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Atlas F1 Magazine Writers
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Loeb Takes Tarmac Test
Series leader Burns finished seventh, the two points he gained now all that is keeping Loeb from leading the World Championship. Burns's Peugeot teammate Marcus Gronholm again failed to finish, making any attempt at a title defence now impossible.
"I was very worried when the rain was coming," said Loeb. "I knew that Markko (Martin) was only 40 seconds behind and I knew that it was also going to be exceptionally difficult to drive the stages on the slick tyres we were using. It was hard work with so much water around, but we made it to the finish and to the win, which is a great result for us and for the team."
Absent from the rally was Hyundai. With relations between the Korean manufacturer and its team Motor Sport Developments at an all time low, and funding the primary bone of contention, the team and its Accents stayed at home.
Into the second day Martin received a 30 second penalty after the Ford was booked out of the service park late. Martin maintained second place over the fading Gronholm, but Loeb slipped into cruise mode, although a brief stall in a Stage 7 hairpin cost Loeb more time than he would have liked to concede. The gap at the end of the second day was 43 seconds. Gronholm was now over a minute behind with Carlos Sainz fourth and Panizzi fifth, two whole minutes from the lead.
On an overcast Sunday morning, Loeb and Martin shared the first two stages, but after that the rain, and hail, arrived, and thus began the electrifying charge of Gilles Panizzi. The French tarmac specialist was the most conservative on tyre choice, jumping onto wets early. He won Stage 13 by 20 seconds over teammate Gronholm, taking fourth from Sainz along the way.
Water covered Stage 14, and with many of the front-runners stuck on slicks, Panizzi ripped through the timesheets in the final stage, winning the stage by 17 seconds. More importantly the other quick cars were all further down the order in the classes. Panizzi was over a minute quicker than any of the other factory equipped drivers. Loeb hung on to his lead but Martin was vulnerable and dropped to third under Panizzi's onslaught.
Sainz ably backed up Loeb and was rewarded with fourth place after the retirement of Gronholm, giving Citroen two shots at the title as the Tour de Corse beckons. Colin McRae also picked up points, as he completed another impressive Citroen performance with sixth place. So close to home turf, a fourth Xsara was entered, and Philippe Bugalski used it to take the final world championship point.
Ford had much to be pleased about. Martin's tarmac pace has him well placed to move forward in the standings after the next two rallies in Corsica and Catalonia. Francois Duval had a largely trouble free rally for a change and gave his team the points for fifth place. Mikko Hirvonen was out of the event early after an electrical problem became a broken cambelt on Stage 3.
Subaru had a miserable rally. Petter Solberg was struck down with a suspension breakage on the first morning and was eliminated after a miscalculation saw them run out of fuel on a transport stage brought the Impreza to a halt. Brake and clutch dramas slowed Tommi Makinen and tenth would be all he could achieve under the circumstances. The last of the factory cars to finish was Didier Auriol in the Skoda Fabia in twelfth. Toni Gardemiester ended his rally prematurely, rolling on Stage 2.
With two more tarmac rallies coming up, the results are moving in Sebatien Loeb's direction. With two Citroens within four points of the lead, Peugeot's hold on the cup looks decidedly shaky. Solberg is only nine points off the lead and Markko Martin is fourteen points adrift.
Result of World Rally Championship, Round 11 of 14, Rally San Remo, Italy:
Standings: Richard Burns 57, Sebastien Loeb 55, Carlos Sainz 53, Petter Solberg 48, Markko Martin 43, Marcus Gronholm 38, Colin McRae 36, Tommi Makinen 21, Harri Rovanpera 18, Francois Duval 15 etc.
Manufacturers: Citroen 125, Peugeot 121, Subaru 76, Ford 71, Skoda 21, Hyundai 6
Super 1600: Brice Tirabassi 28, Salvador Canellas 25, Daniel Carlsson and Guy Wilks 18, Urmo Aava 16 etc.
No Guarantees For 2004, Says Ford Team Boss
"Much as I would like to, I can't guarantee Ford will be here next year," the official rally website www.wrc.com quoted Wilson as saying at a Sanremo rally news conference.
"The problem is that the situation for next year keeps on changing, so it is impossible to put together a budget," he said. "We have always been opposed to the idea of 16 rallies."
The calendar is due to expand from 14 rounds to 16 next year, with teams limited to two drivers rather than three at present. Hyundai have already announced they are taking a year's break at the end of the season. However Mitsubishi are due to return in 2004 after a similar absence.
If Ford, who have Estonian Markko Martin and Belgian Francois Duval on their books, were to quit then there would be just five manufacturer teams in the sport - Peugeot, Citroen, Subaru, Mitsubishi and Skoda.
Ford report provided by Reuters
Biaggi Brilliant, Rossi Ragged
Max Biaggi headed an all-Honda front row, with Makoto Tamada, Valentino Rossi and Sete Gibernau alongside Biaggi, and Nicky Hayden in fifth making it five from five for Honda at the head of the grid. Sete Gibernau made the best start to lead into turn one, ahead of Hayden and Rossi, while further back John Hopkins took Troy Bayliss and Carlos Checa out of the running at the first turn. Rossi moved ahead of his teammate at the end of the back straight to move into third place as the lead pack of four began to make a break over fifth placed Loris Capirossi. However, Tamada was pressuring Capirossi for fifth place, taking the place from him at the end of the back straight on lap two as he headed off in pursuit of the lead pack. Biaggi was pushing Gibernau hard at the front, and took the lead into turn one on lap three only to see Gibernau take it back in turn two, but Biaggi fought back immediately, taking the lead into turn three.
