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.
Martin Wins In Finland, Burns Retains Lead
By Alistair Holloway
"This is a dream come true for me. There is no rally in the championship I would rather win than this because Finland is the home of rallying and it is every driver's greatest wish to be successful here," Martin said.
Martin took a one minute thirteen second lead into the third and final day of racing. Fortunately his Ford seemed free of the electrical problems that slowed him on Saturday and he managed to hold out Burns who won three of the final day's stages and Solberg, who grabbed the final two stages.
There was a tough battle for second with less than two seconds separating Peugeot's Burns and Subaru's Solberg as they headed into the final stage. In the end Solberg edged 1.2 seconds ahead. Spain's Carlos Sainz finished fourth in a Citroen, while France's Sebastien Loeb was fifth also in a Citroen - making it the first time that a Finnish driver did not finish in the top five, something that had infuriated local fans said Burns.
With five rallies left, Burns leads the overall standings despite not winning a rally this season, helped by a new points system that rewards the top eight finishers rather than the top six and narrows the gap between the winner and runner-up. Sainz is second overall while Solberg is joint third with defending champion Marcus Gronholm.
Martin's hopes of winning the rally had received a huge boost on Saturday when Gronholm crashed, ending his hopes of a fourth straight win on home soil. He had been neck and neck with Martin until then. The Finnish rally is the fastest on the circuit, run on tightly packed gravel tracks with drivers averaging 120 kph and regularly exceeding 200 kph.
Britain's Colin McRae dramatically rolled his Citroen on Saturday after hitting a sandy part of the course on a left-hand bend. He and co-driver Derek Ringer were uninjured. The race saw 34 drivers retire from the rally, most with mechanical problems, but nine were forced off the road with one fire.
Result of World Rally Championship, Round 9 of 14, Rally Finland:
Standings: Richard Burns 49, Carlos Sainz 44, Marcus Gronholm and Petter Solberg 38, Sebastien Loeb and Markko Martin 37, Colin McRae 28, Tommi Makinen 18, Harri Rovanpera 16, Francois Duval 11 etc.
French Driver Tirabassi Fined
French driver Brice Tirabassi, struggling with his English, was fined 300 Euros by Finnish Rally officials on Friday because he did not understand a briefing for competitors.
"Tirabassi met the stewards... and it then became apparent that (he) spoke no English. The driver stated he was present at the briefing but did not sign the attendance sheet as he did not understand the procedure," officials said in a statement. "He admitted that he had not understood much of what transpired at the meeting."
Tirabassi was asked to have a fresh briefing.
Reports provided by Reuters
Tracy Regains CART Points Lead With Win
By Lewis Franck
American rookie Ryan Hunter-Reay, had his best result of the season, finishing third in a Reynard Ford. Tracy scored the maximum points by winning provisional pole, pole, and leading for the most laps - 65 of the 92 lap race. "We did what we had to do to take the lead back," he said.
Tracy has a 20 point advantage over last week's winner Junqueira, whose title bid took a turn for the worse on lap 13 when Spain's Oriol Servia tried, unsuccessfully, to overtake him with both cars ending in the gravel trap. The Brazilian was able to restart but finished 13th two laps down.
During the first stint before mandatory pit stops Tracy opened up a 4.8 seconds lead over Hunter-Reay but relinquished the lead to Portugal's Tiago Monteiro for his second pit stop. The Canadian regained the lead on lap 59 but could not pull away from Carpentier, who won from the pole here last year.
On lap 66, Tracy's lead was down to 0.87 seconds but Carpentier never made a real challenge to his teammate and Tracy took his sixth win of the year and 25th of his career. Mexico's Michel Jourdain, who finished fourth, is third overall, 47 points behind Tracy.
Result of Champ Car World Series, Round 13 of 19, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Ohio, United States:
Standings: Paul Tracy 184, Bruno Junqueira 164, Michel Jourdain Jr 137, Sebastien Bourdais 126, Patrick Carpentier 114, Adrian Fernandez 77, Oriol Servia 76, Alex Tagliani 73 and Darren Manning 73, Mario Dominguez 65 etc.
Report provided by Reuters
Robby Gordon Won, Jeff Gordon Spun (Twice!)
