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.
Beaten Back
Liuzzi planted his Arden International prepared Lola on the pole, three tenths clear of Toccacelo who had second by only four thousandths after a great lap from Patrick Friesacher saw the Coloni driver almost snatch a front row position. Fourth place was veteran Tomas Enge with Yannick Schroeder starting ahead of Guerrieri on the third row.
Toccacelo made the best of the start to lead the field into turn one and turned right in the direction of where the Hockenheimring used to channel towards the forest. Enge also leapt well to tuck in behind Liuzzi ahead of Schroeder, Guerrieri and Robert Doornbos, with Friesacher stuck in the pits as the Coloni team frantically tried to find out why the car would not start.
Halfway through the first lap Enge was hit hard from behind by Schroeder under brakes. The damage ended both drivers' races leaving the two leaders well clear of their teammates Guerrieri and Doornbos at the end of the first lap. The gap built quickly while Liuzzi hovered, lapping faster than Toccacelo when allowed. Further back Raffaele Giammaria and Ferdinando Monfardini earned the ire of their IE Engineering team by taking each other out of the race in a collision that almost saw Monfardini upside down. The battle for third altered as Doornbos took third from Guerrieri after six laps.
Free of Toccacelo, Liuzzi scorched around on his own in lap, and after a superb pitstop from the Arden team, the Italian resumed with a huge lead over Toccacelo. Toccacelo responded with the fastest lap. Jose Maria Lopez was the last to stop from third position, handing the podium battle back to Doornbos and Guerrieri. Guerrieri was faster out of the pits and ran down Doornbos in the run to the flag to take his first podium finish.
Up front the gap stayed at six seconds with Toccacelo unable to make any impression on Liuzzi. Tony Schmidt took fifth for Ma-Con Engineering, the first non-Arden/BCN car home. Jose Maria Lopez was sixth while seventh should have gone to Alan van der Merwe but engine failure on the last lap gave Ernesto Viso, who had driven a powerhouse race in the lower order, an extra point with Astromega's Nico Verdonck taking the final point.
Liuzzi now has a ten point lead over Toccacelo, who continues to minimise Liuzzi's incredible run of victories by finishing second each time. Liuzzi still has yet to acquire a lead big enough to survive a sudden DNF. Doornbos fourth position was enough move into third position championship after Giammaria's crash with a four point buffer, with Lopez, Enge, Friesacher and Guerreri crowded around at one point intervals.
Result of International Formula 3000 Championship, Round 7 of 10, Hockenheim, Germany:
Standings: Vitantonio Liuzzi 60, Enrico Toccacelo 50, Robert Doornbos 26, Raffaele Giammaria 22, Jose Maria Lopez 21, Tomas Enge 20, Patrick Friesacher 19, Esteban Guerrieri 18, Yannick Schroeder 13, Tony Schmidt 8 etc.
Sainz: 26
Coming into Argentina, Petter Solberg was under pressure to defend his hard fought championship coming off a third in Turkey, where he'd still lost ground to Loeb who had won. Solberg pushed hard early, winning the Thursday prologue stage, as well as Stages 3 and 4. In Stage 5 one of the Impreza's engine intakes was crushed by the bonnet after negotiating a watersplash, and the blue car shed half a minute.
This should have brought Markko Martin to the lead but in the same stage Martin and his co-driver Michael Park had the biggest accident of the season, destroying their Ford Focus at over 170 km/h after a horrendous end for end crash. Both were able to climb from the wreck under their own power and were flown to hospital, with some concern for Martin as he was experiencing double vision. Both were released by Friday evening.
So it was perhaps a suprise for Peugeot lead driver Marcus Gronholm to find himself the leader, but it was a lead rapidly diminishing as Sainz found his feet, eating away the Finn's three second lead and taking it on Stage 8. The pair traded the lead for the rest of the day's stages, ending with Gronholm eight seconds to the good, with the pair racing away from any pursuit. Loeb was over thirty seconds behind with almost three minutes back to the surviving Focus of Francois Duval. Minutes measured the gap to subsequent cars as attrition took hold.
Into Saturday Gronholm and Sainz resumed their to and fro battle with Gronholm pulling the lead out to sixteen seconds on Stage 15. Sainz reversed the trend and the gap was regularly falling when Gronholm hit a rock on Stage 19, damaging a wheel and the engine, ending the run of the 307.
This left Sainz 97 seconds ahead of Loeb and almost four minutes ahead of Duval. With seven stages and all of Sunday still to run, all life in the rally was extinct, barring additional incidents. The gaps between the top five cars were large enough that there was little chance of positons changing. Attention was focused on the recovery drive of Gilles Panizzi and how far he could climb back up the order.
For Citroen the problems were minor and Sunday passed without incident, their drivers giving them maximum reward. Francois Duval, back in the car after Janne Tuohino rejoined the team in Turkey, salvaged a podium for Ford after suspension damage slowed them on Friday. After twice washing creek water through the engine on Friday, Mikko Hirvonen put five points into the account with fourth position, fetching Subaru some manufacturer points. Similarly Harri Rovanpera fought back from a power steering failure.
With the dearth of WRC entries, Group N cars crept well up the order, with the Subaru of Gabriel Pozzo taking the final point ahead of Antony Warmbold's WRC Focus. Loeb now holds a commanding lead in the championship, seventeen up on Solberg. Martin's crash is especially punishing with the Ford driver now 27 points behind, having been caught by the resurgent Sainz. Gronholm is another two points back. Three rallies ago Ford was leading the manufacturers chase but has now slid to be 27 points behind Citroen.
After the cold and the rocks of Argentina, the Scandinavian forests and the incredible speed of Finland calls the WRC circus for one of WRC's favourite stops of the year.
