![]() ![]() Elsewhere in Racing
Updates from the Rest of the Racing World By Mark Alan Jones and David Wright, Australia
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.
Re-Bjorn
"I'm delighted to have won this race," said Wirdheim, "especially as it is the team's home race and it's been too long since my last win at Imola. The car was fantastic throughout the weekend and I'm pleased to have beaten Tomas's (Enge) qualifying time from last year."
Wirdheim's pace had seen him take pole position from his chief championship rival Pantano by four tenths of a second. Ricardo Sperafico, Vitantonio Liuzzi and Patrick Freisacher all followed closely, with Townsend Bell completing the first three grid positions of a grid now reduced to 16 cars in the absence of the Danish Den Bla Avis squad. Monaco winner Nicolas Kiesa started the race from eleventh, driving Derek Hill's Super Nova Racing Lola.
Wirdheim made the best of the start to lead into Copse Corner from Pantano, Liuzzi, Sperafico, Freisacher and Enrico Toccacelo. Wirdheim moved gradually away from the field, taking Pantano with him initially before running out to an untroubled nine second victory over Pantano. Liuzzi had a close battle to finish third, but was never taken from the position he had won at the start. Liuzzi was half a second clear of Sperafico and Freisacher. Toccacelo and Bell were next, while the only passing moves in the points positions were for eighth. Tony Schmidt breifly took eighth from Jaroslav Janis only to suffer mechanical failure. A lap later and new Minardi Formula One signing Kiesa took the position from Janis.
With only three races left, Wirdheim would need to go pointless in two of them to lose the title, as Pantano has 34 points to Wirdheim's 52. Five points behind Pantano is Liuzzi with Sperafico and Toccacelo a further two points behind. The next stop is at the re-born Hockenheim.
Result of International Formula 3000 Championship, Round 7 of 10, Silverstone, United Kingdom:
Standings: Bjorn Wirdheim 52, Giorgio Pantano 34, Vitantonio Liuzzi 29, Enrico Toccacelo and Ricardo Sperafico 27, Nicolas Kiesa 20, Jaroslav Janis and Yannick Schroeder 13, Patrick Freisacher 12, Raffaele Gianmaria 11 etc.
Formula 3000 points distribution
Nashville Triumph For Brazilian de Ferran
De Ferran, who finished second here last year, said he had a "perfect strategy, perfect car". "I know that in both years I had a fantastic car here, and I guess it shows in the results," he added.
The race was shaping up as a shootout between de Ferran and Dixon when Buddy Lazier brought out two separate cautions in the last six laps of the race. De Ferran took the lead from polesitter Dixon on lap 14 and led until lap 34. But he did not take the lead for good until lap 173 under caution.
From that point all he had to do was keep the Kiwi in his mirrors to earn his fourth Indy Racing League victory since joining the circuit full-time last year with the powerful Roger Penske Racing team. Britain's Dan Wheldon, in his first full year in the series, finished fourth in a Honda-powered Dallara.
De Ferran (289 points) is now only 14 points behind series leader Tony Kanaan of Brazil, who was ninth on Saturday. Dixon is one point behind de Ferran.
Result of Indy Racing League, Round 9 of 16, Nashville Superspeedway, Tennessee, United States:
Standings: Tony Kanaan 303, Gil de Ferran 289, Scott Dixon 288, Helio Castroneves 282, Kenny Brack 245, Al Unser Jr 227, Scott Sharp 193, Sam Hornish Jr 186, Tomas Scheckter 179, Tora Takagi 175 etc.
Report provided by Reuters
Johnson Judges The Juice
With qualifying rained out, the field was set by owners' points, with Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon filling the front row. At the start Kenseth took the lead, but slipped high on lap two, allowing Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr past. Lap three saw Earnhardt Jr take the lead only for Gordon to take the lead back two laps later as Jimmie Johnson joined them and then passed Earnhardt Jr on lap six, while Kenseth was dropping down the top ten. First caution of the day came out on lap 10 after John Andretti went into the turn one and two wall after Jimmy Spencer ran wide into the side of him. Back to green on lap 16 but not for long, the next caution out on lap 22 after Sterling Marlin lost a front right tyre, the debris from the tyre bringing out the yellow.
