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Vale Peter 'Possum' Bourne 1956-2003
Bourne had been in a drug-induced coma in Dunedin Hospital since the accident but his family decided on Monday that keeping him on life support was no longer in his best interests after the full impact of his injury became apparent. In a brief statement Bourne's family said he had died peacefully early on Wednesday morning.
Tributes flowed for Bourne, 47, who was injured in a head-on collision while checking a hill-climb race course on Easter Friday.
Bourne was New Zealand's only full-time professional rally driver, a three-times Asia-Pacific champion and seven times Australian rally winner.
MotorSport New Zealand president Steven Kennedy said that New Zealand had lost one of its greatest and most enduring champions.
"He was a proud Kiwi who rates among the very best motorsport competitors to emerge from New Zealand and we, along with thousands of other New Zealanders, mourn his death," Kennedy said.
Bourne, married with three young children, was driving on a public road in a mountain range ahead of a race when his car collided head on with another competitor near the South Island resort town of Wanaka, 600 km (360 miles) south of Wellington.
He began his rallying career in the late 1970s and though he competed in international rallies he became best known in Australia, where he is reigning champion, and the Asia-Pacific region.
Peter Bourne was given his nickname after he reputedly rolled his mother's car at the age of 15 when attempting to avoid a possum, a common furry marsupial the size of a small dog.
Member of Parliament and long-time rally driver Paul Adams said Bourne had become a New Zealand hero with an enthusiasm for people that he never lost.
"When I first knew him he drove milk tankers but he had a dream, he had a vision of becoming a world class rally driver and he achieved it," Adams said.
Report provided by Reuters
'For Possum'
As the Asia-Pacific Rally circus gathered in Canberra last weekend, the field was conspicious for the lack of its leading light. The thoughts of all present were with Possum Bourne as he struggled for life in New Zealand. Possum Bourne Motor Sport however were present, and united in the thought of 'Doing it for Possum'. They did their boss proud, with Cody Crocker winning the event, and teammate Dean Herridge claiming third position, both drivers scoring their best finish in Canberra.
Finn Juha Kangas was the rally's early leader until a roll took him out of contention while under pressure from a charging Crocker. By this point the rally had already lost the front running cars of Nico Caldarola (cracked radiator) and Simon Evans (broken gearshift). With the Mitsubishis of Scott Pedder and Ed Ordynski slowing slightly through various problems, Possum's Subarus were able to consolidate their position to dominate the podium. The first of the APRC championship competitors home was the Lancer of Armin Kremer ahead of Geof Argyle and Fumio Nutahara. While the points table belonged to Mitsubishi, the result was quite different.
Result of Asia-Pacific Rally Championship, Round 1 of 6, Rally of Canberra, Australia:
Gibernau Scores Emotional Win At Welkom
With his teammate Daijiro Kato passing away following a high-speed crash at Suzuka, Sete Gibernau took an emotional pole followed by the race win at Welkom. It was what Sete wanted to do, and it was well received by the MotoGP community in general, as they knew what must've been going through Gibernau and his team's minds heading into the weekend. Valentino Rossi's second place in the event maintained his position at the top of the standings, seven points clear of Welkom winner Sete Gibernau and nine points clear of Max Biaggi, all three riders Honda mounted.
If people were hoping for a clean start after all this delay they were disappointed, with Shinya Nakano nearly stalling on the line, which may have partly caused the incident that began when Colin Edwards on his Aprilia clipped the back of one bike, which sent him to the right, banging hard into John Hopkins on his Suzuki, sending Edwards off his bike into the path of teammate Noriyuki Haga and Proton rider Jeremy McWilliams. Haga rode around him on the grass but fell, resuming but retiring soon after, while McWilliams watched Edwards sliding along the grass just in front of his front wheel, eventually crashing out as he avoided the sliding Edwards.
Meanwhile in all the confusion Troy Bayliss had rocketed from ninth on the grid to first place as he went around the outside through turn one! Second was Gibernau, with Biaggi third, followed by Capirossi and then Rossi. Capirossi didn't last for long in third, going into turn four too fast and riding off into the dirt, resuming well down the field. Up front Bayliss repeated Capirossi's feat in Suzuka, leading the first lap of the race for Ducati as he opened a small lead over Gibernau, the leading riders fairly evenly spaced out, before the leading four began to move away. Lap four saw Tohru Ukawa on his Honda move ahead of Norick Abe to take fifth, Abe replacing the injured Marco Melandri.
After six laps Rossi, on harder tyres than everyone except former teammate Ukawa, had closed the gap to Biaggi, but though he had caught him he was unable to move ahead apart from a few seconds on lap 9, as the duo fell back from Bayliss and Gibernau. Up front Gibernau was closing in on Bayliss, while Bayliss's teammate was pulling into the pits to retire after going off course again. Getting ready to enter the right hander onto the back straight on lap 11, Bayliss got loose and ran wide, allowing Gibernau through into the lead. Bayliss quickly lost ground after Gibernau took over the lead, with Biaggi putting Bayliss under pressure on lap 13 as Rossi remained right on Biaggi's tail. Lap 14 Biaggi took second from Bayliss, diving through at the second right hander after the back straight, leaving Bayliss to fight with Rossi.
Just when it seemed Rossi had edged clear and had third place secure, he ran wide at turn five again, allowing Bayliss to sneak up to third again on lap 17. So Rossi had to do it all again. Further back another Honda was losing a place as Abe passed Ukawa for fifth. Into turn four Rossi dived through to third again, and aware of Bayliss's previous effort, rode down the middle of the track, preventing Bayliss from driving back up the inside, before riding out to the outside of the track to block Bayliss from passing around the outside. Finally Rossi had cleared Bayliss, and so began his chase of Biaggi, Biaggi unable to catch Gibernau on identical machinery.