Result of World Rally Championship, Round 8 of 16, Rally Argentina:
Standings: Sebastien Loeb 61, Petter Solberg 44, Markko Martin and Carlos Sainz 34, Marcus Gronholm 32, Francois Duval 29, Mikko Hirvonen 18, Harri Rovanpera 14, Janne Tuohino 12, Daniel Carlsson and Gilles Panizzi 6 etc.
Rossi Moves Clear After British GP Win
By Nick Mulvenney
The 25 year old stood up on his bike with arms raised as he crossed the line and was mobbed by delirious yellow-clad fans as he took the applause from the crowd of 82,091 on his victory lap. "I am very happy, this victory is very important as the bike worked well and now we are in front," said the five times World Champion, who had failed to get on the podium in the last two races.
American former World Superbike Champion Colin Edwards finished second for his first podium since his switch to MotoGP at the start of the 2003 season, while his Honda teammate Sete Gibernau of Spain was third. "To all the nay-sayers, up yours. I'm here, I'm back and I'm ready," joked Texan Edwards.
Just a point ahead of compatriot Max Biaggi before the race, Rossi is now clear of his rivals on 164 points. Biaggi, who finished a very disappointing 12th, and Gibernau share second on 142 points.
Gibernau was delighted with his third place as he had crashed out of the last two races and hates the Donington track. "This podium for me is like a victory after two non-finishes," said the Catalan. "It had been a very difficult weekend because we couldn't get the set-up right so last night we changed everything 100 percent."
Another American, Nicky Hayden, was fourth for the factory Honda team ahead of the Ducati of Australian Troy Bayliss, Edwards's old rival from the World Superbike series. Yamaha's Carlos Checa was sixth in front of the second Ducati of Italian Loris Capirossi, who qualified on the front row and made a great start before fading later in the race.
"On the first lap I was a little bit worried about the tyres, which were a bit cold," said Rossi. "But when I got in front, I into my rhythm and when I have my rhythm I can set a good lap time every time."
Biaggi, who was second and first in the previous two races, said his gearbox was faulty and he had considered going back into the pits to change his bike. "After two such great races in Rio and Sachsenring, it is really disappointing to make only 12th," said the 33-year-old. "I'll try to quickly put all this behind me and look forward to Brno."
In the 250cc race, Spaniard Dani Pedrosa showed why he is the brightest young prospect in motorcycling, claiming the fourth victory of his debut season in the class to take a 34-point lead in the riders' standings. Andrea Dovizioso raced alone from pole position to win the 125cc race, the 200th victory by an Italian in the class. The 18-year-old extended his lead in the championship to 32 points as his closest rivals, Roberto Locatelli and Hector Barbera, crashed out.
The world championship now takes a midseason break before resuming for the Czech Republic Grand Prix at Brno on August 22.
Result of World Motorcycle Championship, Round 9 of 16, Donington Park, Great Britain:
Standings: Valentino Rossi 164, Sete Gibernau and Max Biaggi 142, Colin Edwards 95, Alex Barros 86, Nicky Hayden 83, Carlos Checa 72, Loris Capirossi 64, Marco Melandri 57, Makoto Tamada 56 etc.
Texan Tornado Edwards Storms Back To Form
By Nick Mulvenney
Twice World Superbike Champion Colin Edwards finally found out what it was like to be on a MotoGP podium after finishing second at the British Grand Prix on Sunday.
The 30-year-old American left Superbikes as champion at the end of 2002 and, after a year on the uncompetitive Aprilia and a disappointing start to this season with Honda, some were questioning whether he would be able to make it in MotoGP.
"I've had a lot of pressure since the beginning of the year from people who think I should have been doing better," the Texan said after finishing runner-up to Italy's Valentino Rossi. "To all the nay-sayers, up yours. I'm here, I'm back and I'm ready."
Edwards could not get his bike to work the way he wanted for the first eight rounds of the season, while his teammate Sete Gibernau was winning races and fighting it out with Rossi at the top of the riders' standings.
"The start of the year was good in testing and everything," added Edwards, who also won the Superbike crown in 2000. "We just had to figure the bike out and it's taken us the whole year.
"I'm not the sort of rider who's going to push right over my limits to maybe get fourth place. It's just too dangerous and not worth the risk."
Improvements in the Dutch TT at Assen were followed by setbacks in the last two races.
"I was starting to think it would never happen," he said. "At Assen I pushed really hard and I thought I'm still not at the position where, even if I would have got a good start, I could have contended for a victory.
"I was thinking man, we're so close, but we just kept having problems."
However, his crew chief made one minor adjustment and Edwards was back in business. The 20 points won at Donnington Park have lifted Edwards to fourth in the standings, 47 points behind Gibernau and Max Biaggi who are tied for second place.
Edwards passed Gibernau to clinch the runner-up spot on Sunday, but the Catalan was delighted for his teammate. "Colin deserves it," he said. "He's been riding well but without much luck."
Edwards is best remembered for his astonishing comeback to reclaim the Superbike title from Troy Bayliss in a thrilling duel in the final race of the 2002 season at Imola. Such a comeback looks beyond him this year, but he may provide Rossi with a few uncomfortable moments before the season is out.
Dominant Rossi Aims To Get Even Better
By Nick Mulvenney
Valentino Rossi had some bad news for his MotoGP rivals after his comprehensive victory in the British Grand Prix at the weekend - he could have a better bike after the championship's mid-season break.
The 25-year-old, who will be back at Donington Park on Tuesday for testing, said last week that he should have a new engine in the Yamaha that has already taken him to five victories in nine races and a 22 point lead over Max Biaggi and Sete Gibernau.
