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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.
The Rookie and the Veteran
However, the experience of years of racing in CART's concrete canyons served Paul Tracy (Player's Forsythe Racing Lola-Ford) as well as Bourdais' inexperience took the race from him shortly after the first pit stops.
"This is how I wanted to start the season," said Tracy. "We had to work extremely hard this week. We really had to rely on Patrick's (Carpentier) car for the starting set-up, so it was a tremendous team effort. Tony Cicale (PFR Technical Director) and the whole Team Player's crew deserve a lot of thanks."
Tracy was second fastest after Bourdais after qualifying, demonstrating that, despite all else that has changed, the two most experienced outfits would be the ones to beat. As the man he was trying to emulate, Nigel Mansell, waved the green flag at the field, Sebastien Bourdais led the field into turn one and around a relatively trouble free opening lap, apart from Jimmy Vasser (American Spirit Team Johansson Reynard-Ford) who started from pit lane after fuel system dramas prevented him from taking the grid.
The first yellow flag period followed shortly afterwards when Alex Tagliani understeered off at turn ten, burying his Rocketsports Racing Lola into the tyres. Lap 13 and another car was in trouble at turn ten. The yellows came out as Rodolfo Lavin had spun his Lola and stalled. At the restart Patrick Lemarie spun the PK Racing Lola. This time Tracy led a pack of cars down pit lane for their first stops, including Carpentier, Jourdain and Junqueira. Under the '30 lap' rule, these cars could now finish the race with only two more stops. Bourdais stayed out, with Fernandez now second ahead of Tiago Monteiro and Tracy.
The next retirement was after only seven more laps, but Roberto Gonzalez's car was off the racing line, allowing the race to continue. Bourdais set the fastest lap of the race on lap 29, just before pitting on the 30th lap. With Fernandez also pitting, Monteiro now led, although under increasing pressure from two light blue Player's cars. The Portuguese rookie lasted until lap 34 before Tracy and Carpentier swamped the Fittipaldi-Dingman Reynard.
Tracy now led from Jourdain and Dominguez, although the resurgent Junqueira took third at the restart. On lap 63 turn ten claimed another victim when ASTJ rookie Ryan Hunter-Reay hit the wall. At the restart Fernandez was out after contact with Dominguez. The incident also put the Herdez Competition Lola out of the race. With the final pit stops completed, the field ran to the flag. Tracy led home Jourdain, Junqueira and Haberfeld. Monteiro held fifth until 12 laps to go when the rookie made his final, out-of-sync pitstop, dropping him behind the battling Vasser and Moreno. The two veterans switched places with nine laps to go in the only remaining change amongst the top ten.
The series gathers again in a month's time in Mexico at the steelworks of Fundidora Park.
Result of Grand Prix of Saint Petersburg, Champ Car World Series, Round 1 of 19, Saint Petersburg Street Circuit, Florida, United States:
Standings: Paul Tracy 21, Michel Jourdain Jr 16, Bruno Junqueira 14, Mario Haberfeld 12, Roberto Moreno 10, Jimmy Vasser 8, Tiago Monteiro 6, Patrick Carpentier 5, Joel Camathias and Sebastien Bourdais 4 etc.
Jarrett Beats Busch At 'The Rock'
After Chevrolet's dominance at Daytona, it was much different at 'The Rock'. Only one Chevrolet featured in the top ten as Ford filled the top three and six of the top ten placings, Dale Jarrett taking the win after a fierce late race battle with Kurt Busch, which saw wheel-to-wheel racing and the lead change several times over the last ten laps. Two second places for Busch see him the clear leader in the points race, a scary thought considering his strong late season form in 2002.
