Elsewhere in Racing
Updates from the Rest of the Racing World By Mark Alan Jones and David Wright, Australia
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.
Mini Schumi
Arden International driver Vitantonio Liuzzi continues to dominate the International Formula 3000 Championship, setting Schumacher levels of dominance after taking his fifth victory from six starts this year, with the only other driver to have won a race this year, BCN's Enrico Toccacelo, racing home for his fourth second place of the season. Formula 3000's veterans' veteran Tomas Enge took third position, continuing his return to form which began with a second at Magny-Cours a week ago.
Qualifying revealed no great surprises with emerging talent Jose Lopez third fastest behind the two championship front men and alongside Enge. Patrick Friesacher and Raffaele Giammaria completed the third row. Third place in the championship, Robert Doornbos would start out ninth. A good day was not in store for the young Monaco resident.
Liuzzi and Toccacelo led the field towards Copse Corner with Enge launching clear of Lopez. The top three quickly settled to pull away from the field with Friesacher taking fourth from Lopez after five laps and set off after Enge. By this stage the field was missing two cars as Jeff van Hooydonk spun into retirement while battling with Doornbos and series newcomer Olivier Tielemans had barely completed a lap before disappearing.
Toccacelo was first of the leaders to stop on lap 10, dropping to the base of the top ten, with Liuzzi following suit a lap later, re-emerging still ahead of his BCN-mounted rival. Enge and Friesacher stayed out as the new leaders until lap 13 where the embattled Enge got a reprieve as Friesacher's Coloni team bungled the pit stop before the Austrian added to his woes by stalling.
Ferdinando Monfardini led for a lap before he handed the lead back to Liuzzi. Behind Enge, Esteban Guerrieri was now fourth only just ahead of Lopez, but Friesacher was flying, taking Alan van der Merwe on his outlap, Tony Schmidt a lap later. Lopez took Guerrieri's fourth place on lap 24, but had to quickly regain momentum as Giammaria had caught the battle and Friesacher loomed behind. A lap later Giammaria and Guerrieri clashed, the latter losing his front wing and Friesacher sailed past the pair. Guerrieri headed pitward.
Up front Liuzzi lost over three of his four second lead and was forced to dig deep to steady the falling gap to Toccacelo, who in turn was being caught by Enge. Liuzzi did steady the gap, and took the chequer after 30 laps of the old airstrip circuit. Enge closed the gap to Toccacelo down to two seconds with Lopez having had enough time to gain a gap Friesacher couldn't bridge. Giammaria, Schmidt and van der Merwe completed the points finishers.
Luizzi stretched his series lead out to eight points, still vulnerable if a DNF claims him at the next race. Behind Toccacelo the points tighten with Doornbos only two ahead of Giammaria.
Result of International Formula 3000 Championship, Round 6 of 10, Silverstone, Great Britain:
Standings: Vitantonio Liuzzi 40, Enrico Toccacelo 34, Robert Doornbos 21, Raffaele Giammaria 19, Patrick Friesacher 15, Tomas Enge 14, Jose Maria Lopez and Yannick Schroeder 13, Esteban Guerrieri 12, Jeffrey van Hooydonk 6 etc.
Stewart's Slam At Chicagoland
It has taken Tony Stewart quite a while to score his first win of the season. There have been times earlier in the season where he looked set to claim it, but in the end it slipped away. There have been other races earlier this year where he has been in the headlines, but these have been for less than good reasons, mainly due to making contact with other cars. This weekend he had both, taking the win after earlier making contact with the then leader of the race, Kasey Kahne. Stewart won, Kahne finished 36th. Stewart, already under probation, appeared to cause the wreck, but was cleared by NASCAR, with Kahne's crew chief the only person to be penalised from the incident and its aftermath. Meanwhile in the points standings Jimmie Johnson extended his lead over Dale Earnhardt Jr, Junior having trouble pitting early on as well as getting caught up in Kahne's wreck, finishing 22nd.
Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne sat on the front row, this being Gordon's four consecutive pole while Kahne is no stranger to the front row either, having already notched up four poles himself. At the start Gordon took the lead but Kahne took it from him just before the caution came out on lap 19 when Ryan Newman lost a left rear tyre and spun in turn two, collecting an unlucky Kurt Busch as he spun. The field came to the pits, the order jumbling as some drivers took just fuel, others two tyres and fuel while yet others took four tyres and fuel. Tony Stewart led Jeremy Mayfield, Elliott Sadler, Casey Mears and Scott Riggs off pit road, none of them taking four tyres.
The race restarted on lap 24 but was back to caution one lap later as Brendan Gaughan's car smoked with transmission problems. Back to green again on lap 30 but it was back to caution again ten laps later for debris from Ricky Rudd's car. At this caution the leaders stayed out but the rest of the field made stops. Racing resumed once more on lap 43, Stewart leading the way and stretching it, while early leader Jeff Gordon headed down the order after being strong just after the restart. The leaders pitted around lap 85, while the rest of the field made their stops around lap 100.
Dale Earnhardt Jr was a driver who would like to have that stop over again. On his first attempt to pit, he was going too fast to make the pit entry and so had to abort, losing time slowing down and speeding up. The second time he did make it on to pit road, but he was going too fast, which meant that he had a drivethrough penalty on the next lap, dropping him from inside the top ten to outside the top 30, two laps down. When all the stops were over Stewart retook the lead. A caution wasn't far away, coming out on lap 121 when Ricky Craven's engine blew. This was good news for Gordon, who was about to be lapped!
The field came in for stops, Kahne leading Sterling Marlin, Stewart, Mayfield and Mark Martin off pit road, some of the drivers taking two tyres again including Marlin and Mayfield while Kahne took fuel only. Back to green on lap 127 but it was back to caution immediately, after a crash just after the restart. Stewart made a great restart, and zoomed on to the back of Kahne before they got to turn one. What happened next depended on who you spoke to. Kahne said he was changing in to top gear when Stewart just spun him out, while Stewart said Kahne checked up and that he was not to blame for Kahne's spin which severely damaged Kahne's car.
Whether Stewart was to blame or not didn't really matter to the other cars, as they were still collected in the melee that followed, Jeff Burton, Dale Earnhardt Jr, John Andretti, Dave Blaney and Scott Riggs all suffering damage. Meanwhile in the pits Kahne's crew chief and some of his crew came down to Stewart's pit to voice this displeasure with his driving. Somewhere someone didn't like what was said, and so scuffling began. This has since led to Kahne's crew chief Tommy Baldwin being fined $10 000 and placed on probation until the end of 2004.
Back to green once more on lap 135, Stewart now leading from Marlin, Mayfield, Jimmie Johnson and Elliott Sadler, Stewart once again pulling away from the field. Johnson took second from Marlin on lap 139, Marlin retaking second place from Johnson on lap 167. Jeff Gordon had just gone a lap down when the next caution came out on lap 173 for debris, which meant that he was the 'lucky dog', getting back on to the lead lap. The field came in for stops once more, Stewart leading Johnson, Sadler, Marlin and Mayfield as the race restarted on lap 178.
On lap 181 Johnson took the lead from Stewart and began to ease away, but this was interrupted when Mike Bliss spun coming off turn two and slammed into the wall, bringing out the caution on lap 210. More pit stops, with Marlin and Mayfield taking two tyres to beat Stewart, Johnson and Sadler out the pits. Back to green on lap 215 of 267, and we saw Mayfield, Stewart and Johnson pass Marlin at the restart as he missed a shift. Lap 232 saw Mark Martin move into fourth past Marlin. Meanwhile Mayfield and Stewart had opened a gap on Johnson, Stewart eventually taking the lead on lap 243. Just three laps later it was caution time, for debris again.