As Tamada closed the gap on the riders in front of him, Rossi took second from Gibernau at turn five on lap four. By lap five Tamada was right with Hayden at the tail end of the lead group. Another rider doing a great job was Marco Melandri. After qualifying ninth, he lost out badly with the incident at turn one and was nineteenth at the end of lap one, but moved up four places on lap two, two each on laps three, four and five to begin lap six in ninth position! As they began lap seven Biaggi and Rossi were beginning to move away from the rest of the lead pack... and then it was just Biaggi. Rossi went into turn one too fast, sitting his bike up and riding through the sand as he saved his bike but dropped to ninth place behind Melandri, nearly nine seconds behind Biaggi who now had a break over the dicing trio behind him.
Lap fifteen saw Gibernau make a mistake at turn five, allowing Tamada to drive up the inside and retake second place, but once again Gibernau took second place back two corners later as Rossi inched closer while Biaggi continued to edge away in the lead. As they began lap seventeen Rossi set a new lap record as he caught the battle for second place. Heading into the hairpin before the back straight, Rossi made another mistake as he went in too deep looking to pass teammate Hayden, Rossi having to run wide and catch the group again. Lap eighteen saw Tamada have another look at passing Gibernau off turn five but a look at gaining a spot for Tamada ended up costing him two places as Hayden and Rossi snuck past two corners later.
Lap nineteen and Rossi was on the charge, taking Hayden at turn five before stuffing it up the inside of Gibernau two corners later to take second place. Having caught the group so easily, it was almost expected he would leave the pack behind as he chased down Biaggi. Except he couldn't shake the group behind him, Gibernau staying right on Rossi's tail while Hayden and Tamada fought, Tamada taking fourth into the hairpin onto the back straight on lap 20 only to run wide in the middle of the turn allowing Hayden straight back through. Over the closing laps Rossi still had Gibernau right on his tail, with Hayden and Tamada still right behind them. Through the right hander at the end of the back straight on the final lap Tamada and Hayden were side-by-side, fairings clashing before Tamada took fourth into the final complex of corners before the start of the final lap.
Result of World Motorcycle Championship, Round 13 of 16, Motegi, Japan:
Standings: Valentino Rossi 282, Sete Gibernau 224, Max Biaggi 199, Loris Capirossi 131, Troy Bayliss 112, Tohru Ukawa 103, Nicky Hayden 101, Carlos Checa 93, Alex Barros 90, Shinya Nakano 84 etc.
Newman Edges Out Elliott
Jimmie Johnson set the fastest time in qualifying, but a crash in practice meant that he started at the back of the field, so Dale Earnhardt Jr, third fastest in qualifying, sat on the pole at the start alongside second fastest qualifier Mike Skinner, still subbing for the injured Jerry Nadeau. At the start Skinner swept around the outside to take the lead, but it didn't last long, Earnhardt Jr taking over at the front as they began lap three, before Rusty Wallace took the lead two laps later only for Earnhardt Jr to take it back from Wallace two laps later. Lap twelve saw Wallace take the lead once again as Jeff Gordon and Bill Elliott closed in as Earnhardt Jr began to fade a little. On lap 13 Elliott took third, second on lap 16 and before taking the lead by lap 20, Wallace and Gordon in second and third with Ryan Newman moving up to fourth soon after with Jeff Green in a Dodge in fifth.
Newman's progress continued, taking third on lap 48 at about the same time as 29th place runner Jimmie Johnson was lapped by leader Bill Elliott. Green flag stops began just before lap 60, the stops going ahead without drama or much change to the running order, Elliott leading comfortably after they were completed. The first caution of the day came out soon after on lap 70, when Michael Waltrip got high off turn two and spun. Points leader Matt Kenseth saw this happening in front of him and went down low and ended up spinning himself, collecting the inside wall after sliding through the infield grass, damaging his car enough to put it behind the wall for repairs. About half of the lead lap runners pitted, including leader Elliott, who dropped down to twelfth for the restart as Wallace led Newman, Gordon, Green and Jamie McMurray as the race restarted on lap 77.
In came the field for stops, Wallace leading Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Johnson and Labonte off pit road, as several cars took only two tyres. The race went back to green on lap 111, Jason Leffler the new leader as he did not come into make a pit stop. Wallace quickly got alongside Leffler but couldn't take the lead, and while this was happening Wallace got a little loose, which saw Johnson sweep past both Wallace and Gordon to move into second place on lap 113, Gordon taking third from Wallace moments later as Johnson and Gordon passed Leffler before the lap was over.
As this was happening Kenseth returned to the track after repairs, in last place and 45 laps down. Elliott was charging back to the front, up to fourth soon after the restart, taking second from Gordon on lap 123 and the lead from Johnson on lap 131 as Labonte and Benson moved into fourth and fifth place, Benson taking fourth soon after.
