Updates from the Rest of the Racing World
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.
Go Team Goh
In a dramatic final half hour of the race, Seiji Ara resisted the charge, to take his first Le Mans victory, only the second Japanese driver to do so, allowing Dindo Capello to successfully defend his title, and giving Tom Kristensen his fifth consecutive victory, and sixth in total, equal to Jacky Ickx's record tally. And Team Goh became the first Japanese team to take victory at the French classic.
From the moment the teams arrived at Le Mans, Audi Sport UK owned the circuit, topping each session and securing the front row of the grid in final qualifying early. The team relaxed, comfortably that neither the Audis of Champion Racing or Team Goh would threaten them. They were right, and yet they were wrong as a threat did emerge, but it wasn't an Audi. David Brabham scorched around the 13 kilometre circuit late in the session in the Zytek Engineering prepared, Reynard designed IRM 04S to snatch pole away, catching the silver and purple Audis on the fly. Both cars were hurriedly prepared and sent back out on the track, Johnny Herbert taking pole back with a scintalating 3:32.838 with Allan McNish pushing Brabham back on to the second row. It would not be the first shock of the race for the clear favourites.
In the classes, the factory Courage entry topped the small prototype category, qualifying their C65 in twelfth, ten seconds and ten grid positions ahead of its nearest competitor. Prodrive was on pole for GTS, Tomas Enge putting the Ferrari in 17th position, just ahead of the two Corvettes and the second Prodrive Ferrari that Colin McRae drove. GT was hard fought, with the Dale White Lightning Porsche RSR leading the JMB Ferrari Modena, the Orbit Racing Porsche RSR and Freisinger Motorsport Porsche RSR.
The race started under open skies as Jamie Davies took up the lead from Allan McNish as Audi Sport UK asserted early control of the race. Andy Wallace fell back into the pack rapidly, and Davies led McNish, JJ Lehto (Champion Audi), Dindo Capello (Goh Audi) and Jan Lammers in the Dome. The Audis broke free of the field in the early running, although Capello had a couple of incidents in the first half hour, which dropped the Goh car down the order. It turned out he would be the lucky one.
More serious though was the Audi Sport UK car. McNish had been banged around in the accident, but knew the importance of getting the car back to the pits. In a 24 hour race, with a car as finely built as the R8, the race could go on, despite the extensive damage to the British R8. The groggy Scot got the car back to the pits for repairs to both car and driver. The car would be in the garage for an hour, before Pierre Kaffer resumed. McNish however had suffered a heavy concussion and could not continue. Kaffer and Frank Biela decided to continue and push on for a top ten position. After resuming at the tail of the field, Kaffer drove a single slow lap and pitted, with diabolical handling. The crew set to work on the car again.
Team Goh had slid neatly into second position, overcoming early ECU problems with Justin Wilson a fairly distant third in the second of the Racing For Holland Domes. Shortly after the safety car, sent out for the twin Audi incident, disappeared, the challenge of the only car capable of matching the Audis for pace was over as Brabham limped the Zytek in with damaged bodywork caused by a flailing failed tyre.
Drama set in again when the sun bathed the circuit, first as the end came fore the superb Rollcentre effort. Martin Short was hit from behind by the #17 Pescarolo-Courage and the Dallara ended in the gravel. Short got the car back to the pits but their hard won fourth place was gone as Emanuele Pirro stormed by in the American Audi. Short got going again, but suspension damage not noticed during the brief pit inspection put the plucky Brit into the Armco and out of the race.
Then Jamie Davies arrived in the pits with a suspension failure. The Audi UK crew descended on it to repair it frantically, with the #8 car sitting behind it awaiting to have some errant bodywork attended to. Davies set off again, but Capello now led for the first time. Over the next eight hours the gap ebbed and flowed, with the #88 car closing slowly. Kristensen and Herbert set some fast times in the early afternoon, pushing their Audis like it was a sprint race, rather than like it was 20 hours into Le Mans as it actually was.
Herbert was due first so his stop was longer. The pressure eased for two laps before Ara came in for service. And here, with destiny entirely in their own hands Team Goh won the race. The stop was troublefree and Ara resumed with only a few laps to go with a 39 second lead. Ara even seemed to find something and the gap stablised. Herbert didn't stop trying until the penultimate lap when he eased off, bowing to the inevitable.
With new record holder Tom Kristensen, Rinaldo Capello and the Team Goh operation cheering him home, Seiji Ara crossed the line for the 379th time, taking victory by forty one seconds in the greatest moment of his career after the best chase seen at Le Mans in decades.