"Even my father thought I was crazy," he said.
Rossi said he made the switch not for money but because, after winning three straight world titles with Honda, he was finding it difficult to motivate himself. Yamaha certainly had to dig out their cheque book to woo the five times World Champion. Crucially, they also had the resources to persuade his pit crew led by Jeremy Burgess to move with him.
"It was very important to me to bring my team with me and when I first spoke to Yamaha I asked Jeremy to come," Rossi said. "He said no and that he thought we should stay at Honda together but in the end he said yes."
Having a crew he trusted and could communicate with was going to be vital if Rossi was to get the best out of a bike which had been so uncompetitive, and which he had been unable to test until the New Year as Honda kept him to the letter of his contract.
Rossi was expected to take a while to adjust to his new machine and podiums, not wins, were the target at the start of the season. But just over three months after he first jumped on the bike Rossi outraced six riders on the RCV to win the season-opening Africa's Grand Prix.
The significance of his victory was not lost on the man from Urbino, who forewent his usual celebration stunts and spent a moment alone at the trackside with his number 46 bike to contemplate the achievement.
"Welkom was unforgettable, to win that first race was incredible," Rossi recalled.
Three further wins in the next six Grands Prix followed before Honda raised their game and claimed the next two races with their former rider not even on the podium. But Rossi snapped his minor slump at Donington on Sunday to stay on course for what would be a fourth straight world title.
"I am happy because I have taken a small advantage in the championship and at some tracks we will not have the advantage in race conditions and so it is good to have these extra points," Rossi said. "I will sleep much better in the summer break. We have some problems with the rear at the last few races and we hope to be able to fix those on Tuesday when we test here."
After testing, Rossi will be off for a holiday on the Mediterranean island of Ibiza before returning to prepare for what he hopes will be a sixth victory of the season at the Czech Grand Prix at Brno on August 22.
Reports provided by Reuters
Busch Holds On
Ryan Newman and Jimmie Johnson sat on the front row, with Newman taking the lead at the start as Michael Waltrip quickly moved up to second place. Newman continued to hold the lead, the first caution coming out on lap 60 of 300 when Ricky Craven hit the turn three wall. The injured Dale Earnhardt Jr had just been lapped but got the 'lucky dog' pass to get back on the lead lap, while the caution allowed relief driver (and rookie!) Martin Truex Jr to get into the car. Meanwhile the rest of the field pitted too, Newman leading Waltrip, Tony Stewart, Jamie McMurray and Kasey Kahne as the race restarted on lap 66.
It was caution time again though on lap 91 for debris as Newman continued to lead. The leaders stayed out but about half the field came in for stops. Back to green on lap 101 but it was caution again two laps later when Dave Blaney's car came to a halt in the pit lane exit. Green once again on lap 106, Newman leading from Waltrip, McMurray, Stewart and Jeff Gordon who had worked his way up the order after starting 24th. Lap 142 and Truex brought out the caution when he spun into the turn one wall after contact from Ken Schrader. The field came in for stops, Newman leading Dale Jarrett (who took just two tyres), Gordon, Kurt Busch and Stewart out of the pits.
The next caution came out on lap 212 when Ricky Rudd was spun into the turn three wall after contact from Mark Martin as they both tried to negotiate the slow car of Brian Vickers. The field came in for stops, hoping to make it to the end of the 300 lap race without stopping again, though for some teams it was probably touch and go. Back to green on lap 218 with Newman back leading from Busch, Kenseth, Stewart and Gordon, Gordon moving into fourth two laps later.
Lap 223 and it was back to caution when Ken Schrader's engine blew up. Green again on lap 230, Gordon moving to third at the end of the lap past Kenseth, while on lap 233 Newman lost two places as Busch and Gordon moved past him into first and second. Brendan Gaughan spun and brought out the next caution on lap 234. Back to green on lap 237, Busch leading Gordon and Newman, the top three unchanged when the next caution came out on lap 256 after Ricky Craven slammed the turn three wall having just lost an engine.
Racing resumed on lap 264 but it was back to caution on lap 273 when Greg Biffle slammed the wall in turns three and four. Back to green on lap 277, Busch still leading Gordon and Newman, none of them able to get close enough to make a move on the other. Just when it looked like it would stay green to the chequer Dale Jarrett put Rusty Wallace into the wall as they came off turn four, bringing out the caution on lap 295. Lap 298 and the race resumed but despite Gordon's best efforts he couldn't stop Busch from taking the win, Newman, Kenseth and Stewart rounding out the top five.
Result of NASCAR Nextel Cup, Round 19 of 36, New Hampshire International Speedway, New Hampshire, United States:
Standings: Jimmie Johnson 2850, Dale Earnhardt Jr 2685, Jeff Gordon 2648, Tony Stewart 2548, Matt Kenseth 2481, Kurt Busch 2396, Bobby Labonte 2390, Elliott Sadler 2370, Kevin Harvick 2353, Ryan Newman 2348 etc.
Tracy's Late Sprint
Paul Tracy has not had the smoothest of championship defences. However the Canadian could take some solace from the huge crowd that had turned out at the Canadian venues, Toronto three weeks ago, and at Pacific Place. He drove a dominant race at the Vancouver street circuit only to be informed by radio that a malfunction at the last pitstop meant that holding the lead would not be enough. Tracy needed a 25 second buffer to successfully complete a splash and dash without losing the lead. But win he did, and the win puts Tracy firmly back into championship consideration.