At the front Elliott stretched his advantage over Johnson and Gordon, before Benson's pressure paid off as he took third place from Gordon on lap 151 of the 267 lap event. The next caution came out on lap 160 when Jeff Green lost a front right tyre. In came the field for pit stops, with four tyres the go this time, Elliott leading Johnson, Gordon, Benson and Harvick off pit road. The race restarted on lap 166 but was back to caution on lap 171 after Joe Nemechek crashed in turn two. Most of the field stayed on track as Ryan Newman came into top off his fuel, hoping for some caution laps to run the rest of the way without stopping. The race restarted on lap 175 with the top five unchanged from the previous caution, Johnson coming up and challenging Elliott for the lead before Elliott reasserted himself. Not long after on lap 183 it was caution time again as Kurt Busch's car went up in flames, the flames even coming inside the car. Six lead lap cars pitted, including Newman once again, as most of the leaders stayed out.
Jamie McMurray was first off pit road ahead of Jeff Burton, Tony Stewart, Ricky Rudd and Rusty Wallace, Elliott thirteenth off pit road and fifteenth overall as Mayfield and Newman stayed out and took over the top two positions ahead of McMurray, Burton and Stewart. Back to green on lap 206, Stewart moving quickly into fourth. With 46 laps remaining Elliott moved back into the top ten, though he was still nearly ten seconds off his teammate and race leader Mayfield. Elliott continued to push forward, moving up to fifth during the next ten laps as he slowly closed the gap to the front. Just as the race looked like going green to the flag, Mark Martin spun down the frontstretch after getting loose coming off turn four, bringing out the caution on lap 236. Most of the field stayed out though a few cars down the order came in for stops, the caution allowing those who had been marginal on fuel to make it without stopping again.
The race went back to green on lap 240, Mayfield leading Newman, McMurray, Stewart and Elliott. It didn't stay that way for long, Newman taking the lead from Mayfield as they completed lap 240 as Elliott closed in on the leaders, taking fourth from Stewart on lap 244, and third from McMurray on lap 247. The race was back under caution on lap 250 after Johnny Benson crashed on the frontstretch. Back to green on lap 254, Newman leading the way, with Elliott moving to second past teammate Mayfield with eleven laps remaining. The gap between first and second was just over a second, but Elliott was only pulling back a tenth or two each lap at most. He got close but not close enough, Ryan Newman winning ahead of Bill Elliott, Jeremy Mayfield, Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon.
Result of NASCAR Winston Cup, Round 30 of 36, Kansas Speedway, Kansas, United States:
Standings: Matt Kenseth 4282, Kevin Harvick 4023, Dale Earnhardt Jr 3957, Ryan Newman 3918, Jimmie Johnson 3902, Jeff Gordon 3862, Bobby Labonte 3645, Tony Stewart 3616, Kurt Busch 3575, Terry Labonte 3511 etc.
Briscoe's Title
Briscoe started the weekend in style, taking the points for race two qualifying before moving into race one qualifying on Saturday morning. With rain falling, Brisoce spun off, qualifying only 18th, while pole was snagged by Markus Winkelhock ahead of Richard Leitz. Olivier Pla led Andreas Zuber on the second row with Briscoe's teammate and title rival on the third row, Robert Kubica and Christian Klien.
By the time the race rolled around, conditions were still wet, but with no new rain falling, tyre choice was critical. This favoured Bruno Spengler on wets, who shot to the lead from the fourth row while those in front on slicks or intermediates were slower away. Lietz slid down the order dramatically and spun, before being clobbered by a backmarker to end his day. The Safety Car emerged to lead the field around while Winkelhock ground to a halt with mechanical difficulties. The conditions gradually favoured the slick shod cars, but not before title protagonists Briscoe and Klien spun off in separate incidents, and to make the Prema Powerteam's Saturday truly miserable, Kubica crashed.
Into the last lap Spengler was trying to hold off Alexandros Margaritis, Adam Carroll and Nicholas Lapierre. None of them would win. On slicks, Timo Glock started the last lap in fifth position, quickly picking off Lapierre and Carroll. Into the final corner he picked off Margaritis and Spengler and powered towards the line with a huge gaggle of cars sprinting to the line in pursuit. Amazingly Spengler finished only sixth, after being swamped by Maragaritis, Lapierre, Fabio Carbone, also slick shod and following in Glock's wake, and Carroll. Nico Rosberg and Simon Abadie took the remaining points.
Up front Briscoe was never troubled by Winkelhock, and performed a few celebratory burnouts for the crowd returning to the pits. The Australian has an unassailable 27 point lead going into the Magny-Cours finale over Klien. Klien has a 19 point gap over Olivier Pla and thus his second place is theoretically vulnerable. More likely though is Pla's threat will come from Klien's teammate Winkelhock, just three points shy. There are plenty of laps to come for Briscoe, for after Magny-Cours come the far eastern races at Macau and Korea. Plus a few miles in a Toyota TF103 here and there as well.
Result of European Formula Three Championship, Round 9 of 10, Hockenheim, Germany:
Standings: Ryan Briscoe 110, Christian Klien 83, Olivier Pla 64, Markus Winkelhock 61, Fabio Carbone 49, Alexandre Premat 46, Timo Glock 45, Nico Rosberg 42, Bruno Spengler 34, Robert Doornbos 32 etc.
F3 Euro Series points distribution
Schneider, By A Puncture
Jean Alesi would win his third DTM event this day at the Hockenheim, but the drive of a man more used to racing Ferrari open wheelers at Hockenheim was a sideshow to the main event, Schneider vs Albers. On the 25th lap of the race Albers caught Schneider and for two laps the title was separated by millimetres. But halfway around the 27th lap, Albers punctured. Albers pitted and continued, but the title was gone, and Schneider became champion for the fourth time.