But the battle wasn't just for the lead. Late morning saw Benoit Treluyer delayed while an alternator belt was changed, a ten minute job on a Courage. The young Frenchman rejoined still in third but time ran out when Treluyer next stopped. With three hours to go and a blur of white, Marco Werner stormed by, putting the Champion Audi back on the podium after a recovery drive that had taken eighteen hours. They would finish 11 laps down on Team Goh.
Sixth place would be taken by a GTS car. The battle for GTS was between Prodrive and Corvette Racing, as the other three Ferraris weren't in the hunt. The early lead was taken up by the #64 Chevrolet until a clash with the #88 Audi caused extensive damage to the 'Vette. This handed the lead to the #66 Prodrive Ferrari, building up a five lap lead until the Fazz had on off caused by a bearing failure. Tomas Enge limped the car back to the pits just short of the 22 hour mark. While in the pits repairing the damage, they were passed by Jan Magnussen in the recovering #64 Corvette. Magnussen, Oliver Gavin and Olivier Beretta raced on to an 11 lap victory over teammates Ron Fellows, Johnny O'Connell and Max Papis in the #63 car which had been delayed early after an accident with the Belmondo Courage, to give the C5-R a swansong 1-2 finish. Next year a new model Corvette will arrive at Le Mans to race Ferrari and Lamborghini.
Darren Turner, Rickard Rydell and Colin McRae finished third in class, also recovering from replacing a clutch early in the race to finish ahead of Enge, Peter Kox and Alain Menu in the second Prodrive car. Under the circumstances Prodrive can only be disappointed with the result. The Larbre entry was the only other GTS to finish with one of the Barron Conner cars expiring after a spectacular brake fire saw pit lane completely obscured with acrid extinguishant smoke.
The team, run as a satellite operation from Team Goh, provided just more cause for Japanese celebration. One lap further back was the Freisinger car of Romain Dumas, Stephane Ortelli and Ralf Kelleners with the Porsche 996 model claiming first through sixth in the class. Further back both TVRs finished, some 27 and 36 laps off the class lead while the Morgan was the 28th car still circulating at the finish, but still well short of completing enough laps to have been classified as a finisher.
In LMP2 the three Courages all retired during the early hours of the morning, leaving an unassailable lead to Intersport Racing's Lola-Judd. The challenge would be if they, and the two Welter WRs behind them, could log enough laps to be classified as finishers. The Lola broke a halfshaft and rejoined without falling to the WR which was dogged by problems all night. The newer of the two WRs gave up early in the afternoon, but two cars did make it to the finish, the last two cars on the road with the Lola of Bill Binnie, Clint Field and Rick Sutherland taking an eight lap victory over the WR of Yojiro Terada, Patrice Roussel and Olivier Porta.
Result of 72nd Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, Le Mans, France:
Rossi Too Good For Gibernau
World Champion Valentino Rossi used all his expertise to edge out title rival Sete Gibernau and win a breathless battle for victory in the Catalan MotoGP race on Sunday. The Yamaha rider, who won his home grand prix in Italy last weekend, snatched the lead from Gibernau with just under two laps to go to claim his second win in a row and his third of the season.
Gibernau, who won at both Jerez and Le Mans earlier in the season, retains the lead in the World Championship with 106 points from five races, but Rossi is now just five behind in second. Fellow Italian Max Biaggi, who finished in eighth place, is third in the standings on 80 points and Checa is fourth on 49.
Rossi, who won in Catalunya in both 2002 and 2001, said he was delighted with his victory on what is one of the fastest tracks on the calendar.
"For sure it was a surprise for us because the long straight here benefits the power of the Honda," said the 25-year-old Italian. "But we have used every spare minute improving the bike and although we lost on the straights, it's good for turning."
Gibernau pointed to his team's tyre choice as the reason for the Italian's victory. "We lost a little because of the tyres but that was down to us and we just have to keep fighting for victory in each race," he said.
Rossi, who appeared in confident mood after his masterful win at Mugello last weekend, was fastest off the grid, leading Gibernau and Biaggi into the first corner of the 4.7-km Circuit de Catalunya.
Rossi took the lead briefly when he slipped past Gibernau on the inside of a corner on lap 14, though the Catalan used the superior power of his Honda to hit the front once more a lap later.
Rossi never let up and after another spell in the lead he outbraked Gibernau at the start of the penultimate lap, this time giving the Catalan no chance to regain the lead to the disappointment of the 102,000-strong crowd.
Randy De Puniet stretched his lead in the 250cc class to eight points as he held off a fierce challenge from title rival Daniel Pedrosa to grab his first win of the season and his second successive victory in Catalunya.
