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.
Breakthough or Breakout?
The rocky outcrop provides a stern test for man and machine, but reliability was strong this year with the factory cars of the top four manufacturers filling all bar one of the points positions. As the rally left its Limassol base and started the first Stage, it was Petter Solberg that took up the running, the Subaru driver quickly dashing to a six second lead after the second stage. The two Peugeots of Gronholm and Rovanpera led the pursuit early on, while running conservatively the Citroens lost time.
Clutch problems struck several cars, with Sainz and Gronholm both having to revert to manual systems. Solberg's lead came to an end when the car started to overheat from a clogged radiator. By the end of the first day Gronholm led Rovanpera by ten seconds with a similar margin back to Loeb who had the day's road sweeper Markko Martin right on his hammer. Solberg dropped to eleventh, nine minutes from the lead.
Day three wound down the rally and despite the rough conditions none of the majors were added to the retirement list of the Mitsubishis and Francois Duval's Ford who retired on the first stage of the event with a sheared wheel out on stage on roads too rough to limp home.
Over the final day, Gronholm stretched his lead out to 54 seconds making the win comfortable by the return to Limassol. Loeb finished some fourteen seconds up on Martin to complete the podium. Sainz was fairly lonely in the end, two minutes from Martin and four minutes ahead of Rovanpera.
The championship has tightened considerably with Gronholm taking the championship lead by a single point from Loeb with former leader Martin just one more point behind. Solberg is eight points from Gronholm. It's more of the same for competitors as the Acropolis Rally and Rally Turkey are the next two events. The water pump question will be answered today (Wednesday) when they are inspected against the standard pump.
Result of World Rally Championship, Round 5 of 16, Cyprus Rally:
Standings: Marcus Gronholm 34, Sebastien Loeb 33, Markko Martin 32, Petter Solberg 26, Carlos Sainz 18, Francois Duval 14, Harri Rovanpera and Mikko Hirvonen 8, Janne Tuohino 6, Freddy Loix and Gilles Panizzi 4 etc.
Manufacturers: Ford 53, Citroen 51, Peugeot 47, Subaru 36, Mitsubishi 5
Monte Carlo Could Move To End Of Season In 2005
Rallying's traditional Monte Carlo season-opener could be switched from January to November next year under proposals being considered by the sport's governing body.
"The overall calendar is being discussed and one of the proposals is for Monte Carlo to be at the end rather than the beginning (of the year)," said a spokesman for the International Automobile Federation (FIA) on Monday.
"The discussions are ongoing."
Rallies would be held every other week where possible, alternating with Formula One Grands Prix. The Formula One season starts much later, in March.
"I think it's a great idea," Subaru team boss David Lapworth told the Guardian newspaper about the possible switch. "I know it's a shocking thought to the French but I don't see why it couldn't make as good a finish as a start to the season."
Citroen's French driver Sebastien Loeb, winner of the asphalt season-opener for the last two years, was against the idea. A date change would reduce the likelihood of snow and ice on the tricky mountain stages.
"It'll be a good rally but it won't be Monte Carlo any more," said Loeb. "It'll become like Corsica."
Monaco 2005 report provided by Reuters
Gibernau Continues
Sete Gibernau sat on pole ahead of Carlos Checa and Max Biaggi, with Valentino Rossi in fourth on the grid. At the start Checa grabbed the lead ahead of Gibernau, Biaggi and Rossi. As the leading duo began to move away, Rossi dived inside Biaggi at the final pair of right handers to take third place as it quickly became clear these four would be the only contenders for the win. Gibernau stalked Checa for lap after lap but never really looked like making a move, content to bide his time. Further back Biaggi had fallen a couple of seconds behind Rossi in the early laps before the gap steadied.
Gibernau didn't end up having to make much of a move to take the lead when Checa ran wide at a tight right hander around halfway through lap twelve, Gibernau shutting the door on any attempt by Checa to stop him as Gibernau grabbed the lead. At this point Biaggi was closing the gap to Rossi, Biaggi taking third from him as they started lap thirteen and began closing on Checa.