The first caution of the day came out on lap 47 as a schedule yellow from NASCAR to check tyre wear after rain had limited practice during the weekend. It was perfect timing for Earnhardt Jr whose front fender rub had finally flattened the tyre. The race restarted on lap 55 with Wallace continuing to lead, ahead of Marlin and Martin. This was how it stayed until the next caution came out on lap 88 after Todd Bodine hit the turn two wall hard. Martin beat Wallace out the pits to take over the lead. The race restarted on lap 93, Wallace and Bobby Labonte passing Martin before the lap was over to take over the top two places, Wallace back at the front of the field, Busch passing Martin a lap later.
The next caution wasn't far away on lap 108 when Kenny Wallace got a little bit of help from Jack Sprague, sending Wallace into the back straight inside wall. The field headed to the pits once again, Wallace holding onto the lead from Martin, while Stewart's steady progress saw him up to fifth. Lap 112 and it was back to green, but it was soon back to yellow on lap 123 when Earnhardt Jr tapped Jerry Nadeau into a spin, Jeremy Mayfield also being tapped into a spin in the confusion. Once again the field headed for pit road! Martin just beat Wallace off pit road.
Lap 126 and the race went back to green once more, and Wallace again retook the lead on the first lap of the restart. During this longer green run Wallace began to lap the tail end of the field. Just as the field began to approach their next pit stop, the caution came out on lap 174 after Earnhardt Jr did a 360 off turn two. In the mayhem of Earnhardt's spin, Stewart clipped Kyle Petty, damaging the left front fender and putting at the back of the lead lap cars, Martin again taking the lead from Wallace at the pit stops.
For the first time all day green flag stops took place, with Busch retaining the lead, while Dale Jarrett continued his upward climb and moved into second place. Not too long after the stops were over the next caution came out on lap 276, when Earnhardt Jr spun coming off turn two again, Jeremy Mayfield hitting the outside wall in the mayhem. This was a lucky break for Busch, as the leader had a deflating tyre. Everyone hit the pits again, Busch leading Martin, Craven and Jarrett off pit lane.
Lap 292 and the race restarted, but it didn't stay green for long, lap 299 seeing the next caution when Jeff Gordon spun after running into the back of Earnhardt Jr coming off of turn four, Jerry Nadeau also spinning after Michael Waltrip nudged him in the confusion caused by Gordon's spin. Most of the field pitted, Busch and Martin being first out of those who pitted, restarting in fourth behind new leader Bobby Labonte, who had just over 100 laps earlier suffered a flat tyre and lost a lap, Dave Blaney and Jeff Burton.
Lap 303 and it was back to green, as Jeff Burton passed Blaney down the backstretch for second, and then Labonte for the lead into turn one on lap 304, as Busch passed Blaney for third later that lap, two laps later Busch doing the same to Labonte. Four laps later Busch completed his march to the front, taking the lead from Burton, as Labonte took second from the fading Burton a lap later, Labonte catching Busch and battling with him for several laps before Busch began to edge away.
As the laps wound down, the lapped traffic got heavier, and compounding this were cars who had pitted and taken on fresh tyres lapping faster than the leaders. As Busch caught Jeff Gordon to lap him, Dale Jarrett got alongside down the frontstretch as they crossed the line for ten laps to go, running side by side through turns one and two. With Gordon running high, Busch got stuck behind him and Jarrett took the lead down the backstretch. Meanwhile Bobby Labonte's gamble to not pit at the previous caution forced him to pit from third place within sight of the finish.
Jarrett was now leading but he was still in heavy traffic, while Kenseth had now closed to within a second of the leading duo. As Jeff Burton came off turn four with five laps to go he got sideways in front of Jarrett, who was boxed in. A momentary lift saw Busch alongside Jarrett on his outside as they barrelled into turn one with four to go, Busch taking the lead back as they rounded the turn. As they exited turn four to complete the lap, Jarrett got close enough to Busch's tail to loosen him up on the exit, allowing Jarrett to get alongside the inside of Busch through the tri-oval, the duo running side by side for almost a lap before Jarrett reclaimed the lead, holding on over the remaining laps to take the win, ahead of the two Roush cars of Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth who took a close second and third. Jamie McMurray showed his runs last year were no fluke by finishing fifth, while Elliott Sadler, who dropped to the back twice, once after repairing some early damage and later after a pit violation, made it all the way through to ninth, one place ahead of polesitter Dave Blaney. Bobby Labonte's late stop for fuel dropped him from third to 16th in the results.