With it all to play for, Schneider was immediately into the groove in qualifying, topping the sheets to be half a second ahead of Jean Alesi with Peter Dumbreck and Martin Tomczyk next representing Opel and Audi. Albers was sixth, comfortably into Superpole. Star of superpole was Mattias Ekstrom in the Audi. Third out on the track, he recorded a 1:48.389, four tenths quicker than Schneider's qualifying time. Albers made several mistakes and was slowest of those who completed their Superpole lap (Manuel Reuter did not). Tomczyk was three tenths off and would start fourth; Dumbreck was quicker, taking second, the first no Mercedes front row of the year. Alesi was good enough for third while Schneider was conservative and fifth.
Ekstrom won the start, leading from Dumbreck and Alesi with Schneider quickly up to fourth. Albers stayed in ninth as Alesi disposed of the Opel in front of him and set off after the Audi. Dumbreck was quickly under fire from the next Mercedes, Schneider, while Albers started to move up, taking eighth from Timo Scheider. On lap five the battle for fifth between Tomczyk and Alain Menu saw the Audi driver spin off after the pair clashed. The Swiss would receive a stop-go penatly.
Dumbreck again started the pit stop cycle on lap 16 with Ekstrom and Fassler in two laps later. Albers pitted on lap 21, rejoining just behind Schneider with Scheider between them. After four laps of pressure, Scheider spun and the battle for the championship was joined. Then Albers punctured out the back of the circuit. The Dutchman limped the car home to the pits and rejoined.
Up front and Ekstrom caught Alesi, but couldn't find a way past. Alesi took a 0.2 sec victory in the end, his first away from Donington Park. Fassler was third, securing his championship bronze medal whilst Dumbreck, ever present as the top Opel throughout the year, was fourth. Outgoing champion Laurent Aiello was next ahead of Schneider. With Albers out of the running it didn't matter where Schneider finished. Ekstrom's second place secured championship fourth place whilst the win jumped Alesi into fifth, past Aiello.
Albers had to feel hard done by at the end, having won four races to Schneider's two, and catching his rival when a component failure struck him down. Schneider's consistency, coupled with the new point score system better rewarding finishing over Albers' superior victory ratio. Time though is on the side of the 24 year old Dutchman.
Result of Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, Round 10 of 10, Hockenheim, Germany:
Final Standings: Bernd Schneider 68, Christijan Albers 64, Marcel Fassler 57, Mattias Ekstrom 46, Jean Alesi 42, Laurent Aiello 41, Peter Dumbreck 31, Timo Scheider 12, Alain Menu 9, Manuel Reuter 5, Gary Paffett 4, Christian Abt 3, Thomas Jager and Jeroen Bleekemolen 2, Joachim Winkelhock, Martin Tomczyk, Karl Wendlinger and Peter Terting 1
Champions and Corvettes
Practice was marred by several heavy accidents, with Gunnar Jeannette (Panoz LMP01 Elan), Kelly Collins (Chevrolet Corvette C5-R) and Jon Field (Lola EX257 MG) all crashing, with the Chevy unable to be repaired for the race.
JJ Lehto took Champion Racing's first pole for the season in an all Audi front row with Marco Werner alongside in the Team Joest car. Lola-MGs filled the next three places, the Intersport car sandwiching the two entries from Dyson Racing. Olivier Beretta put the uncrashed Panoz seventh, behind the Riley & Scott of Shane Lewis. David Brabham was eighth fastest in a Prodrive-fettled Ferrari 550 Maranello, while Maassen and Luhr topped the timesheet in GT in their championship Porsche.
The hastily repaired Intersport Lola started from pit lane while the rest of the field took the green flag against the rapidly setting sun. Once underway Lehto and Werner stormed away from the field. Lehto led up to the first break in the race at 45 minutes, after Marc Lieb hit the barriers in his Porsche 996. Lehto pitted for Herbert and Werner took up the race lead. During the stop there was a flash of flame from the Audi, and a flash of extinguishant from the car's fire bottle. The team quickly checked the damage before sending Herbert on his way.
In the sprint to the flag, Biela could not make up the distance to catch Herbert, and neither car needed another fuel stop. Beretta finished two laps adrift in third. The next L900 to finish was the Riley & Scott Elan of Clint Field and Michael Durand in 11th. James Weaver slowed in the race late running, dropping out of fourth, and behind teammate Chris Dyson. The MGs were well up on the Lola-Nissan in third in class, some six laps down on Dyson.
The Prodrive Ferraris dominated GTS, running at the speed of the 675 prototypes for much of the race. The charge of the Ferrari in the second half of the season has been terrific to watch, but they had given away too much lost ground to the Corvettes, and despite a trouble-plagued race, Fellows and O'Connell wrapped up the GTS championship.
The final ALMS round of the season, the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, is next up on October 18. Both prototype classes are up for grabs, although Chris Dyson holds a 20 point lead in LMP675. In LMP900 Biela and Werner are 14 points clear of JJ Lehto. The Joest Audi will have to strike trouble if they are to fail to defend their crown.