The home crowd were given a victory to cheer about in the opening race of the day when Spain's Hector Barbera pipped world championship leader Andrea Dovizioso to claim victory in the 125cc category. Another Spaniard Pablo Nieto came third.
Result of World Motorcycle Championship, Round 5 of 16, Catalunya, Spain:
Standings: Sete Gibernau 106, Valentino Rossi 101, Max Biaggi 80, Carlos Checa 49, Alex Barros 48, Colin Edwards 44, Marco Melandri 38, Loris Capirossi 34, Norick Abe 28, Nicky Hayden 27 etc.
Report provided by Reuters
Johnson's Pocono
Kasey Kahne and Brian Vickers started on a remarkable front row, remarkable because neither driver had raced at the circuit before! At the start Kahne took the lead but was passed by Joe Nemechek in turn three before the lap was over. The first caution came out soon after on lap two for a smoking Morgan Shepherd. Back to green on lap six, Nemechek leading but Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon were quickly on the move, both moving past Nemechek on lap 11 to move into first and second where they began to ease away. Green flag stops came and went around laps 35 to 40, Johnson holding onto the lead ahead of Vickers and Gordon, Hendrick running 1-2-3.
Ward Burton brought out the next caution on lap 51 when he spun at the tunnel turn. In came the field to the pits, Sterling Marlin taking two tyres to lead Johnson, Vickers, Jeremy Mayfield and Ryan Newman out of the pits. The race restarted on lap 55, with Marlin being passed by Johnson and Vickers off turn one after the restart, but it was back to caution on lap 61 when Brendan Gaughan's engine went up in a cloud of smoke. Some cars pit but the leaders remained on the track.
The field heads for the pits again, Newman this time taking two tyres to lead Biffle, Johnson, Vickers and Terry Labonte as the race restarted on lap 118. Johnson passed Biffle for second off turn after the restart but it caution time again on lap 121 when Bobby Labonte lost an oil line, laying oil on the track which Marlin and Scott Wimmer spun on, putting them out of the race while Labonte made quick repairs. A lot of cars pitted but the leaders stayed out. Back to green on lap 132, Johnson taking the lead back through the tunnel turn later that lap as he stretched his lead over the field.
Another engine failure, this time for Ricky Craven, brought out the next caution on lap 156. If there were enough caution laps, this could be the last pit stop for most of the field. As the pits were opened, most of the field pits except Johnson and three other cars. Why had Johnson stayed out? Because his team had understood the rules correctly. Unfortunately, the guy waving the flag had made an incorrect judgement and waved the flag a lap too early. Johnson and the other cars came in two laps later, which then allowed other cars to come in and top off after Johnson pitted and be just behind him but with more fuel to run to the end.
But yet another caution was soon to follow on lap 177, Tony Stewart spinning on the exit of turn one having replaced his gearbox earlier in the race. A few cars pit but most of the field stay out, these cautions tipping them to closer to making it to the end without needing more fuel. The race restarted on lap 181, Jarrett taking fourth from Busch on lap 182 before Ryan Newman hit the turn three wall after being clipped by Robby Gordon, Robby having bounced off the inside kerb, bringing out yet another caution, this time on lap 184.
The race restarted on lap 189 with Johnson leading Mayfield, Labonte, Jarrett and Busch, with Jeff Gordon up to ninth having dropped down the order after pitting from the lead. But it was back to caution on lap 190 when PJ Jones and Jamie McMurray made slight contact. Back to green once more on lap 193, Johnson leading but with Mayfield right on his tail, a battle royale to the finish. Behind him Gordon was charging, up to fifth on lap 194. But Dale Jarrett and Jeff Burton blew up in quick succession to bring out yet another caution on lap 197, which meant it was too late to red flag the race. It also meant there was insufficient time to clear up the mess, and so once again a race ended under caution (and could have once again seen a late red flag), with Jimmie Johnson winning from Jeremy Mayfield, Bobby Labonte, Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch.
It was not over yet, the two trying to get alongside each other while Kenseth's teammate Greg Biffle ran interference between them as the field came to a near stop on the Long Pond straight. When they got going again, Harvick was somewhat slow away and had allowed Biffle ahead of him when Biffle should have been behind him. Kenseth closed in on the back of Harvick and instead of moving around Harvick to where he was before the spin, where Kenseth felt he should be, he quite obviously deliberately spun Harvick out at the tunnel turn before heading to the sanctuary of the pits, possibly fearing further payback from Harvick. After the race NASCAR penalised both drivers, sending them to the tail end of the lead lap, costing both drivers around ten positions from where they were when it all began.