Result of Subway 400, NASCAR Winston Cup Round 2 of 36, North Carolina Speedway, North Carolina, United States:
Standings: Kurt Busch 345, Dale Jarrett 314, Jimmie Johnson 312, Mark Martin 306, Michael Waltrip 291, Matt Kenseth 278, Jeff Burton 262, Ricky Craven 255, Tony Stewart 254, Kevin Harvick 248 etc.
A New Season, And Some New Faces
Leading the entry is one of the new teams. Andretti Green Racing was formed last year when Barry Green sold the shares of his CART operation to his veteran driver Michael Andretti. In what will be his last season as a driver, Andretti is not easing into retirement, topping the times at a final pre-season test at Homestead-Miami Speedway in his Dallara-Honda, venue of the season opening Toyota Indy 300. His teammates will push Andretti all the way though, with Tony Kanaan topping the time sheets at the Test in the West and Dario Franchitti sure to figure high in the results. All three are front-runners in CART in recent years.
Team Penske will again be the team to beat. Having had a year's advantage over the other 'blow ins' and the form which saw Helio Castroneves and Gil de Ferran push for the title all the way to the final rounds puts them in a strong position. The expected switch from Chevrolet to Toyota has not harmed them in the slightest.
Multiple CART series champions Chip Ganassi Racing steps up its IRL program after running a single car last year for Jeff Ward. Scott Dixon moves across from the team's now axed CART program and Ward has been replaced with volatile South African Tomas Scheckter. The team continues its connection with Toyota from CART and will run the Panoz-built GForce chassis.
Panther Racing and dual defending champion Sam Hornish Jr lead the charge from Chevrolet again this year, but the immediate pace of the Toyota and Honda-powered teams has been something of a shock for those using the tried and proven Chevrolet mount. If the Chevy can run at the pointy end Hornish has proven to be a very tough competitor.
Fernandez Racing has team up with Aguri Suzuki's young driver program and will run Roger Yasukawa in a Dallara-Honda. One of the fastest teams last year with Infiniti power was Cheever Racing. Veteran Cheever will continue in the car this year, now Chevrolet-powered, with one of last year's young sensations Buddy Rice alongside. A.J. Foyt Racing will be running a car for the grandson of the legendary A.J. Foyt. A.J. Foyt IV is also the reigning Infiniti Pro Series champion. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing will run two cars for Robbie Buhl and Sarah Fisher. Long time IRL supporters, Team Menard has two cars for the now recovered Jaques Lazier and Vitor Meira. Hemelgarn Racing has Buddy Lazier on board.
The open wheel superspeedway season is about to begin.
Turkey Ready For World Championship Debut
Citroen's Colin McRae and Sebastien Loeb lead their rivals into new territory this weekend as Turkey makes its debut in the world rally championship. sBriton McRae, champion in 1995, shares the overall lead with his French teammate after the opening two rounds but the first gravel event of the season could see a shake up on the leaderboard.
"I think the Xsara will be competitive," said McRae. "We will be fast in Turkey but we will have to wait and see where we stand in comparison to our rivals."
While some drivers expressed reservations last month at competing in a country bordering Iraq at a time of potential conflict in the region, the focus has now turned to the immediate sporting challenge. No teams have tested in Turkey and the rough roads, many of them more than 1,400 metres above sea level, are an unknown quantity. McRae has not visited the country before and nor have some of his rivals.
"I have no idea at all of what to expect with the conditions and the stages in Turkey," said Subaru's former world champion Tommi Makinen before he left. "I have never been there, even on holiday."