Result of American Le Mans Series, Round 8 of 9, Miami Street Circuit, Florida, United States:
Standings: Frank Biela and Marco Werner 151, JJ Lehto 137, Johnny Herbert 134, Olivier Beretta 105, David Saelens 79, Gunnar Jeannette 66, Michael Lewis, Tomy Drissi and Clint Field 46 etc.
LMP675: Chris Dyson 115, Jon Field and Duncan Dayton 95, Jason Workman 92, Andy Wallace 89 etc.
LMGTS: Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell 137, Oliver Gavin, Kelly Collins and David Brabham 96 etc.
LMGT: Sascha Maassen and Lucas Luhr 142, Timo Bernhard and Jorg Bergmeister 78, Ralf Kelleners and Anthony Lazzaro 77 etc.
The King of the Mountain
Each October brings the Bathurst 1000, Australia's biggest and most fascinating motor race. After four years of Holden victories, this year represents the best chance for a Ford win in a long time. And it is the team who took that last Ford win who are leading the charge this year.
Mark Skaife though won the glamour season opening Adelaide 500, and with regular teammate Todd Kelly the most recent event, the Sandown 500. The defending series champion, and new owner of Holden Racing Team has grappled a little to get on top of the new VY model Commodore, having to learn a completely new suspension system, as well as get used to a new engine as the Holden Motor Sport engine replaces the NASCAR-sourced Chevrolet motor. Skaife has won the last two Bathursts and deserves almost equal favourite status.
From there, contenders proliferate widely. Craig Lowndes won the Phillip Island round in his Prodrive-fettled FPR Ford, and with veteran Glenn Seton makes a fearsome combination. Brad Jones and John Bowe are the most experienced pairing in the field and have won over a dozen national titles between them in various classes. The BJR Ford has been very quick at Bathurst the previous two attempts, including just losing a desperate chase for the win in 2001.
The General's 'semi-official' troops have series front runners Greg Murphy (K-Mart) and Jason Bright (Team Brock) joined by their regular teammates Rick Kelly and Paul Weel respectively. Larry Perkins returns from retirement to join his lead driver Steven Richards, while Garth Tander is joined by Monaro sports car racer Nathan Pretty in the Valvoline team.
ETCC front runner Andy Priaulx will team up with Cameron McLean in the second K-Mart Commodore, while former Formula 3000 and CART racer Nicolas Minassian will join ALMS Ferrari driver Jan Magnussen in the second Team Dynamik Holden in support of Simon Wills and Jason Richards who came within inches of stealing the Sandown 500 from Mark Skaife and Todd Kelly. Other Holdens worth watching are Morris/Faulkner and Ritter/Marshall.
161 laps of the hillside racetrack of Mount Panorama await the V8 Supercars, a unique test of pace, strategy and endurance.
Entry list for V8 Supercar Championship Series, Round 10 of 13, Bathurst 1000, Mount Panorama, Australia:
Read Takes To The Road Again When He's 64
Former World Champion Phil Read is back racing motorcycles at the age of 64, taking to the road in France's Moto Tour. The Briton will be riding a Yamaha 1000 on the six-day race starting on Sunday, covering 2,300 kms through France.
"The speed trials will not be a problem but what worries me is all the rest," said Read, twice 500cc world champion.
"The night stage, the ability to arrive in time, the navigation. They'll have to tell me where I'm going or else I'm quite capable of losing myself from the moment I leave Paris.
"I've been given the number one bike so I leave first but I'm going to slow down so I can follow the others," he told L'Equipe newspaper on Sunday.
Report provided by Reuters
Rally
The World Rally Championship race continues to tighten as Citroen's Sebastien Loeb won a rain blighted Rally San Remo, closing Richard Burns's series lead down to just two points. The Frenchman completed the fourteen stages with a 28 second lead over Peugeot's tarmac specialist Gilles Panizzi who had a similar margin on Ford's rising star Markko Martin. Martin had been the threat to the lead but mistakes claimed Martin's chances, and eventually second place as well.
Loeb won a first foggy stage of the rally on Friday, and had built up a 19 second lead over Gronholm by the end of Stage 3. Brake problems began to affect Gronholm at this point and Martin moved up to take the fight to Loeb. At the end of the first day Loeb had a 32 second lead over Martin, with Gronholm 17 seconds further back.
Sainz was elevated to fourth after Gronholm failed to arrive at the finish. The reigning champion crashed on the stage, a victim of the sudden downpour. Of the remaining Peugeot, a dissatisfied Richard Burns took seventh place and the two points that goes with it. With the FFSA Peugeot also present Cedric Robert was the first non-factory car to finish in ninth.
Pos Driver/Co-driver Car
1. Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena Citroen Xsara
2. Gilles Panizzi/Herve Panizzi Peugeot 206 WRC
3. Markko Martin/Michael Park Ford Focus RS WRC 03
4. Carlos Sainz/Marc Marti Citroen Xsara
5. Francois Duval/Stephan Prevot Ford Focus RS WRC 03
6. Colin McRae/Derek Ringer Citroen Xsara
7. Richard Burns/Robert Reid Peugeot 206 WRC
8. Philippe Bugalski/Jean-Paul Chiaroni Citroen Xsara
9. Cedric Robert/Gerald Bedon Peugeot 206 WRC
10. Tommi Makinen/Kaj Lindstrom Subaru Impreza WRC2003
Ford cannot guarantee they will compete in next year's World Rally Championship, team boss Malcolm Wilson said on Thursday.