The leaders stayed out while the rest of the field pitted. One of those was Jeff Gordon, who by now had discovered the cause of his car was due to something loose in the suspension, which the crew had now fixed, Gordon restarting 16th. He took four tyres while some of the others who came in to pit took two. At the restart on lap 250 Stewart led Mayfield, Johnson, Martin and Marlin, but just four laps later the caution was back out when Robby Gordon made contact with Jeff Green, putting Green into the turn three wall.
The race restarted on lap 257 with eleven laps to go, Stewart still leading Johnson, Mayfield, Martin and Marlin, while Jeff Gordon had already moved up to tenth in the few laps before the caution. Another driver who had taken tyres (though only two) was Jarrett, who took fifth on lap 258 from Marlin while Martin took third from Mayfield.
Eight to go and Gordon was up to sixth! Up front Stewart was edging away from Johnson, who had Martin closing in on him in third.
This became somewhat academic with four to go however when Martin's engine stopped, moving Mayfield into third with Jarrett and Gordon right behind him. Mayfield couldn't hold on though, Jarrett and Gordon sweeping by with three laps remaining. At the front Stewart was untouchable, taking the win ahead of Johnson, Jarrett, Gordon and Mayfield.
Result of NASCAR Nextel Cup, Round 18 of 36, Chicagoland Speedway, Illinois, United States:
Standings: Jimmie Johnson 2720, Dale Earnhardt Jr 2615, Jeff Gordon 2478, Tony Stewart 2393, Matt Kenseth 2321, Bobby Labonte 2278, Elliott Sadler 2252, Kevin Harvick 2229, Kurt Busch 2211, Ryan Newman 2173 etc.
Side By Side
Buddy Rice has leapt into IRL championship contention after taking victory in the Argent Mortgage Indy 300, leading his teammate Vitor Meira home by just over five thousandths of a second for an Independence Day 1-2 finish for the Rahal-Letterman Racing team at Kansas Speedway. The pair raced their identical GForce-Hondas side by side for a breathtaking dice over the final fourteen laps, controlling the race and ensuring the pursuing series leader Tony Kanaan had no chance of figuring in the final dash to the line.
The race began with a yellow. While polesitter Rice led the field into turn one, Scott Sharp spun coming down the straight and hit the wall, dragging Tora Takagi into the wall with him. Sharp claimed he lost the car under brakes as the field concertinad heading for the green.
The race went green again for lap five, Kanaan passing Rice for the lead before the lap was completed. Meira was third in the early running in a gang of five that moved slightly away from the pack. Tomas Scheckter moved forward to challenge Kanaan for the lead as the first stint evolved. In the run-up to the first stop, Rice regained second. Townsend Bell was in first on lap 50, but the car's fire extinguisher had fired off. It would be a long stop. Bell rejoined but would be soon back after his steering wheel started to come apart. Next in was Dan Wheldon, but the last start winner almost caused a catastrophe when he took off before the refueling was completed.
The middle stints passed uneventfully with Meira, Rice, Kanaan and Sam Hornish Jr each spending time at the front of the field. With the final stops complete by lap 165, the dash to the line began. Rice had settled into a two second lead over Meira, but the lead was wiped out when Jeff Simmons ran into the back of Kosuke Matsuura sending both into the wall at turn two.
When the race went green Meira ranged up on the outside nosing into and out of the lead. Before a spellbound crowd the RLR GForces exchanged the lead, never breaking side-by-side formation, never giving Kanaan a chance to attack either of them. Into the last lap Meira led by a margin only the computer could see, but on the favoured inside line, Rice got a run going, and found the necessary thousandths of a second to take a close fought win. Behind Kanaan, Fernandez slipped backwards over the final dash to finish sixth behind Herta with Dario Franchitti starring in the final sprint to take fourth. Helio Castroneves also finished on the lead lap.
Wheldon's poor run as he salvaged a ninth place has given Kanaan a breather, Kanaan moving out to be 28 points clear of the British racer. Rice is now fifty points from Kanaan, but with a second victory to back up his memorable Indy 500 triumph and ten races to pull in the gap, the American is right there. Castroneves is starting to drift, while defending champion Scott Dixon is 115 points behind, in the midst of a five driver group covered by ten points and is all but out of the championship fight unless there is a major form reversal on the rise.