The race resumed on lap 28, Gordon slowly edging away from teammate Johnson, with Earnhardt Jr further back in third with his teammate Michael Waltrip just behind him, Kenseth back in sixth. In what became a theme of the day, the cautions kept rolling, the next one out on lap 62 after Marlin lost another right front tyre, this time bouncing off the wall. As would also happen for the rest of the day, teams took differing tyre strategies, some taking two versus four. Kevin Harvick and Kenseth were among those taking two and were first out, ahead of Johnson, Waltrip and Rusty Wallace with Gordon back to sixth. Racing restarted on lap 66, Johnson taking second from Kenseth three laps later as Gordon took fifth from Wallace on lap 71, Wallace losing several more places soon after.
The race restarted on lap 114, Gordon opening a gap as Johnson pressured then passed Stewart for second on lap 117, just before the caution came out on lap 118 for Mike Wallace's crash on the backstretch. Back to green on lap 122, Gordon still showing the way and opening a gap as Jeff Burton continued his march up the field, taking third from Stewart on lap 124 and quickly moved onto second place Johnson's tail, eventually taking the place from Johnson on lap 138. Debris from another flat front tyre, this time Jeremy Mayfield's, brought out the next caution on lap 146. In came the field to pit, with no versus two versus four tyres choice again taking place. Jamie McMurray and Kyle Petty didn't even pit and took over at the front, while of those who pitted Elliott and Harvick were the first out to move into third and fourth. Meanwhile Johnson and Burton went from third and second to eighth and ninth as leader Gordon was now down in 15th!
Lap 151 of 300 and it was back to racing, but not for long, Kenny Wallace's front right suspension failing, causing him to run into and spin Jeff Burton to bring out the caution on lap 154. Back to green again on lap 157, as Harvick pressured McMurray for the lead, taking the place on lap 160, Joe Nemechek moving into second three laps later as Johnson took fifth from Robby Gordon. The next caution wasn't far away, coming out for debris on lap 166 following contact off turn four when Rusty Wallace squeezed Stewart into the wall, with part of the rear of Wallace's car falling off and landing on the track. The race restarted on lap 170, Jeff Gordon up to ninth as they restarted. Soon after Johnson took third place from McMurray, and moved into second a few laps after that as Jeff Gordon's progress saw him back in the top five.
At the restart on lap 212 the order was Jeff Gordon, Craven, Robby Gordon, Newman, Labonte as they and a few others had stayed out waiting to pit later, though Newman had stopped at the lap 197 yellow and was hoping to make it to the end without taking on more fuel as Harvick in 13th was the best placed of those who had just stopped and could (probably) make it to the end. Newman quickly moved past Robby Gordon into third as Jeff Gordon extended his lead at the front. Lap 234 and caution returned to the track once more after Mike Wallace tipped Christian Fittipaldi into a spin off turn four. Those who didn't pit earlier made their final stops, again some drivers taking zero, two or four tyres.
Among those who took four were Stewart and Jeff Gordon, Gordon dropping from first to 28th, as the top five now comprised of Newman, Robby Gordon, Steve Park, Dale Jarrett and Johnson. The race restarted on lap 240, Johnson quickly on the move, taking Jarrett for fourth, then third from Park on lap 244 and second from Robby Gordon one lap later as Newman moved clear at the front. Harvick was on his way back towards the front, soon up into fourth place, and third when teammate Robby Gordon let him through on lap 254. Meanwhile Jeff Gordon and Stewart had moved up the order but still were outside the top twenty. At the front, Johnson quickly closed in on Newman but couldn't get by immediately as Newman put up a fight.
Up front Johnson was safely clear of Harvick, taking the win ahead of him with Kenseth taking third place ahead of Newman and Robby Gordon. Late in the race some people's fuel gambles didn't pay off, Elliott running out with four to go while Nemechek, Ricky Rudd and Johnny Sauter were among those who ran out of fuel on the final lap. Tony Stewart ended his day 22nd, while Jeff Gordon, leader with less than 70 laps to go, leading the most laps all day and with seemingly a winning car, finished the race in 24th place.