Loeb, who started the season with victory in Monte Carlo, has a slight advantage having competed in five stages of last September's non-championship Anatolian Rally before retiring on the first day.
"We have worked well on the car and I think my team mates will be in the thick of the fight at the sharp end," he said. "My objective will once again be to match their pace."
Citroen are still finding the way in their first full season, despite a 1-2-3 finish in Monte Carlo and strong showing in Sweden.
"After Turkey we travel to a couple of events that are practically unknown territory for the team, New Zealand and Argentina," said team boss Guy Frequelin. "Turkey will in fact be the first of a sequence of three events that could well prove to be the most difficult of the season for us."
Peugeot's Marcus Gronholm will be looking to regain the lead after winning in Sweden while British teammate Richard Burns has a new engineer as he seeks his first victory since he joined the French team at the end of his title season in 2001.
"It's always exciting to go to a new country," he said. "But I can't help feeling a little disappointed that we're competing in a similar territory to Cyprus and Greece where we already have WRC rounds.
"It's been a pretty good start to the season with my best ever finishes in Monte Carlo and Sweden. A win in Turkey would sit quite nicely with those statistics."
Ford's Estonian Markko Martin has two fourth places so far this season and is aiming for his first podium of the year.
"We have the most reliable car in the championship. I imagine it will be rough and then we will have the right car," he said. "It should be looking good to get a better result than we have had this year." The rally, based in Kemer near the Mediterranean resort of Antalya, replaces the dropped Kenyan Safari Rally.
Report provided by Reuters
Ducati Ready To Fight Back
World championship motorcycle racing kicks off this weekend at Valencia in Spain with the superbikes swinging into action. A lot of impetus has disappeared from the series, as MotoGP's move to four-stroke bikes has proven tempting to almost all of SBK's manufacturers.
Ducati remains with its factory team. Ruben Xaus is still with the team from last year, but Troy Bayliss has moved on to Ducati's MotoGP campaign. Xaus will be joined by Neil Hodgson, and already the pair look to be the ones to beat, with Hodgson and Xaus finishing 1-2 on the timesheets at the most recent pre-season open test at Valencia. The next five bikes on the timesheets were all privateer and semi-privateer Ducatis.
Chris Walker and James Toseland have the choice year old semi-factory machines while Regis Laconi, Pierfrancesco Chili, Steve Martin and Juan Borja make up the top privateer machines. Non-Ducati competition will come from the Foggy Petronas team, managed by World Superbike legend Carl Fogarty. Fogarty has recruited his once bitter rival and 1996 champion Troy Corser, along with James Haydon. Gregorio Lavilla will ride the sole Suzuki GSX1000R. The rest of the field looks set to be a variety of privately owned Ducatis, Suzukis, Hondas, Yamahas, Aprilias and Kawasakis.
CART
Ten years ago a rookie driver took pole position and won his debut CART event. With more than half of this year's Champ Car field owning a rookie logo on the timesheets, it looked vaguely possible. When Sebastien Bourdais (Newman-Haas Racing Lola-Ford) took pole position on Saturday afternoon on the streets of Miami, the impressive feats of Nigel Mansell looked like being repeated.
Over the line the first time Bourdais led from Tracy, Adrian Fernandez (Fernandez Racing Lola-Ford), Patrick Carpentier (Player's Forsythe Racing Lola-Ford) and Michel Jourdain Jr (Team Rahal Lola-Ford). Just behind Bruno Junqueira (Newman-Haas Racing Lola-Ford) was ranging up alongside qualifying's other rookie star Mario Haberfeld aboard the Mi-Jack Conquest Racing Reynard. Haberfeld squeezed his former Formula 3000 rival all the way down the straight leaving no room for either car to turn in time for turn one, leaving the pair sliding across the turn, just missing Jourdain's Lola. Oriol Servia (Patrick Racing Lola-Ford) pounced, moving into sixth place ahead of Junqueira while Haberfeld lost four places.
