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The Seventy-Three Year Itch
This year Reinhold Joest's team was absent, leaving the way clear for someone else to win. Bentley were just too strong. Their two cars chewed up the kilometres and never allowed anyone else a look in. Tom Kristensen won his fifth Le Mans, the last four of them consecutively, Guy Smith his first, and Dindo Capello, Audi's professional Le Mans bridesmaid, finally won the French classic.
Kristensen set the tone for the event in qualifying, putting his EXP Speed 8 on pole with a 3:32.843 almost three seconds faster than Johnny Herbert's time in the second Bentley. Frank Biela was the best of the rest, the Audi Sport UK R8 just behind the second Bentley. Fourth fastest was perennial high qualifier, the Racing For Holland Dome-Judd with Jan Lammers four tenths behind Biela. The Japanese Team Goh Audi was fifth alongside the American Champion Racing Audi. Riley & Scott surprised most with Jim Mathews setting seventh best time ahead of the second Dutch Dome-Judd, the works Courage-Judd and the lead JML Panoz.
Kristensen set the pace once the race was under way, leading his teammate off into the distance with Lammers leading a gaggle of Audis in pursuit. Jan Magnussen and Frank Biela didn't stay behind the Dome for long, only a lap in fact, but for JJ Lehto it would take longer. That lap though allowed the Bentleys to build a lead. Olivier Gavin ground to a halt in the lead Corvette with electrical problems. The time the Chevy lost at this point would never be made up.
While the Japanese and British Audis chased the Bentleys, the Champion car ran more conservatively and stretched the first fuel stop an extra lap. Over the course of a 24 hour race, that could easily cut two pitstops later in the day if they could keep it up. It would put additional pressure on the other Audis that would soon tell. The factory supported TVR team lost one of its charges early against the barriers and shortly afterwards the rapid Riley & Scott spun at Indianapolis from a puncture.
The green fuel Nasamax Reynard-Cosworth was behind the pit wall at this stage with gear problems that would cost it several laps. The class leading DBA-Zytek was pinged for pitlane speeding and lost the lead in LMP675. Later in the third hour they would be in again with alternator failure while its LMP675 rival the Intersport MG was in with serious mechancial problems, leaving the defending champs the ROC Reynard-Lehmann into the lead.
As second drivers took over, Kristensen double stinting in the #7 car had most of a lap lead on Mark Blundell while Marco Werner in the Japanese Audi started pegging back the nearest of the dark green cars. Just after the fourth hour began Kristensen caught and lapped Johansson in the Champion Audi, cutting Bentley's effective rivals down to one. A few laps behind Johansson, the battle for fifth was being led by Lammers in the Dome but in relatively close company was the leading Panoz, the factory Courage and the Riley & Scott, with Pescarolo's two Courage-Peugeots not far away.
Pirro was closing in on Blundell in the battle for second as the #8 Bentley was starting to flatten its battery. The car failed to start after a scheduled fuel stop in the thirteenth hour. With Herbert back aboard, and the proximity of the Champion Audi, Herbert put the hammer down, setting what would be the fastest lap of the race. Herbert's surge, along with Pirro also needing a new battery at his next stop, would push the Bentley out of range of the Audis again. The Pescarolo Courages were now moving slowly into the top ten, along with the Prodrive Ferrari from GTS. The race's third Dome, a Mugen-powered example from Japan fielded by Kondo Racing was hovering on the edge of the top fifteen when Ryo Fukuda had an off damaging the car's nose.
Herbert's charge was blunted just after his his pitstop, the first in daylight, when a tyre went flat just two laps after being bolted to the car. The battle for fifth was enlivened by two incidents almost simulatenously as Jan Lammers spun the Dome into the sand at Indianapolis while Gunnar Jeannette put the Panoz into a tyre barrier at Arnage. Both would continue shortly and pit for bodywork repairs and inspections. And suddenly the three Courages were that little bit closer, meaning the battle for the bottom half of the top ten would go on for some time.
Into the final quarter of the race the battle for fifth intesified even further, to the point that when Lammers made an unscheduled stop for Andy Wallace and to get the overheating car cleared of radiator-fouling debris, they dropped behind Max Papis, Jean-Marc Gounon and Franck Lagorce. The second Dome caused a safety car period in the late morning as a delaminated tyre spat pieces of bodywork across the track. The Minassian Courage also pitted shortly afterwards with its front suspension deranged.
A fire briefly erupted, Schumacher style, around the Lagorce Courage as the two Courage-Peugeots gradually dropped from the fight for fifth. Pitstops continued to juggled the Panoz, Dome-Judd and Courage-Judd. Into the afternoon Papis held the class lead but Gounon and Lammers were faster. It was now a dash to the flag. With just sixty minutes to go Papis pitted for a longer than anticapated stop with the bodywork briefly removed, dropping behind Gounon.
The battle had distracted most, but not all, from the clocks. Guy Smith knew what the clock said and with David Brabham alongside for the photo finish, Bentley cruised to the line in front of their ecstatic crew for an emphatic 1-2 victory after 377 laps and over 5000 kilometres of racing. Brabham, Herbert and Blundell finished just two laps behind the winners and three laps in front of Champion Racing, Pirro, Lehto and Johansson completing the podium. Team Goh were two laps further back in fourth position.
