Standings: Paul Tracy 139, Bruno Junqueira 124, Michel Jourdain Jr 113, Patrick Carpentier 88, Sebastien Bourdais 86, Oriol Servia 76, Adrian Fernandez 69, Mario Dominguez 62, Alex Tagliani 51, Darren Manning 50 etc.

CART points distribution

Report provided by Reuters

  MotoGP

Rossi Relegation Boosts Biaggi

For quite a while it looked like Valentino Rossi had taken a fifth British Grand Prix win in a row, winning the event on a 250 in 1999, a 500 in 2000 and 2001 and a MotoGP bike last year. But throughout the race there had been an incident nagging in the back of some people's minds, when on lap two Rossi passed compatriot Loris Capirossi while under yellow flags. Despite appearing clearly on broadcasts of the event the indiscretion appeared to go unpunished until a post race penalty was eventually applied to Rossi, handing the win to arch enemy Max Biaggi. Even this penalty seemed somewhat lenient, the ten second penalty likely being less of a penalty than Rossi would've suffered had he been given a stop-go penalty in the early laps of the race like one may have expected. Rossi still holds a reasonably comfortable (though slightly smaller) lead over Sete Gibernau and Max Biaggi, who are separated by just three points.

Max Biaggi sat on pole for the first time this season, ahead of Sete Gibernau, 2002 250cc champion Marco Melandri riding his Yamaha and Valentino Rossi. At the start Biaggi held onto the lead while Rossi dropped to seventh as Gibernau and Capirossi slotted into second and third, with Melandri in fourth, though Melandri was soon past Capirossi into third place. Meanwhile Biaggi's teammate Tohru Ukawa was out after falling at the first turn, Redgate. Into the esses on lap one and Rossi was past Checa, those two both passing Bayliss at the Melbourne hairpin. As they began lap two there were still yellow flags waving for Ukawa's crash soon after the start. This wasn't a problem until Rossi decided to pass Capirossi as Loris backed off a little as he acknowledged the flags.

Into the Melbourne hairpin on lap two Rossi was third as he went past Melandri. Next on Rossi's list was Gibernau. And he got him, stuffing it up the inside of him at the Old Hairpin on lap three. Now all that separated Rossi from the lead was his countryman Biaggi. It looked like he was going to take the lead at the esses later that lap but Biaggi proved to be a tougher task to pass than those before him. Gibernau and Melandri were still close behind Rossi, with Capirossi and Checa not too far behind them. Rossi continued to look but Biaggi kept shutting the door. Just as Melandri was having his best race of the season it was all over, crashing out at the esses on lap five. Crashing right in front of Capirossi and Checa, it allowed the top three to make a break from the rest of the field.

Lap after lap Rossi sat on Biaggi's tail, the duo eventually dropping Gibernau off, as no news came of Rossi's earlier move being penalised or even investigated. Anyway, after lap after lap of being nose to tail, Rossi took the lead on lap 13 when Biaggi had a small off-track excursion at the esses that dropped him to second place. From that point on, Rossi held onto a small but decisive advantage over Biaggi. Further back, Checa had drifted back into the hands of Bayliss, before Bayliss took the place from him on lap fifteen, one place behind teammate Capirossi though not close enough on track to even think about moving up a place.

Lap 19 saw the demise of Olivier Jacque, who had ridden an erratic race, both position wise and handling wise, finally highsiding violently off his bike at the Melbourne hairpin. Up front Rossi went on to cross the line first, just ahead of Biaggi with Gibernau further back in third, with the two Ducatis filling out the top five. Further back the Aprilias had a good day, Noriyuki Haga in seventh and Colin Edwards in tenth. Then some considerable time after the race it was announced that Rossi would receive a ten second penalty for his lap two indiscretion, promoting Max Biaggi and Sete Gibernau a place each as Rossi dropped to third place, Biaggi now the new winner. Quite why it took the stewards so long to make the decision is unclear...