Lap 22 saw Ukawa lose another place, as Barros on his Yamaha took sixth, and then Barros took fifth when he passed Abe later that same lap. Rossi was now flying, setting the fastest lap of the race as he closed in on Max Biaggi, taking second on lap 23 after Biaggi ran wide at the same turn, turn five, that Rossi had lost out on to Bayliss twice earlier in the race. With just under six laps remaining, could he catch Gibernau? With 5 laps remaining it was 2.4 seconds, with Rossi closing at around half a second per lap. It would be very close...
Four to go and the gap was 1.9 seconds, three laps to go and it was 1.3 seconds, Gibernau pushing so hard that he smoked the rear tyre as he rounded one of the bends. Two to go and the gap was just six tenths of a second. But on that second last lap Gibernau found something and lapped five thousandths faster than Rossi, keeping the gap stable at six tenths of a second. Rossi closed in on Gibernau as they rounded the early part of the lap but then Gibernau held him there, holding on to win, Biaggi taking third with Bayliss safely holding on to fourth, Alex Barros on his Yamaha in fifth. Further back there was action on the last lap, as Abe lost two places to fall to eighth place as the two Hondas of Tohru Ukawa and Nicky Hayden moved ahead of him.
Result of World Motorcycle Championship, Round 2 of 16, Phakisa Freeway, South Africa:
Standings: Valentino Rossi 45, Sete Gibernau 38, Max Biaggi 36, Troy Bayliss 24, Alex Barros 19, Nicky Hayden 18, Loris Capirossi 16, Norick Abe and Carlos Checa 13, Shinya Nakano 12 etc.
Gibernau Dedicates Win To Kato's Memory
By Craig Ray
Sete Gibernau, riding a Honda, scored an emotional victory in Sunday's MotoGP race at the South African Grand Prix where riders paid their respects to colleague Daijiro Kato who died last weekend.
At the season-opening Japanese Grand Prix three weeks ago, Kato, Gibernau's teammate, suffered a serious crash which resulted in his death two weeks later. Before the start of Sunday's race, all the riders held a minute's silence in the pit lane to honour Kato's memory.
"I felt Daijiro with me in the race today," Gibernau said after his victory. "This race is a tribute to a person who is gone physically but will be with all of us for the rest of our lives.
"I would like to thank everyone from the fans to the sponsors for the dignity and respect they have shown to Daijiro and to his family.
"I won the race but in reality this race was won by all of us today. The respect that has been shown to him cannot be bought."
Rossi, who dropped back nearly four seconds behind Gibernau at one stage, made a typical late charge that saw him close to half a second when the final lap started.
"This was the best second I have ever had," Rossi said. "I'm so happy for Sete. I feel he rode very well and had the feeling he was riding with a little help from Daijiro.
"It was a very difficult race because I struggled with the tyres early on. There was not much grip at the beginning and I lost some time but the second half of the race went a lot better."
Biaggi showed up early on but could not stay with Troy Bayliss of Australia who led at the first corner before yielding to Gibernau on lap 11. Biaggi eventually dropped back before taking third over five seconds behind the winner.
"There was a problem with the power of the bike and I couldn't keep up," Biaggi said.
"But under the circumstances I think it was a very good third. I think Sete's win was the best way to remind us of Daijiro."
Gibernau told Spanish state television: "The team has experienced a great tragedy and the best way to get over this terrible event was to try and pay tribute to Daijiro on the track and we did that with the pole position and the victory.
"In the end it was me who was able to pay this tribute, but the truth is that I have to thank everyone, including Valentino Rossi because Daijiro will always be in all of our hearts."
MotoGP Riders Set Up Safety Forum With Organisers
MotoGP riders have agreed to hold regular meetings with the organisers of the world championship to discuss safety issues following the death of Japan's Daijiro Kato after a crash earlier this month.
Carmelo Ezpeleta, the chief executive of Dorna Sports, the managing company of the MotoGP world championship, announced the decision after meeting all the riders on Saturday at the Phakisa Freeway Circuit, which hosted South Africa's Grand Prix on the weekend.
"It is clear that we all have a common goal of making MotoGP as safe as possible and now we all have the commitment to work together in this sense," said Ezpeleta. "So the first measure we have agreed is that we will repeat this same meeting between the riders' representatives and myself at every Grand Prix.
"This meeting will take place on the Saturday afternoons, and we will talk openly about all the topics that concern them, especially the safety issues and the critical points that they see on the racetracks."
The riders have nominated World Champion Valentino Rossi of Italy, former World Champion American Kenny Roberts, Spaniard Sete Gibernau - who was on pole for Sunday's Grand Prix - and Kato's compatriot Nobuatsu Aoki, to represent them.
Kato died last Saturday week from a heart attack after failing to recover after a crash at the season-opening Japanese Grand Prix on April 6. He suffered injuries to his head, neck and chest.
The 27-year-old slammed into a wall at just under 200kph on approach to the chicane.
Gibernau Dedicates Win and Safety Forum reports provided by Reuters
Busch's California Dream
It had taken ten rounds, but it had to happen. Kurt Busch became the first repeat winner of the 2003 NASCAR season when he won at California Speedway after a late race battle for the lead. Tony Stewart seemed set for the win in the first half of the race before his engine failed, after which point a group of drivers battled for the lead through the remainder of the race. John Andretti had his best run for ages, finishing the race in eighth. Those at the very top of the points had slightly less success, with Matt Kenseth leading Dale Earnhardt Jr and Jeff Gordon by 44 and 152 points respectively in the chase for the championship.
