a lap, Earnhardt Jr led all the way until his first pit stop on lap 51. Matt Kenseth led a few laps as he was able to stay out a few laps longer than everyone else, the lead returning to Earnhardt Jr after Kenseth's stop.
Earnhardt was just as strong after the stop, teammate Michael Waltrip taking the lead for several laps, Ryan Newman also leading a lap before Earnhardt Jr took the lead again just before the second round of pit stops began. Kenseth repeated his earlier feat, leading some laps as he stretched his fuel further than everyone else.
Again the lead returned to Earnhardt, but the caution flew on lap 116 for debris on the track. Most drivers came in for fuel, except Kenseth and Newman, who took over top two places.
After a long period without facing a challenge, Ryan Newman came up to battle Earnhardt Jr. Unfortunately, further back in the pack cars got tangled up when Kyle Petty was pushed wide through turn two on lap 164 and tried to find some room in the pack, causing the field behind to bunch up and get in each others' way, the 'big one' that everyone feared occurring. 24 cars were involved, including Matt Kenseth who started the race 2nd in the title chase. Those cars at the front escaped the melee as the crash began in the middle of the pack.
Everyone still running took this opportunity to pit, either to make their final fuel and tyre stop or to fix the damage incurred in the incident. The race eventually restarted on lap 176, with Earnhardt Jr once again in the lead, teammate Michael Waltrip pulling up onto his rear bumper. On lap 180 the caution flag came out as Mark Martin parked his car on the infield and Tony Stewart's car dropped fluid on the track. In an attempt to finish the race under racing conditions, NASCAR red flagged the race on lap 183.
Jeff Gordon had his third good finish for the year, finishing fourth, just ahead of points leader Sterling Marlin in fifth and Dale Jarrett having another good finish in sixth. Rookie Ryan Newman's day was not so good, suffering his third consecutive engine failure.
Result of NASCAR Winston Cup, Round 9, Talladega Speedway, Alabama, United States:
Standings: Sterling Marlin 1369, Matt Kenseth 1260, Rusty Wallace 1212, Kurt Busch 1192, Dale Earnhardt Jr 1178, Jimmie Johnson 1172, Jeff Gordon 1168, Tony Stewart 1138, Mark Martin 1137, Ricky Rudd 1114 etc.
Ukawa Began In Africa
Tohru Ukawa capitalised on a last lap mistake by Valentino Rossi to take his debut MotoGP victory. Ukawa had led most of the second half of the event with Rossi in close company, after Ukawa tailed Rossi in the first half of the race. With three laps to go Rossi dived under Ukawa into a right hander, Ukawa looked hard to swap back, but Rossi held the line and the lead. Then on the last lap Rossi braked too hard, lifted the back wheel under brakes and ran very wide. All desperation, Rossi threw everything at Ukawa and dived back into the lead with two corners to go, but he dived too hard and Ukawa took the racing line as Rossi drifted wide.
"Today was just like when we were racing 250s in 1999, but the result was not!" grinned Ukawa, who was beaten to the '99 250 title by Rossi. "My tyres were fantastic; I chose a hard rear and this was the best choice because I could see Valentino was having a lot of slides through the rights during the final laps. Then he made a mistake and I passed him okay. I'm very happy!"
Not far behind, but far enough to be a fairly lonely third was Loris Capirossi, the West Honda rider for the most part keeping up with the two four strokes in front of him, but not making any impression either. West Honda team mate Alex Barros crashed his NSR out of ninth with two laps to go.
An intense battle for fourth place was won by 250cc Champion Daijiro Katoh on the Fortuna NSR. Katoh took fourth on the last lap from Carlos Checa on the four stroke Yamaha. Checa had held sway over this battle most of the race until Katoh pounced. Olivier Jacque was sixth on the Gauloises YZR500.
Max Biaggi continued to struggle to get on top of the four stroke Yamaha, taking ninth from Garry McCoy with two laps to go, McCoy still recovering from a leg break in pre-season testing. Biaggi finished behind three other two stroke Yamahas - Jacque, Norick Abe and Shinya Nakano.
Result of World Motorcycle Championship, Round 2, Phakisa Freeway, South Africa:
Standings: Valentino Rossi 45, Carlos Checa 27, Tohru Ukawa 25, Loris Capirossi 23, Akira Ryo and Norick Abe 20, Daijiro Katoh 19, Shinichi Itoh 13, Alex Barros and Olivier Jacque 10 etc.
Abt's Aiello Audi Assault
"I am totally happy," said Laurent Aiello. "Our car has a very good basis and has some room for improvement for the next rounds."
The off-season star signing got himself off to a flying start as well. After qualifying a miserable 14th, former Formula One superstar Jean Alesi drove his Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM to third place in an impressive debut drive for the French-Sicilian.