Result of World Motorcycle Championship, Round 8 of 16, Donington Park, United Kingdom:

Pos  Rider                 Motorcycle
 1.  Max Biaggi            Honda RC211V
 2.  Sete Gibernau         Honda RC211V
 3.  Valentino Rossi       Honda RC211V
 4.  Loris Capirossi       Ducati Desmosedici
 5.  Troy Bayliss          Ducati Desmosedici
 6.  Carlos Checa          Yamaha YZR-M1
 7.  Noriyuki Haga         Aprilia Cube
 8.  Nicky Hayden          Honda RC211V
 9.  Shinya Nakano         Yamaha YZR-M1
10.  Colin Edwards         Aprilia Cube

Standings: Valentino Rossi 167, Sete Gibernau 133, Max Biaggi 130, Loris Capirossi 84, Troy Bayliss 64, Alex Barros 62, Carlos Checa 57, Tohru Ukawa 56, Shinya Nakano 54, Nicky Hayden 46 etc.

MotoGP points distribution

  NASCAR

Flyin' Ryan

At the start of the race it looked it would be Tony Stewart. In the middle it looked like Kevin Harvick might take an unprecedented three wins in succession in the first three years of a circuit. But at the end of the day it was Ryan Newman as he showed race-long speed and a miserly right foot to take the win at Chicagoland. Harvick's good day was cruelly ruined when he ran out of fuel late in the race, though he ended the day in better shape than championship contenders Bobby Labonte and Dale Earnhardt Jr who both exited the race in spectacular circumstances. This meant that Matt Kenseth, who was never in contention all day, only lost out to Jeff Gordon who moved back to second in the standings. Even Kenseth's bad day wasn't too bad, finishing 12th first car down a lap.

At the start, polesitter Tony Stewart took the lead as fellow front row starter was hung up high, dropping several places. Stewart slowly edged out his lead over the field, as Jamie McMurray moved up into the top five. After 40 laps Stewart continued to lead from Bill Elliott, Jamie McMurray, Casey Mears having his best run all season and Jeff Gordon, McMurray taking second from Elliott on lap 46. After an engine change had forced him to start from the back of the field, Jimmie Johnson had been motoring on and was up to 15th by lap 50. Lap 51 saw Gordon move ahead of Mears in to fourth. Just one lap later Elliott pitted from second place for his first pit stop. Over the next few laps several of the Dodges also pitted, before the bulk of the field pitted around the lap 60 to 65 mark.

After these stops were over the order was Stewart, McMurray, Elliott, Mears and Kevin Harvick, Harvick going for three in a row in the first three years for this track. Earnhardt Jr was also making his way up the field, passing Gordon for sixth on lap 76 as McMurray closed in on Stewart. Before McMurray had a chance to pass the caution came out on lap 83 for debris on the track. As was to happen throughout the rest of the day, differing pit strategies went into action, some drivers taking fuel only, others fuel and two tyres and yet others went the whole hog and took fuel and four tyres. The winner in this lottery was Harvick, who led Stewart, Newman, Earnhardt and Mears off pit road, while previous top three runners McMurray and Earnhardt dropped out of the top ten after going with four.

Back to green on lap 87, Harvick pulling away at the front, but it was back to yellow on lap 92 after Larry Foyt spun into the wall in turns three and four. The race restarted on lap 96 with Gordon taking fifth from Mears two laps later. Stewart meanwhile was running with Harvick and took the lead on lap 106, just before the caution came out on lap 107 for debris from Johnny Sauter's car which had shredded a right rear tyre, and some of the right rear bodywork too. Harvick took back the lead after faking to pit and then pulling back on track, as the rest of the field apart from Robby Gordon and Rusty Wallace pitted. These three led the field, with Jeff Gordon and Jamie McMurray filling out the top five after taking fuel only.