Lap 12 and it was back to green, with Stewart looking for a way past Elliott and it didn't take long, taking the lead into turn three on lap 13. Wallace was moving forward, taking Sadler for fourth on lap 14, Jeff Burton taking fifth from Sadler a lap later and kept moving forward, taking Wallace two laps later. Fellow Ford runner Kurt Busch was already up to fifth after 20 laps, taking Wallace for fourth on lap 21, and third from Elliott on lap 29. At the front Stewart continued to lead as Jamie McMurray moved up to sit just outside the top five as a little further forward Elliott and Wallace diced for fourth, Wallace taking the place on lap 33. Kurt Busch passed teammate Burton for second on lap 36 as Earnhardt Jr continued racing through the field, inside the top ten before 40 laps were completed.
The next caution wasn't far away, coming out on lap 41 when Greg Biffle spun safely all alone in turn four. In came the field, and out they went, the top five unchanged apart from Burton dropping from third to fifth, though Earnhardt Jr gained a couple positions to move up to sixth. Back to green on lap 45, Stewart continuing to show the way as Earnhardt Jr moved another place higher to fifth on lap 46 as Elliott fell back. Lap 48 and Wallace's Dodge moved forward, taking second from Busch, with Earnhardt Jr taking Burton soon after to move into fourth. McMurray was flying again after losing some places at the pit stop, up to fourth place at quarter distance of the 250 lap race, passing Busch for third on lap 68, and Wallace for second on lap 74.
In came everyone for fuel and tyres, Kurt Busch leading McMurray, Earnhardt Jr, Kenseth and Bobby Labonte off pit road. Lap 135 and it was back to racing, with Rusty Wallace back in the top ten. Lap 137 and Earnhardt Jr moved one step closer to the lead, passing McMurray for second and moving quickly onto Busch's bumper, before dropping back a little, as a little further back McMurray and Labonte swapped third back and forth. Then the four cars closed right up and places swapped all over the place, with McMurray taking over the lead ahead of Labonte, Busch and Earnhardt Jr. Debris on the track brought out the next caution on lap 156. In came the field, Rusty Wallace leading Johnny Benson, Dave Blaney, Labonte and Mark Martin off pit road, as several drivers, including four of the top five (all except Labonte), took two tyres.
Wallace led the field away on lap 160, Bobby Labonte quickly picking off Blaney and Benson in the couple of laps after the stop as the two tyre runners apart from Wallace faded. Kurt Busch, Jamie McMurray and Dale Earnhardt Jr moved up to third, fourth and fifth in the next ten to fifteen laps, before McMurray took Busch for third place, as Labonte closed right in onto Wallace's tail, McMurray closing in on them as well. Meanwhile Sterling Marlin, McMurray's teammate, had been steadily improving and took Busch for fourth place as they approached lap 200. Lap 200 and McMurray began dicing with Labonte for second just before the pit stops began on lap 202. Earnhardt Jr was forced to pit again after problems with lug nuts on his front left tyre, dropping him off the lead lap.
Again a handful of cars pitted, this time including Earnhardt Jr. Green again on lap 224, Labonte leading the way as Busch moved ahead of Wallace and moved up to McMurray, while further back Earnhardt Jr was mowing through the field. Back at the front it was three wide down the backstretch on lap 228 as the top three ran side-by-side, McMurray taking the lead from Labonte as they entered turn three. As they completed lap 229 Busch passed Labonte for second, with Wallace just behind, but it was only seconds later that Jarrett spun in turn two, hitting the outside wall hard, bringing out the caution on lap 231. Johnny Benson also spun into the wall with Larry Foyt and Jeremy Mayfield also suffering heavy damage, a couple of other cars suffering minor damage.
On lap 238 the race restarted for a 13 lap shootout, with McMurray leading Busch, Wallace, Labonte and Jimmie Johnson, who had climbed up steadily during the day, avoiding any problems that had beset others. McMurray got a good jump at the restart but was quickly reeled in by Busch, with Wallace trying to pass Busch at the same time, Busch pushing Wallace and himself past McMurray down the backstretch on lap 239, before driving past Wallace down the frontstretch into the lead as they completed the lap, as Labonte demoted McMurray to fourth, McMurray beginning a battle with Johnson over fourth.
Off turn four Johnson ran wider and wider before hitting the wall, and as Johnson ricocheted off the wall, Martin was too close behind and clipped him, spinning Johnson back into the wall and sending Martin across the infield grass. The field continued to race the final lap however, with Labonte and Wallace side-by-side down the backstretch, Wallace taking second as he went deep into turn three. But he washed up high off four and Labonte drove back under him, just edging him out for second after Busch claimed the win, with Elliott and McMurray filling out the top five. After being a lap down late in the race Earnhardt Jr made it back up to sixth, one place ahead of teammate Michael Waltrip.
Result of NASCAR Winston Cup, Round 10 of 36, California Speedway, California, United States:
Standings: Matt Kenseth 1473, Dale Earnhardt Jr 1429, Jeff Gordon 1321, Kurt Busch 1305, Jimmie Johnson 1266, Michael Waltrip 1234, Ricky Craven 1205, Bobby Labonte 1201, Kevin Harvick 1173, Elliott Sadler 1149 etc.
Hot Schneider
With DTM replacing the short qualifying race with a Formula One style pole shoot-out, interest was higher than usual in qualifying proceedings. Karl Wendlinger was the first to beat the time set by first car Manuel Reuter. Third car Martin Tomczyk undercut Wendlinger by half a second, before Schneider set a time that would not be beaten at 1:35.141. Tomczyk was second ahead of Marcel Fassler, Aiello, Jean Alesi and Wendlinger.