By lap 26 Gibernau was clearly in front but the battle for second was now a three-way battle between Checa, Biaggi and Rossi. Into the right hander of the final esses, Rossi dived inside, only to run wide enough to allow Biaggi to turn inside on the exit of the right and get back in front for the left, Rossi having another go when Biaggi was wide into the final right before Biaggi shut the door in his face. Biaggi was clearly determined to hold onto third and possibly grab second, setting the fastest lap of the race on the next lap, the penultimate, as he closed back in on Checa.
But it was too late, with lapped riders not helping anyone, and so Sete Gibernau took the win ahead of Carlos Checa, with Max Biaggi just behind and Valentino Rossi a couple of seconds further back in fourth. Interestingly, the order the top four riders ended the race in was the order they had qualified, though the race was more exciting than that suggests.
Result of World Motorcycle Championship, Round 3 of 16, Le Mans Bugatti, France:
Standings: Sete Gibernau 66, Max Biaggi 56, Valentino Rossi 51, Alex Barros 38, Carlos Checa 36, Colin Edwards 29, Nicky Hayden 27, Loris Capirossi 20, Marco Melandri and Makoto Tamada 15 etc.
Earnhardt Jr's Richmond
Rookie Brian Vickers sat on the pole with Ryan Newman alongside, Vickers taking the lead at the start. But the race was under caution on lap 6 after Robby Gordon cut a tyre and subsequent debris from it remaining on the track. Back to green on lap 13, which saw Dale Earnhardt Jr on the move, taking second from Newman on lap 23 and the lead from Vickers on lap 30. Jimmie Johnson was also moving forward, third past Newman on lap 49 and moving into the lead on lap 58 after leader Earnhardt Jr got caught out in traffic.
However, neither of these performances compared with Kurt Busch's. After starting 23rd, Busch passed Newman for third on lap 87, grabbing second from Dale Earnhardt Jr just a few laps before Kasey Kahne spun Jeff Green to bring out the second caution on lap 102. In came the field for stops, Busch leading Johnson, Earnhardt Jr, Vickers and Newman out of the pits, though a tyre rolling out of Vickers's pits saw him put to the tail of the lead lap. Back to racing on lap 108, and as it did so Busch's night turned from dream into nightmare as he lost the drive belts on his engine, forcing him to go behind the wall for repairs just a few laps later, handing the lead to Johnson.
Some cars took this opportunity to pit but most of the leaders stayed out. Back to green on lap 158, Earnhardt Jr still leading but Newman was on the attack, nudging Earnhardt into turn three on lap 164 allowing Newman and Johnson to move through, with Stewart doing the same a lap later. But another caution wasn't far away, Kevin Harvick bringing it out on lap 170 after another flat tyre caused contact with the wall. The leaders pit, which changes the order at the front to others who did not stop, the top five now Jeremy Mayfield, Jamie McMurray, Jeff Burton, Mark Martin and Joe Nemechek as those who pitted restarted outside the top ten.
The race restarted on lap 176 but returned to caution on lap 194 when Jeff Burton spun into the infield on the frontstretch while battling Mayfield for the lead, a few cars pitting at this caution. The race restarted on lap 200, the halfway lap of the 400 lap event, but was back under caution again on lap 203 after Nemechek got loose under McMurray, spinning both of them, while Johnson spun to avoid them both. Now the top five was Michael Waltrip, Bobby Labonte, Tony Stewart, Vickers and Dale Earnhardt Jr, while Johnson, who had been running in the top five when he spun to avoid, restarted in 25th.
Just as all this got sorted out a caution came out on lap 344 when Scott Riggs's motor went up in a cloud of oily smoke. Most of the lead lap cars pitted, including Stewart, but Earnhardt Jr, Johnson and Jeff Gordon stayed out and led the race from Stewart and Labonte who were the first cars to exit from their stops. Back to green on lap 356, with Stewart quickly onto Gordon's tail. On lap 359 Stewart was inside Gordon into turn three but went in too deep, running Gordon up the track, dropping Gordon two places as well as allowing teammate Labonte to grab third from him into the next turn in a similar manner.