Fifth place was taken by Timo Scheider in the first of the Opel Astra V8s, promising a much more even competition amongst the three makes this year. Scheider spent most of the race battling with Schneider, however the Mercedes gradually pulled away, leaving Scheider well clear of Wendlinger. Opel's other front runner, veteran Manuel Reuter, was sidelined with a blown tyre after finishing fourth in the qualifying race.
Result of DTM, Round 1, Hockenheim, Germany:
Alfa Romeo Storms France
Reigning European Champion Fabrizio Giovanardi and teammate Nicola Larini were first and second in both races, sounding an ominous warning for those who would bet against Alfa Romeo.
Giovanardi launched from the grid but Larini was very slow away and collided with Paolo Ruberti in the AGS-run Alfa. Ruberti hit the crash barriers hard, his car out for the day. Larini immediately climbed up through the field again and took Tom Ferrier for third by the end of lap 1. Ferrier's Alfa would last only another lap before gearbox failure ended his race. Tommy Rustad's Nissan was travelling slowly with a driveshaft problem and Eric Cayrolle's Alfa also broke a gearbox. It was hardly a great statement of reliability for the new category.
Ferrier, Cayrolle and Rustad all made the grid for the second race, although the damage to Ruberti saw the car trailered from the meeting early. With BMWs on the front row this time it was Ekblom who led away from the two Mullers. Fourth was an intense battle that saw Rydell leading Peter Kox, Larini and Giovanardi. Within 3 laps the Alfa duo were past the Volvo and the BMW. Jorg Muller took the lead from Ekblom. The problem the two lead Alfas faced was reduced by one BMW when Ekblom ran wide and dropped down the order.
Result of European Touring Car Championship, Rounds 1 and 2, Magny-Cours, France
Standings: Fabrizio Giovanardi 20, Nicola Larini 12, Dirk Muller 8, Rickard Rydell 6, Jorg Muller 4, Fredrik Ekblom 2
O'Neill Stuns Oulton
O'Neill's Egg Sport teammate Matt Neal led initially until he stopped at the wrong pit bay during his compulsory pitstop. Yvan Muller then became the leader with James Thompson pushing hard. Thompson though picked up a puncture and slowed, whilst those watching could scarecly believe it as Muller suddenly slowed on the same lap with a misfire.
O'Neill was ecstatic with his win, while second was initially awarded to Tim Harvey in a Peugeot 406, but Harvey was later penalised for not completing his compulsory pitstop, only changing one tyre instead of two.
Result of British Touring Car Championship, Round 4, Oulton Park, Great Britain:
Standings: Yvan Muller 40, Matt Neal 36, James Thompson 31, Warren Hughes 26, Anthony Reid 24, Paul O'Neill 16, Aaron Slight 15, Dan Eaves and Andy Priaulx 13
Rally
Marcus Gronholm did not win a single stage in Cyprus. While the two Subarus lit up stage after stage, and Colin McRae led from the front, Gronholm went about the business of winning rallies, a business he's been rather good at the last couple of years.
Gronholm then cruised, in so far as the treacheorus conditions allowed, to win. Gronholm drove a smart rally, consistently racking up good stage times throughout, keeping the pressure on the Ford and gradually regaining time lost as road sweeper on Leg 1.
While it rained on Leg 3, Leg 2 was struck by a thunderstorm with cars running in Stages 11 and 12. In particular the conditions in Stage 12 were abysmal with mud and deep ruts across the whole stage, some drivers stating they had not driven in worse conditions. Conditions in Stage 14 were so bad it was cancelled prior to the rally's arrival in the mud.
Subaru continued to show promise. Tommi Makinen won five stages but the flowering young star Petter Solberg won six, giving Subaru more stage wins than the rest of the field combined. Solberg lost several minutes on Leg 1 with a differential problem, and of all things, a broken accelerator pedal. On Leg 3 Solberg came into his own, clearly the fastest car in the event. After dropping to 16th, fifth was a fantastic result. A spin on the final stage of the event cost Makinen second place. While Peugeot collected the points, the boys in blue exuded strength on dirt that was only really dented by McRae.
Hyundai did rather better in the end, with Armin Schwarz falling just two seconds short of taking the final point from Colin McRae. Young driver Tomasz Kuchar finished the rally in one of the team's older cars in 14th. Four times world champion Juha Kankkunen ground to a halt during Leg 1, while gearbox problems struck at the worst time for Freddy Loix, the Accent stopping during the rain lashed Stage 12.