Result of NASCAR Nextel Cup, Round 14 of 36, Pocono Raceway, Pennsylvania, United States:
Standings: Dale Earnhardt Jr 2113, Jimmie Johnson 2055, Matt Kenseth 1889, Jeff Gordon 1874, Tony Stewart 1854, Bobby Labonte 1812, Kurt Busch 1803, Elliott Sadler 1773, Kevin Harvick 1735, Ryan Newman 1674 etc.
Bright Brilliant At Barbagallo
There were three 100 km races at Barbagallo, the first race held on Saturday with the remaining two races held on the Sunday, all three races featuring a compulsory stop for tyres. Qualifying was marred by inclement weather, which affected the top 50 percent more than the bottom 50, although this was not the cause of Marcos Ambrose starting from 21st place. In the shootout, Steven Richards claimed his first V8 Supercar pole position ahead of Mark Skaife with Jason Bright in third.
Race one began with the top three getting away in grid order. Glenn Seton retired on lap one with another blown FPR engine. More action was to follow soon after on lap three when the leading trio came up to lap Dale Brede. One way or another Brede got in the way of Richards as he tried to lap him into the sweeping Kolb corner. This allowed Skaife to get a run on Richards, moving inside and alongside as they exited the turn and ran down the main straight towards the final turn, Bright moving to Richards' outside as they continued down the straight. As they braked Skaife moved towards Richards, making contact with him that pushed Richards across the front of Bright, into the wall before becoming bunkered in the sand. Post-race, officials deemed it a racing incident.
Race two saw Skaife lead Bright, Ambrose, Tander and Rick Kelly away at the start, Tander then taking third from Ambrose at Kolb corner. But the safety car was out soon after as Paul Radisich was bunkered in the turn one sand. Just like race one, people pitted as soon as they were able to under the safety car, with an absolute flood of cars, as virtually the whole field came in at once. This caused problems in pit lane as some cars were forced to queue, which not only inconvenienced them but other cars in pitlane still waiting to get to their pits or exiting the pits. First out of the pits was Rick Kelly ahead of Ambrose, Skaife, Tander and Bright. Leading was David Besnard, who chose to stay out.
Racing resumed on lap six, Besnard immediately coming under pressure and he was soon freight trained by the leaders, as Kelly took over the lead. Skaife began pressuring Ambrose, but Ambrose took the lead from Kelly at the final turn on lap eight, Skaife following past. Unlike most races, the leaders remained closely bunched together. Another safety car appearance on lap 15 when Warren Luff became bunkered at turn one. Back to green on lap 18, Skaife moving into the lead when Ambrose outbraked himself at the final turn, dropping to third behind Kelly, but two laps later Skaife pitted to take a drivethrough penalty for speeding in pitlane, dropping him from first to 25th. By this time Steven Richards, who had started 31st, was up to 10th, while Craig Lowndes was out with another dead FPR engine.
Race three began with Bright leading from Rick Kelly, Ambrose trying to squeeze ahead of Murphy but Murphy held firm, which forced Ambrose wide and dropped him from third to seventh. Lap two saw Tander run wide on the uphill sweeper and drop from fourth just behind Murphy to seventh just behind Ambrose. Lap three saw Rick Kelly, Steven Richards and Todd Kelly come in, while the following lap saw Murphy, Ambrose and Skaife in. It was not good for Murphy, who spun on the entry to the pits, resuming near the tail of the field. Bright stayed out until lap eight. He resumed just behind Rick Kelly who headed those who had pitted, with Todd Kelly, Steven Richards, Ambrose and Bowe behind him as a few stragglers stayed out and led the way.
Lap twelve saw Bright dive down the inside at the final turn to move ahead of Rick Kelly, but Kelly was able to turn inside as Bright ran wide and retake the place. On lap sixteen Bright dived down the inside at Kolb corner successfully, taking over the lead when Simon Wills pitted five laps later. As in race two, the leaders were closely bunched, Rick Kelly with a train of cars behind him as Bright began to ease away. Steven Richards was again on the move in race three, taking Todd Kelly on lap 20 into the final corner, Richards moving on to the back of Todd's brother Rick for second, taking the place with a dive up the inside at the final turn, Todd following through into third ahead of Rick.
Result of V8 Supercar Championship Series, Round 5 of 13, Barbagallo Raceway, Australia:
Standings: Marcos Ambrose 872, Rick Kelly 822, Steven Richards 820, Greg Murphy 811, Jason Bright 783, John Bowe 638, Russell Ingall 634, Garth Tander 600, Todd Kelly 597, Paul Weel 569 etc.