And that was pretty much how it stayed to the end, Labonte closing on Johnson but unable to get past as those with fresh tyres made little impression on those who stayed out. So the win was taken by Dale Earnhardt Jr ahead of Jimmie Johnson, followed by Gibbs teammates Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart with 2003 series champ Matt Kenseth passing Gordon in the later laps to take fifth.
Result of NASCAR Nextel Cup, Round 11 of 36, Richmond International Speedway, Virginia, United States:
Standings: Dale Earnhardt Jr 1643, Jimmie Johnson 1603, Jeff Gordon 1581, Matt Kenseth 1517, Tony Stewart 1449, Ryan Newman 1442, Bobby Labonte 1430, Kevin Harvick 1404, Kurt Busch 1391, Elliott Sadler 1377 etc.
Adrian Ekstrom
Mattias Ekstrom broke the Mercedes-Benz strangehold on the Deutsche Tourenwagen series, taking victory at the Italian circuit of Adria, bringing Abt Sportsline the first victory for the new Audi A4 touring car. The Swede won the start and led home a trio of AMG Mercedes C Class drivers in a result not quite as dominant as it looked on paper.
From pole Ekstrom leapt away to lead from a fast starting Albers and Tomczyk with Alesi dropping into fourth as Paffett was swamped at the jump. Others were already in trouble as Marcel Fassler was heading to the pits early, Heinz-Harald Frentzen spun and reigning champion Bernd Schneider continued an understated season as a cut tyre started smoking.
Ekstrom pitted when the pit window opened on lap 6 along with Tom Kristensen and Timo Scheider, while the recovering Paffett got together with Tomczyk arguing for position. New race leader Albers led Alesi into the pits two laps later. Biela pitted this lap too but shed a wheel exiting the pits after a sloppy pitstop. Paffett would wait another two laps before he relinquished the lead.
With the opening cycle complete Albers took up second again with Mercedes cohorts Alesi and Paffett close behind putting the Audi driver under pressure from a three-pronged three pointed star attack. Albers could make no impression and Mercedes called one of its attackers in early, Alesi pitting with the hope of gaining clear track on Ekstrom.
Ekstrom and Albers pitted on consecutive laps, but Albers's stop was slow and Ekstrom emerged from the pits ahead of the closing Alesi whose early stop had worked, to a point. Albers commenced a charge for the front, with Alesi allowing Albers easy passage at the Audi driver. Paffett too was lapping faster than Alesi and a battle for third ensued.
Emanuele Pirro brought a Joest Audi home inside the top ten ahead of Tom Kristensen's Sportsline Audi. The champ Schneider finished a point-less eleventh after staging a thrilling battle with Formula One refugee Heinz-Harald Frentzen, with Manuel Reuter's Vectra the only other car completing all 47 laps.
Ekstrom has tightened the points race to two points behind Albers, but the top two have already skipped nine points clear of Paffett with Tomcyzk and Kristensen next. Scheider leads the Opel contingent but is already 18 points behind Albers.
The teams have three weeks' break before returning home to Germany and the huge stands of the Lausitzring, and the imposing atmosphere of the huge Eurospeedway facility.
Result of Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, Round 3 of 10, Adria, Italy:
Standings: Christijan Albers 26, Mattias Ekstrom 24, Gary Paffett 15, Martin Tomczyk 11, Tom Kristensen 10, Jean Alesi and Timo Scheider 8, Bernd Schneider and Laurent Aiello 4, Peter Dumbreck 3 etc.
DTM To Beat Formula One Into China
Germany's DTM touring car series will debut in China ahead of Formula One with a one-off non-championship race in Shanghai in July.
Organisers said on Monday that the DTM, backed by manufacturers Opel, Mercedes and Audi, would race on a temporary street circuit layout.
Formula One is due to make its debut in China on September 26 at a brand new circuit being built in Shanghai.