The race was flagged away under yellows after Argentine racer Gaston Mazzacane crashed his Dale Coyne Racing Lola at the same circuit where last season both Coyne cars exited the race on the warm-up lap. Once underway, Tracy skipped away from Bourdais, quickly past Lavin into second with Dominguez and Gidley squabbling over fourth. Tracy and Bourdais very quickly gap the field, held up behind Lavin. There was little movement in the early running however, until Gidley spun on lap 19, plunging down the order.
A rare yellow this race appeared on lap 22 after a clash into the first turn. Brazilian Alex Sperafico moved over to allow the faster car of Patrick Carpentier through to lap, only to run out of real estate into turn one. The pair clashed and spun into the tyre barriers. The local yellows were out at the next corner as well as Carpentier's team mate Lavin had spun on the exit of turn one and was facing back the wrong direction.
This brought Dominguez into third position but Justin Wilson was missing from the field at the restart, electrical problems blighting his race. Wilson resumed two laps later but it would be a lost cause and the Brit retired soon afterwards, in the process dropping out of the top ten in the championship.
As the leaders stopped, Dominguez moved up into the lead only to have it snatched away by A.J. Allmendinger, the RuSport driver taking the lead of a Champ Car race for the first time. The pair stopped together, but Dominguez's stop was slow and Allmendinger resumed ahead of Bourdais in second place after the stops were completed. Allmendinger sensed something and was flying, trading fastest laps with Tracy in the middle stint.
On lap 69, Rodolfo Lavin's race which started so promisingly ended with a fire as the car pulled over in turn six. By this time Tracy had been informed of the fault with his fuel filler. After having resumed with an eleven second lead the Canadian comfortably in front still had to push hard. With eight laps to go Tracy reached a 28 second lead and the team pulled him in, dropped in the remaing litres needed to finish and sent him on his way, still comfortably ahead of the pursuing RuSport cars.
Tracy went on to an untroubled sprint to the flag to win from Jourdain and Allmendinger, the latter taking third, his best ever result, under pressure from Bruno Junqueira. Bourdais was slower in the second half of the race, drifting to fifth by race's end with Dominguez coming home sixth ahead of Tagliani and Ryan Hunter-Reay.
Bourdais' lead in the championship has shrunk to 27 points, but Tracy, with the win, jumps into third place past teammate Carpentier to sit 44 points from the leader. Next stop is back across the border to Wisconsin and the much loved Road America.
Result of Champ Car World Series, Round 7 of 15, Molson Indy Vancouver, Pacific Place Street Circuit, British Columbia, Canada:
Standings: Sebastien Bourdais 186, Bruno Junqueira 159, Paul Tracy 142, Patrick Carpentier 134, Alex Tagliani 122, Ryan Hunter-Reay 115, Jimmy Vasser 112, A.J. Allmendinger 108, Mario Dominguez 105, Michel Jourdain Jr 94 etc.
Kanaan Beats Penske
The new force in IRL, the Rahal-Letterman team took proud possession of the front row of the grid, starting as they finished in Kansas, Buddy Rice ahead of Vitor Meira, although Meira had that corrected by the time the race reached turn one. Wheldon pushed up into second briefly early on, only to lose it to Rice at the first restart.
A second debris yellow at lap 34 prompted the field to pit with Meira resuming his lead while a slick stop from Penske put Hornish into second ahead of Rice with Kanaan next. Rice quickly moved back into second for the run through the second stint while Meira powered away only to be hauled in when Ed Carpenter slammed the wall in turn four while making room for Meira to lap him.
After the second stops, Adrian Fernandez briefly popped into third behind the RLR drivers after leaving the old tyres on the car. Meira and Rice re-asserted themselves at the front of the field on the hopscotch run from caution to caution when Tomas Scheckter brought the yellows back out for piling into the wall in turn two.
Meira's chances ended suddenly as the Brazilian tried to leave his pit bay early, and was pulled back only to stall, and he resumed last. Rice now led from Wheldon, Hornish, Kanaan and Townsend Bell, proving a revelation in his second drive for Panther Racing since replacing Mark Taylor. While Meira lit the wick and screamed back up the field Rice was pulling rapidly clear of Hornish, heading for another GForce-Honda win when Bryan Herta crashed on lap 161, just past three quarter distance.
At the final restart Kanaan had to fend off the advances of Hornish for 13 laps, taking victory by 0.15 seconds. Castroneves snuck his way into third as the day progressed, quietly and without fuss with Darren Manning scoring some increasingly rare points for Chip Ganassi Racing. Bell was still fifth at the end in an encouraging start with his new team, while the man he replaced, Mark Taylor, slipped into the Access Motorsports GForce, and recorded his best ever finish of seventh behind the delayed Rice. Dixon came home in eighth position, a finishing spot Dixon has equaled, but not bettered since Motegi in April.
Kanaan's lead now sits 61 points over Wheldon, 71 ahead of Rice and 83 ahead of Castroneves. At the halfway point of the season Kanaan finds himself in much stronger position than at the same point last year, at which he led, but not by such a margin. There are still just as many points left in the season as what has already been. Still early days.
Result of Indy Racing League, Round 8 of 16, Firestone Indy 200, Nashville Superspeedway, Tennessee, United States:
Standings: Tony Kanaan 324, Dan Wheldon 263, Buddy Rice 253, Helio Castroneves 241, Sam Hornish Jr 200, Scott Dixon 188, Darren Manning 187, Bryan Herta 177, Dario Franchitti 173, Vitor Meira 170 etc.
McConville Wins Wild, Weird, Wintry Winton
There was one 300 km race at Winton, featuring a compulsory stop for tyres and a compulsory stop for fuel. Qualifying saw some unusual results, as rain affected qualifying and the shootout. Pole was taken by privateer Craig Baird, with Garth Tander alongside. Marcos Ambrose qualified fourth, while Mark Skaife was sixth. Greg Murphy started the race despite being 0.005s outside the 105% limit, while Steven Richards qualified 21st and then started in the pit lane after being too late to take to the grid.