Racing resumed on lap 114, with Robby Gordon and Rusty Wallace quickly falling down the order as McMurray and Jeff Gordon moved into third and fourth by lap 119. Stewart was also moving up, into fifth on lap 120 but Robby Gordon wanted the place back, and as they headed into turn one on lap 121 he was back inside Stewart. Unfortunately for both of them Elliott Sadler was inside both of them, and this forced Gordon into Stewart as they rounded turn one, sending Stewart high but not into the wall, dropping Stewart several places. Lap 129 and the caution lights were on again as Kurt Busch's day ended in a cloud of smoke from his engine. This time Jeff Gordon stayed out as others pitted, McMurray and Jimmie Johnson the best of those on pit lane, while Harvick and Stewart were now both outside the top ten.

Lap 132 and it was green once more, Johnson taking second from McMurray one lap later before McMurray took the place back two laps later, with Newman moving onto Johnson's tail soon after as Gordon continued to lead. After a while Johnson closed back in on McMurray, with Johnson taking back second place from McMurray on lap 157, Johnson then closing on teammate Gordon for the lead. Just as Johnson got there, Gordon pitted, having not pitted at the last caution. Johnson was the next of the leaders to pit fifteen laps later on lap 189, which began a flurry of pit stops for the leaders. If anyone could hang out until lap 200 or close to it, there was a chance they could make it to the end without stopping again. Newman, Earnhardt Jr and Harvick were among the few who were able to pit late enough to do it.

After the stops were completed, Johnson led Jeff Gordon, McMurray, Newman and Stewart. Lap 209 and it was back to caution after Dale Earnhardt Jr spun in the middle of turns one and two and hit the wall hard, shortening his car by a foot or two. Most of the leaders headed for the pits, though Newman, Jeff Burton, Michael Waltrip and Harvick stayed out to become the first four. Of those that did pit, Johnson and Gordon were the first out to take up fifth and sixth. The race restarted on lap 213 but was back to yellow just two laps later following a chain of events. Contact between Casey Mears and Johnny Benson sent Benson down onto the apron, and as he tried to recover he came back up onto the track and clipped the rear of Labonte, spinning Labonte quickly and hard into the wall, the rear impacting hard enough to turn Labonte's car immediately into a fireball.

Thankfully Labonte was able to quickly get out of the car safely, though his car continued to burn for a while afterwards before it was extinguished. Jeff Gordon, Sadler and Elliott pitted, dropping them to the back of the lead lap in ninth, tenth and eleventh, as everyone else stayed out. The race resumed on lap 223, Newman leading Waltrip, Harvick and Johnson and Burton. With 43 to go in the 267 lap race Harvick moved up into second, Harvick quickly closing on Newman as Johnson similarly closed in on Waltrip. Lap 235 it was back to caution however as Casey Mears went into the turn one and two wall, with Johnson completing his pass to take third from Waltrip as they came back to take the caution. This time McMurray, Mayfield, Sadler and Elliott made stops.

Lap 240 and it was back to green, Newman leading Harvick, Johnson, Waltrip and Stewart. Harvick inititally pushed Newman hard before Newman edged away from him. Lap 244 saw Stewart pass Waltrip for fourth, Jeff Gordon doing the same to Waltrip eight laps later as Stewart closed in on Johnson. Lap 260 and Stewart took third from Johnson as Newman held a safe lead over Harvick, these two the only drivers to push the distance without stopping. However, there had been around 20 laps under caution since their last pit stops so any worries about running out of fuel should have been over. That was until Harvick slowed as he crossed the line with three to go. Out of fuel! Meanwhile Ryan Newman went on to take the win ahead of Stewart, Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Waltrip, while Harvick ended up falling from second to 17th.