China report provided by Reuters
A Rice Surprise
Joining Rice on the front row is the team many expect so much of at this year's Indy. Andretti Green Racing has three cars in the top five grid spots with Dan Wheldon, himself only in his second year of IRL competition, starting from the middle of the front row of the grid with Dario Franchitti in third, slowly regaining speed and reputation of the debacle of the Scotsman's 2003 season. AGR's series points leader Tony Kanaan is fifth on the grid and will start alongside his long time friend, countryman and Newman-Haas OWRS ring-in Bruno Junqueira. Alongside the Brazilian, starting only his third IRL race is Mexico's hero Adrian Fernandez.
Honda dominated qualifying, taking the top seven positions and eight of the top tenwith Rice's Brazilian teammate Vitor Meira in seventh alongside the first of the Toyotas, Team Penske's dual Indy 500 champion Helio Castroneves. Fernandez's teammate Kosuke Matsuura completes the third row of the grid.
Starting the fourth row is the first Chevrolet, the mercurial South African Tomas Scheckter with the man he replaced at Panther Racing, Sam Hornish Jr alongside in the second Penske with Team Rahal's third car Roger Yasukawa completing the fourth row. Reigning IRL series champion Scott Dixon was a disappointing 13th fastest, two slots ahead of his Ganassi Racing teammate Darren Manning. Between them sits the highest placed of the four rookies to make the field thus far, Panther Racing's Mark Taylor.
There are now seven grid spots available for Bump Day this weekend, but unless nine drivers attempt to qualify, then the Foyts are in the field. Nine cars have yet to be made available and with two teams leaving IRL in recent months, Hemelgarn to OWRS and PDM who have folded, the prospect of the first undersubscribed field since 1947 is very real.
Starting grid after Indianapolis 500 qualifying days 1 and 2:
Laconi Times Two
Two races saw two comfortable wins for Regis Laconi at Monza. Neither race saw him under any sort of pressure, maximum points for Laconi moving him to the head of the table with his teammate James Toseland three points behind after benefiting from Chris Vermeulen's disqualification from race two. A disastrous pair of races for Pierfrancesco Chili saw him move from leading the series by 20 points to 23 points behind the leader.
Race one's action began before the start when Pierfrancesco Chili lost an engine at the start of the formation lap. He hopped onto his spare and started from the pits but he didn't last long, losing another engine at the same spot only four laps into the race.
Laconi started from pole but Chris Vermeulen took the early lead before Laconi took it back a lap and a half in. From that point on Laconi edged away while Vermeulen battled with Haga and then Toseland for second, before Toseland took the place on lap 10. Vermeulen then battled with Garry McCoy before McCoy took third on lap 14 and that was how it stayed to the end, Regis Laconi well clear of James Toseland, Garry McCoy close behind while Chris Vermeulen cruised the closing laps to take fourth.
Race two was similar to race one, Laconi taking the lead halfway through lap one and checking out on the rest of the field. Chili had no engine problems but having passed Toseland and moved into third place, Chili lowsided at Parabolica on lap six and crashed out. Chris Vermeulen was more competitive than race one, running in a clear second while McCoy and Toseland spent the second half of the race having a ding-dong battle for third. It was finally decided on the final lap at the first chicane when McCoy nearly highsided having just avoided Toseland's rear wheel following a late braking duel. And so Laconi won ahead of Vermeulen, with Toseland heading McCoy for third. Later Chris Vermeulen was excluded from second place after the engine cut-out switch, which kills the engine in the event of a fall, failed to work when it was tested after the race.
Result of World Superbike Championship, Round 4 of 11, Monza, Italy:
Standings: Regis Laconi 120, James Toseland 117, Pierfrancesco Chili 97, Garry McCoy 87, Chris Vermeulen 83, Noriyuki Haga and Chris Walker 69, Marco Borciani 68, Troy Corser 66, Leon Haslam 64 etc.
WRC
Normally when developing an all-new car in the WRC, the expectations would have them learning the car in the first year and going for the championship in the second. Not Peugeot. Expectations of the new 307 have been high from the outset, but the results had yet to meet that expectation. That changed at Cyprus where Marcus Gronholm broke through for the Peugeot 307's maiden WRC victory on the Mediterreanean island. But a disqualification cloud hangs over the result. A water pump has been taken from the dual World Champion's Peugeot for inspection. Similarly his team mate Harri Rovanpera and both Citroens of Sebastien Loeb and Carlos Sainz are facing being disqualified, which would remove four of the top five finishers, decimating the results.