At the start Tander outdragged Baird into turn one, with Steven Johnson following next. Behind them Ambrose and Ingall were side by side until Skaife barged in, with Skaife pushing Ambrose into the grass as they exited turn two, dropping Ambrose to eighth as Skaife and Ingall moved to fourth and fifth. Ambrose made an aggressive but legitimate move to take seventh from Bargwanna at the second last turn on lap four which saw Bargwanna spin, while Skaife took third from Johnson two laps later at turn one. Lap seven saw the safety car make an appearance for Simon Wills' car off on the outside of the final turn. The leaders stayed out but about two thirds of the field pitted for tyres, including Bright and Ambrose
who rejoined twelfth and fifteenth.
More cars headed to the pits, with those yet to take tyres coming in, while a handful of cars who had taken tyres earlier came in for fuel. This was despite cars doing this the year before and then running out of fuel in the closing laps of the 100 lap event. Back to green on lap 37, Todd Kelly leading having not yet stopped but it was back to safety car a lap later when Warren Luff beached his car at turn three. More cars came in for fuel. The race returned to green on lap 40 but was back to safety car two laps later, with more of those yet to take fuel coming in for their stops. During this period an incident occurred at the third last turn which saw several cars run into the back of one another, Ambrose suffering the most with a badly damaged bonnet when he hit the back of John Bowe.
Back to green once again on lap 44, Steven Johnson now leading the way but another safety car period came out on lap 52, with everyone now having taken fuel. Back to racing on lap 54, Greg Murphy, who started dead last, leading from teammate Rick Kelly, with Ambrose, who had taken an accidental run through pitlane third ahead of his teammate Russell Ingall with John Bowe who had taken his tyres on lap three fifth! The race was about to get a bit more crazy when Skaife looked inside Bright at the final turn as he fought alongside Steven Richards, Skaife making it no further than Bright's rear bumper as he spun Bright, Skaife then slowing to avoid the spinning Bright which left David Besnard nowhere to go except to hit Skaife, sending Skaife to the sodden infield while Besnard now had a bonnet like Ambrose's! About the only winner was Steven Richards who gained a place as Bright dropped from seventh to 21st, while Besnard was out a lap later with steam pouring from the bonnet.
Bowe saw an opening and went for it, but then saw Ambrose closing the door. He initially tried to back out of the move, but for some reason halfway through decided against doing so and hit Ambrose on the rear bumper, spinning him around. Unbelievably, Ambrose was now also stuck on the inside of the circuit in the wet grass like Skaife, except he was even closer to the racing surface, the front of Ambrose's car a mere metre from the tarmac! Once again race control deemed it safe to continue racing as a working car lay stranded by the track. Nevertheless Bowe moved up to fourth with Max Wilson now fifth, having started from pit lane like Steven Richards. A couple of laps later Bowe received a drivethrough penatly for the contact, dropping him down to 21st place, moving Richards into the top five.
At the front Murphy continued to lead as Ingall inched closer and closer lap by lap. Back in fourth Max Wilson had a train of cars behind him, the queue led by Steven Richards. With Richards' team boss having just lamented the ability of the driver behind him, Jason Richards (no relation), Steven Richards on the side of the rear bumper into the second last turn getting Wilson sideways, Wilson dropping to eleventh as he ran off track while ironically Jason Richards moved into fourth ahead of Steven who stayed in fifth. Meanwhile Ambrose had let some air out of his rear tyres after advice from the pits and was trying again to get out of the grass. Meanwhile Max Wilson was off the track at turn three after Tony Longhurst punted him out the way, Longhurst later receiving a drivethrough penalty. The safety car came out on lap 79, as just seconds later the slightly lower to the ground Ambrose rejoined the track, his tyre trick paying dividends just before he would have been towed out anyway...
The leaders of course, with Murphy and Ingall both slipping on it, as did both Jason and Steven Richards among others. Murphy fell from first to third, Ingall from second to fifth, Jason Richards from fourth to eleventh while Steven Richards spun and dropped from fifth to seventeenth. Murphy's car also took a great deal of sand into the airdam, which caused the engine's water temperature to slowly but steadily rise. Now the order was Rick Kelly leading from Cameron McConville, with a break before Murphy third just ahead of Brad Jones fourth and Ingall fifth. The safety car made another appearance on lap 91, Bright having raced up to from nineteenth to eighth place during the green flag laps thanks to his faster car and fresher tyres.
Racing resumed a lap later on lap 92 with just nine laps remaining, Bright moving up to sixth place later that lap as he continued to charge to the front, just behind Brad Jones and Russell Ingall. These three were a couple of seconds behind the leading trio of Rick Kelly, McConville and Murphy, with still some worries about whether some of the leaders had enough fuel to go the distance despite several caution periods since their fuel stops. Lap 94 saw the beginnings of this as fourth placed Brad Jones began to slow, dropping to eighth as he began to suffer fuel pick up problems. One lap later Ingall went too deep into the second last turn and ran wide on the exit, Bright squeezing through to move up to fourth as they closed in on the leading trio.
With three corners remaining the leading trio were nose to tail. As they ran down the straight Kelly had a small gap as they passed the stranded car of Brad Jones. Into the braking area Kelly led, but McConville went in much deeper and took the lead! Cameron McConville held on through the final turn and just beat Rick Kelly and Jason Bright, with Russell Ingall fourth and the smoking and steaming car of Greg Murphy still taking fifth. Steven Richards ended up thirteenth, while the two boggees of Marcos Ambrose and Mark Skaife ended up 26th and 28th and scoring points despite being fifteen to twenty laps behind Steven Johnson and Max Wilson who failed to score points after running out of fuel in the closing laps.