Result of NASCAR Winston Cup, Round 18 of 36, ChicagoLand, Illinois, United States:

Pos  Driver                Car
 1.  Ryan Newman           Dodge Intrepid
 2.  Tony Stewart          Chevrolet Monte Carlo
 3.  Jimmie Johnson        Chevrolet Monte Carlo
 4.  Jeff Gordon           Chevrolet Monte Carlo
 5.  Michael Waltrip       Chevrolet Monte Carlo
 6.  Jeff Burton           Ford Taurus
 7.  Robby Gordon          Chevrolet Monte Carlo
 8.  Jamie McMurray        Dodge Intrepid
 9.  Elliott Sadler        Ford Taurus
10.  Jeremy Mayfield       Dodge Intrepid

Standings: Matt Kenseth 2678, Jeff Gordon 2513, Dale Earnhardt Jr 2420, Bobby Labonte 2351, Michael Waltrip 2294, Jimmie Johnson 2249, Kevin Harvick 2166, Tony Stewart 2129, Kurt Busch 2113, Sterling Marlin 2098 etc.

NASCAR points distribution

  Superbikes

Calamity, Chili And Xaus In California

Neil Hodgson didn't have one of his better weekends, but two second places meant he was by far the best performer overall at Laguna Seca. It was a weekend of crashes, with two riders crashing out of the lead in race one and a smattering of crashes by other riders, including one right at the (first) start of race one. Along the way Pierfrancesco Chili scored his first win since 2001 while Ruben Xaus took his third win in four starts. As already mentioned Hodgson was by far the best performer in the two races, and extended his lead over the rest of the field, with Xaus extending his advantage over Toseland in the battle for second place. It's possible Hodgson could wrap the championship at home at the next round at Brands Hatch but a more likely venue for claiming the title would be the following round at Assen.

As is usually the case at Laguna Seca, several wildcards were in the field, and one of them was on pole, Mat Mladin on a Ducati doing the business with his teammate Aaron Yates in fourth, while Neil Hodgson was down in eighth. The first attempt to start race one was a disaster, with James Toseland failing to get away on the warm-up lap, and was almost a lap behind when the lights went out to start the race. It didn't get any better, as a dive down the inside by Aaron Yates into the hairpin sent the field scattering when he dismounted, Pierfrancesco Chili and Neil Hodgson the highest profile casualties among several riders taken out. Fortunately for (almost) all concerned, the race was red flagged and restarted.

At the second attempt everyone made it safely through the hairpin, Laconi leading Mladin, Lavilla, Chili and Xaus. Out of the turn one hairpin on lap two Xaus drove up the inside of Chili to take fourth place. The next change at the front happened at the final hairpin on lap four, when Laconi had a wobble on the exit, allowing Mladin to take the lead before Xaus repeated his earlier move at the turn one hairpin, this time taking third from Lavilla. He topped this at the end of the lap when he went around the outside of Laconi at the final hairpin to take second as a little further back Chili passed Lavilla. Hodgson was still down in seventh place, just behind Toseland, finally moving past him into sixth on lap seven, and Lavilla for fifth two laps later.

Lap nine and Xaus was in front after once again driving up the inside at the turn one hairpin, as Laconi moved onto Mladin's tail. Xaus slowly began to pull away as the next pack of four, with Hodgson on the back, diced with each other. Just when it looked like Xaus was opening a comfortable lead he was leading no more, having lost the front end at the final hairpin and crashed out of the race on lap 12. This returned Mladin to the lead but only for a lap before Laconi led once again after Laconi and Chili passed Mladin, Hodgson still lurking though losing a little ground as Mladin began to fade away from the leading duo.

Chili was pushing Laconi hard, and Laconi was riding hard to lead, a little too hard it turned out as the leader's curse struck, Laconi losing the front end and crashing out at the turn one hairpin on lap 17. As they came around to complete the lap Hodgson made his move on Mladin, moving up to second thanks to Laconi's downfall, which now saw Pierfrancesco Chili leading. Could or would Hodgson try to catch Chili? Meanwhile Mladin had something to worry about as Toseland quickly closed on to his tail. Toseland was too strong, taking third from Mladin on lap 23 as Chris Walker took fifth place on the same lap when Lavilla crashed coming down the hill near the hairpin. Up front Chili kept Hodgson safely at bay to take his first win since 2001, with Toseland completing the podium of riders which had ironically suffered at the first attempt to start the race!