Fifth? Ten laps behind Seiji Ara, the extra straight line speed of the Panoz told the story in the end, building up a small but winnable gap in this enthralling battle and Olivier Beretta, Max Papis and the JML Panoz team cheered the big American roadster home. For the Courage had crumbled at the very last hurdle, slowing sufficiently to hand sixth place to Jan Lammers, John Bosch, Andy Wallace and the discordant looking chequerboard Dome. The Pescarolo Courage-Peugeots followed at 356 and 352 laps respectively.
In LMGT the Alex Job and Orbit Racing Porsches staged a race long fight for the class. Late in the race, Sascha Maassen stretched the lead out into laps allowing Emanuel Collard to drive across the line in fourteenth, scoring a class win for Maassen, Collard and Lucas Luhr. Orbit would lose six laps in the end but still took second for Leon Hindery, Peter Baron and Marc Lieb. The Thierry Perrier Porsche, driven by Michel Neugarten, Nigel Smith and Ian Khan took third in class. Porsche 996s finished first through to sixth before the first Ferrari 360 Modena appeared.
In survival of the fittest in LMP675, Noel Del Bello successfully defended their Le Mans crown, Jean-Luc Maury-Laribiere, Christophe Pillon and Didier Andre completeing 319 laps in the Reynard-Lehmann, some 31 laps ahead of the DBA-Zytek in 23rd of John Neilson, Hiroshi Shimoda and Casper Elsgaard. There was only one other mobile car left in the class as Yojiro Terada, Olivier Porta and Gavin Pickering brought their WR LMP-01 Peugeot, some 142 laps behind the winning Bentley.
Result of 71st 24 Heures du Mans; Le Mans du Sarthe, France:
Bentley Revel In Le Mans Win Before Deciding Future
By Carl McKellar
Bentley chose to revel in their first victory of the Le Mans 24-Hours race for 73 years on Monday rather than contemplate their future participation in the event. The British marque won the endurance race for the first time since 1930 as the trio of Tom Kristensen, Rinaldo Capello and Guy Smith brought the number seven car home ahead of teammates Johnny Herbert, Mark Blundell and David Brabham.
For Dane Kristensen the victory was a record fourth in a row and the fifth of his career. He joined Derek Bell, a consultant to Bentley, on five wins with Belgian Jacky Ickx holding the record of six victories.
"This was a classic win. The drivers didn't put a wheel wrong and it was a great victory for all those who have worked to bring a Le Mans win back to Britain," Bell said.
For Italian Capello and Briton Smith it was the first Le Mans win of their careers. Smith, who has spent all three years of the Bentley programme as their test and development driver, expects to be out of work next year but is targeting a return.
"I'm out of a drive now so I'll tell you in a few months," he said when asked what he would do next. "Obviously I'll be pursuing a few things for next year. I just want to make sure I come back in a competitive car next year and have a chance of winning it again.
"We'll have to wait and see, but for now this is by far the best moment of my career."
For the Bentley marque the Le Mans 24-Hours win was the latest chapter in a long love affair that started in 1923, the first year the event was run. The entry of John Duff and Frank Clement was the first received by the organisers Automobile Club l'Ouest. Bentley won the event the following year, and then again from 1927 to 1930.
"I am so full of admiration for the team," director of motorsport at Bentley Brian Gush said. "We'd have settled for the win but to take the first two places, considering the opposition we faced, is quite fantastic."
Bentley report provided by Reuters
Capirossi Wins Numero Uno For Ducati
Valentino Rossi was on pole, with Ducati's Loris Capirossi alongside, while Max Biaggi had his worst qualifying in a long time, down in ninth. At the start Capirossi made another good start on the Ducati and led ahead of Rossi, Sete Gibernau, Olivier Jacque and Max Biaggi, moving up to fifth. Into turn four Biaggi dived past Jacque into third, just before things happened at the back of the field at the same turn. Andrew Pitt on his Kawasaki went to pass Proton's Jeremy McWilliams but misjudged things completely, taking both of them out as well as Kawasaki teammate Akira Yanagawa, Yanagawa sent tumbling spectacularly as he suffered suspected fractured ribs. Before lap one was over Biaggi took third from Gibernau before Gibernau snatched it back, as Capirossi trailed Rossi after Rossi took the lead at the end of the back straight.
Lap three and Biaggi and Gibernau did the same position swaps as they did on lap one, before Biaggi took third for good at the end of the main straight on lap four and moved on to Capirossi's tail as the leading four broke away from the field, though Carlos Checa managed to join them as the leaders conserved their tyres, Rossi not making a break, before the leading trio began to drop Gibernau and Checa off before lap 10. The gap between the leading trio fluctuated as gaps between each of them opened and closed.
Around half distance Rossi and Capirossi finally made a break on Biaggi, who fell back into the clutches of Gibernau. Capirossi's pressure on Rossi finally paid off when Rossi ran wide at the left hander at the end of the back straight on lap 16, opening up enough of a gap for Capirossi to sneak through into the lead. Rossi was immediately back on the attack, looking to regain the lead. This proved to (almost) be his downfall, going too deep into turn four on the next lap as he closed in on Capirossi, going for a ride through the gravel before resuming back in sixth place, eight seconds behind with eight laps remaining.
As Rossi began lap 23 he passed Shinya Nakano for fifth place into turn one, as just in front Biaggi had retaken Gibernau before running wide at turn four, letting Gibernau back through as one turn later Rossi took fourth from Checa and was now right on the tail of the duelling Gibernau and Biaggi as the dicing had cost them time. Into the third last turn of the lap he dived inside Biaggi and took third, before running a little bit wide, allowing Biaggi to drive back past through the middle and off the turn, but Rossi had driven off hard after Biaggi got back past and retook third again as they both straightened up off the turn. Three places in less than a lap by Rossi!