But controversy immediately erupted as Kelly suggested the pass had taken place under yellow flags. As they approached Jones's stranded car yellow flags waved, and these flags are what caused Kelly to enter the second last turn slightly slower than usual, not protecting the inside. Unfortunately for Kelly, he missed the green flags on the entry to the turn which McConville did see and took advantage of, diving down the inside to take the win, race control agreeing the move was legal and so the win stood. Meanwhile the 'stranded' car of Brad Jones got going again and took the chequered flag to score points after all!
Result of V8 Supercar Championship Series, Round 7 of 13, Winton Motor Raceway, Australia:
Standings: Jason Bright 1131, Steven Richards 1126, Rick Kelly 1116, Marcos Ambrose 1106, Russell Ingall 982, Greg Murphy 979, Garth Tander 924, Todd Kelly 897, John Bowe 728, Jason Bargwanna 652 etc.
Champion Does The Double
A pair of victories in the last two weekends for Champion Racing have pushed Marco Werner and JJ Lehto thirty points clear of Andy Wallace in the chase for the American Le Mans Series crown.
Last weekend at Portland the Champion Audi spun twice on the way to victory after battling the two Dyson Racing Lola-MGs. Leitzinger and Weaver were again second after mechanical problems blighted the car of Wallace and Dyson who had led for the majority of the early running. They would finish sixth behind the two Corvettes, third and fourth with Fellows/O'Connell beating Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin and the Lola-Judd of Clint Field and Robin Liddell.
Due to the lack of consistent Ferrari opposition, the four Corvette Racing drivers fill the top four positions of the championship with Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell now almost fourty points clear. Flying Lizard Porsche racers Darren Law and Johannes van Overbeek are eleven points ahead of Alex Job Racing Timo Bernhard with teammates Romain Dumas and Marc Lieb just a single point further back. In the P2 class Lola-Nissan driver Ian James now sits four points ahead of teammate James Gue and 31 points ahead of their nearest opposition.
P1 Standings: Marco Werner and JJ Lehto 102, Andy Wallace 72, James Weaver and Butch Leitzinger 59, Chris Dyson 58, Frank Biela, Pierre Kaffer and Allan McNish 26, Emanuele Pirro 22 etc
McRae To Return To Dakar Rally With Nissan
Former World Rally Champion Colin McRae has renewed his deal with Nissan and will take part in the Dakar Rally again next year, Nissan Europe said on Tuesday.
"Nissan has renewed its contract with Colin McRae," a team statement said. "He will be fully involved in the development programme for the 2005 car and will take part in all the test sessions planned over the coming months."
The team said there was also a possibility that the 35-year-old, who won the rally world title in 1995, would participate in the Desert Challenge in the United Arab Emirates in October as part of his new deal.
Report provided by Reuters
Formula 3000
This time he had to do it the hard way, but Formula 3000's Michael Schumacher impersonator Vitantonio Liuzzi won his sixth race of the season. Liuzzi had to come from behind this time, after giving best to season-long rival Enrico Toccacelo at the start. With the pitstops complete, the natural order had reasserted itself and Liuzzi raced away to victory. Toccacelo's BCN teammate Esteban Guerrieri took his first F3000 podium to further congest the battle for third in the championship.
First to stop on lap nine was Jeff van Hooydonk in the Super Nova entry, while it would take another five laps for the first of the front runners when Guerrieri pitted for his compulsory tyre stop, dropping from fourth to sixth. Tony Schmidt dropped from fifth to seventh at the same time while Doornbos stopped a lap later rejoining in fourth, just ahead of Guerrieri.
Pos Driver Team
1. Vitantonio Liuzzi Arden International Lola-Zytek
2. Enrico Toccacelo BCN Competicion Lola-Zytek
3. Esteban Guerrieri BCN Competicion Lola-Zytek
4. Robert Doornbos Arden International Lola-Zytek
5. Tony Schmidt Ma-Con Engineering Lola-Zytek
6. Jose Maria Lopez CMS Performance Racing Lola-Zytek
7. Ernesto Viso Durango Formula Lola-Zytek
8. Nico Verdonck Team Astromega Lola-Zytek
9. Jeffrey van Hooydonk Super Nova Racing Lola-Zytek
10. Can Artam Coloni Motorsport Lola-Zytek
Rally
As the World Rally Championship completed the tough middle stretch of rough field rallies in Argentina, 42 year old Carlos Sainz cruised to his 26th WRC victory, to become, again, the winningest driver in the history of the championship. Better still for his Citroen team, Sebastien Loeb made it a 1-2 result for the French manufacturer, extending his championship lead to seventeen points.
In addition to Martin, Solberg was now out, after hitting the same watersplash on the second running for Stage 9. Initially halted for seven minutes roadside, the eventual damage was an engine fire near the end of the day. It appeared to be a design flaw in the Subaru as Mikko Hirvonen had suffered similar damage on both runs through the same watersplash but was still mobile in sixth. Mechanical problems also significantly delayed Harri Rovanpera and Gilles Panizzi.
Eighteenth at the end of Leg One, Panizzi hauled his ever improving Mitsubishi Lancer back from turbocharger and gearbox dramas to charge through the field and had reached seventh after the first stage of Leg Three. Seventh would have to do as the Bozian Racing team continues to rack up points in the depleted 2004 field. Local driver Luis Companc Perez earned his first WRC points with sixth place. Mitsubishi's second car, driven in Argentina by Kristian Sohlberg disappeared from timesheets after an engine problem was diagnosed overnight after Leg Two. Sohlberg was as high fifth at one point in the rally.