Into day 2 and the gearbox gremlins reached out to touch Rovanpera and he lost time as second gear proved recalcitrant. The repair took longer than expected in service and a 30 second penalty added salt to the wound. A stage later and Mitsubishi's conservative plan was in tatters. Kristian Sohlberg, already struggling some 20 minutes from the lead, stopped with engine failure, but before any learnt lessons could implemented an identical failure struck Gilles Panizzi on the transport stage. The turbo anti-lag system was blamed. Gronholm led by 22 seconds on Saturday night, by now means a comfortable lead with Loeb sitting second with Martin another ten seconds away.
Petter Solberg never recovered the time he lost early on and led his teammate Mikko Hirvonen home in sixth and seventh with the final point going to the factory supported Supset M-Sport 02 Focus of Janne Tuohino. Only two other WRC cars survived the rally in Alistair Ginley's Subaru and Miguel Campos's Peugeot before the Group N cars started to flood the result, led by local hero Andreas Tsouloftas in his Lancer Evo VI.
Pos Driver/Co-driver Car
1. Marcus Gronholm/Timo Rautiainen Peugeot 307 WRC
2. Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena Citroen Xsara WRC
3. Markko Martin/Michael Park Ford Focus RS WRC 04
4. Carlos Sainz/Marc Marti Citroen Xsara WRC
5. Harri Rovanpera/Risto Pietilainen Peugeot 307 WRC
6. Petter Solberg/Phillip Mills Subaru Impreza WRC 2004
7. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen Subaru Impreza WRC 2004
8. Janne Tuohino/Jukka Aho Ford Focus RS WRC 02
9. Alistair Ginley/Rory Kennedy Subaru Impreza WRC 99
10. Miguel Campos/Nuno Rodrigues da Silva Peugeot 206 WRC
The change was mooted at the last meeting of the FIA's World Rally Championship commission as part of a review of the calendar to boost audiences and make the championship more compact.
MotoGP
Sete Gibernau continued his form from Jerez in much sunnier weather when he repeated his 2003 win at Le Mans on the weekend. And for the second race in a row the fastest rider on a Yamaha was not Valentino Rossi, Carlos Checa scoring his first podium since Portugal 2002, holding off Max Biaggi in the closing laps with Rossi a close fourth. Gibernau now has a ten point lead over Biaggi, with Rossi five points further back in the battle for the title, these three riders already beginning to clear away from the rest of the field.
Rossi tried to hang on to Biaggi, but while doing so, Rossi nearly ran off the circuit at the final esses on lap sixteen of 28. With ten laps remaining Biaggi caught Checa, but couldn't find a way past. On lap 21 Biaggi ran wide into the first chicane, rejoining without losing much or any ground. Lap 23 saw Rossi cut the second part of the esses just before the final esses, clearly gaining ground, with Biaggi then running wide into the next corner bringing Rossi from around a second behind to right on his tail.
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Sete Gibernau Honda RC211V
2. Carlos Checa Yamaha M1
3. Max Biaggi Honda RC211V
4. Valentino Rossi Yamaha M1
5. Colin Edwards Honda RC211V
6. Marco Melandri Yamaha M1
7. Alex Barros Honda RC211V
8. Troy Bayliss Ducati Desmosedici
9. Makoto Tamada Honda RC211V
10. Loris Capirossi Ducati Desmosedici
NASCAR
It was a race which Dale Earnhardt Jr looked like winning for most of the night. Which is not to say that other drivers weren't well placed to win it too, with Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson also possible winners. Misfortune for both drivers dented their chances and so Earnhardt Jr took a dominant win to reassert his place on top of the points ahead of Hendrick drivers Johnson and Jeff Gordon. Already, 11 races into the 26 race 'pre-season', only 14 cars are within the top ten/400 point cutoff.