It was soon four as Rossi took second from Gibernau at turn one with just under two laps remaining. But the passes had cost Rossi time on the previous lap, and catching Capirossi would probably be asking too much now. And so it proved, Rossi barely making an impression on Capirossi over the final two laps, Capirossi taking Ducati's first win in MotoGP in only their sixth race in the series. Meanwhile there was still some excitement in the minor placings. Biaggi wanted a place on the podium, and at the end of the back straight on the second last lap he had it. Unfortunately, he had gone in too hot and rode across the gravel at speed before crashing into the tyres. He was able to resume but lost many places, finishing in 14th as Gibernau took third. And on the last lap, Nakano took fifth from Checa at turn one after tracking the Spaniard for lap after lap during the race.
Result of World Motorcycle Championship, Round 6 of 16, Barcelona, Spain:
Standings: Valentino Rossi 135, Sete Gibernau 88, Max Biaggi 85, Loris Capirossi 61, Alex Barros 54, Tohru Ukawa 52, Troy Bayliss 46, Shinya Nakano 44, Makoto Tamada and Carlos Checa 34 etc.
Carpentier Wins After Leading From The Start
By Lewis Franck
The winner averaged 107.986 mph, a new track record, for his first win of the year and fourth in his career. Carpentier, who started from the pole position after Michel Jourdain's pole-winning time was disqualified when his car was ruled underweight, said the victory was not as easy as it had looked.
"There were a few close calls," he said. "I felt like I stole a car and had a bunch of policemen following me!" The first time was on the aborted first start. Carpentier slowed suddenly, Tracy rammed Carpentier's Lola-Ford from behind and the field behind them scattered.
There was no damage to Carpentier's car. The only caution was one lap to reform the cars for a restart on lap two. From then on it was Carpentier's race to lose to Tracy whose similar car could not overtake on the narrow, up and down, hilly 3.602-km circuit. Tracy's one chance ended in failure. After the second round of pit stops, on lap 48, for methanol fuel and tires Tracy tried a move.
"I had the best opportunity on my second pit stop," Tracy said, only his exit was slightly blocked by tires stacked in the pit box ahead of his. After avoiding that his real trouble began.
Trying to catch his teammate on the outside of turn two, he had to lock his brakes and smoked the tires, flat spotting them which caused a vibration which made it difficult to drive. After his final stop for new tires the problem was solved but it was too late and he was passed by Junqueira.
Jourdain made up for the disqualification, finishing fourth after starting 13th. He continues to lead in the points, 89 to Junqueira's 83. Tracy is third with 81.
Result of Champ Car World Series, Round 7 of 19; Laguna Seca, California, United States:
Standings: Michel Jourdain Jr 89, Bruno Junqueira 83, Paul Tracy 81, Patrick Carpentier 70, Sebastien Bourdais 53, Mario Dominguez and Oriol Servia 48, Adrian Fernandez 43, Mario Haberfeld 36, Darren Manning 34 etc.
CART Series Seeks Possible Buy Out
Championship Auto Racing Teams, Inc, the sanctioning body for the CART series, confirmed on Monday that it was seeking a buyer for the embattled open wheel racing series.
Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone, a close friend of CART president and chief executive Chris Pook, was last year reported to be interested in making CART a feeder series for his world championship. BAR-Honda shareholder Craig Pollock also has an interest in the PK Racing team in the CART series.
CART champions to have entered Formula One include Canadian Jacques Villeneuve and Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya while many former Grand Prix drivers have gone in the opposite direction towards the end of their careers. The last American to drive in Formula One was Michael Andretti, who left McLaren in 1993.
Monday's CART statement pointed to reduced revenues from sanctioning race and corporate sponsorship for the upcoming season, but added that it believed there was sufficient funding for the remainder of the year and 2004.
The release stated that preliminary results showed a loss of $3.1 million for the self-promotion of races at Brands Hatch in England and Lausitz in Germany. Total losses from self-promoted races could reach $7.8 million dollars, it said.
Reports provided by Reuters
Kurt Cleans Up
Joe Gibbs teammates Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart sat on the front row, with Stewart taking the lead at the start, followed by Kurt Busch and Jeff Gordon, as Bobby Labonte dropped back through the field. The first caution wasn't far away on lap 3 after Ken Schrader was three wide between Steve Park and Ricky Rudd into turn one, and when Park moved up the track a little, Schrader was sent into a spin, taking out Rudd as well. A few cars topped off including Dale Earnhardt Jr who had started at the back after an engine change. The race restarted on lap 7, with Busch challenging for the lead before losing out and being passed by Gordon, with Newman quickly arriving to make it a four-way battle at the front, gaining a place when Gordon dropped from second to fourth.
The next caution was out on lap 12 after Dave Blaney hit the turn four wall, with all except six drivers pitting, one of those six being leader Stewart. Of those that did pit, Newman was first out ahead of Jeff Burton, Busch and Gordon in seventh to tenth overall. Back to green on lap 15, Stewart pulling away initially as Earnhardt Jr and Sterling Marlin battled for second, although they were soon caught by Newman as Stewart fell back towards the field. As they began lap 21 it was three wide for the lead, Stewart holding on as Earnhardt Jr dropped back, Busch joining the lead group of Stewart, Marlin and Newman as these four drew clear of the field. Newman took second and challenged Stewart for the lead, only for Marlin to retake the place, just before Newman retired from the race in a cloud of smoke and then a ball of flame as his engine failed spectacularly.