As happened so often last year, rain threatened the DTM cars, with light drizzle falling on the grid. The drizzle would intensify. Schneider won the start to lead into turn one ahead of a fast starting Alesi, Tomczyk and Fassler, although Fassler would take third before the first lap was done. Abt Audi's other young gun Peter Tierting had a debut to forget, spinning the TT-R on his first lap and stalling.
With the rain increasing Schneider led virtually the entire field into the pits for wets on lap 3, still three laps from the opening of the compulsory pitstop window. Fassler stayed out and became the new leader from Schneider, Alesi and Tomczyk. But Fassler was soon behind the Safety Car for another stalled spinner, this time the Mercedes of another DTM rookie, Katsutomo Kaneishi. Fassler's plan soon became apparent, pitting when the compulsory window openned on lap 6.
Aiello was on the move at the restart, taking Tomczyk for what became third as they passed Fassler's pit bay, and set off after Mercedes's two retired Formula One drivers. The Opel of Peter Dumbreck and the Mercedes of Stefan Mucke collided, with the Merc ending up in the grass. Further forward was another collision as the battle for fifth place changed dramatically. The best-placed Opel of Timo Scheider and the Abt Audi of Karl Wendlinger were off track. Christian Abt, Christijan Albers, Jeroen Bleekemolen, Patrick Huisman, Manuel Reuter all had clashes or spins in the wet.
Schneider and Aiello pitted together for their second stop, with Schneider resuming first and putting Fassler between himself and Aiello. As the field stabilised again for the final four laps to the flag, the Mercedes-Benz marque filled four of the top five places. Aiello closed on Fassler, looking for a way past, but the Mercedes driver kept the reigning champ on the bottom rung of the podium.
Schneider collected the full ten points, and has a four-point gap over Aiello, the first non-Mercedes. Alesi took fourth from Albers with Dumbreck the best Opel in sixth with the sister car of Scheider next. Mattias Ekstrom was the only other Audi in the top ten.
Result of Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, Round 1 of 10, Hockenheim, Germany:
Standings: Bernd Schneider 10, Marcel Fassler 8, Laurent Aiello 6, Jean Alesi 5, Christijan Albers 4, Peter Dumbreck 3, Timo Scheider 2, Mattias Ekstrom 1
Jorg's Double Header
Jorg Muller took two hard fought wins at Magny-Cours to move BMW to the top of the ETCC standings for the first time in three years. A pair of second placings for Nicola Larini salvaged some pride for Autodelta and second place in the championship.
Larini disposed of Colciago and a slowing Priaulx to take second, while Priaulx survived to take third ahead of Gabriele Tarquini and Duncan Huisman. Reigning champion Fabrizio Giovanardi had been fifth until he lost a clash with Huisman, which sent his BMW off track. Jordi Gene would be the first non-Alfa/BMW to finish, bringing the still developing SEAT Toledo home in ninth.
For the reverse grid event, Tom Coronel got the jump over Huisman, a brilliantly quick Antonio Garcia, Roberto Colciago and a slow away pole sitter Paolo Ruberti to lead. Further back the race slowed as Dirk Muller, Priaulx, Ruberti, Sandro Sardelli all got tangled up, with heavy damage to Priaulx and Sardelli.
Huisman pressured Coronel into an error to take the lead but was suddenly under pressure from Jorg Muller who had scythed through the early front runners. Huisman could not hold out the determined Muller and ran away to win his second race for the weekend. Larini caught and passed Huisman to take second. Behind Huisman, Coronel held on for fourth ahead of Roberto Colciago, Jordi Gene and Giovanardi.
Next stop for the LG Super Weekend circus is at Brno in the Czech Republic at the end of May. Muller, on 33 points holds a 12 point lead over Larini with Tarquini only one point further back.
Result of European Touring Car Championship, Rounds 3 and 4 of 20, Magny-Cours, France:
Standings: Jorg Muller 33, Nicola Larini 21, Gabriele Tarquini 20, Andy Priaulx 15, Dirk Muller and Fabrizio Giovanardi 14, Duncan Huisman 10, Antonio Garcia and Tom Coronel 9, Roberto Colciago 7 etc.
Manufacturers Standings: BMW 64, Alfa Romeo 45, SEAT 3
Hodgson Supreme At Sugo
Great performances by Regis Laconi, Gregorio Lavilla and Pierfrancesco Chili were rewarded with podium finishes, but they still weren't able to stop Neil Hodgson making it six wins from the first six races of this year's World Superbike Championship. Hodgson achieved the rare feat of a non-Japanese rider scoring a win in both races at Sugo, a track often featuring wildcard riders on top of the podium. Hodgson's double further extends his lead in the championship, though one should remember Troy Bayliss led by one more point after winning the first six races last year but didn't claim the title...
Qualifying saw a surprise, with two privateer Ducatis and two Suzukis on the front row, Regis Laconi on pole. Points leader Neil Hodgson started from fifth, while teammate Ruben Xaus started from 12th. Race one began with a bang, when Troy Corser edged Ivan Climenti onto the grass, the duo running through the pack, taking themselves out, as well as Pierfrancesco Chili and Chris Walker. The top three of Laconi, Atsushi Watanabe and Hodgson made it through unscathed, while those further back lost out as they tried to avoid the mess in front of them, James Toseland the only other rider in touch with the lead trio. Xaus benefited from the chaos, ending lap one in sixth place.
Hodgson quickly moved on to Watanabe's tail, taking him around the back of the circuit on lap three, taking the lead from Laconi soon after, at the end of the back straight on lap four. At the start of lap five Watanabe had a dive at Laconi but went in too deep, sliding wide and allowing Toseland through into third place, before running off the track again later the same lap, dropping down to 17th. Meanwhile Xaus had moved up into fifth place on lap three, and fourth after Watanabe's problems, Xaus now the lead rider of the second pack. Meanwhile Hodgson began to move away from Laconi, who was doing the same to Toseland. Further back in the field Gregorio Lavilla was on the move, taking fifth place on lap eight.