Race two began with Laconi leading again, ahead of Toseland who made a great start, and Chili. Mladin was nowhere to be seen after withdrawing after race one, exhausted having raced in the AMA round the previous day. Soon after Chili, who looked like having a good day, was out as well, crashing about halfway through lap one when he highsided off the bike in spectacular fashion. With Chili gone, Yates, Xaus and Hodgson filled out the top five. After breaking away at the start, Laconi had been reeled back in, with Yates taking second up the hill to the Corkscrew on lap three before taking the lead into the final hairpin at the end of the lap, his move allowing Toseland and Xaus to drag past Laconi down the pit straight, Laconi dropping from first to fourth from the beginning of the pit straight to the end of it!

Around the back of the circuit on lap four the factory Ducatis were on the move, Xaus taking second from Toseland as simultaneously Hodgson demoted Laconi another place. Xaus wasn't done with yet and took the lead from Yates as they completed the lap. Immediately Xaus began pulling away as Hodgson continued his attack on Toseland. In almost a repeat of what happened on lap three, Hodgson passed both Toseland and Yates off the final hairpin, while Toseland move ahead of Yates, Yates falling from second to fourth in a matter of metres. While Hodgson was now up to second, he wasn't able to close on Xaus and in fact he now had Toseland on his tail, though they had dropped the rest of the pack off them.

Like teammate Mladin in race one, Yates began to fall down the order after holding up a train behind him for several laps, losing fourth to Lavilla on lap eleven and fifth to Walker on lap twelve, with Laconi moving onto his tail. Toseland's chase of Hodgson paid off on lap twelve, performing a switchback pass to move back ahead into second place. Still Xaus was flying at the front, setting an extremely fast place as Toseland slowly pulled away from Hodgson. Then the crashing curse struck again, Toseland falling on the exit of the corkscrew. The bike wasn't badly damaged but it wouldn't refire and so Toseland was out. Toseland's crash wasn't good news for Hodgson either, forced to take avoiding action which droppped him to fifth place, as Walker, Lavilla and Yates moved ahead of him and Laconi and Giovanni Bussei were right behind him. What had looked like a comfortable podium wasn't looking so comfortable any more, while Xaus now had a lead of over ten seconds!

Lap 21 saw Yates take third from Lavilla entering the Corkscrew, Hodgson taking another place from Lavilla on the way down the hill. As they completed lap 22 Hodgson moved into third place past Yates to move back onto the podium, before taking Walker just over a lap later on the run down the pit straight to move back into second place (again). Yates's day ended how it began, if a little less spectacularly, when he lowsided out of the race at the final hairpin on lap 25. Xaus was untouchable at the front, going on to take the win well clear of teammate Hodgson, with Chris Walker taking third place. Fourth place looked like being Lavilla's until Laconi dived through into the turn one hairpin on the final lap to demote Lavilla to fifth place.

Result of World Superbike Championship, Round 8 of 12, Laguna Seca, California, United States:

Race One

Pos  Rider                 Motorcycle
 1.  Pierfrancesco Chili   Ducati 998RS
 2.  Neil Hodgson          Ducati 999F03
 3.  James Toseland        Ducati 998F02
 4.  Mat Mladin            Suzuki GSX-R 1000
 5.  Chris Walker          Ducati 998F02
 6.  Aaron Yates           Suzuki GSX-R 1000 
 7.  Giovanni Bussei       Ducati 998RS
 8.  Troy Corser           Foggy FP1
 9.  Mauro Sanchini        Kawasaki ZX7RR
10.  Marco Borciani        Ducati 998RS