The race returned to green on lap 78, Busch going after Marlin initially, before falling back quickly to fifth. Marlin and Stewart once again battled for the lead, Stewart taking the lead from Marlin on lap 99 only for Marlin to drive straight back through.as just on halfway Kenseth passed Busch for fifth, though a few laps later Craven took fifth from Kenseth and fourth from Earnhardt Jr. Marlin was now beginning to edge away at the front as Gordon and Craven closed in on Stewart. Soon after the first green flag stops of the day took place, which shuffled the order somewhat, Marlin leading Gordon, Stewart, Earnhardt Jr and Kenseth soon after they were completed, but Craven eventually took fifth from Kenseth as Marlin held a comfortable lead and was stretching it open further.
Just when teams were getting ready for another round of green flag stops, out came the caution on lap 159 for some debris on the backstretch. In came the field, and out they went in the order Gordon, Marlin, Craven, Busch and Stewart. The race restarted on lap 163, Gordon opening up a lead as Marlin missed a shift and dropped to fourteenth, shuffling the order of some of those behind him at the restart in the process, allowing Busch and Earnhardt Jr to move into second and third, while for probably the first time all day Bobby Labonte was in front of teammate Stewart, in fourth and sixth respectively. Marlin meanwhile moved back into the top ten with 30 laps remaining. The caution flew on lap 172 after Stewart ran wide off turn four into Greg Biffle, Biffle's sudden slowing then causing Craven to run into Biffle, spinning Biffle across the grass.
The race restarted on lap 196, Busch leading Labonte, Gordon, Earnhardt Jr and Marlin, as Kenseth quickly moved from ninth at the restart to sixth place with four to go as Busch held on at the front, the top four evenly spaced out as the laps quickly wound down though Earnhardt Jr's fourth was becoming less and less safe from those behind. It was soon one lap to go, and though the top three positions were safe, Busch taking the win from Labonte and Gordon, it was different further down the field. As they took the white flag, Earnhardt Jr, Kenseth, Marlin and Waltrip were very tightly bunched together, Kenseth's fresh tyres allowing him to take fourth off turn two but he squeezed Earnhardt Jr in the process, Junior's loss of momentum costing him positions to Waltrip and Marlin as well. The final bit of drama came as new teammates Christian Fittipaldi and Kyle Petty spun off turn two on the last lap after Fittipaldi got loose and moved up into his teammate.
Result of NASCAR Winston Cup, Round 15 of 36; Michigan International Speedway, Michigan, United States:
Standings: Matt Kenseth 2275, Dale Earnhardt Jr 2090, Jeff Gordon 2052, Bobby Labonte 1998, Kurt Busch 1933, Michael Waltrip 1900, Jimmie Johnson 1853, Rusty Wallace 1798, Sterling Marlin 1783, Mark Martin 1740 etc.
Welcome Back, Unser
Qualifying was all Target Chip Ganassi Racing, with Tomas Scheckter taking the pole from team mate Scott Dixon. Early practice exacted its own price though, with Brazilian Airton Dare breaking his arm on Thursday in an accident. Scheckter led the field into turn one at the start, with Tora Takagi, Kanaan and Felipe Giaffone in pursuit. Dixon fluffed the start and dropped to fifth, stabilising in that posiiton during the early running. The first pit action of the race saw Sarah Fisher stop briefly for an inspection after it was reported her car might be spraying fluid. Nothing was found and she returned to the race. Next in was Robbie Buhl and he stayed. The car disappeared into the paddock in search of a new gearbox, but would not return.
Texas creates problems not encountered at a lot of superspeedways, the combination of banking and corner radii creates higher G loads than anywhere else in the US. With perhaps this in mind, the Penske team brought their GForce driver Gil de Ferran in early on lap 29 to check on tyre condition. The first yellow appeared on lap 43 when A.J. Foyt IV white-walled his outside tyres in turn two. Foyt got the car back to the pits and retired with suspension damage.
While the top four hadn't changed, Dixon had continued to slide down the order and Unser was up to fifth. Scheckter led the field, apart from de Ferran, down pit road under yellows and emerged from the pits still in the lead. The Kelley Racing crew had a blinder and vaulted Unser up to second ahead of Giaffone, Kanaan and Takagi with Scott Sharp also benefitting from the slick Kelley crew to be next.
At the restart Scheckter attacked immediately, taking the lead as they passed the finish line. Sharp too was on the move, passing first Brack then Giaffone to put two Kelley cars in the top three. Those three with Kanaan would trade places regularly over the next 40 laps.
Sam Hornish Jr started the third pit stop cycle on lap 141, with leader Scheckter pitting nine laps later. Scheckter was flagged away prematurely as the vent hose was still attached to the car. A small fire was ignited from the hot back of the car as it roared away, igniting the fuel spill and setting alight Andy Natalie from the Ganassi pit crew. The response was quick and Natalie was smothered by a crew mate and doused in water and extinguishant. Scheckter received a drivethrough penalty that ended his chances of winning.
With the cycle completed, Unser led from Sharp, Helio Castroneves who had climbed steadily from a poor qualifying position with true Penske strategy, Kanaan and Brack. Scheckter ended what chances he had for good, walling the Ganassi G-Force in turn two. Component failure under the car caused the crash.