As the laps wound on, the top three moved further away from each other, and Xaus dropped further away. At around two-thirds distance, Lavilla's gap over Izutsu disappeared, bringing him right onto his tailpipes, giving him grief for a couple of laps before Lavilla began to edge away again. Up front Hodgson made it five from five ahead of Laconi and Toseland, with Hodgson's teammate Xaus taking fourth. Lavilla ended up taking fifth after passing Izutsu for fifth on the last lap, as Izutsu had taken fifth from Lavilla at the end of the back straight two laps earlier on lap 23 of 25. Further back Watanabe recovered from his early off to climb back up into eighth place at the finish.
The start of race two was calmer apart from Laconi pulling a big wheelie and having to unwind the throttle losing many a place and Lucio Pedercini crashing all alone, Watanabe leading from fellow Suzuki rider Lavilla, with Hodgson, teammates Walker and Toseland, and Chili filling out the top six. Toseland took teammate at the end of the back straight on lap one, Chili following past soon after, while Hodgson began to close in on the leading Suzukis, but before he could get there, Lavilla took the lead at the end of the back straight on lap two, Hodgson taking second from Watanabe at the chicane at the end of the same lap as Watanabe began to fall back. Xaus was moving forward too, up to sixth after just two laps.
After exiting race one at the first corner, Chris Walker's day got worse when he crashed out on the third lap of race two. The leading duo of Lavilla and Hodgson were stretching away as the second pack of Watanabe, Toseland, Chili and Xaus continued to fight hard, Chili taking fourth on lap five. As they crossed the line to begin lap six Hodgson edged a nose in front of Lavilla down the pit straight but Lavilla was able to go deeper into turn one and hold onto the lead. One lap later he tried the move again, and this time it worked, Hodgson taking over the lead, while later in the lap Chili took third from Watanabe. As they began lap seven Xaus took fifth after sliding down the inside of Toseland into turn one.
Once Chili was past Watanabe he began to close the gap to the leading duo of Hodgson and Lavilla, bridging the gap to the leaders as the rest of the second pack were unable to go with him, moving to within a second of them in just a few laps. Though Lavilla was right on Hodgson's tail, he wasn't unable to make a serious attempt at passing him, as Hodgson controlled the race pace from the front, speeding up and slowing down as he liked. In the last few laps Hodgson edged away from Lavilla and Chili, while further back Xaus was continuing to fight with Toseland. Hodgson went on to take the win ahead of Lavilla and Chili, Xaus holding onto fourth just ahead of Toseland. A long battle between Laconi and Izutsu was decided late in the race, with Izutsu taking sixth from Laconi in the last lap or two.
Result of World Superbike Championship, Round 3 of 12, Sugo, Japan:
Standings: Neil Hodgson 150, Ruben Xaus 106, Gregorio Lavilla 75, James Toseland 67, Regis Laconi 63, Chris Walker 48, Steve Martin 42, Pierfrancesco Chili, Troy Corser, Lucio Pedercini and Marco Borciani 32 etc.
Superbikes points distribution
Montagny And Gene Claim Zolder
Gene won the start to take the early lead of the first race with Montagny pressing hard in pursuit. Karthikeyan held third position ahead of Stephane Sarrazin and Bruce Jouanny. Montagny was removed from the equation after spinning and beaching his car. Gene then came under fire from Karthikeyan until an optimistic overtaking attempt dropped the Carlin Motorsport Dallara to sixth position. Meanwhile Carlin teammate Bruce Jouanny had spun, bringing out the Safety Car and bunching the field up.
When the Safety Car left the track, Sarrazin dived at Gene and took the lead, doing so before crossing the start/finish line. Sarrazin would be given a time penalty for that trangression that would drop him to last place, albeit three hours after the race. Sarrazin ran away for his false win while an incensed Gene took the flag second on the road ahead of a charging Bas Leinders, Norbert Siedler and Karthikeyan.
Montagny now leads Gene by a whopping 33 points. The series now has a four week break before racing at Magny-Cours.
Result of Superfund World Series by Nissan, Round 2 of 9, Zolder, Belgium:
Standings: Franck Montagny 68, Marc Gene 35, Narain Karthikeyan 30, Heikki Kovalainen 26, Bas Leinders 25, Bruno Besson 23, Ander Vilarino 20, Norbert Siedler 18, Jean Christophe Ravier 15, Enrique Bernoldi and Bruce Jouanny 14 etc.
A Brisk Start
The start of the first race saw pole man Olivier Pla start poorly allowing fellow front rower Briscoe to storm away from the grid untroubled. Robert Doornbos took up second place with Nico Rosberg, Christian Klien and Markus Winkelhock in pursuit. A broken front wing soon removed Rosberg from the fight as the Rosberg Dallara Opel headed for the pits.
This left Klien and Winkelhock to run down Doornbos, but as Winkelhock became increasingly ambitious the chase was put on hold. Klien succumbed to the pressure at about half distance and Winkelhock resumed his chase of Doornbos, but too much time was lost and Doornbos was secure in second. Up front nobody was stopping Briscoe who took a lights to flag victory.
Alexandre Premat took fifth place ahead of teammate Pla, but the pair was later excluded for illegal modifications to their front wings. This brought Nicolas Lapierre up to fifth ahead of Timo Glock and Simon Abadie.