Jeff Gordon was on pole with Greg Biffle alongside, Gordon getting the jump at the start to lead the field towards turn one. This was as far as he ran in the lead, as Greg Biffle went in too deep and tapped Gordon into a spin, dropping Gordon from first to last when he finally recovered. An incident exiting the inner loop later on lap one that saw Kyle Petty hard into the barriers was a little bit of good news for Gordon, as Petty's incident brought out a caution on lap two. The race restarted on lap five with Biffle leading Mark Martin, Kurt Busch, Rusty Wallace and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Earnhardt Jr was quickly on the move, taking two places to move up to third on the restart lap and then grabbing second into turn one on lap six as he chased Biffle. He quickly caught him but was unable to pass. A few cars pitted just after the lap 20 mark as they could make it the rest of the way from that point with just one more stop if need be. One of those to pit at this time was Kevin Harvick, whose pit stop ended with the side of his car and his pit bay in flames as he exited his pit bay. The fire on the side of his car went out but the fuel spilled from one of the refuelling cans continued to burn for another 30 seconds despite extinguisher being immediately used to put the flames out.
Harvick's good luck seemed to have turned at the restart when in a first turn melee he accidentally knocked the 'kill' switch, dropping him outside the top twenty, just after the lead duo made some contact into the first turn but both continued safely. Lap 27 saw Jeff Burton move into second at turn one. Dale Earnhardt Jr and Greg Biffle soon made their way back in to the top five, Earnhardt Jr taking fourth from Ron Fellows on lap 27 and third from PJ Jones a lap later while Biffle moved into fifth then fourth on lap 30 as he passed Fellows and then Jones. Meanwhile Jeff Gordon was making his way through the field, back inside the top twenty runners.
After staying out at the previous caution, Jones pitted on lap 31, Pruett giving up the lead two laps later to do the same, Burton the new leader from the leading duo at the start of the race, Earnhardt Jr and Biffle. The next caution arrived soon after on lap 34 after Christian Fittipaldi was spun following contact with Steve Park at the final turn. Most of the field stayed out at this caution, as it was way too early to be making a pit stop to run to the finish. Back to green on lap 37, with Burton leading Earnhardt Jr, Biffle, Fellows and Busch, the leading duo making a break from the field.
Unfortunately for Said this wasn't enough as Gordon was running faster at the exit and Gordon just ran through the back of him and spun him down the backstretch and into the fence in front of most of the field, somehow everyone avoiding him, Said limping back to the pits, while Robby escaped unscathed and one place further up the order. Meanwhile Matt Kenseth was having a typical day, sitting fairly anonymously in the midpack but moving up the order as the finish began to close in. In an effort to move up the order he dived alongside Casey Mears into turn one but Mears didn't want to give in, with the two cars making enough contact to push the guard onto Kenseth's front left
tyre, the contact forcing both Kenseth and Mears to pit at the end of the lap.
They both had just returned to the track when Rusty Wallace lost his front brakes and spun off at the second-last turn, making it through the gravel to the grass to recover before it became clear that recent rains meant the grass was soggy at best and muddy at worst, Wallace ending up bogged. Some of the field saw Wallace's bogged car and immediately pitted in anticipation of a caution coming out for his car. Their guess was correct, a caution coming out on lap 53 just after the cars had hit pit road, meaning those on pit road were safe from penalty as well as gaining a jump on those cars who had stayed out or were unable to pit - providing they had enough fuel to make it to the end.
Scott Pruett and Dale Earnhardt Jr were on the move however, and with several cars in front having pitted, zoomed back into the top ten and then the top five in fourth and
fifth a couple of laps later as the order at the front settled down at this point. This relatively calmness came to a halt thanks to the caution coming out on lap 77 when Todd Bodine spun into the edge of turn one gravel and was unable to escape. A few cars at the tail of the field pitted, while the rest of the field hoped that the two caution laps would be enough to make sure their fuel strategy paid off.
The race went back to green on lap 79, Robby Gordon leading Harvick, Pruett, Pruett's teammate Mears, Dale Earnhardt Jr and Jeff Gordon, who was now up in sixth place. Into turn one after the restart Pruett got alongside Harvick despite Harvick's best blocking efforts. Through turn one Pruett slid wide but still took the place, Harvick being forced wide allowing Mears to sneak through to third. One lap later Harvick took third back from Mears while Jeff Gordon took fifth place from Earnhardt Jr. Nine laps to go and Mears went off at turn one, dropping from fourth to 22nd place.
Through the middle of the final bend Harvick hit the rear of Jeff Gordon's car, picking the rear wheels off the ground and getting Gordon's car sideways before allowing Gordon to get four wheels back on the ground. Then on the exit of the corner Harvick hit Gordon again, lifting the rear wheels off the ground again as Gordon was spun hard left into the fence, Gordon's day ending alongside the guard rail in a wrecked race car in 33rd place as Harvick continued to the line to take fifth. Meanwhile the other Gordon, Robby, went on to take a comfortable victory ahead of Scott Pruett, with Earnhardt Jr, Jimmie Johnson and Harvick completing the top five.