With two laps to go the race went green and Kanaan attacked, ranging up on Unser's outside. The two Dallaras hung there with Unser ever so slightly in front. That's how they took the chequer, the margin only eight hundredths of a second. Takagi, no longer fighting with his playmates of the second half of the race, was third with Brack fourth ahead of Bryan Herta, fifth on his return to open-wheel racing driving Dario Franchitti's Dallara-Honda. Dixon was next ahead of the two Penske cars.
Second place allowed Kanaan to pull away from Castroneves in the points standings with Sharp badly affected by his late race DNF. Kanaan now leads by 14 points over his friend and countryman Castroneves with a further seven points back to Sharp with de Ferran, Brack and Unser clustered together just behind. The teams have only a few days rest before regrouping at Pike's Peak Raceway in Colorado this weekend.
Result of Indy Racing League, Round 5 of 16, Texas Motor Speedway, Indiana, United States:
Dixon Storms To Victory In Colorado
Without a win since taking the season-opening race in Miami in March, Dixon praised the team's good pit-work to put him back on the top of the podium in a GForce-Toyota.
"The guys did an excellent job, Team Target," Dixon said. "It's great to finally be back. We've had so many bad races just recently. I'm just having a lot of fun."
Dixon added: "We had a problem with the weight-jacker (which changes the weight bias of his car). We couldn't move the car's weight around to try and help the front end on the long runs. We had to wait until yellows because it was just binding up too much."
Brazilian-born Tony Kanaan extended his margin at the top of the series standings with a second-place finish in a Dallara/Honda. With 217 points, Kanaan leads Dixon by 49 after six of 16 races. It was Kanaan's second straight runner-up finish.
"Championship points, staying in the lead, that's all we need," Kanaan said. "Although I'm tired of being second, so let's win one more."
This year's Indianapolis 500 winner Gil de Ferran of Brazil was third finished third in a Dallara Toyota. Meanwhile, Scotland's Dario Franchitti made a fine comeback from a back injury suffered in a motorcycle accident in April, finishing fourth in a Dallara/Honda.
Defending series champion, Sam Hornish Jr., finished fifth in a Chevrolet-powered Dallara. It was the first top-five finish of the season for Hornish or any Chevrolet-powered car this year for the once dominant engine manufacturer.
Result of Indy Racing League, Round 6 of 16, Pike's Peak International Raceway, Colorado, United States:
Standings: Tony Kanaan 217, Scott Dixon 168, Gil de Ferran, Helio Castroneves and Al Unser Jr 167, Kenny Brack 161, Scott Sharp 149, Tomas Scheckter 125, Felipe Giaffone 123, Sam Hornish Jr 122 etc.
Colorado race report provided by Reuters
Hodgson Holds On At Home
It was the best of races, it was the worst of races. It was the best racing in the superbikes all season, but it was the worst racing to try to keep track of where any rider was! Passes left, right and centre, including multiple passes for the lead on some laps during both races at the Silverstone round of the World Superbike series ended
with the same result, Neil Hodgson taking the double as a pair of Suzukis from the British series showed speed. Needless to say Hodgson remains on top of the points table, as James Toseland and Ruben Xaus fight for next best.
Neil Hodgson sat on the pole again, as several riders from the British Superbike circus joined the field for this round. Race one began with Hodgson taking the lead at the start but he was soon embroiled in a fight with Yukio Kagayama, Kagayama leading the first three laps, and was soon joined by Gregorio Lavilla, who took over the lead from laps four to eleven. The leaders hadn't got really got away from the rest of the field, the top three forming a mini breakaway at times as they led a pack of about ten riders in total that diced and passed each other lap after lap, with action everywhere in the order.
One rider who had steadily being moving up since the start was Ruben Xaus, up to second on lap 11 before taking the lead on lap 12, but Lavilla quickly retook the lead and led the next two laps before Hodgson finally took the lead, but then he came under pressure from James Toseland. Hodgson held off Toseland's advances and that of teammate Ruben Xaus over the closing laps, as well as Regis Laconi who joined them on the last lap. Meanwhile perennial frontrunner throughout the race Gregorio Lavilla looked set for a podium finish before he lost the front end at the ridiculously tight final chicane and crashed out with a handful of laps to go.
Race two was slightly calmer than the first race. Hodgson made a bad start however and dropped to ninth as Laconi led Kagayama and teammate John Reynolds. Xaus was right up challenging John Reynolds around the outside into Vale on lap three when Reynolds went to take his usual entry, knocking Xaus onto the grass. Xaus managed to stay upright as he rode across the grass, resuming still in the lead pack but down in tenth place, while Reynolds dropped almost to the tail of the field. Up front Lavilla took over at the front on lap four as Hodgson continued to move up the field and joined the trio at the front, moving into third as Kagayama faded, Lavilla leading until Laconi retook the lead on lap nine.
A lap later Hodgson took the lead as Lavilla moved into second place after Laconi duelled into Copse and ran straight on, dropping down to ninth. Meanwhile Xaus was on a charge, and was up to sixth by lap ten, fourth by lap twelve and third on the next lap.
Hodgson was still leading but Lavilla was right on his tail, hoping to make up for his fall in race one, as Xaus was steadily bridging the gap to the leaders, finally catching the leading duo on the final lap. But there was nothing he nor Lavilla could do about Hodgson, keeping up his near perfect record for the season with his eleventh win, taking the double at home.