Pla started to secure second as Premat tried to keep Margaritis at bay. The battle came to an early end when the two banged wheels and crashed. But at the pointy end, Pla could do nothing about the pace of Briscoe, who ran on to win comfortably by 13 seconds. Behind Rosberg in third, Winkelhock, now with the correct wing, just beat Klien home with Cesar Campanico and Doornbos next.
Briscoe leads the series by ten points over Winkelhock, with Pla, Doornbos and Klien all two points behind Winkelhock. The series travels now to the new Adria facility in Italy to join again with the monsters of DTM.
Result of Formula 3 Euroseries Championship, Round 1 of 10, Hockenheim, Germany:
Standings: Ryan Briscoe 21, Markus Winkelhock 11, Olivier Pla, Robert Doornbos and Christian Klien 9, Nico Rosberg 6, Timo Glock 5, Nicolas Lapierre 4, Cesar Campanico 3, Simon Abadie 2 etc.
F3 Euro Series points distribution
Three From Three
Satoshi Motoyama is running away with the Formula Nippon, having won three race from three starts. This time though Motoyama wasn't fighting the conditions, just other cars, as under brilliant sunshine for the first time this year the Nippon cars took flight.
Tsuchiya gradually motored away from the field. With handling going away, Motoyama pitted for tyres. Tsuchiya responded immediately and pitted too, taking on only the hard-working front left tyre. Tsuchiya returned to the lead ahead of Ryo Michigami. Michigami was under pressure from the now much faster Motoyama. Michigami couldn't hold second and Motoyama started chasing down the leader. With Motoyama's tyres in better shape it was only a matter of time. Tsuchiya did have a back gap back to Yuji Ide who had come up to third past the still fading Michigami.
Kaneishi recovered from his poor start to claim fifth place with Ryo Fukuda taking the final championship point. Second in the points, Andre Lotterer had a quiet race, coming home in seventh place. Lotterer still holds second on nine points while Motoyama has flown away to thirty points, two whole races clear of the opposition. Michigami and Ide share third on seven points.
The next round will be held at Motegi in over a month's time.
Result of All Japan Formula Nippon Championship, Round 3 of 10, Mine, Japan:
Standings: Satoshi Motoyama 30, Andre Lotterer 9, Ryo Michigami and Yuji Ide 7, Beniot Treluyer, Toshihiro Kaneishi and Takeshi Tsuchiya 6, Juichi Wakisaka and Tsugio Matsuda 2 etc.
Formula Nippon points distribution
CART Race Restored To Road America With Andretti's Help
The CART race at the 4.048-mile road course known as Road America at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin has been restored to the series calendar, the organisation said last Wednesday.
The event has been renamed in Andretti's honor.
"Road America has always been one of the premier tracks in the United States and is probably the most popular venue among the drivers on the CART Champ Car circuit," said Andretti, who won three Road America events.
"It was a track that we needed to have on our schedule to maintain the series' standing as the truest challenge in open-wheel racing."
The race will take place on August 3.
Report provided by Reuters
Rally
New Zealand rally driver Possum Bourne died on Wednesday, a week and a half after suffering severe head injuries in a crash, his family said.
This year Bourne achieved a long held ambition to drive on the world rally circuit and was in seventh place in the production car drivers championship. Asked after winning his seventh consecutive Australian championship last year whether he would try again, Bourne replied: "Yes. I'm doing what I like doing."
Pos Driver/Co-driver Car
1. Cody Crocker/Greg Foletta Subaru Impreza WRX STi
2. Scott Pedder/Paul Humm Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI
3. Dean Herridge/Glenn MacNeall Subaru Impreza WRX STi
4. Ed Ordynski/Iain Stewart Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII
5. Armin Kremer/Fred Berssen Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII
6. Geof Argyle/Steve Smith Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI
7. Fumio Nutahara/Satoshi Hayashi Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII
8. Craig Neale/Jamie Neale Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V
9. Ben Barker/Lyndall Drake Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III
10. Chris Atkinson/Ben Atkinson Suzuki Ignis Super 1600
MotoGP
Daijiro Kato's teammate Sete Gibernau took pole for the race, edging out three Italians in the shape of Valentino Rossi, Max Biaggi and Loris Capirossi. The first attempt to start was aborted after Kenny Roberts Suzuki blew up and dropped oil on the track, delaying the start of the race. The race finally got underway just under an hour after the scheduled start time.
After Biaggi's relatively easy move past Bayliss, Rossi may have expected to follow through easily soon after. In fact, Rossi took third into turn four on the next lap, but down the following straight, Bayliss took the place back! So Rossi dived back down the inside into turn five, but he carried too much speed in and ran wide enough to allow Bayliss to power back through into third! Rossi attacked again, taking the place into the right hander onto the back straight but Bayliss was still hanging on by the skin of his teeth, as Gibernau led clearly from Biaggi at the front.
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Sete Gibernau Honda RC211V
2. Valentino Rossi Honda RC211V
3. Max Biaggi Honda RC211V
4. Troy Bayliss Ducati Desmosedici
5. Alex Barros Yamaha YZR-M1
6. Tohru Ukawa Honda RC211V
7. Nicky Hayden Honda RC211V
8. Norick Abe Yamaha YZR-M1
9. Carlos Checa Yamaha YZR-M1
10. Olivier Jacque Yamaha YZR-M1
Spaniard Gibernau, 30, held off a late charge by Italy's world champion Valentino Rossi, also on a Honda, to win by 0.363 seconds. Italy's Max Biaggi completed a podium sweep for Honda.