Result of NASCAR Winston Cup, Round 22 of 36, Watkins Glen, New York, United States:
Standings: Matt Kenseth 3294, Dale Earnhardt Jr 3036, Jeff Gordon 2898, Jimmie Johnson 2816, Kevin Harvick 2778, Michael Waltrip 2777, Bobby Labonte 2768, Kurt Busch 2696, Ryan Newman 2636, Robby Gordon 2627 etc.
Castroneves Leads Brazilian Charge
Castroneves, known as "Spiderman" for his fence climbing victory celebrations started from pole position and led for a total race high 96 laps in the 200 lap, 250 mile race. It was his first IRL win since last year's Indy 500.
"It's better late than never," said Castroneves who drove a Toyota-powered Dallara. "I never lost faith in my crew and they never lost faith in me. They always believed. I guess that's the way it should be.
New Zealander Scott Dixon seemed to have the race sewn up when his gearbox failed with 43 laps remaining after he had built a six-second lead. "It's so hard to have a race like this end the way it did. We had a dominant race car out there," he said. "After the last pit stop, I was just saving fuel and waiting for the end to really push it. We had a comfortable lead and then the gearbox went."
Castroneves took over the lead and never looked back. "Scott Dixon was very fast, but I cannot feel sorry for him, believe me," a jubilant Castroneves said. "It's happened to me many times."
Kanaan regained the series lead with 357 points, followed by de Ferran with 350 and Castroneves 347. Dixon fell all the way to fourth, 24 points behind the leader with five races remaining. "It was a good run for us," Kanaan said. "I gave everything I had, but it wasn't enough. But hey, the championship lead is back with us. That's what we're here for. We're fighting for the championship."
There were no serious accidents on the track, but a crewman for Al Unser Jr. was injured in a pit accident. Left-rear tyre changer Anton Julian was reported to be in fair condition in hospital after Bryan Herta had slid into the rear of Unser's car, which was on its hydraulic jacks being serviced on lap 40.
Result of Indy Racing League, Round 11 of 16, Gateway International Raceway, Illinois, United States:
Standings: Tony Kanaan 357, Gil de Ferran 350, Helio Castroneves 347, Scott Dixon 333, Kenny Brack 268, Al Unser Jr 259, Sam Hornish Jr 256, Tomas Scheckter 246, Scott Sharp 245, Tora Takagi 229 etc.
Report provided by Reuters
Rally
Estonian Markko Martin won the Finland Rally on Sunday to move up in the overall rankings to joint fifth. Martin was 58.9 seconds faster than Norwegian runner-up Petter Solberg while overall leader Richard Burns of Britain finished third. The Estonian, who won his first ever rally this season in Greece, is only the third driver from outside the Nordic region and the first non-Finn since France's Didier Auriol in 1992 to win the event.
"Finland is full of very well educated rally specialists but I think they are educated very much to follow and think about their own countrymen and there has been quite a lot of booing for us... I don't think that is positive for rally," Burns told a media conference. "They have been provided with a fantastic show… and I hope the organisers next year can cultivate something more positive," he added.
Pos Driver/Co-driver Car
1. Markko Martin/Michael Park Ford Focus RS WRC 03
2. Petter Solberg/Philip Mills Subaru Impreza WRC2003
3. Richard Burns/Robert Reid Peugeot 206 WRC
4. Carlos Sainz/Marc Marti Citroen Xsara
5. Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena Citroen Xsara
6. Tommi Makinen/Kaj Lindstrom Subaru Impreza WRC2003
7. Janne Tuohino/Jukka Aho Ford Focus RS WRC 02
8. Sebastian Lindholm/Timo Hantunen Peugeot 206 WRC
9. Juuso Pykalisto/Esko Mertsalmi Peugeot 206 WRC
10. Freddy Loix/Sven Smeets Hyundai Accent WRC 3
CART
Canadian Paul Tracy won the Mid-Ohio Grand Prix to retake the CART series points lead from Bruno Junqueira on Sunday. Tracy, driving a Lola-Ford, held off his countryman and Player's/Forsythe teammate Patrick Carpentier by 0.6 seconds. It was the team's first one-two finish.