Result of World Superbike Championship, Round 6 of 12, Silverstone, United Kingdom:
Standings: Neil Hodgson 295, James Toseland 165, Ruben Xaus 158, Regis Laconi 145, Gregorio Lavilla 131, Chris Walker 110, Pierfrancesco Chili 102, Steve Martin 78, Marco Borciani 73, Lucio Pedercini 67 etc.
Superbikes points distribution
Le Mans
In 1930, Woolf Barnato and Glen Kidston took Bentley's fifth Le Mans victory. Bentley hadn't won since. Mostly it has been because they were absent from the endurance classic, and then because they weren't building those sort of cars. Over the few years Bentley's new owners have been gradually moving them away from their image of building turbocharged Rolls Royces and into its own identity again. Three years ago, with the assistance of fellow VW subsidiary Audi, they returned to Le Mans and took third. Last year they finished fourth.
In the classes, John Nielsen put the DBA-Zytek on pole in LMP675 in 16th, only a tenth ahead of Intersport's Lola-MG. Prodrive's lead Ferrari Maranello sat in 20th, two positions ahead of its teammate in GTS, while in GT the Alex Job Racing Porsche just pipped the similar Porsche from the Racers Group. It was a familiar battle and to be played out again in the French countryside. Fourteenth grid position would be vacant however, as Lister's brand new LMP900 Storm was bent badly in practice. The car would not be able to be repaired. Jamie Campbell-Walter wasn't seriously hurt but limped around for the race itself as a spectator.
As evening approached Bentley continued to lead, the #7 car ahead of the #8 car, while Magnussen continued to lead the Audis. Biela was really pushing the British Audi aiming to pit on the fifteenth lap of his second stint when arriving at pit entry but found himself on the wrong side of a Panoz and couldn't make the entry forcing the Audi to go around again. Biela flicked on the reserve tanks but it would not be enough and the car stopped out on the circuit, completely dry. The devestated triple defending champion tried to limp the car back on the starter motor but before long that gave out too.
Into the night and the enduarance aspect of the race was starting to bite. The pointy end of the field was demonstrating astonishing reliability, but LMP675 was almost down to the walking wounded already with the Intersport MG now retired along with the Courage and the Pilbeam. The leading Ferrari 360 in GT blew an engine and retired with Jonny Mowlem at the wheel somewhere on the Mulsanne. TVR had lost its second car as well and were packing up for the return to Salisbury. At the half way distance the Japanese Audi struck ignition problems, leaving the Bentleys alone in front. The Lammers Dome was now in striking distance of an Audi.
Just past 7 am a fire and gearbox problems further soured the green fuel Nasamax Reynard-Cosworth, as battery problems again struck the #8 Bentley while the Gavin Corvette was in for major surgery on the rear end of the car. The problems striking the limping #12 Panoz were compunded when a wheel parted company with the car on a delayed in lap. The Riley and Scott stopped at 7:30 am and would not continue.
Jeannette resumed and set the circuit alight chasing for fifth place as behind both cars the chequerboard figure of Jan Lammers in the Dome edged ever closer. Jeannette slips by Gounon. Forty seconds covered all three cars. Prodrive made a lengthy stop for the class leading 550 Maranello, and wax and polish the car. Time is on their side and the now immaculate Ferrari resumes still in a comfortable tenth. Gounon makes a final splash stop for fuel and drops behind Lammers. Could Jeanette and Lammers make the finish with what fuel they had? Jeanette could not and the Panoz resumes with the Courage closing to attacking distance on the Panoz out lap with the flying Dome just twenty seconds adrift.
Tenth place was an excellent reward for the trouble free run of Prodrive's Ferrari 550 Maranello of Peter Kox, Tomas Enge and Jamie Davies. They finished ten laps ahead of the first of the two wounded Corvettes, Olivier Gavin, Andy Pilgrim and Kelly Collins hanging on for second in class ahead of teammates Ron fellows, Johnny O'Connell and Franck Freon. Larbre Competicion were fourth in their Viper.
Pos Drivers Car
1. Tom Kristensen/Rinaldo Capello/Guy Smith Bentley EXP Speed 8
2. Johnny Herbert/David Brabham/ Bentley EXP Speed 8
Mark Blundell
3. Emanuele Pirro/JJ Lehto/Stefan Johansson Audi R8
4. Seiji Ara/Jan Magnussen/Marco Werner Audi R8
5. Olivier Beretta/Gunnar Jeannette/ Panoz LMP01 Elan
Max Papis
6. Jan Lammers/John Bosch/Andy Wallace Dome S101 Judd
7. Jonathan Cochet/Jean-Marc Gounon/ Courage C60JX Judd
Stephane Gregoire
8. Jean-Christophe Boullion/Franck Lagorce/ Courage C60 Peugeot
Stephane Sarrazin
9. Eric Helary/Soheil Ayari/ Courage C60 Peugeot
Nicolas Minassian
10. Peter Kox/Tomas Enge/Jamie Davies Ferrari 550 Maranello
(1st LMGTS)
11. Olivier Gavin/Kelly Collins/Andy Pilgrim Chevrolet Corvette C5-R
(2nd LMGTS)
12. Ron Fellows/ohnny O'Connell/Franck Freon Chevrolet Corvette C5-R
(3rd LMGTS)
13. Masahiko Kondo/Ukyo Katayama/Ryo Fukuda Dome S101 Mugen
14. Sascha Maassen/Emmanuel Collard/ Porsche 996 GT3-RS
Lucas Luhr (1st LMGT)
15. Jean-Luc Maury-Laribiere/ Reynard 2KQ-LM Volkswagen
Christophe Pillon/Didier Andre (1st LMP675)
16. Patrice Goueslard/Christophe Bouchut/ Chrysler Viper GTS-R
Steve Zacchia (4th LMGTS)
17. Leo Hindery/Peter Baron/Marc Lieb Porsche 996 GT3-RS
(2nd LMGT)
18. Michel Neugarten/Nigel Smith/Ian Khan Porsche 996 GT3-RS
(3rd LMGT)
19. Atsushi Yogo/Akira Iida/ Porsche 996 GT3-RS
Kazuyoshi Nishizawa (4th LMGT)
20. Kevin Buckler/Timo Bernhard/ Porsche 996 GT3-RS
Jorg Bergmeister (5th LMGT)
The victory marked the completion of a three-year plan for Bentley but whether the team continue in the sportscar race remains undecided. "There has been no decision, that will be made at a later date," a team spokesperson said.