Result of NASCAR Winston Cup, Round 19 of 36, New Hampshire International Speedway, New Hampshire, United States:
Standings: Matt Kenseth 2848, Jeff Gordon 2614, Dale Earnhardt Jr 2575, Bobby Labonte 2472, Jimmie Johnson 2429, Michael Waltrip 2373, Kevin Harvick 2316, Kurt Busch 2243, Tony Stewart 2226, Jeff Burton 2200 etc.
'The Enforcer' Returns
Kelly wasn't the only driver in new machinery, as Ford Performance Racing made their team an all BA attack with David Besnard finally getting his new car, while Paul Morris
ran a VY built from the ground up a 'Project Blueprint' car, including the new engine.
The ownership of the former TWR Australia teams appears to have been sorted out to the satisfaction of TEGA, though little detail is available other than to confirm Mark Skaife is now the owner (and one of the drivers) of HRT (Holden Racing Team) while Rick and Todd Kelly's parents John and Margaret are the owners of the KMart Racing Team, with Rick driving for KMart and Todd at HRT. Finally, the series has welcomed a new 'platform' sponsor, with Australia's largest ISP BigPond joining the fray as they rebrand and revitalise their business.
The event saw the return to the 300 km race format featuring several times this season, with a compulsory stop for tyres and a compulsory stop for fuel. Marcos Ambrose was on pole with Mark Skaife alongside, with Paul Morris a superb third and Simon Wills in sixth place on the grid for Team Dynamik the standouts. At the start Skaife got the jump, leading Ambrose into turn ahead of Russell Ingall, Paul Morris and Jason Bright. After a poor start, Greg Murphy was moving back up, taking eighth on lap two and seventh on lap three. Next on his list was Wills, Murphy diving inside into turn three. Except he had gone in too deep and slipped wide, knocking Wills off the track and down to twelfth place while Murphy dropped to ninth.
Lap 34 saw the first of the leaders pit, Paul Radisich pitting from seventh for fuel. At the very front, Todd Kelly pitted for fuel on lap 40, while Ingall pitted for fuel on lap 41, two laps before the leading duo pitted, Skaife taking fuel while Ambrose went for tyres. With a tyre stop around ten seconds faster than a fuel stop, Ambrose moved ahead of Skaife but needed to make up some ground on fresh tyres and low fuel to make sure he remained ahead of Skaife on heavy fuel and old tyres when he pitted for tyres later in the race. Back on track, Ambrose was able to do this, pulling out the gap at around a second a lap.
Skaife saw this happening and was back in for tyres just four laps after taking fuel, Ingall stopping one lap later and coming out ahead of Skaife, a slow front left tyre change on Skaife possibly the cause as the bulk of the field made both of their stops. Despite Skaife and Ingall moving onto new tyres, Ambrose was still consistently lapping around a second per lap faster as he prepared to make his stop for fuel. Lap 55 and Ambrose was back in for fuel. The fuel went in with no problems, but as Ambrose went to exit his pit bay the car stalled. It immediately refired but this meant that he was going to be close to Steven Ellery who had already pitted and was already in the 'fast' lane as Ambrose exited his pit bay.
Back on the track, Ambrose was flying once more, catching the leading duo of Ingall and Skaife at around three-quarters of a second per lap. At this rate, Ambrose would catch Skaife before the end of the race, Skaife maintaining a two second deficit to leader Ingall. Elsewhere, Todd Kelly, who had spent virtually the whole race behind Jason Bright, finally got ahead of him on lap 63 to move into fourth, Paul Morris following his way past. Lap 81 saw Radisich lose two places to drop to ninth after John Bowe and Craig Lowndes went past at turn three, Lowndes taking seventh from Bowe six laps later. Meanwhile Ambrose's relentless chase of Skaife had continued, bringing the margin down lap by lap until by lap 86 he was right on Skaife's tail. The only problem now was whether he could find a way past in the remaining 10 laps.