Pos Driver Car
1. Paul Tracy Player's-Forsythe Racing Lola-Ford
2. Patrick Carpentier Player's-Forsythe Racing Lola-Ford
3. Ryan Hunter-Reay American Spirit Team Johansson Reynard-Ford
4. Michel Jourdain Jr Team Rahal Lola-Ford
5. Sebastien Bourdais Newman-Haas Racing Lola-Ford
6. Alex Tagliani Rocketsports Racing Lola-Ford
7. Adrian Fernandez Fernandez Racing Lola-Ford
8. Darren Manning Walker Racing Reynard-Ford
9. Max Papis PK Racing Lola-Ford
10. Mario Haberfeld Mi-Jack Conquest Racing Reynard-Ford
NASCAR
Robby Gordon made it two from two on the road courses this year in NASCAR as namesake Jeff had a day he'd rather erase from the memory banks. Once again however Robby Gordon's victory come after being involved in an incident, this time when he unceremoniusly spun Boris Said in the middle of the race. Meanwhile the other Gordon, Jeff, couldn't have had a more galling day. After starting on pole, he was spun down to last position at the first turn. After spending the remainder of the race charging through the field, up to third place and challenging for second with just over a lap remaining, he began to run out of fuel. This ended in disaster at the final turn when Kevin Harvick hit him not once but twice, spinning Gordon out of his way and straight into the fence, ending the race in 33rd position. All this meant that Gordon is one less driver Matt Kenseth has to worry about, as Dale Earnhardt Jr's third place allowed him to close within 258 points of leader Kenseth.
Unlike several other series, a significant fuel spill or fuel fire is not worth a penalty in NASCAR. Had the fuel can can be dragged outside the pit box however, even if it hadn't caught fire, then Harvick would have been penalised. Instead, the fire and resulting smoke brought out the caution on lap 23, which ended up benefiting Harvick (and those others who had already pitted). Most of the field who hadn't pitted already made their first stops at this point. Two cars who hadn't already pitted didn't pit at this point, and they moved to the front, Scott Pruett and PJ Jones leading from Harvick at the restart on lap 25.
Earnhardt Jr eventually took the lead from Burton and Fellows took third from Biffle just before the caution came out on lap 44, for damage to Tony Raines after he and Terry Labonte made contact when one ducked one way and the other went the other way while dicing in the pack, Labonte escaping almost unscathed while Raines bounced off the armco. Most of the field again didn't pit. The race returned to green flag racing on lap 46, Earnhardt Jr showing the way. The other Gordon, Robby, made his first significant move of the race as he was moving up the field. Through the esses on lap 50 he was right on the tail of one of the 'ring-ins', Boris Said. As they exited the esses both drivers stayed flat in the throttle.
Most of the field then pitted under the caution, Earnhardt Jr the first out of those pitting under caution, back on the track down in 20th place. The race restarted on lap 56 with Bobby Labonte leading Ricky Rudd and Jamie McMurray, but these three along with some others at the front still had another stop to make. Leader Labonte was the first to do so, pitting on lap 59 along with teammate Tony Stewart, new leader Ricky Rudd pitting one lap later, McMurray leading the field before he pitted one lap later than Rudd. After these stops Robby Gordon became the new leader from Kevin Harvick, Casey Mears, Jimmie Johnson and Ward Burton.
Seven laps to go and Robby Gordon continued to hold a safe lead over Pruett as Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr swept past Harvick. Jeff Gordon continued to push, chasing down Pruett with a couple of laps remaining. Just as it looked like Jeff Gordon was getting ready to pass, he began falling back from Pruett with just over a lap remaining. He was beginning to run out of fuel! Starting the final lap in third place, Earnhardt Jr took fourth around the back of the circuit, as Harvick closed in as they rounded the final two bends.
Pos Driver Car
1. Robby Gordon Chevrolet Monte Carlo
2. Scott Pruett Dodge Intrepid
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet Monte Carlo
4. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Monte Carlo
5. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Monte Carlo
6. Ward Burton Dodge Intrepid
7. Dale Jarrett Ford Taurus
8. Matt Kenseth Ford Taurus
9. Ryan Newman Dodge Intrepid
10. Mark Martin Ford Taurus
IRL
Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves ended a 20 race victory drought at the St. Louis 250 on Sunday, as Brazilian drivers took all three podium places. Tony Kanaan and this year's Indy 500 winner Gil de Ferran finished second and third.
Pos Driver Team
1. Helio Castroneves Team Penske Dallara-Toyota
2. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green Racing Dallara-Honda
3. Gil de Ferran Team Penske Dallara-Toyota
4. Tomas Scheckter Chip Ganassi Racing GForce-Toyota
5. Dan Wheldon Andretti Green Racing Dallara-Honda
6. Sam Hornish Jr Panther Racing Dallara-Chevrolet
7. Tora Takagi Mo Nunn Racing Dallara-Toyota
8. Greg Ray Access Motorsports GForce-Honda
9. Vitor Meira Team Menard Dallara-Chevrolet
10. Scott Sharp Kelley Racing Dallara-Toyota
Upcoming Events Calendar
Please Contact Us for permission to republish this or any other material from Atlas F1.
 Email to Friend
Volume 9, Issue 33
Articles
The Next Generation
Forgotten in the Forest
Columns
Rear View Mirror
On the Road
Elsewhere in Racing
The Weekly Grapevine
> Homepage |