MotoGP
Max Biaggi finally scored his first win 'on the road' this season at Motegi, following his win at Donington earlier in the year, which came after Rossi was penalised for passing under yellows, some three hours after the race. While Biaggi rode a controlled race to win, compatriot Valentino Rossi rode a somewhat scrappy race but recovered from his errors to take the runner's up spot ahead of local hero Makoto Tamada. Until Tamada was disqualified for his last lap collision with Sete Gibernau, which promoted MotoGP rookie Nicky Hayden to his first 'podium', the disqualification coming well after Tamada had sprayed the champagne. It was not a good day for riders at Motegi, with John Hopkins
being banned from competing in Malaysia for his role in the first corner accident. Despite all this drama and intrigue, little has changed in the title chase, with Rossi well placed to secure the 2003 championship in Malaysia this weekend.
After several laps of trying, Tamada finally took third place on lap eight as further back in the field Rossi took eighth place from Melandri. Lap nine saw Rossi pass Capirossi and then Ukawa to move up to sixth, before taking fifth from Barros on lap ten, as Rossi set off in pursuit of teammate Nicky Hayden in fourth place. Just in front of Hayden, Tamada was all over Gibernau for second place, taking the place at turn five on lap eleven only for Gibernau to take the place back two corners later. One lap later at turn five Tamada took second again but ran wide on the exit of the turn allowing Gibernau to retake the place immediately. This dicing was just what Biaggi and Rossi wanted, Biaggi extending his lead while Rossi continued to close in. After Tamada's second failed attempt to pass Gibernau the trio fighting for second settled down somewhat, as a little further back Melandri had moved up to sixth by lap thirteen.
Meanwhile all this time Biaggi was cruising at the front, as Gibernau was hoping to make a last lap move on Rossi to take second place. Early in the lap it seemed possible, before Gibernau fell into the clutches of Tamada. As they headed down the back straight for the last time, Tamada slipstreamed Gibernau then pulled out to pass him. He then moved back across to take the racing line. There was only one problem - Gibernau was still there. The two riders touched, Tamada only slightly affected while Gibernau slid somewhat out of control through the braking area and into the gravel, recovering his bike eventually to make it fifth across the line, just ahead of Melandri as Biaggi won ahead of Rossi, Tamada and Hayden. Later, Tamada was disqualified from the results for the clash, promoting everyone except Biaggi and Rossi up a place, with Hayden taking his first MotoGP podium without actually standing on the podium!
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Max Biaggi Honda RC211V
2. Valentino Rossi Honda RC211V
3. Nicky Hayden Honda RC211V
4. Sete Gibernau Honda RC211V
5. Marco Melandri Yamaha YZR-M1
6. Alex Barros Yamaha YZR-M1
7. Tohru Ukawa Honda RC211V
8. Loris Capirossi Ducati Desmosedici
9. Shinya Nakano Yamaha YZR-M1
10. Akira Ryo Suzuki GSV-R
NASCAR
Another week, another Ryan Newman fuel economy run to victory. In what is becoming somewhat familiar, Ryan Newman stretched his fuel the furthest to win at Kansas, just edging out a fast closing Bill Elliott who had shown speed all race long, leading the most laps of the event. Newman's gamble to stay out during the last three cautions paid off, as everyone else came to the pits at least once to make it to the finish. Newman's win moves him closer to the top of the points standings, now in fourth position, 364 points off the lead and with an outside chance at the title. Meanwhile, for the second week in a row Matt Kenseth struck trouble, finishing in 36th after crashing while avoiding a spinning Michael Waltrip, Kenseth's points lead down to 259 points over Kevin Harvick.
Wallace and Newman ran close together as they began edging away at the front just as Dave Blaney crashed off turn two, bringing out the caution on lap 83, with Jimmie Johnson getting the free pass back onto the lead lap. This time most of the cars who didn't pit at the previous caution came in, most taking just fuel, Newman the best placed of those who pitted in ninth as Dale Jarrett took over the lead for the restart on lap 88 ahead of Jeremy Mayfield, Todd Bodine, Bill Elliott and Terry Labonte. Elliott was soon up to third as the leaders who pitted at the last caution steadily made their way back up the top ten. Another caution wasn't far away on lap 106 after Elliott Sadler hit the turn one wall after a right front tyre failed.
Having fallen off the lead lap earlier in the event, Earnhardt Jr this time received the free pass to get back on the lead lap. As he went around the outside of the cars to make the lap up, he and Benson made contact, forcing Benson to make an unscheduled stop from fourth place with moderate damage to the right front of Benson's car. Newman and a few others continued to come in and top off their fuel as they got closer and closer to making it to the end without pitting. With Benson pitting, the top five was Elliott, Johnson, Gordon, Harvick and Wallace as the race restarted on lap 191, Wallace quickly shuffled down the order as Tony Stewart moved into fifth. Michael Waltrip brought out the caution again on lap 202 as he spun in turns three and four. In came the field for hopefully their last stops of the day, as a variety of decisions regarding tyres mixed up the field.