Race Two

Pos  Rider                 Motorcycle
 1.  Ruben Xaus            Ducati 999F03
 2.  Neil Hodgson          Ducati 999F03
 3.  Chris Walker          Ducati 998F02
 4.  Regis Laconi          Ducati 998RS
 5.  Gregorio Lavilla      Suzuki GSX-R 1000
 6.  Giovanni Bussei       Ducati 998RS
 7.  Juan Borja            Ducati 998RS
 8.  Mauro Sanchini        Kawasaki ZX7RR
 9.  Marco Borciani        Ducati 998RS
10.  Lucio Pedercini       Ducati 998RS

Standings: Neil Hodgson 355, Ruben Xaus 233, James Toseland 201, Regis Laconi 187, Gregorio Lavilla 166, Chris Walker 156, Pierfrancesco Chili 143, Steve Martin 95, Marco Borciani 93, Lucio Pedercini 91 etc.

Superbikes points distribution

  Rally

Citroen Extend Loeb's Contract To 2005

French rally driver Sebastien Loeb will stay with Citroen until the end of 2005, the team said on Friday.

Loeb got the French manufacturer's first full world championship season off to a winning start in January when he won the Monte Carlo Rally.

His teammates at Citroen this year are Briton Colin McRae and Spaniard Carlos Sainz, both former champions.

Report provided by Reuters

  Briefs

• The post Le Mans return of the ALMS at Road Atlanta has seen the Champion Racing Audi R8 outfit led by JJ Lehto and Johnny Herbert take their debut ALMS victory, beating home the similar Audi of Frank Biela and Marco Werner. Third was taken by early race leader the Lola-MG of Jon Field and Duncan Dayton, taking the LMP675 class as well, ahead of the Lola-MG of James Weaver and Butch Leitzinger. The top GTS car was the Chevrolet Corvette of Kelly Collins and Olivier Gavin, while the Alex Job Racing Porsche 996 of Jorg Bergmeister and Timo Bernhard won the GT class. Biela, Werner and Lehto are equal leaders in the series on 42 points ahead of Herbert on 39.

  Upcoming Events Calendar

• July 19 - International Formula 3000 Championship, Round 7 of 10; Silverstone, United Kingdom
• July 19 - Indy Racing League, Round 8 of 16; Nashville Superspeedway, Tennessee, United States
• July 20 - World Series by Nissan, Round 5 of 9; Lausitzring, Germany
• July 20 - NASCAR Winston Cup, Round 19 of 36; New Hampshire International Speedway, New Hampshire, United States
• July 20 - V8 Supercar Championship Series, Round 7 of 13; Queensland Raceway, Australia
• July 20 - European Formula 3000 Championship, Round 5 of 10; Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
• July 23 - World Rally Championship, Round 8 of 14; Rally Deutschland, Germany
• July 24 - Middle East Rally Championship, Round 3; Jordan International Rally
• July 26 - Spa 24 Hour, FIA GT Championship, Round 5 of 10; Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
• July 26 - European Touring Car Championship, Rounds 9 & 10 of 20; Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
• July 27 - World Motorcycle Championship, Round 9 of 16; Sachsenring, Germany
• July 27 - Champ Car World Series, Round 11 of 19; Vancouver Street Circuit, Canada
• July 27 - Indy Racing League, Round 10 of 16; Michigan International Superspeedway, Michigan, United States
• July 27 - Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, Round 6 of 10; Donington Park, United Kingdom
• July 27 - NASCAR Winston Cup, Round 20 of 36; Pocono International Speedway, Pennsylvania, United States
• July 27 - American Le Mans Series, Round 3 of 9; Road Atlanta, Georgia, United States
• July 27 - World Superbike Championship, Rounds 17 & 18 of 24; Laguna Seca, California, United States
• July 27 - All-Japan Formula Nippon Championship, Round 6 of 10; Sugo, Japan