Flyin' Ryan
This was different. RHR was the class of the field the moment his Herdez Competicion Lola rolled off the transporter, taking pole and racing away to the most dominant race performance seen in several seasons.
Chasing the American home was Canadian Patrick Carpentier in his Forsythe Championship Racing Lola with Mexican Michel Jourdain Jr returning to the frontline of the series after a slow start with his new team RuSport.
Result of Champ Car World Series, Round 3 of 14, The Milwaukee Mile, Wisconsin, United States:
Standings: Bruno Junqueira 76, Patrick Carpentier 75, Ryan Hunter-Reay 66, Sebastien Bourdais 65, Mario Dominguez 62, Paul Tracy 53, Justin Wilson 50, Alex Tagliani 46, Michel Jourdain Jr 45, Jimmy Vasser 37 etc
Daily Double
It was a two horse race at Silverstone. Chris Vermeulen and Noriyuki Haga fought it out in both races, each rider taking a win and a second place in race-long battles. Haga and Vermeulen are now third and fourth in the points standings, around thirty points behind the factory Ducatis of Regis Laconi and James Toseland who are separated by just three points at the top of the table.
Race one was a race-long battle between Chris Vermeulen and Noriyuki Haga. Vermeulen grabbed the lead early in the race and despite Haga's best efforts, he managed to hold on for lap after lap. Third was a close battle between Pierfrancesco Chili and Regis Laconi, Chili eventually taking the upper hand a few laps before Laconi crashed out at the complex at the end of the lap. Up at the front Haga threw everything at Vermeulen but he couldn't get quite close enough to make a move. That was until Vermeulen made a mistake at Luffield late on the last lap, Haga sneaking up the inside and holding on to take the win, Vermeulen finishing second with Chili third.
Race two was much the same as race one, another race-long battle between Vermeulen and Haga, with Laconi not far behind. Chili was an early threat until he crashed out on lap six while battling with James Toseland. The battle at the front between Vermeulen and Haga was just as intense as race one but this time Vermeulen made no mistake, and took his first ever World Superbike win just ahead of Noriyuki Haga, Laconi staying onboard to take the other podium place.
Result of World Superbike Championship, Round 6 of 11, Silverstone, England:
Standings: Regis Laconi 171, James Toseland 168, Noriyuki Haga 139, Chris Vermeulen 137, Pierfrancesco Chili 129, Garry McCoy 128, Leon Haslam 113, Troy Corser 95, Steve Martin 93, Chris Walker 82 etc.
Le Mans
Many had predicted a dull and uninteresting Le Mans for 2004. That could not have been further from the truth, and the 5100 kilometre French classic produced one for the ages. The battle to own the race raged twice around the clock and was in doubt right up until the final laps as Johnny Herbert lit up the track, throwing the Audi Sport UK R8 across the ripple strips like his Benetton Grand Prix car of ten years before in an electrifying chase. The winners though, who led for much of the final quarter of the race, would not be denied.
Fourth fastest was JJ Lehto in the Champion Racing Audi, with another interloper separating the Audis, Sebastien Bourdais driving evergreen Le Mans warrior Henri Pescarolo's modified Courage C60 as he clocked the fifth fastest time ahead of Tom Kristensen in the Team Goh Audi. Domes completed the top ten qualifying positions, the Dutch Domes of Racing For Holland sat eighth and tenth, behind the Honda-powered example of Kondo Racing with Rollcentre Racing's recently acquired Dallara-Judd in ninth position.
The race settled in to clock over the hours before sunset. Just short of two hours into the race second placed McNish hit an oil slick covering the Porsche Curves and slammed the tyre barriers. Shortly afterwards Lehto slid off on the same slick into the tyres. Tomas Enge followed off the track in the Prodrive Ferrari but missed everything solid and continued. Lehto was pulled from the wall and restarted with front end damage and limped back to the pits for repairs. They would be delayed and plunged down the order.
At half distance the two Audis were on the same lap, due in part to some fast laps from Kristensen as the Goh car continued to gradually chase down the leader. Third place was held by the second of the Pescarolo Courages after a steady run to lead the Judd pack. Fourth place was the Rollcentre Dallara, the British team impressing all despite their lack of prototype experience, but catching them steadily was the Champion Audi who had charged back into fifth place. Further down, after losing over 80 minutes, Kaffer and Biela were steadily picking off positions in the #8 Audi. Also well up in the top ten after several delays was the Zytek, with David Brabham setting the fastest lap during the night in the early hours. But the engine blew before another hour could be completed, and the race paused behind the safety car for another oil slick clean up.