Result of Indy Racing League, Round 7 of 16, Kansas Speedway, United States:
Standings: Tony Kanaan 275, Dan Wheldon 247, Buddy Rice 225, Helio Castroneves 207, Bryan Herta 165, Scott Dixon 164, Dario Franchitti 161, Sam Hornish Jr 160, Darren Manning 155, Alex Barron and Vitor Meira 149 etc.
Bourdais Again
The yellows were out almost immediately at the start when the now former championship leader Bruno Junqueira moved over on Mario Dominguez and pushed the Herdez car into the wall after only a couple of corners. Dominguez's teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay had a pair of clashes in the first two corners, the second spinning AJ Allmendinger around, dropping the young American to the tail of the field.
Bourdais made a clean restart to lead away Paul Tracy, Justin Wilson, Patrick Carpentier and Alex Tagliani. The front four started to drop Tagliani but the group was reassembled behind the safety car again as series returnee Memo Gidley stalled after nudging the barriers after 21 laps.
First pit stops started on lap 34 under green flag conditions with Patrick Carpentier first to pit out after sliding down the order markedly leading up to the stops. Tracy stopped on lap 35, Bourdais a lap later. The Frenchman resumed in the lead with Wilson up to second with Tracy resuming third with Jimmy Vasser now fourth after an impressive drive through the pack from twelfth grid position.
Just after the stops were completed Gidley crashed again, and stayed crashed this time. At the restart Tracy and Wilson got very physical over a series of corners. It ended with Wilson spun around after contact with the reigning champ. Just behind this Tagliani and Oriol Servia touch in concertina. Servia and Wilson both headed to the pits while Tracy and Tagliani were given drivethrough penalties. At the restart Wilson ran into the back of Servia and returned to the pits for a new nosecone. In the coming laps there would be contact with Roberto Gonzalez and another spin.
Tracy was quickly back into the top five thanks to the rash of yellows lessening the impact of the penalty and would lead the race on lap 69 after Bourdais, Jimmy Vasser and Michel Jordain Jr made their second stops. But it would all be for nothing, as Tracy clashed with Jourdain emerging from pit lane leaving Jourdain stuck in the wall. Tracy was served another penalty, this time a five second stop penalty in his pit bay. With the race just returning to green again Tracy dropped to fifth place. Again the safety car helped Tracy as Tagliani put Gonzalez into the wall, Tagliani having to serve a five second stop.
There would be just two laps under green before the chequer but Bourdais quickly dashed away from Vasser to take the win. Carpentier snatched a last minute podium during a battle with Ryan Hunter-Reay which ended with Hunter-Reay heading into the pits at the green. The American dropped to eighth as a result. Mario Haberfeld kept his nose clean all day and was rewarded with fourth place ahead of Tracy. Gaston Mazzacane likewise drove to sixth with the penalised Tagliani in seventh.
The series now heads to Vancouver with Bourdais holding a 28 point lead over Junqueira. Carpentier is the best of the Forsythe cars, seven points behind Junqueira, with Tracy dropping away in fourth, almost into the clutches of Tagliani, Vasser and Hunter-Reay.
Result of Champ Car World Series, Round 6 of 15, Toronto Street Circuit, Canada:
Standings: Sebastien Bourdais 164, Bruno Junqueira 136, Patrick Carpentier 129, Paul Tracy 108, Alex Tagliani 105, Jimmy Vasser 101, Ryan Hunter-Reay 100, Mario Dominguez 85, Justin Wilson and AJ Allmendinger 83 etc.
Audi On Top
A late race safety car caution period put Butch Leitzinger right on the tail of Marco Werner, but the Audi driver was up to the challenge, holding on for a final three lap dash to the flag to bring Champion Racing its second victory of the year. Leitzinger lost the lead just before the final stops of the race when Werner was able to stop under a yellow, gaining ground on Leitzinger who had to stop the Dyson Racing Lola-MG under green flag conditions.