Pos Driver Car
1. Ryan Newman Dodge Intrepid
2. Bill Elliott Dodge Intrepid
3. Jeremy Mayfield Dodge Intrepid
4. Tony Stewart Chevrolet Monte Carlo
5. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Monte Carlo
6. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Monte Carlo
7. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Monte Carlo
8. Jamie McMurray Dodge Intrepid
9. Rusty Wallace Dodge Intrepid
10. Ricky Rudd Ford Taurus
Euro F3
Ryan Briscoe stamped his authority on the reborn European Formula 3 Championship from the outset, winning four of the first six races. The next six races only yielded 13 points, putting his lead on shaky ground, but the wins started flowing again at the A-1 Ring and victory in race two was enough to secure the championship.
Having failed to collect points from race one, Klien would be desperate. He was sixth on the grid, while Briscoe sat on pole with Winkelhock, Alexandre Premat, Pla and Rosberg between them. It would be a big ask. Briscoe launched well and was away from the field immediately with Winkelhock in pursuit. Rosberg took up third initially but was unable to defend from the super-aggressive Klien and the Finn was forced aside and off the track. This brought Premat up to fourth, but he was caught and passed by Spengler. Robert Doornbos, just behind Spengler, crashed himself and Premat out of the race attempting to keep up with Spengler. Spengler would not keep fourth as star driver of the day Margaritis took the Canadian with a lap and a half to go. Spengler's French teammate Pla was next, with Lapierre and Abadie completing the points.
Race One
Pos Driver Team
1. Timo Glock Opel Team KMS Dallara F303 Spiess Opel
2. Alexandros Margaritis MB Racing Performance Dallara F303 Spiess Opel
3. Nicolas Lapierre Signature Plus Dallara F303 Renault Sodemo
4. Fabio Carbone Signature Plus Dallara F303 Renault Sodemo
5. Adam Carroll Opel Team KMS Dallara F303 Spiess Opel
6. Bruno Spengler ASM F3 Dallara F303 Mercedes
7. Nico Rosberg Team Rosberg Dallara F303 Spiess Opel
8. Simon Abadie LD Autosport Dallara F303 Mugen-Honda
9. Alexandre Premat ASM F3 Dallara F303 Mercedes
10. Olivier Pla ASM F3 Dallara F303 Mercedes
Race Two
Pos Driver Team
1. Ryan Briscoe Prema Powerteam Dallara F303 Spiess Opel
2. Markus Winkelhock Mucke Motorsport Dallara F303 Mercedes
3. Christian Klien Mucke Motorsport Dallara F303 Mercedes
4. Alexandros Margaritis MB Racing Performance Dallara F303 Spiess Opel
5. Bruno Spengler ASM F3 Dallara F303 Mercedes
6. Olivier Pla ASM F3 Dallara F303 Mercedes
7. Nicolas Lapierre Signature Plus Dallara F303 Renault Sodemo
8. Simon Abadie LD Autosport Dallara F303 Mugen-Honda
9. Charles Zwolsman Kolles Dallara F303 Mercedes
10. Robert Kubica Prema Powerteam Dallara F303 Spiess Opel
DTM
Since the start of the season Bernd Schneider and Christijan Albers have fought over the DTM points lead. Between them, the Mercedes AMG teammates had won six of the nine rounds contested. Since the series' British sojourn in July, Schneider has held a narrow lead that has never grown sufficient for the three times champion to relax at all. Into the final round, his lead was a single point. Under any circumstances, whichever one of the pair got to the line first would win the title.
Dumbreck was first into the pits on lap six, leading Menu, Albers, Abt and others down the pits. A lap later and the three leaders pitted together, leaving Marcel Fassler in command of the race. It lasted only a lap before he stopped too. The AMG pit crew closed the gap and Alesi fought his way past Ekstrom on lap nine with Dumbreck closing on the pair. Dumbreck would have a brief off, pitching him back into the jaws of Schneider and Fassler. The three swapped positions a few times. Schneider was passed by Fassler dropping him to fifth, with only Laurent Aiello saving him from a scrap with Albers. Albers dropped time and a spot to Scheider on lap 17. But Schneider was in the pits. A puncture had stricken the car just before pit entry. The German veteran got the tyres swapped and was away again.
Pos Driver Car
1. Jean Alesi Mercedes CLK-DTM
2. Mattias Ekstrom Audi TT-R
3. Marcel Fassler Mercedes CLK-DTM
4. Peter Dumbreck Opel Astra Coupe
5. Laurent Aiello Audi TT-R
6. Bernd Schneider Mercedes CLK-DTM
7. Timo Scheider Opel Astra Coupe
8. Peter Terting Audi TT-R
9. Christian Abt Audi TT-R
10. Alain Menu Opel Astra Coupe
ALMS
Fortunes continue to swing between the two Audi squads in the ALMS, as the Champion Racing Audi R8 of JJ Lehto and Johnny Herbert won the Grand Prix Americas event on the double-header weekend they shared with CART in Florida. Further back in the pack, a dominant 1-2 performance in class, and fourth and fifth outright for the Prodrive Ferraris was not enough to prevent Corvette Racing drivers Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell from securing the LMGTS championship.
Herbert resumed the lead when Werner pitted for Biela after over 80 minutes at the wheel. With light rain falling, Werner just missed the second safety car period, for the ageing Panoz Esperante of Rick Skelton who had been spun by Michael Durand. As the race's third hour began, only the two Audis were on the lead lap, with Olivier Beretta third in the Panoz ahead of James Weaver's Lola-MG and David Brabham's Ferrari. With less than twenty minutes left, the race went yellow again for some debris dropped by the second of the Panoz LMP01s. The race went green again with crowd and spectators alike wondering if the Audis would need a splash of fuel.