NASCAR
At the start, polesitter Steve Park fell back a few places, and then ran wide off turn two, squeezing Ryan Newman into the wall before shooting across the pack, luckily avoiding contact with anyone else, bringing out the first caution of the day on lap 2, both drivers' days effectively over. As the race restarted on lap 5 the leader was Bill Elliott followed by Tony Stewart, Elliott Sadler and Rusty Wallace. It didn't stay green for long, the caution back out on lap nine when Jack Sprague spun off turn two. Most of the back half of the field made pit stops, though Earnhardt Jr who had started at the back after an engine change stayed out as he had stopped at the first caution and moved up into the middle of the pack.
The race settled down for a few laps as Kenseth closed in on Earnhardt Jr, taking fifth on lap 87 as McMurray closed right up on to Stewart's tail as they came up to make their first green flag stops, as cars began to pit. Among the early pitters was Rusty Wallace, coming in third, but he was out of fuel, and he losing over ten positions as the car took a long time to fire up again as he left the pits. After the stops Stewart was again in the lead from McMurray and Busch, with Earnhardt Jr up to fourth as they passed the 100 lap mark. At the front McMurray closed in on Stewart, taking the lead of the race on lap 117 after a short fight, while Earnhardt Jr had dropped back to sixth place. Just as Bobby Labonte got onto Earnhardt Jr's tail, his teammate Stewart retired from second place with a blown engine, bringing out the caution on lap 130, just saving Jeff Gordon from being lapped.
The caution came out again on lap 210 after Ricky Craven spun off turn four, Jerry Nadeau also spinning in the midst of all the smoke. A few cars pitted including Marlin but most stayed out. At the restart on lap 214 Wallace led Labonte, McMurray, Martin and Busch away, with Earnhardt Jr pushing hard to get his lap back from Wallace. In fact Earnhardt Jr pushed so hard he tapped Wallace coming off turn four, forcing Wallace to lift for a split second, before helping tow fellow Chevrolet runner Labonte past Wallace into the lead down the backstretch on lap 216. McMurray was flying too, dicing with Wallace for second place, the duo swapping the place back and forth just as the caution flag waved again on lap 220 when Jerry Nadeau spun alone in turn two, avoiding other cars and the wall in the process.
Ten laps to go in the 250 lap race and Labonte passed Wallace for second, and looked for a way past Busch for a few laps, before Busch began to edge away, and Labonte fell back into the clutches of Wallace. Meanwhile the dicing and swapping of positions between McMurray and Johnson was allowing Bill Elliott and Mark Martin to close in, Elliott moving to fifth with 2 laps remaining. Into turn three with just over a lap remaining and it was three wide, Martin on the inside before Elliott shut the door on him, with Johnson up high.
Pos Driver Car
1. Kurt Busch Ford Taurus
2. Bobby Labonte Chevrolet Monte Carlo
3. Rusty Wallace Dodge Intrepid
4. Bill Elliott Dodge Intrepid
5. Jamie McMurray Dodge Intrepid
6. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet Monte Carlo
7. Michael Waltrip Chevrolet Monte Carlo
8. John Andretti Dodge Intrepid
9. Matt Kenseth Ford Taurus
10. Sterling Marlin Dodge Intrepid
DTM
Bernd Schneider took the first step toward regaining the DTM championship he lost to Laurent Aiello last year by winning the season opener at Hockenheim with a superb wet-weather drive in his AMG Mercedes.
Apart from Fassler, the first serious pit stop was on lap 15 as Abt pitted. It would be a trigger as Aiello and Wendlinger pitted on lap 19, Alesi and Tomczyk on 20, Schneider and Fassler on 21. As the field started to stabilise again, Aiello caught Alesi, pulled alongside, took the position, then spun off. Then Schneider was involved in a collision with the out of sequence Alain Menu. Tomczyk's chances ended when he took a hit in the rear of the car, damaging his car's aerodynamics.
Pos Driver Car
1. Bernd Schneider Mercedes CLK-DTM
2. Marcel Fassler Mercedes CLK-DTM
3. Laurent Aiello Audi TT-R
4. Jean Alesi Mercedes CLK-DTM
5. Christijan Albers Mercedes CLK-DTM
6. Peter Dumbreck Opel Astra V8 Coupe
7. Timo Scheider Opel Astra V8 Coupe
8. Mattias Ekstrom Audi TT-R
9. Manuel Reuter Opel Astra V8 Coupe
10. Thomas Jager Mercedes CLK-DTM
ETCC
In the first race, Jorg forced his way to the front after running over the line in third place at the end of lap one behind Dirk Muller and Andy Priaulx. Jorg Muller outbraked Priaulx to take second before charging down his namesake teammate. Dirk defended but Jorg was in no mood to argue and Dirk was forced wide onto the grass allowing a train of cars to pass him before he regathered his momentum.
Round Three
Pos Driver Car
1. Jorg Muller BMW 320i
2. Nicola Larini Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
3. Andy Priaulx BMW 320i
4. Gabriele Tarquini Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
5. Duncan Huisman BMW 320i
6. Roberto Colciago Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
7. Tom Coronel BMW 320i
8. Paolo Ruberti Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
9. Jordi Gene SEAT Toledo Cupra
10. Fabio Francia Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
Round Four
Pos Driver Car
1. Jorg Muller BMW 320i
2. Nicola Larini Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
3. Duncan Huisman BMW 320i
4. Tom Coronel BMW 320i
5. Roberto Colciago Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
6. Jordi Gene SEAT Toledo Cupra
7. Fabrizio Giovanardi BMW 320i
8. Antonio Garcia BMW 320i
9. Fabio Francia Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
10. Frank Diefenbacher SEAT Toledo Cupra
Superbikes
Race One
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Neil Hodgson Ducati 999F03
2. Regis Laconi Ducati 998RS
3. James Toseland Ducati 998F02
4. Ruben Xaus Ducati 999F03
5. Gregorio Lavilla Suzuki GSX 1000R
6. Hitoyasu Izutsu Honda VTR 1000SPW
7. Lucio Pedercini Ducati 998RS
8. Atsushi Watanabe Suzuki GSX-R 1000
9. James Haydon Foggy FP1
10. Juan Borja Ducati 998RS
Race Two
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Neil Hodgson Ducati 999F03
2. Gregorio Lavilla Suzuki GSX 1000R
3. Pierfrancesco Chili Ducati 998RS
4. Ruben Xaus Ducati 999F03
5. James Toseland Ducati 998F02
6. Hitoyasu Izutsu Honda VTR 1000SPW
7. Regis Laconi Ducati 998RS
8. Ivan Clementi Kawasaki ZX7RR
9. Juan Borja Ducati 998RS
10. Mauro Sanchini Kawasaki ZX7RR
Formula Nissan
Franck Montagny further strengthened his hold on the Formula Nissan World Series, taking victory in the second race as the series visited Belgium. Despite not finishing the first race, Montagny was the highest point scorer for the round having taken 24 points. Second for the round was Indian hope Narain Karthikeyan who took a fourth and a third. Third for the event was first race victor, Marc Gene.