MotoGP
At Mugello, Loris Capirossi put up a strong performance but couldn't quite catch Valentino Rossi at the end to take victory for Ducati at home. But he made up for it at Barcelona, pressuring Rossi before the Italian made a couple of rare errors that allowed Capirossi through to the lead and then able to take it (relatively) comfortably to the line to score Ducati's first ever MotoGP win. Rossi did makeup somewhat for his errors with a stunning finish to the race, lapping at stupendous speed to recover to second place. A late race off for Max Biaggi was good news for the two other top Italians, Rossi extending his lead in the title chase out to 47 points, while Capirossi sneaked past Biaggi into second place in the standings.
Despite some thoughts that Rossi's excursions were due to tyre problems, it quickly became clear that was not the case as Rossi began lapping a second or more faster than anyone else in his recovery ride. Capirossi continued to lead by a couple of seconds over Biaggi and Gibernau, though this became Gibernau and Biaggi when Biaggi wheelied off the final turn on lap 19, losing just enough drive for Gibernau to get past him into turn one, Biaggi sticking right with him. Rossi was still flying with five laps remaining, and was still on target to catch Capirossi on the last lap.
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Loris Capirossi Ducati Desmosedici
2. Valentino Rossi Honda RC211V
3. Sete Gibernau Honda RC211V
4. Carlos Checa Yamaha YZR-M1
5. Shinya Nakano Yamaha YZR-M1
6. Tohru Ukawa Honda RC211V
7. Makoto Tamada Honda RC211V
8. Alex Barros Yamaha YZR-M1
9. Nicky Hayden Honda RC211V
10. Troy Bayliss Ducati Desmosedici
CART
Canadian Patrick Carpentier won the Monterey Grand Prix CART race after leading from pole on Sunday. Carpentier held off Bruno Junqueira of Brazil by 0.844 seconds and teammate and compatriot Paul Tracy. All drove Lola-Fords.
Pos Driver Car
1. Patrick Carpentier Player's-Forsythe Racing Lola-Ford
2. Bruno Junqueira Newman-Haas Racing Lola-Ford
3. Paul Tracy Player's-Forsythe Racing Lola-Ford
4. Michel Jourdain Jr Team Rahal Lola-Ford
5. Mario Haberfeld Mi-Jack Conquest Racing Reynard-Ford
6. Oriol Servia Visteon/Patrick Racing Lola-Ford
7. Adrian Fernandez Fernandez Racing Lola-Ford
8. Jimmy Vasser American Spirit Team Johansson Reynard-Ford
9. Tiago Monteiro Fittipaldi-Dingman Reynard-Ford
10. Mario Dominguez Herdez Competition Lola-Ford
In a statement released by its chief financial officer Thomas L. Carter, it said: "The company's management strongly believes in the long range future of the company. However, in light of the financial challenges facing the company; the company has retained the investment banking firm of Bear Stearns & Company, Inc. to assist us in exploring strategic alternatives that may be available to CART; including a possible sale of the company."
NASCAR
A close battle for the win for most of the race was decided in Kurt Busch's favour late in the race at Michigan, his third win so far this year. Sterling Marlin was in strong contention for the win but a couple of poor restarts late in the race negated some good pitwork earlier in the race, Marlin ending the race in sixth. A late switch to fresh tyres proved a smart move for points leader Matt Kenseth, getting him up to fourth place as he rubbed panels with Dale Earnhardt Jr on the last lap, his closest challenger for the title at this point.
This brought the caution out on lap 38, the field pitting, with Marlin leading Stewart, Michael Waltrip, Busch and Earnhardt Jr out of the pits. The race restarted on lap 48 but it was back under caution one lap later after Steve Park spun in turn one, but before the caution came out Stewart had retaken the lead. Lap 52 and it was back to green, with Gordon moving up to third soon after with Earnhardt up to fourth. Lap 59 saw Marlin take the lead after several previous unsuccessful attempts, though eleven laps later Stewart took the lead back as further back Busch and Matt Kenseth both moved past Gordon and Earnhardt Jr to take third and fourth. Lap 72 and it was caution time again, this time for fluid dropped by Derrike Cope's car. In came everyone, and out they went, the top five comprising of Marlin, Busch, Stewart, Gordon and Earnhardt Jr.