The Dyson Racing Team completed the podium with the team's second Lola-MG of Chris Dyson and Andy Wallace finishing two laps down in third place, the last of the prototypes to finish ahead of the GTS cars.
Fresh from their Le Mans victory, the Corvette Racing squad finished 1-2 in GTS class with Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin leading Johnny O'Connell and Ron Fellows. The Chevys finished a lap ahead of the ACEMCO Saleen of Terry Borchellar and Johnny Mowlem.
In GT Risi Competizione finally put an end to Porsche's domination of the class, giving the Ferrari 360 its first class victory in ALMS. Defending class champions, the Alex Job Racing Porsche struck trouble with teammate Romain Dumas and Marc Lieb finishing on the same lap as the Risi Ferrari of Ralf Kelleners and Anthony Lazzaro and the Flying Lizard Porsche that took second in class.
Twelfth outright was the first of the P2 cars, the Miracle Motorsports Lola-Nissan driven by James Gue and Ian James, winning the class by eight laps.
Result of American Le Mans Series, Round 3 of 9, Lime Rock Park, Conneticut, United States:
P1 Standings: Marco Werner and JJ Lehto 62, Andy Wallace 43, James Weaver and Butch Leitzinger 30, Chris Dyson 29, Frank Biela, Pierre Kaffer and Allan McNish 26, Emanuele Pirro 22 etc
P2 Standings: Ian James 59, James Gue 55, Andy Lally and Ryan Eversley 32, John Macaluso and Mike Borkowski 26 etc
GTS Standings: Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell 62, Terry Borchellar and Johnny Mowlem 45, Oliver Gavin and Olivier Beretta 36 etc.
GT Standings: Johannes van Overbeek and Darren Law 52, Timo Bernhard 43, Craig Stanton and David Murry 40 etc.
Vermeulen's Laguna
After taking his first superbike win at the second race at Silverstone, Chris Vermeulen decided it was so good he'd keep going. Doing the double at Laguna, a track he and his team hadn't visited before, Vermeulen has now won the last three races (and it could so easily have been four), and is just fourteen points off the lead in the standings. James Toseland is the new leader in the chase for the title, just three points ahead of teammate Regis Laconi.
Race one saw James Toseland leading Piefrancesco Chili and Chris Vermeulen at the beginning. Vermeulen was on the move, taking second on lap five before taking the lead on lap eight, a lead he would not relinquish as he opened a small break over the chasing pack. Chili immediately moved on to Toseland's tail with Steve Martin and Regis Laconi just behind, Chili eventually taking second from Toseland on lap 22, Martin taking third from Toseland a lap later. And that was how it stayed to the end, Vermeulen taking his second consecutive win ahead of Chili, Martin, Toseland and Laconi. Haga stormed through the field after starting from the pitlane to finish sixth.
Race two saw Toseland lead the first five laps before Vermeulen took it from him, the duo then racing closely together for the remaining laps in that same order, Toseland unable to retake the place. Laconi spent the race dicing for third, swapping the place back and forth between them before Laconi took the place for good with eight laps remaining, just holding off Haga. Chili completed a good weekend, taking fifth.
Result of World Superbike Championship, Round 7 of 11, Laguna Seca, California, United States:
Standings: James Toseland 201, Regis Laconi 198, Chris Vermeulen 187, Noriyuki Haga 162, Pierfrancesco Chili 160, Garry McCoy 146, Leon Haslam 120, Steve Martin 119, Troy Corser 101, Marco Borciani 94 etc.
Standings: Richard Lyons 20, Andre Lotterer 19, Yuji Ide 16, Takeshi Kogure and Beniot Treluyer 10 etc
The revised points standings are: Marcos Ambrose 1064, Steven Richards 1006, Jason Bright 951, Rick Kelly 930, Greg Murphy 811, Russell Ingall 808, Garth Tander 780, Todd Kelly 741, John Bowe 638, Steven Johnson 597 etc.
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