Pos Driver Car
1. Marcus Gronholm Peugeot 206
2. Richard Burns Peugeot 206
3. Tommi Makinen Subaru Impreza
4. Harri Rovanpera Peugeot 206
5. Petter Solberg Subaru Impreza
6. Colin McRae Ford Focus
7. Armin Schwarz Hyundai Accent
8. Markko Martin Ford Focus
9. Kenneth Eriksson Skoda Octavia
10. Gilles Panizzi Peugeot 206
Superbikes
Race One
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Colin Edwards Honda VTR 1000 SP2
2. Makoto Tamada Honda VTR 1000 SP2
3. Noriyuki Haga Aprilia RSV 1000
4. Neil Hodgson Ducati 998 F 01
5. Troy Bayliss Ducati 998 F 02
6. Akira Yanagawa Kawasaki ZX-7RR
7. Ben Bostrom Ducati 998 F 02
8. Wataru Yoshikawa Yamaha YZF R7
9. James Toseland Ducati 998 F 01
10. Takeshi Tsujimura Yamaha YZF R7
Race Two
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Makoto Tamada Honda VTR 1000 SP2
2. Colin Edwards Honda VTR 1000 SP2
3. Neil Hodgson Ducati 998 F 01
4. Troy Bayliss Ducati 998 F 02
5. Noriyuki Haga Aprilia RSV 1000
6. Akira Yanagawa Kawasaki ZX-7RR
7. Ben Bostrom Ducati 998 F 02
8. Wataru Yoshikawa Yamaha YZF R7
9. Ruben Xaus Ducati 998 F 02
10. Takeshi Tsujimura Yamaha YZF R7
IRL
Team Penske gambled on fuel strategy, skipping a pitstop that could have been used to get Gil de Ferran comfortably to the finish. They took the risk and saved the pitstop and saved track position and headed the race going into the dying stages.
The day looked like a good one for Team Penske with Gil de Ferran on pole and Helio Castroneves alongside. They led for the first 38 laps until the second yellow period when Buddy Lazier crashed between turns 3 and 4. Laurent Redon, Sam Hornish Jr, Felipe Giaffone and Buddy Lazier were dicing closely when Hornish and Lazier made contact. Hornish limped to the pits, out of contention. Lazier was not hurt in the accident.
George Mack crashed at turn 4 on lap 175. At the green on lap 206 it became a sprint to the finish that de Ferran would lose. Fourth place was won by Sarah Fisher in an impressive comeback race for her, ahead of the pits-delayed Castroneves.
Pos Driver Car
1. Scott Sharp Dallara-Chevrolet
2. Felipe Giaffone GForce-Chevrolet
3. Gil de Ferran Dallara-Chevrolet
4. Sarah Fisher GForce-Nissan
5. Helio Castroneves Dallara-Chevrolet
6. Alex Barron Dallara-Chevrolet
7. Eddie Cheever Dallara-Nissan
8. Billy Boat Dallara-Chevrolet
9. Anthony Lazzaro Dallara-Chevrolet
10. Shigeaki Hattori Dallara-Nissan
NASCAR
Dale Earnhardt Jr showed himself to be king of the restrictor plate tracks, taking the win at Talladega after dominating the event. Leading most of the way, Earnhardt's biggest challenge came from his teammate Michael Waltrip, though Waltrip did his best to make sure that Earnhardt won the race. In taking the win at Talladega, Earnhardt Jr broke the winless drought for Chevrolet in Winston Cup in 2002, Chevrolet's last win coming in the final round of 2001. Earnhardt's win has moved him up into fifth in the points standings.
Kenseth's lead didn't last long after the restart, Earnhardt Jr taking the lead on the second lap after the restart, Kenseth taking it back on the next lap, leading a few laps before Mark Martin led a lap. Newman then took the lead before Earnhardt Jr returned to the front and stayed there.
After cleaning up the fluid and moving Martin's car to a safe place, the cars restarted and racing resumed on lap 185 with Earnhardt Jr leading his teammate Michael Waltrip. Earnhardt Jr jumped out to a lead before the pack led by Waltrip caught them up. Not for the first time, the two DEI cars worked together to protect Earnhardt Jr's position, holding off the rest of the field to take a team 1-2 finish, Earnhardt Jr's second consecutive win at Talladega.
Pos Driver Car
1. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet Monte Carlo
2. Michael Waltrip Chevrolet Monte Carlo
3. Kurt Busch Ford Taurus
4. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Monte Carlo
5. Sterling Marlin Dodge Intrepid
6. Dale Jarrett Ford Taurus
7. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Monte Carlo
8. Rusty Wallace Ford Taurus
9. Jeff Burton Ford Taurus
10. Kyle Petty Dodge Intrepid
MotoGP
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Tohru Ukawa Honda RC211V
2. Valentino Rossi Honda RC211V
3. Loris Capirossi Honda NSR500
4. Daijiro Katoh Honda NSR500
5. Carlos Checa Yamaha YZR M1
6. Olivier Jacque Yamaha YZR500
7. Norick Abe Yamaha YZR500
8. Shinya Nakano Yamaha YZR500
9. Max Biaggi Yamaha YZR M1
10. Garry McCoy Yamaha YZR500
DTM
Laurent Aiello cleared away from the front row the the grid in the feature race at Hockenheim for the DTM season opener, leading an awesome performance for the Abt Sportsline team of Audi TT-Rs. The former British and French Touring Car Champion was second in the qualifying race behind young teammate Martin Tomczyk. Aiello then went on the win the feature virtually unopposed. Another teammate Mattias Ekstrom was second with Karl Wendlinger in sixth and Christian Abt an unrepresentative seventh after receiving a stop-go for overtaking under yellow flags while running second, underlining the strength of the Audis at the German Grand Prix venue.