Into the final hour Davies handed over to the #88 team's quickest driver Johnny Herbert for the charge to the flag. With half an hour to go Seiji Ara was in the Goh car, the team's third driver, but with a gap over 90 seconds the need for a longer stop to put Kristensen or Capello in the car wasn't pressing. But Herbert had not given up and was taking at times four seconds out of Ara's lap times. The gap tumbled as final stops approached. The stopwatches were inconclusive. It could go down to the last lap.
And Pescarolo were still vulnerable. If the Pescarolo Courage struck trouble, there was one more Audi out there circulating with two tired drivers and a handling question mark. But it didn't and Henri Pescarolo could celebrate a fourth place, 18 laps down, after holding third for so long. After losing over eighty minutes with repairs, and having to struggle on without their lead driver, Pierre Kaffer and Frank Biela would finish 29 laps down in fifth place. Jan Lammers led his Dome-Judd home for a top ten finish, with the alternate fueled Nasamax-Judd, the Taurus Motor Sport Lola-Judd and the Lister Storm also making the finish.
The Dale White Lightning Porsche RSR took the lead early, holding it under pressure from the pursuers until 3am when problems with the RSR's seqential shifter started to emerge, handing the lead to reigning FIA N-GT champions Freisinger Motorsport. An oil leak started to cause problems for the Freisinger RSR late in the race, restoring the lead and victory to Sascha Maassen, Jorg Bergmeister and Patrick Long by five laps. Second place was taken by the Choroq Racing Team Porsche RSR of Haruki Kurosawa, Kazuyuki Nishizawa and Manabu Orido.
Pos Drivers Car
1. Tom Kristensen/Rinaldo Capello/ Team Goh Audi R8
Seiji Ara
2. Johnny Herbert/Jamie Davies/ Audi Sport UK Audi R8
Guy Smith
3. JJ Lehto/Marco Werner/Emanuele Pirro Champion Racing Audi R8
4. Soheil Ayari/Erik Comas/ Pescarolo Sport Courage
Benoit Treluyer C60 Judd
5. Frank Biela/Pierre Kaffer/ Audi Sport UK Audi R8
Allan McNish
6. Oliver Gavin/Olivier Beretta/ Corvette Racing Chevrolet
Jan Magnussen Corvette C5-R (1st GTS)
7. Jan Lammers/Chris Dyson/ Racing For Holland
Katsutomo Kaneishi Dome S101 Judd
8. Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell/ Corvette Racing Chevrolet
Max Papis Corvette C5-R (2nd GTS)
9. Darren Turner/Colin McRae/ Prodrive Racing Ferrari
Rickard Rydell 550 Maranello (3rd GTS)
10. Sascha Maassen/Jorg Bergmeister/ White Lightning Racing
Patrick Long Porsche 996 GT3-RSR (1st GT)
MotoGP
Fellow Italian and former 250cc world champion Marco Melandri, also riding a Yamaha, crossed the line in third to take his first podium finish since moving up to the MotoGP class, while Rossi's Spanish teammate Carlos Checa finished fourth.
But Gibernau, who set a scorching pace in qualifying to post a new lap record and claim his third successive pole position, slipped past on the inside to take the lead on the second lap. The leading duo, who had shared out the spoils in all four of the previous rounds of the championship, then pulled away from the rest of the field.
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Valentino Rossi Yamaha M1
2. Sete Gibernau Honda RC211V
3. Marco Melandri Yamaha M1
4. Carlos Checa Yamaha M1
5. Colin Edwards Honda RC211V
6. Ruben Xaus Ducati Desmosedici
7. Shinya Nakano Kawasaki ZX-RR
8. Max Biaggi Honda RC211V
9. Norick Abe Yamaha M1
10. Loris Capirossi Ducati Desmosedici
NASCAR
Jimmie Johnson had to overcome an error by officials but he still claimed victory at Pocono. A mistake by a flag man dropped him down the order but his speed took him back to the front. Meanwhile teammate Jeff Gordon recovered from two bad weekends in a row with a fourth place despite losing almost a lap with a missed lug nut at a mid-race pit stop. Another race ending under yellow saw some fans angry, and sadly saw one patron throwing a drinks cooler at the flagstand, hitting an official. The points standings is now a two horse race, Dale Earnhardt Jr leading Jimmie Johnson by 58 points, with their nearest challengers over 150 points further back. Mind you, with the "Chase for the Championship" this huge gap will come back to almost nothing.