Though Ambrose was right on Skaife's tail, he was having a hard time finding a way past, Skaife driving well off the corners preventing Ambrose from getting alongside down the straights. This all became academic however when on lap 89 Skaife suffered his second engine failure in two years at Queensland Raceway, ending his day early and moving everyone still running, most significantly Ambrose, up a place. Ambrose continued to push and close on teammate Ingall for the lead but ran out of laps as Ingall took the win ahead of Ambrose, Skaife's teammate Todd Kelly filling out the podium.
Result of V8 Supercar Championship Series, Round 7 of 13, Queensland Raceway, Australia:
Standings: Jason Bright 1195, Marcos Ambrose 1159, Greg Murphy 1101, Russell Ingall 1013, Paul Weel 1007, Steven Richards 992, Mark Skaife 965, Craig Lowndes 908, Rick Kelly 898, Paul Radisich 836 etc.
Standings (after worst round dropped): Marcos Ambrose 1063, Jason Bright 1061, Steven Richards 992, Greg Murphy 987, Russell Ingall 931, Mark Skaife 929, Paul Weel 881, Craig Lowndes 850, Rick Kelly 799, Paul Radisich 794 etc.
V8 Supercar points distribution
Rossi-Ducati Dream Team May Have To Wait
By Nick Mulvenney
World champion Valentino Rossi last week reiterated his desire to ride on a Ducati in MotoGP, raising a mouthwatering prospect for Italian bike fans. "For sure I'd like to ride for Ducati," Rossi was quoted as saying in last Wednesday's edition of Motor Cycle News. "It is like a dream and I already know that the bike is fast."
Ducati have had remarkable success on their return to top class grand prix racing this year after a gap of more than three decades, and are to bikes what Ferrari are to cars in Italy. So the prospect of the charismatic Rossi riding the Ducati Desmosedici would not just be a dream come true for him, but also for a legion of Italian enthusiasts.
Rossi's flirtation with Ducati may, however, have more to do with his contract negotiations with Honda than any desire to unite two big names of Italian motorcycling. Honda's RCV machine made Rossi untouchable in last year's first season of MotoGP racing and they would like to secure his signature on a new deal, valid for at least two years, in the next couple of weeks.
Rossi, however, would like a one-year deal to free him up to talk to other teams after the 2004 season, when the contracts of most of the other top riders in MotoGP, including Loris Capirossi and Troy Bayliss at Ducati, come to an end. Rossi has also spoken about quitting the sport after what could be four successive world titles and taking up one of the many offers extended to him to try his luck in Formula One or rallying.
Valentino wants to keep his options open so if he decides to finish with motorcycle racing he can do," Honda Europe chief Carlo Fiorani said. "He doesn't want long-term contracts affecting his life decisions." But Fiorani added: "To us a one-year contract is not acceptable."
While Rossi and the end of the 500cc limit have been in large part responsible for what is being described as a new golden age of grand prix racing, the return of Ducati this season has been the icing on the cake.
Using the know-how gained in dominating the rival world superbike championship for most of its 15 years, the Italian marque hit the ground running with the riders Capirossi and Bayliss on the Desmosedici. In the eight Grands Prix so far the pair have led six races, scored one victory, had four podium finishes, two poles and seven front-row starts. Capirossi and Bayliss are fourth and fifth in the standings behind three Honda riders at the halfway point of the season.
Capirossi's historic first victory for Ducati at the Catalan Grand Prix last month was the first in the top class by a non-Japanese bike since 1994 and the first by an Italian on an Italian bike since Giacomo Agostini on an MV Agusta in 1976. Australian Bayliss, the 2001 Superbike champion for Ducati, is also going well and Briton Neil Hodgson might be looking for a switch to MotoGP if, as expected, he wins this year's Superbike title for Ducati.
With this talent in hand it is a moot point whether Ducati would have room for Rossi, and less doubtful is whether they would want to pay the kind of money he demands. Rossi is reported to be asking for a sum in the region of $10 million from Honda, a figure Minoli says is beyond Ducati.
"Valentino is a great rider and the idea for us was to show that we had a suitable bike before we even dreamed about him riding for us," he told Motor Cycle News. "Now we have a suitable bike so everybody can dream ... but we are happy with our current riders."
"If Valentino wants to be paid what we read about in the press then he can only have that kind of money from Honda. We are a small company and there is no way we can afford that."
Report provided by Reuters
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