A lap later and the promising run of Bourdais ended after clouting the wall and breaking a wheel. The Frenchman limped back to the pits for repairs but would drop from contention. The second round of pitstops soon arrived and again Tracy led the field in, and this time he led the field back out again ahead of Carpentier, Jourdain, Servia and Mario Dominguez. Carpentier would not last long in the position though, crashing at turn 8. Carpentier was push started and returned to the race.
Pos Driver Car
1. Paul Tracy Players Forsythe Racing Lola-Ford
2. Michel Jourdain Jr Team Rahal Lola-Ford
3. Bruno Junqueira Newman-Haas Racing Lola-Ford
4. Mario Haberfeld Mi-Jack Conquest Racing Reynard-Ford
5. Roberto Moreno Herdez Competition Lola-Ford
6. Jimmy Vasser American Spirit Team Johansson Reynard-Ford
7. Tiago Monteiro Fittipaldi-Dingman Racing Reynard-Ford
8. Patrick Carpentier Players-Forsythe Racing Lola-Ford
9. Joel Camathias Dale Coyne Racing Lola-Ford
10. Patrick Lemarie PK Racing Lola-Ford
NASCAR
At the start Dave Blaney grabbed the lead, though he was soon challenged by Mark Martin, the two running side by side for a couple of laps before Martin dropped in behind, only to resume his attack and take the lead on lap nine, Ricky Craven taking second on the next lap as he chased down Martin, Dale Earnhardt Jr damaging a left front fender but continuing at around this point in the race. Lap 17 saw Craven drive around the outside of Martin through turns one and two as Wallace became the next car to chase down the leader, moving quickly up to second and taking the lead from Craven on lap 27, slowly opening a gap.
The race resumed on lap 178, Wallace doing his usual thing and retaking the lead just after the restart. Lap 196 saw Busch, who had been running strongly at the front of the field, take second from teammate Martin, Busch immediately moving up to Wallace but just not quite able to make it through to the lead, though eventually the pressure did pay off, as Busch took over the lead. Wallace slowly began to fade over the next few laps, before falling further and losing several positions.
With 39 laps remaining Jarrett took second from Labonte and began to close in on Busch, while Kenseth, who restarted outside the top ten, was on a charge to the front, taking fifth place from Jamie McMurray with 37 laps remaining, and moving past Craven into fourth six laps later. The race settled down somewhat at this point, as Jarrett sat just a short distance back from Busch as Kenseth continued to slowly close in.
Pos Driver Car
1. Dale Jarrett Ford Taurus
2. Kurt Busch Ford Taurus
3. Matt Kenseth Ford Taurus
4. Ricky Craven Pontiac Grand Prix
5. Jamie McMurray Dodge Intrepid
6. Rusty Wallace Dodge Intrepid
7. Mark Martin Ford Taurus
8. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Monte Carlo
9. Elliott Sadler Ford Taurus
10. Dave Blaney Ford Taurus
IRL
The Indy Racing League starts its season this weekend with a group of new drivers and new teams. While perpetual rival CART has been making the noise, it seems the IRL having poached so many of CART's stars has moved more quietly into the season proper.
Team Rahal will be running a car for former series champion Kenny Brack, who is returning to IRL after a few years in CART racing for Team Rahal and Chip Ganassi Racing. Mo Nunn Racing also continues in IRL this year. Last year Felipe Giaffone finished fourth in the championship chase having hung on to Hornish and the Penskes all season. Giaffone will by another ex-CART (and Formula One) steerer, Japanese driver Tora Takagi.
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Volume 9, Issue 9
Articles
Montoya & Williams: Can They Challenge?
Reflections on Mosley's Brave New World
Pencils at Dawn
The Cult of a Personality, IV
2003 Season Preview
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The 2003 Atlas F1 Gamble
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