In GT Maassen and Luhr won again, climbing to seventh outright, in behind the first of the Dyson Lolas. Risi Competizione rose to second place in their Ferrari 360 Modena of Ralf Kelleners and Anthony Lazzaro.
Pos Drivers Team
1. JJ Lehto/Johnny Herbert Champion Racing Audi R8
2. Marco Werner/Frank Biela Team Joest Audi R8
3. David Saelens/Olivier Beretta JML Team Panoz Panoz LMP01 Elan
4. Darren Turner/David Brabham Veloqx Prodrive Racing Ferrari
550 Maranello (1st GTS)
5. Peter Kox/Tomas Enge Veloqx Prodrive Racing Ferrari
550 Maranello (2nd GTS)
6. Andy Wallace/Chris Dyson Dyson Racing Team Lola EX257 MG
(1st P675)
7. Lucas Luhr/Sascha Maassen Alex Job Racing Porsche 996 GT3 RS
(1st GT)
8. Butch Leitzinger/James Weaver Dyson Racing Team Lola EX257 MG
(2nd P675)
9. Ralf Kelleners/Anthony Lazzaro Risi Competizione Ferrari
360 Modena (2nd GT)
10. Robin Liddell/Alex Caffi P.K. Sport Porsche 996 GT3 RS
(3rd GT)
V8 Supercar
Marcos Ambrose returning to Australia after a faltered open wheeler career in Europe has been very much Australia's gain, and with the new BA Stone Brothers Racing Falcon being very much competitive, Ambrose has collected five wins from nine rounds thus far this season and is becoming the runaway series leader. His co-driver, the vastly experienced Russell Ingall, won one of the other rounds, and the pair head to Bathurst the form car.
Former BTCC veterans Paul Radisich and Rickard Rydell have the ever improving Triple 8 Racing Ford to call on, while ALMS star David Brabham joins former CART driver Max Wilson in the Shell backed team. Other Fords in the hunt include Ellery/Youlden, Johnson/Luff, Larkham/Bargwanna, Noske/Winterbottom and Besnard/Kelly. But we must not forget the mad Scot John Cleland, making his annual trip to Australia to join Andrew Jones in a BJR Falcon.
No Drivers Team
1 Mark Skaife/Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore VY
2 Jim Richards/Tony Longhurst Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore VY
3 Cameron McConville/Tim Leahey Lansvale Racing Team Holden Commodore VX
4 Marcos Ambrose/Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon BA
5 Darren Hossack/Adam Macrow Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon BA
6 Craig Lowndes/Glenn Seton Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon BA
8 Paul Dumbrell/Tomas Mezera Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore VX
9 Mark Noske/Mark Winterbottom Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon BA
10 Mark Larkham/Jason Bargwanna Larkham Motor Sport Ford Falcon BA
11 Steven Richards/Larry Perkins Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore VY
13 Steven Owen/Phillip Scifleet Robert Smith Racing Holden Commodore VX
15 Cameron McLean/Andy Priaulx K-Mart Racing Team Holden Commodore VX
16 Greg Ritter/Marcus Marshall Team Brock Holden Commodore VX
17 Steven Johnson/Warren Luff Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon BA
18 Max Wilson/David Brabham Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon BA
19 David Besnard/Owen Kelly Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon BA
20 Grant Johnson/Kerry Wade Larkham Motor Sport Ford Falcon AU
21 Brad Jones/John Bowe Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon BA
021 Craig Baird/Mark Porter Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore VX
23 Neal Bates/Rick Bates Team Noske Ford Falcon AU
24 Wayne Wakefield/Andy McElrea Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore VX
29 Paul Morris/John Faulkner Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore VY
31 Steven Ellery/Luke Youlden Steven Ellery Racing Ford Falcon BA
33 Jamie Whincup/Alan Simonsen Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore VX
34 Garth Tander/Nathan Pretty Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore VY
44 Simon Wills/Jason Richards Team Dynamik Holden Commodore VY
45 Jan Magnussen/Nicolas Minassian Team Dynamik Holden Commodore VY
46 Dale Brede/Tony Ricciardello John Faulkner Racing Holden Commodore VX
50 Jason Bright/Paul Weel Team Brock Holden Commodore VX
51 Greg Murphy/Rick Kelly K-Mart Racing Team Holden Commodore VY
55 Jose Fernandez/Matthew Coleman Fernandez Racing Ford Falcon AU
59 Ron Searle/Jamie Miller Phoenix Motorsport Holden Commodore VX
65 Paul Radisich/Rickard Rydell Triple 8 Racing Ford Falcon BA
66 Dean Canto/Matthew White Triple 8 Racing Ford Falcon BA
69 Robert Jones/Peter Doulman Spies/Hecker Racing Holden Commodore VX
72 Allan Gurr/Christian D'Agostin Robert Smith Racing Holden Commodore VX
75 Anthony Tratt/Paul Stokell Paul Little Racing Ford Falcon BA
89 Mal Rose/Grant Elliott Gulf Western Racing Ford Falcon AU
99 David Thexton/Stephen Voight Thexton Motor Racing Ford Falcon AU
888 John Cleland/Andrew Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon BA
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Volume 9, Issue 41
Atlas F1 Exclusive
Interview with Pizzonia
Fisichella: Through the Visor
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