Pos Driver/Co-driver Car
1. Carlos Sainz/Marc Marti Citroen Xsara WRC
2. Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena Citroen Xsara WRC
3. Francois Duval/Sephane Prevot Ford Focus RS WRC 04
4. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen Subaru Impreza WRC 2004
5. Harri Rovanpera/Risto Pietilainen Peugeot 307 WRC
6. Luis Companc Perez/Jose Maria Volta Peugeot 206 WRC
7. Gilles Panizzi/Herve Panizzi Mitsubishi Lancer WRC 04
8. Gabriel Pozzo/Daniel Stillo Subaru Impreza WRX STi
(Group N)
9. Antony Warmbold/Gemma Price Ford Focus RS WRC 02
10. Daniel Sola/Xavier Amigo Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII
(Group N)
MotoGP
World Champion Valentino Rossi recovered from a slow start to win the British Grand Prix convincingly on Sunday and move 22 points clear in the title race. The Yamaha rider led for all but the first of the 30 laps for his fifth win of the season, the 38th victory of his 73 race MotoGP career and his sixth triumph in all categories at one of his favourite circuits.
Rossi, who started from pole position and led into the first corner, was passed by Capirossi and Gibernau on the first lap but recovered his lead by the time the field crossed the start-finish line for a second time. Once back in front it seemed only the rain, which threatened all afternoon but never amounted to more than a bit of drizzle, could stop him as he pulled away and left Gibernau and Edwards to fight it out for second.
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Valentino Rossi Yamaha M1
2. Colin Edwards Honda RC211V
3. Sete Gibernau Honda RC211V
4. Nicky Hayden Honda RC211V
5. Troy Bayliss Ducati Desmosedici
6. Carlos Checa Yamaha M1
7. Loris Capirossi Ducati Desmosedici
8. John Hopkins Suzuki GSV-R
9. Alex Barros Honda RC211V
10. Neil Hodgson Ducati Desmosedici
With Rossi winning so regularly it is easy to forget what a gamble the Italian took in moving to Yamaha from all-conquering Honda at the end of last season. Yamaha's M1 had simply been unable to get close to Honda's RCV in 2003.
NASCAR
For over 150 laps it looked like pole man Ryan Newman's day, but Kurt Busch closed in and took over, leading most of the rest of the way to take the victory. A bad qualifying for Jeff Gordon after four consecutive poles didn't stop Gordon charging his way up the order to finish the race in second. Meanwhile Dale Earnhardt Jr only raced the first section of the race as he recovers from the burns he sustained last week at the ALMS event, finishing the race in 31st. Despite this he still remains in second in the standings 37 points ahead of Jeff Gordon but 165 behind points leader Jimmie Johnson.
Racing resumed on lap 146, Newman leading while Busch moved quickly up to second place. Busch then closed in on Newman, catching him then passing him on lap 172. Three laps later and it was caution time again as Todd Bodine stopped in turn one. Again the leaders stayed out while the rest of the field pitted. Back to green on lap 180 but it was back to caution one lap later when Brian Vickers hit the turn four wall. Back to green on lap 184, Busch continuing to lead from Newman and McMurray.
Pos Driver Car
1. Kurt Busch Ford Taurus
2. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Monte Carlo
3. Ryan Newman Dodge Intrepid
4. Matt Kenseth Ford Taurus
5. Tony Stewart Chevrolet Monte Carlo
6. Michael Waltrip Chevrolet Monte Carlo
7. Jamie McMurray Dodge Intrepid
8. Kasey Kahne Dodge Intrepid
9. Dale Jarrett Ford Taurus
10. Jeremy Mayfield Dodge Intrepid
OWRS
Tracy looked the goods from the first instance, pole position falling to the Canadian Forsythe driver in just 60.87 seconds, just over a tenth quicker than series leader Sebastien Bourdais, who would start third, behind Tracy's teammate Rodolfo Lavin who was guaranteed a front row starting position for topping the slower first qualifying session. Mario Dominguez was fourth fastest ahead of Memo Gidley, recording an excellent fifth fastest for Rocketsports Racing to sit alongside the third of the Forsythe cars, Patrick Carpentier. Early series leader Bruno Junqueira was back in eighth position.
Allmendinger made his final stop on lap 57, dropping down the order, and handing second to his teammate Michel Jourdain Jr who had quietly snuck his way through the field. Jourdain was set up on a run to the flag, so didn't fight too hard when Dominguez forced into second place as the Herdez driver still had a stop to make.
Pos Driver Car
1. Paul Tracy Forsythe Championship Racing Lola-Ford
2. Michel Jourdain Jr RuSport Lola-Ford
3. A.J. Allmendinger RuSport Lola-Ford
4. Bruno Junqueira Newman Haas Racing Lola-Ford
5. Sebastien Bourdais Newman Haas Racing Lola-Ford
6. Mario Dominguez Herdez Competicion Lola-Ford
7. Alex Tagliani Rocketsports Racing Lola-Ford
8. Ryan Hunter-Reay Herdez Competicion Lola-Ford
9. Mario Haberfeld Walker Racing Reynard-Ford
10. Jimmy Vasser PKV Racing Lola-Ford
IRL
Tony Kanaan took his third win of the year in Nashville, to push his series lead out to over 60 points over Andretti-Green teammate Dan Wheldon, leading home the Penske pair of Sam Hornish Jr and Helio Castroneves. Hornish pushed Kanaan hard for the win in the final stages, but the win should perhaps should have gone elsewhere as Wheldon limped pitward from the lead with a puncture with just fifteen laps to go.