In came ten of the sixteen lead lap cars, Earnhardt Jr leading those back onto the track in seventh as Gordon led Busch, Labonte, Stewart and Rusty Wallace as they stayed out. Gordon led the field away at the restart on lap 176 with Busch moving on to his tail a lap later, taking the lead a lap further on as Earnhardt Jr moved quickly up to fourth. But it was soon back to yellows on lap 180 after Tony Raines hit the wall in turn two, Stewart pitting among a few cars to do so. Lap 183 it went back to green, Busch leading Gordon, Labonte, Earnhardt Jr and Wallace before Wallace took fourth down the backstretch, Earnhardt Jr retaking the place two laps later as Labonte took second from Gordon. Meanwhile Stewart was mowing down the top ten, up to sixth with twelve laps to go. Then Todd Bodine, who was also moving up, hit the turn two wall after avoiding hitting Waltrip, bringing out the caution on lap 192. A few cars pitted, including Kenseth.
Pos Driver Car
1. Kurt Busch Ford Taurus
2. Bobby Labonte Chevrolet Monte Carlo
3. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Monte Carlo
4. Matt Kenseth Ford Taurus
5. Michael Waltrip Chevrolet Monte Carlo
6. Sterling Marlin Dodge Intrepid
7. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet Monte Carlo
8. Tony Stewart Chevrolet Monte Carlo
9. Mark Martin Ford Taurus
10. Terry Labonte Chevrolet Monte Carlo
IRL
Al Unser Jr has had his problems in recent years. Once the pin-up boy of US racing, his reputation had become tarnished. After a sabbatical, Unser took stock and he returned to the track as well, putting his problems behind him and returning to what he knew best. On Saturday night a week ago, under the blowtorch of a late race restart, the race leader stood tall and resisted the IRL's best and brightest in Tony Kanaan to take victory in the Bombardier 500, taking revenge on the event that he had lost last year by a similar margin.
Scheckter led the field away at the green, but they left a car behind. Dan Wheldon drove into the pits smoking from the front, a stuck throttle being the diagnosis. Texas is definitely not the place to have a stuck throttle. Unser was in an aggressive mood, ranging up alongside Scheckter on lap 73. The leaders weren't dropping their pursuit though, with Giaffone, Kanaan and Takagi in touch at all times. Another fortuitious yellow came on lap 88 for debris, allowing the field to pit en masse again. The Kelley crew worked their magic again and Unser emerged from the pits the new race leader. Kanaan was now third ahead of Kenny Brack and Giaffone.
When the race went green again Kanaan charged at Unser around the outside, taking the lead with less than 20 laps to go. Unser did not let it go and stayed where he was, retaking the lead again as the field charged around for the traditional Texas Speedway finish. Takagi had only just lost fifth place to Giaffone when he briefly lost control of his car on the low line. As the Japanese driver slid upwards Sharp was crowded into Giaffone and both headed for the wall. Castroneves and Herta both went infield in avoidance trying to save their own cars.
Pos Driver Team
1. Al Unser Jr Kelley Racing Dallara-Toyota
2. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green Racing Dallara-Honda
3. Tora Takagi Mo Nunn Racing GForce-Toyota
4. Kenny Brack Team Rahal Dallara-Honda
5. Bryan Herta Andretti Green Racing Dallara-Honda
6. Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing GForce-Toyota
7. Helio Castroneves Team Penske Dallara-Toyota
8. Gil de Ferran Team Penske GForce-Toyota
9. Roger Yasukawa Super Aguri Fernandez Racing Dallara-Honda
10. Sam Hornish Jr Panther Racing Dallara-Chevrolet
New Zealand's Scott Dixon broke out of a recent slump to win the Colorado 225 IRL race on Sunday. Dixon crossed the line under a yellow flag after rookie Roger Yasukawa had crashed on lap 220 at the Pikes Peak International Raceway.
Pos Driver Team
1. Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing GForce-Toyota
2. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green Racing Dallara-Honda
3. Gil de Ferran Team Penske Dallara-Toyota
4. Dario Franchitti Andretti Green Racing Dallara-Honda
5. Sam Hornish Jr Panther Racing Dallara-Chevrolet
6. Tora Takagi Mo Nunn Racing GForce-Toyota
7. Kenny Brack Team Rahal Dallara-Honda
8. Tomas Scheckter Chip Ganassi Racing GForce-Toyota
9. Buddy Rice Cheever Racing Dallara-Chevrolet
10. Buddy Lazier Hemelgarn Racing Dallara-Chevrolet
Superbikes
Race One
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Neil Hodgson Ducati 999F03
2. James Toseland Ducati 998F02
3. Ruben Xaus Ducati 999F03
4. Regis Laconi Ducati 998RS
5. Yukio Kagayama Suzuki GSX-R 1000
6. John Reynolds Suzuki GSX-R 1000
7. Pierfrancesco Chili Ducati 998RS
8. Michael Rutter Ducati 998F02
9. Chris Walker Ducati 998F02
10. Marco Borciani Ducati 998RS
Race Two
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Neil Hodgson Ducati 999F03
2. Gregorio Lavilla Suzuki GSX-R 1000
3. Ruben Xaus Ducati 999F03
4. James Toseland Ducati 998F02
5. Yukio Kagayama Suzuki GSX-R 1000
6. Regis Laconi Ducati 998RS
7. Pierfrancesco Chili Ducati 998RS
8. Chris Walker Ducati 998F02
9. Michael Rutter Ducati 998F02
10. John Reynolds Suzuki GSX-R 1000
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