The race restarted on lap 67, with Johnson leading the field, but Jeff Gordon quickly made his way up to the front, taking the lead on lap 72. Lap 86 and green flag stops began again, Gordon one of the first to pit. It became bad news when he was forced to pit again because of a missing lug nut, costing him almost a lap in the process. By lap 100 the stops were over, Johnson back in the lead with Greg Biffle passing Vickers for second just before the caution came out on lap 114 when Mark Martin lost an engine, Gordon having recovered to the top ten by this point.
When the race restarted on lap 163 the order was Kasey Kahne, Gordon, Vickers, Kenseth, Mayfield, with Johnson in sixth, though it was soon Gordon and Vickers in front as they swept past Kahne on the Long Pond straight, Mayfield passing Kahne for third four laps later just before Rusty Wallace lost his brakes and crashed into Michael Waltrip into the tunnel turn, both cars slamming hard into the wall, bringing out the caution on lap 168. A few cars pitted, including Gordon, Vickers and Kahne who hadn't topped off at the previous caution. Back to green on lap 173 with Mayfield leading Johnson, a repaired Bobby Labonte, Kurt Busch and Dale Jarrett, with Johnson taking the lead into turn one after the restart.
However, there had been some excitement in these last handful of laps. On lap 195 there Kevin Harvick apparently made contact with Kenseth as he passed him down the Long Pond straight, so Kenseth 'jacked' him up as he passed him down the short chute into turn three. When the caution came out on lap 196, Kenseth spun in turn three after contact from Harvick, Harvick saying that Kenseth brake tested him although Kenseth may have being slowing down because the caution was out. Whatever actually happened, Kenseth was not happy and quickly chased down Harvick, taking his place back in front of him in the order where he had been before the spin.
Pos Driver Car
1. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Monte Carlo
2. Jeremy Mayfield Dodge Intrepid
3. Bobby Labonte Chevrolet Monte Carlo
4. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Monte Carlo
5. Kurt Busch Ford Taurus
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet Monte Carlo
7. Terry Labonte Chevrolet Monte Carlo
8. Robby Gordon Chevrolet Monte Carlo
9. Jamie McMurray Dodge Intrepid
10. Casey Mears Dodge Intrepid
V8 Supercar
Two wins and a second place for Jason Bright saw him comfortably the winner at Barbagallo, on a weekend where it looked like Steven Richards would be strongest and Marcos Ambrose would suffer. Ambrose made a great recovery after a poor start to the weekend, while Richards would do likewise after an assisted early exit from race one. During the preceding week it was announced that Alex Davison would take up one of the seat at Castrol Perkins Racing, which meant that either Tony Longhurst or Paul Dumbrell (or both) are likely to disappear from the squad next season, with Dumbrell once again involved in several incidents. Richards' race one debacle meant that Ambrose has retaken the points lead, fifty points ahead of Rick Kelly, Steven Richards just two points further back with Greg Murphy another nine back, and Jason Bright fifth 28 points behind Murphy, well clear of the rest of the field.
The incident brought out the safety car, with drivers taking the opportunity to take their compulsory pit stop. All except Craig Baird, who led Rick Kelly, Mark Skaife, Cameron McConville and Jason Bright as racing resumed on lap 10, Ambrose up to thirteenth as the race restarted. Lap 11 saw Bright take fourth, while lap 13 and respectively saw Skaife and Bright move ahead of Rick Kelly. Lap 18 and the Skaife-Bright duo moved to first and second, which is how it stayed to the finish on lap 42, despite Bright's best efforts to change the order. Ambrose continued his charge up the order, ninth by lap 12, seventh by lap 20, fifth by lap 24 and third by lap 26 where he stayed until the end.
Meanwhile lap 19 had seen Russell Ingall spun into the infield when Brad Jones climbed onto the kerb and got sideways coming off of it, the same thing happening to Seton on lap 30 when Jones made the same 'error'. Lap 35 saw Bright's relentless pressure on Ambrose pay off, Bright making an aggressive dive at Kolb corner with the two making contact with Murphy following past Marcos. Bright closed immediately onto leader Rick Kelly's tail and repeated the pressure on Kelly. A slight error by Kelly on lap 41, the second last lap, allowed Bright to take the lead which he held on to to the chequer, winning ahead of Kelly, Murphy, Ambrose and Tander, with Richards storming through to sixth place just behind in Tander.