With the final stop completed under this yellow Wheldon took the gamble and kept his old tyres on the car for the run to the flag. Wheldon lead the field at the restart but there was contact with Rice. The contact cost Rice a front wing and Wheldon a rear tyre. With a yellow waved for the slowing Wheldon, Kanaan found himself pacing the field ahead of Hornish.
Pos Driver Team
1. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green Racing Dallara IR2 Honda
2. Sam Hornish Jr Team Penske Dallara IR2 Toyota
3. Helio Castroneves Team Penske Dallara IR2 Toyota
4. Darren Manning Chip Ganassi Racing GForce-Toyota
5. Townsend Bell Panther Racing Dallara IR2 Chevrolet
6. Buddy Rice Rahal-Letterman Racing GForce-Honda
7. Mark Taylor Access Motorsports GForce-Honda
8. Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing GForce-Toyota
9. Kosuke Matsuura Super Aguri Fernandez Racing GForce-Honda
10. Adrian Fernandez Fernandez Racing GForce-Honda
V8 Supercar
Cameron McConville won a bizarre race at Winton that saw a driver starting in last place take the lead at half distance and look set for the win. It saw two drivers off the track, wheels spinning in the grass as the race continued for around 20 laps, while at other times drivers got stuck in the sand and gravel and were recovered almost immediately. To say the race was confusing is an understatement, with the race ending in somewhat controversial circumstances with a last lap pass not long after a yellow flag. One positive to come out of the weekend is a much tighter championship battle, Jason Bright taking over at the top on 1131 points, with Steven Richards only five points behind, Rick Kelly ten further back and Marcos Ambrose another ten points further behind.
Back to racing on lap nine, Tander leading from Skaife and Ingall, this trio beginning to stretch away from the field. Bright and Ambrose were making their way back up the order, eight and ninth on lap 23, but Ambrose fell to 28th the next lap when he ran a little wide on entry on the final turn and slid sideways off the track, having to take a run through the pitlane before rejoining. One lap later Skaife did the same except he spun instead of going into the pits, and so only dropped from second to eighth place, just behind Bright, Skaife moving ahead of him on lap 30. Still Tander led just from Ingall, with Todd Kelly third and Tander's teammate McConville in fourth the clear front runners. Lap 34 saw the safety car on track again for Mark Winterbottom's beached car on the outside of turn four.
Meanwhile Skaife, with a fully operational car, was going nowhere, as he lay ten metres from the race surface wheelspinning in the soaked grass. Despite numerous safety cars for beached cars on the outside of turns, this one on the inside of the circuit was apparently in a safe position. Up at the front Ingall passed teammate Ambrose for third on lap 55, Ingall quickly catching Kelly for second as Bowe closed on Ambrose for fourth, Kelly's slower pace soon seeing this become a four car battle. Lap 60 and Ingall made it past Kelly into turn one, Ambrose quickly moving onto Kelly's tail. Through the snaking back of the circuit Ambrose was right on Kelly's tail, taking a wide entry into the third of three hairpins.
Skaife's car was towed out at this point, with Ambrose and Bright coming in to change to another set of (old) tyres, Bright dropping just two places to nineteenth. Back to green once again on lap 81, Murphy now only just ahead of Ingall as Rick Kelly held off Jason Richards and Steven Richards with the rest of the pack close behind. Lap 85 saw Bowe and Dumbrell side by side exiting the second last turn, with Bowe running wide and just off the edge of the circuit which saw Dumbrell pushed right off the track and like Ambrose was forced to take a run through pitlane to recover. The incident had deposited some water on the track however at the entry to the final turn, so who were the first cars to find out about it, and how bad it was?
Max Wilson came to a stop around the back of the circuit, his day coming up a few laps dry for no points, as although he had completed enough laps he was not going to take the chequered flag. By lap 97 Bright had caught the leading trio, just behind Murphy whose car was beginning to smoke. This same lap the slowing Jones, already down to eighteenth, came to a complete stop on the straight between the third and second last turns, apparently out of fuel. Lap 98 and Murphy's engine started to haemmorhage, as steam and smoke began to get worse, dropping to fifth as Bright and Ingall moved past. Up at the front McConville had closed right onto Kelly's tail, Bright closing in as they began the final lap.
Pos Driver Car
1. Cameron McConville Holden Commodore VY
2. Rick Kelly Holden Commodore VY
3. Jason Bright Holden Commodore VY
4. Russell Ingall Ford Falcon BA
5. Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VY
6. Steve Ellery Ford Falcon BA
7. Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VY
8. Paul Morris Holden Commodore VY
9. Garth Tander Holden Commodore VY
10. Glenn Seton Ford Falcon BA
ALMS
At Sears' Point two weeks ago, the Audi pair claimed victory after the a fire delayed the Lola-MG of Butch Lietzinger and James Weaver at a pit stop. The second of the Dyson Racing Team cars of Andy Wallace and Chris Dyson took second place on the same lap as the Audi with Leitzinger and Weaver pushing on to finish third. Fourth place was taken by the Chevrolet Corvette of Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell, the only Corvette to start after NASCAR racer Dale Earnhardt Jr crashed the team car in pratice receiving second degree burns in the accident which put him and Boris Said out of the race. The Lola-Judd of Clint Field and Robin Liddell finished fifth ahead of the Lola-Nissan of Ian James and James Gue. The first GT home was the Porsche of Timo Bernhard and Jorg Bergmeister in eighth.
Rally Raid
Scot McRae, who failed to retain his place with Citroen in the World Rally Championship for this season, made his debut on the 18 day Dakar Rally in January and impressed Nissan by winning two stages.
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Volume 10, Issue 30
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