Jimmy Spencer brought out the next caution on lap 122 when he hit the turn two wall. The race restarted on lap 130 with Johnson and Earnhardt Jr battling side by side for the lead before Earnhardt Jr finally grabbed the lead on lap 133, Newman taking second from Johnson a lap later. Another caution came out on lap 138 after Robby Gordon hit the turn three wall following contact which led to another flat tyre. The race restarted on lap 144 but was back under caution on lap 152 when Brendan Gaughan hit the wall after contact from Terry Labonte.
The race went back to green on lap 212, Waltrip quickly coming under pressure from Stewart but it took until lap 252 for Stewart to take the lead from him, Waltrip then fading down the top five, while Jimmie Johnson was up to twelfth as green flag stops began on lap 278. Because of the differing times for the previous stops and the fact that there was green flag running, these stops continued until lap 325, when the order finally settled as Stewart, Earnhardt Jr, Labonte, Waltrip and Matt Kenseth, Johnson now up to seventh.
Pos Driver Car
1. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet Monte Carlo
2. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Monte Carlo
3. Bobby Labonte Chevrolet Monte Carlo
4. Tony Stewart Chevrolet Monte Carlo
5. Matt Kenseth Ford Taurus
6. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Monte Carlo
7. Mark Martin Ford Taurus
8. Brian Vickers Chevrolet Monte Carlo
9. Ryan Newman Dodge Intrepid
10. Michael Waltrip Chevrolet Monte Carlo
DTM
Ekstrom was the form of the class the moment DTM arrived in in Italy. Fastest in qualifying, the Red Bull Audi driver was assured the final spot in superpole. Frank Biela showed Team Joest is starting to get a hang on the new class, kicking off the superpole, but Martin Tomcyzk was immediately quicker with a 1:11.499 time that stood until well into the session. Gary Paffett, seventh car to take a run, finally eclipsed the time by a mere five thousandths while Christijan Albers shaved another tenth away. Jean Alesi made one final claim for Mercedes, taking a hundredth from Albers, but Ekstrom was ready and with a 1:11.342 sealed pole position.
Upfront Ekstrom held a comfortable three second lead over Albers at the chequer, while Alesi pulled clear of Paffett near the end. A lonely fifth place was the first of the Opels, Holzer's Timo Scheider, with Phoenix Opel equipped rival Laurent Aiello four seconds further back. Recent Formula 3 graduate Stefan Mucke brought one of the older Mercedes CLK-DTMs home in seventh place, collecting two points and Tomczyks promising weekend netted just a single point.
Pos Driver Car
1. Mattias Ekstrom Abt Sportsline Audi A4 DTM
2. Christijan Albers Vodafone AMG Mercedes-Benz C Class
3. Jean Alesi AMG Mercedes-Benz C Class
4. Gary Paffett AMG Mercedes-Benz C Class
5. Timo Scheider Team Holzer Opel Vectra GTS V8
6. Laurent Aiello Team Phoenix Opel Vectra GTS V8
7. Stefan Mucke Original AMG Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM
8. Martin Tomczyk Abt Sportsline Audi A4 DTM
9. Emanuele Pirro Team Joest Audi A4 DTM
10. Tom Kristensen Abt Sportsline Audi A4 DTM
IRL
The 88th running of the Indianapolis 500 is fast approaching, and the first major step towards the May classic has been completed, pole day revealing a major surprise. While it seemed likely a Honda powered-team would be celebrating the first day of qualifications, few would have picked it would be Team Rahal and fewer still might have nominated second-year racer Buddy Rice to take the pole, but as Rice completed his four lap run the speed flashed up on the monitors, 222.024 miles per hour. It gives the team owned by veteran open-wheeler star Bobby Rahal and late night television host David Letterman cause to crack some early champagne, and has given the spectators an American on the pole for the first time since Scott Sharp in 2001.
Only two former winners have qualified for the race at this time, with Al Unser Jr the other former winner sitting in seventeenth in his Patrick Racing Dallara-Chevrolet, just ahead of returning NASCAR racer Robby Gordon with his own team. Sarah Fisher outqualified her Kelley Racing teammate Scott Sharp to be nineteenth, while AJ Foyt's grandson AJ IV and AJ Foyt's NASCAR racing son Larry sit precariously on the bubble, should sufficient cars attempt to qualify and push the famous Foyt name out of the race. The second day of qualifying saw veterans Bryan Herta and Alex Barron add their names to the list in 23rd and 24th, with Felipe Giaffone and Tora Takagi currently completing the field. Herta's average speed would have been good enough to displace Dixon from thirteenth if recorded a day earlier.