In race two Montagny stayed on the island and ran away and hid for a dominant win. Heikki Kovalainen spun out of second, handing the position to Marc Gene. Gene was holding off Jean Christophe Ravier and Leinders when Leinders got wide onto the grass trying to take Ravier and ended up hitting Gene on the last lap. Ravier, suddenly alone, raced to second with Karthikeyan jumping into third. Bruno Besson took fourth ahead of Carlin's Bruce Jouanny.
Race One
Pos Driver Team
1. Marc Gene Adrian Campos Motorsport
2. Bas Leinders Racing Engineering
3. Norbert Siedler Superfund Zele Racing
4. Narain Karthikeyan Carlin Motorsport
5. Polo Villaamil RC Motorsport
6. Paul Edwards Keerbergs Transport Racing
7. Felix Porteiro Keerbergs Transport Racing
8. Ander Vilarino Epsilon Euskadu
9. Tuka Rocha Superfund Zele Racing
10. Bruno Besson Saulnier Racing
Race Two
Pos Driver Team
1. Franck Montagny Gabord Competicion
2. Jean Christophe Ravier Epsilon Euskadu
3. Narain Karthikeyan Carlin Motorsport
4. Bruno Besson Saulnier Racing
5. Bruce Jouanny Carlin Motorsport
6. Norbert Siedler Superfund Zele Racing
7. Heikki Kovalainen Gabord Competicion
8. Polo Villaamil RC Motorsport
9. Tuka Rocha Superfund Zele Racing
10. Ander Vilarino Epsilon Euskadu
Euro F3
After a disappointing retreat from Formula 3000, Ryan Briscoe made the best statement possible about his ability, racing to the first two victories of the new Formula 3 Euroseries.
In race two Briscoe again got the better of Pla at the start and cleared away as a fierce battle erupted over second place. Rosberg moved past Pla quickly with Premat and Alexandros Margaritis in close company. Rosberg would be unable to hold second and one by one the second-generation racer was shuffled to the back of the four-car group.
Race One
Pos Driver Team
1. Ryan Briscoe Prema Powerteam Dallara F303 Opel
2. Robert Doornbos Team Ghinzani Dallara F303 Mugen-Honda
3. Markus Winkelhock Mucke Motorsport Dallara F303 Mercedes
4. Christian Klien Mucke Motorsport Dallara F303 Mercedes
5. Nicolas Lapierre Signature Plus Dallara F303 Sodemo Renault
6. Timo Glock KMS Dallara F303 Opel
7. Simon Abadie Saulnier Racing Dallara F303 Sodemo Renault
8. Alexandros Margaritis MB Racing Performance Dallara F303 Opel
9. Alvaro Parente Team Ghinzani Dallara F303 Mugen-Honda
10. Charles Zwolsman Team Kolles Racing Dallara F303 Mercedes
Race Two
Pos Driver Team
1. Ryan Briscoe Prema Powerteam Dallara F303 Opel
2. Olivier Pla ASM F3 Dallara F303 Mercedes
3. Nico Rosberg Team Rosberg Dallara F303 Opel
4. Markus Winkelhock Mucke Motorsport Dallara F303 Mercedes
5. Christian Klien Mucke Motorsport Dallara F303 Mercedes
6. Cesar Campanico Swiss Racing Team Dallara F303 Opel
7. Timo Glock KMS Dallara F303 Opel
8. Robert Doornbos Team Ghinzani Dallara F303 Mugen-Honda
9. Andreas Zuber Team Rosberg Dallara F303 Opel
10. Sakon Yamamoto Superfund TME Dallara F303 Toyota
Formula Nippon
In a messy start, Takeshi Tsuchiya blew by the wheelspinning Motoyama to reach turn one first, with Toshihiro Kaneishi and Takashi Kogure following until the pair collided. Kogure bounced into the path of Richard Lyons, forcing both off.
Pos Driver Team
1. Satoshi Motoyama Team Impul
2. Takeshi Tsuchiya Team Le Mans
3. Yuji Ide Team Cerumo
4. Ryo Michigami Team 5Zigen
5. Toshihiro Kaneishi Team Le Mans
6. Ryo Fukuda Team 5Zigen
7. Andre Lotterer PIAA Nakajima Racing
8. Hideki Noda Carrozzeria Mohn
9. Haruki Kurosawa Planex Ebbro Nova
10. Yuji Tachikawa Olympic Konda
CART
In a statement from Champ Car headquarters, CART CEO Chris Pook lauded former series champion Mario Andretti for his assistance in resolving the issues which initially caused cancellation of the race.
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