As they began the next lap Ambrose squeezed past as well into turn one, Rick Kelly losing three places in just two corners. Lap 27 saw Todd Kelly move past Richards for second, but it was only temporary as Richards and Ambrose moved past him at turn one on the next lap to drop Kelly to fourth. Another engine failure had put Seton out by this point, while Lowndes' earlier failure saw him fail to take the start of race three. The top three remained the same until the end, Bright leaving the field for dead, with Richards second just ahead of Ambrose. Todd Kelly looked good for fourth place until brake problems dropped him to tenth, Rick Kelly moving to fourth and finishing there just ahead of Bright's teammate Paul Weel.
Race One
Pos Driver Car
1. Mark Skaife Holden Commodore VY
2. Jason Bright Holden Commodore VY
3. Marcos Ambrose Ford Falcon BA
4. Rick Kelly Holden Commodore VY
5. Garth Tander Holden Commodore VY
6. Cameron McConville Holden Commodore VY
7. Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VY
8. John Bowe Ford Falcon BA
9. Russell Ingall Ford Falcon BA
10. Paul Weel Holden Commodore VY
Race Two
Pos Driver Car
1. Jason Bright Holden Commodore VY
2. Rick Kelly Holden Commodore VY
3. Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VY
4. Marcos Ambrose Ford Falcon BA
5. Garth Tander Holden Commodore VY
6. Steven Richards Holden Commodore VY
7. John Bowe Ford Falcon BA
8. Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VY
9. Steve Ellery Ford Falcon BA
10. Steven Johnson Ford Falcon BA
Race Three
Pos Driver Car
1. Jason Bright Holden Commodore VY
2. Steven Richards Holden Commodore VY
3. Marcos Ambrose Ford Falcon BA
4. Rick Kelly Holden Commodore VY
5. Paul Weel Holden Commodore VY
6. Garth Tander Holden Commodore VY
7. John Bowe Ford Falcon BA
8. Steve Ellery Ford Falcon BA
9. Mark Skaife Holden Commodore VY
10. Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VY
OWRS
For the first time in over a decade, one driver led every lap of a CART oval race. The surprise though was who the winner was. Just over six months ago Ryan Hunter-Reay took his first race victory in Champ Cars, a controversial season-ending Gold Coast Indy 300 in the lottery of wet street racing.
Pos Driver Car
1. Ryan Hunter-Reay Herdez Competition Lola-Ford
2. Patrick Carpentier Forsythe Championship Racing Lola-Ford
3. Michel Jourdain Jr RuSport Lola-Ford
4. Jimmy Vasser PKV Racing Lola-Ford
5. AJ Allmendinger RuSport Lola-Ford
6. Bruno Junqueira Newman Haas Racing Lola-Ford
7. Oriol Servia Dale Coyne Racing Lola-Ford
8. Mario Dominguez Herdez Competition Lola-Ford
9. Rodolfo Lavin Forsythe Championship Racing Lola-Ford
10. Mario Haberfeld Walker Racing Reynard-Ford
Superbikes
Race One
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Noriyuki Haga Ducati 999RS
2. Chris Vermeulen Honda CBR 1000RR
3. Pierfrancesco Chili Ducati 998RS
4. Garry McCoy Ducati 999RS
5. Leon Haslam Ducati 999RS
6. Steve Martin Ducati 999RS
7. Troy Corser Foggy Petronas FP1
8. Marco Borciani Ducati 999RS
9. Piergiorgio Bontempi Suzuki GSX-R 1000
10. Ivan Clementi Kawasaki ZX10
Race Two
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Chris Vermeulen Honda CBR 1000RR
2. Noriyuki Haga Ducati 999RS
3. Regis Laconi Ducati 999F04
4. Leon Haslam Ducati 999RS
5. James Toseland Ducati 999F04
6. Steve Martin Ducati 999RS
7. James Ellison Yamaha YZF R1
8. Garry McCoy Ducati 999RS
9. Troy Corser Foggy Petronas FP1
10. Ivan Clementi Kawasaki ZX10
Upcoming Events Calendar
 |
Contact the Author Contact the Editor |
Please Contact Us for permission to republish this or any other material from Atlas F1.
 Email to Friend
Volume 10, Issue 24
Atlas F1 Exclusive
A Weekend with Timo Glock
Bjorn Wirdheim: Going Places
Ann Bradshaw: Point of View
2004 Canadian GP Review
2004 Canadian GP Review
Just Enough
2004 US GP Preview
2004 US Grand Prix Preview
US GP Facts & Stats
Stats Center
Qualifying Differentials
SuperStats
Charts Center
Columns
Season Strokes
Rear View Mirror
Elsewhere in Racing
The Weekly Grapevine
> Homepage |