Pos Driver Team
1. Buddy Rice Team Rahal GForce-Honda
2. Dan Wheldon Andretti Green Racing Dallara-Honda
3. Dario Franchitti Andretti Green Racing Dallara-Honda
4. Bruno Junqueira Newman Haas Racing GForce-Honda
5. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green Racing Dallara-Honda
6. Adrian Fernandez Fernandez Racing GForce-Honda
7. Vitor Meira Team Rahal GForce-Honda
8. Helio Castroneves Team Penske Dallara-Toyota
9. Kosuke Matsuura Fernandez Racing GForce-Honda
10. Tomas Scheckter Panther Racing Dallara-Chevrolet
11. Sam Hornish Jr Team Penske Dallara-Toyota
12. Roger Yasukawa Team Rahal GForce-Honda
13. Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing GForce-Toyota
14. Mark Taylor Panther Racing Dallara-Chevrolet
15. Darren Manning Chip Ganassi Racing GForce-Toyota
16. Ed Carpenter Cheever Racing Dallara-Chevrolet
17. Al Unser Jr Patrick Racing Dallara-Chevrolet
18. Robby Gordon Robby Gordon Motorsports Dallara-Chevrolet
19. Sarah Fisher Kelley Racing Dallara-Toyota
20. Scott Sharp Kelley Racing Dallara-Toyota
21. A.J. Foyt IV A.J. Foyt Enterprises Dallara-Toyota
22. Larry Foyt A.J. Foyt Enterprises Dallara-Toyota
23. Bryan Herta Andretti Green Racing Dallara-Honda
24. Alex Barron Cheever Racing Dallara-Chevrolet
25. Felipe Giaffone Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Dallara-Chevrolet
26. Tora Takagi Pioneer Mo Nunn Racing Dallara-Toyota
Superbikes
Race One
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Regis Laconi Ducati 999F04
2. James Toseland Ducati 999F04
3. Garry McCoy Ducati 999RS
4. Chris Vermeulen Honda CBR 1000RR
5. Leon Haslam Ducati 999RS
6. Sergio Fuertes Suzuki GSX 1000R
7. Marco Borciani Ducati 999RS
8. Chris Walker Foggy Petronas FP1
9. Troy Corser Foggy Petronas FP1
10. Piergiorgio Bontempi Suzuki GSX 1000R
Race Two
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Regis Laconi Ducati 999F04
2. James Toseland Ducati 999F04
3. Garry McCoy Ducati 999RS
4. Leon Haslam Ducati 999RS
5. Troy Corser Foggy Petronas FP1
6. Marco Borciani Ducati 999RS
7. Chris Walker Foggy Petronas FP1
8. Steve Martin Ducati 999RS
9. Mauro Sanchini Kawasaki ZX10
10. Ivan Clementi Kawasaki ZX10
Briefs
Three different winners at the most recent round of the British Touring Car Championship, with independent Honda driver Matthew Neal taking the first win from Vauxhall's Yvan Muller and SEAT's Jason Plato. Muller was second again in the second heat from teammate James Thompspon with MG racer Anthony Reid pushing Muller all the way to the chequer. The final race of the day saw Honda's Tom Chilton break the record for youngest ever BTCC race winner taking a five second win over SEAT pair Plato and Robert Huff. Thompson has pulled four points clear of Muller with Reid best of the rest 22 points adrift.
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 20
Atlas F1 Exclusive
Interview with Tony Purnell
Articles
Every Other Sunday
The Paint Job - Final Part
2004 Monaco GP Preview
2004 Monaco GP Preview
Monaco GP Facts & Stats
The F1 Trivia Quiz
Columns
Rear View Mirror
Bookworm Critique
On the Road
Elsewhere in Racing
The Weekly Grapevine
> Homepage |