Alesi exploded out of the boxes to be in the top four by the time the cars reached the first corner and remained the best non-Audi all race after the demise of Tomczyk who spun off and the penalty to Abt. AMG teammate Bernd Schneider followed Alesi in to fourth place, his position of team leader at Mercedes already under fire from the glamour signing.
Pos Driver Car
1. Laurent Aiello Audi TT-R
2. Mattias Ekstrom Audi TT-R
3. Jean Alesi Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM
4. Bernd Schneider Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM
5. Timo Scheider Opel Astra V8 Coupe
6. Karl Wendlinger Audi TT-R
7. Christian Abt Audi TT-R
8. Thomas Jager Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM
9. Alain Menu Opel Astra V8 Coupe
10. Joachim Winkelhock Opel Astra V8 Coupe
ETCC
It was out with the old and in with the new as Super Production replaced Super Touring in the ETCC for 2002, but on the surface the only change seemed to be outright car speed. Some of the cars didn't look any different, and the results certainly weren't. It was a welcome sight to see BMW return, and Volvo back after sixteen years, although at the cost of Honda. The crowd didn't mind as a big crowd turned out for the races.
Giovanardi continued to pull away from the field and Larini took Dirk Muller for second on lap 8 at Imola. Muller stayed close to Larini, and made the Italian fight to keep second. Rickard Rydell's Volvo was fighting to keep back the BMWs of Jorg Muller and Fredrik Ekblom. Luis Villamil finished in a lonely seventh ahead of a snarling pack of five BMWs.
There were a couple of collisions, James Hanson (Volvo) and Romana Bernadoni (Alfa), with Tommy Rustad (Nissan) and Tom Coronel (BMW) also getting physical in their encounters. Giovanardi took Larini then Dirk Muller on consecutive laps leaving the order BMW, Alfa, BMW, Alfa. The following lap it was Alfa, BMW, Alfa, BMW after a pair of overtaking moves at the Adelaide hairpin. Jorg Muller couldn't keep Larini back for long which left the three BMWs to come under fire from Rydell. Rydell would take Ekblom and Dirk Muller but ran out of laps to climb onto the podium.
Round One
Pos Driver Car
1. Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo 156
2. Nicola Larini Alfa Romeo 156
3. Dirk Muller BMW 320i
4. Rickard Rydell Volvo S60
5. Jorg Muller BMW 320i
6. Fredrik Ekblom BMW 320i
7. Luis Villamil Alfa Romeo 156
8. Peter Kox BMW 320i
9. Fabrizio De Simone BMW 320i
10. Gianni Morbidelli BMW 320i
Round Two
Pos Driver Car
1. Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo 156
2. Nicola Larini Alfa Romeo 156
3. Dirk Muller BMW 320i
4. Rickard Rydell Volvo S60
5. Jorg Muller BMW 320i
6. Fredrik Ekblom BMW 320i
7. Gianni Morbidelli BMW 320i
8. Jordi Gene BMW 320i
9. Fabrizio De Simone BMW 320i
10. Tommy Rustad Nissan Primera
BTCC
Paul O'Neill in only his fourth race in touring cars gained the lead at the wonderful drivers' circuit of Oulton Park after problems struck the two leading factory Vauxhalls, who pushed each other perhaps just a little too hard, and went on to win in the upset of the year.
This promoted the MG of Warren Hughes to second in his best ever BTCC result ahead of veteran David Leslie who would give Proton their debut podium finish. Some distance back in fourth was Gareth Howell in another MG ahead of Alan Morrison's Honda. Thompson recovered to finish seventh ahead of ex-motorcyclist Aaron Slight. Muller limped home in tenth.
Pos Driver Car
1. Paul O'Neill Vauxhall Astra
2. Warren Hughes MG ZS
3. David Leslie Proton Impian
4. Gareth Howell MG ZS
5. Alan Morrison Honda Civic
6. Tim Harvey Peugeot 406
7. James Thompson Vauxhall Astra
8. Aaron Slight Vauxhall Astra
9. Tom Chilton Vauxhall Astra
10. Yvan Muller Vauxhall Astra
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