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  Rally

Peugeot/Citroen Pull-Out A Double Blow

By Alan Baldwin

French stablemates Peugeot and Citroen dealt rallying a double blow on Thursday with the shock announcement that they were pulling out of the World Championship at the end of 2005.

The decision came just two days after Ford had given a commitment for the next four years, ending fears that they too could quit after pulling the plug on their Formula One operations. Peugeot and Citroen, both part of the PSA Group, have won the last five manufacturers' titles as well as three drivers' championships.

But a PSA statement said they were reviewing new opportunities in motor sports due to tougher conditions in the car market.

"PSA Peugeot Citroen has decided that the marques will no longer take part in the WRC beyond that date (2005)," the statement added.

While Peugeot's continued involvement was in doubt after two difficult years, Citroen had been expected to stay after investing heavily in a new car for 2005. Without the French teams, the manufacturer-dominated championship runs the risk of looking threadbare even if next year promises a healthy line-up.

So far only Ford is publicly committed to staying beyond 2005, although former world champions Subaru can be expected to join them. Mitsubishi will make a full-time return next year, after skipping several rounds this season, while Skoda said in September they would be staying after scaling back operations in 2004. But neither have committed beyond 2005.

Citroen have won both crowns this year, with France's Sebastien Loeb taking the country's first drivers' title in a decade after narrowly missing out in 2003.

Thursday's statement, coming before a meeting of team bosses and the International Automobile Federation (FIA) in Paris on Friday to discuss cost-saving measures, will send a tremor through the driver market. Both Loeb and Finland's Marcus Gronholm, twice a World Champion with Peugeot, will be looking for new seats from 2006.

A decision on the new technical regulations, to come into force from 2006, will be made next month. FIA president Max Mosley put forward a proposal in September that he said would cut costs and could encourage new manufacturers to enter the sport. They included the use of common parts and a limit on sophisticated and expensive components and development.

Peugeot, champions three years in a row before Citroen beat them in 2003, have won just once this year and clashed with the FIA in June when they were disqualified from the Cyprus Rally for using an illegal engine part. Team boss Corrado Provera told reporters later that he considered the punishment excessive and "the shame cast upon Peugeot is unacceptable".

Injured Sainz Forced To Retire Early

Twice World Rally Champion Carlos Sainz retired five days earlier than planned on Wednesday when injury forced him to pull out of the Rally of Australia. The 42-year-old Spaniard was injured when he crashed into a tree during preparations for the season-ending rally near Perth in Western Australia on Tuesday.

The Citroen driver was taken to hospital with neck pain and said he still hoped to take part in his 195th rally, after which he planned to retire. But in a statement on Wednesday Citroen said Sainz had agreed with team boss Guy Frequelin that "the safest option was to withdraw from the Rally Australia".

"The doctors strongly advised me not to drive considering another impact of the same kind could lead to serious consequences," Sainz was quoted as saying in the statement. His co-driver Marc Marti was uninjured, the statement added.

Sainz, World Champion in 1990 and 1992, made his world championship debut in 1987 and his victory in Argentina in July this year was the 26th of his career, the most of any driver in championship history.

The most respected driver in the sport, Sainz was a model of consistency to the end and finished third in his home event, the Rally of Catalunya, on October 31.

"You can never foresee anything," he was quoted saying in Spanish sports daily Marca on Wednesday. "I did not know that Catalunya was going to be my last rally, but I don't have anything to regret, because the party on Sunday night was fantastic."

Reports provided by Reuters

  OWRS

France Hopes Two Sebastiens Can Inspire Others

France hopes the success of Sebastien Loeb and Sebastien Bourdais in rallying and Champ Cars can lead to a resurgence for the country's motorsport fortunes.

"It has been a great year for French motorsport," Jacques Regis, president of the French Motor Sport Federation (FFSA), said in a statement on Tuesday.

"We hope that the success of these two young men will help to inspire a new generation of French champions and encourage French companies to be more active in their support and help us to build more success for France in the longer term."

Bourdais won the Champ Car title in Mexico on Sunday, becoming the first Frenchman to win the national championship since Gaston Chevrolet in 1920. The 25-year-old from Le Mans, who has set his sights on entering Formula One in the future, won the Formula 3000 crown in 2002.

France has not had a Formula One World Champion since Alain Prost won his fourth and final title in 1993 and looks likely to have no driver in the championship next year after Olivier Panis retired in October.

Loeb has won the World Rally Championship for French carmaker Citroen, who last week announced they were pulling out of the series at the end of next year. He was the country's first rally champion in 10 years.

Report provided by Reuters

  MotoGP

Biaggi Breaks Leg In Training Accident

Italian MotoGP rider Max Biaggi has broken his leg in training and will be out of action for at least two months, ANSA news agency reported on Monday.

The agency said the Honda rider, third in the championship this year, had suffered multiple fractures of his left leg after falling off a Supermotard bike at the Latina circuit south of Rome.

Biaggi saw the MotoGP doctor Claudio Costa in Forli on Monday and was referred to a specialist clinic in Lyon, France, for an operation.

The MotoGP season finished in Spain last month, with Italian Valentino Rossi winning the title for Yamaha. The 2005 championship starts on April 10.

Report provided by Reuters

  NASCAR

Earnhardt Edges Closer

Two races to go, and the battle for the title has closed up even further. A win for Dale Earnhardt Jr has pushed him closer to Kurt Busch, while good runs for Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson have allowed them to close in as well. However, a crash for Elliott Sadler and a blown engine (two in two weeks) for Matt Kenseth have ruled them out completely in the chase for the championship along with Jeremy Mayfield. With just two races remaining, Busch leads Gordon by 41 points, Dale Earnhardt Jr six points behind Gordon and Johnson just one behind Junior. Four drivers separated by 48 points! Even Mark Martin, 102 points behind Busch, Tony Stewart 142 behind Busch and Ryan Newman 150 behind Busch aren't without hope.

Ryan Newman and Brian Vickers sat on the front row, with Newman taking the lead at the start. Newman continued to lead past lap 50 but on lap 60 Dale Earnhardt Jr took over at the front. A caution wasn't far away, coming out on lap 77 as Hermie Sadler stopped on track. The field pitted, Earnhardt Jr leading Newman, Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart as the race resumed on lap 81. The next caution came out on lap 106 for debris after Matt Kenseth lost his left rear tyre while running fifth.

The field pitted again, with some drivers gambling on strategy as they took two tyres. Among those to do so were Elliott Sadler, Jeff Gordon, Brian Vickers and Robby Gordon, who filled first, second, third and fifth places, with Newman in fourth the best placed of those who took four. During this caution rain caused the race to be red flagged for around half an hour. Eventually the race got back under away, restarting on lap 115. For the second week in a row, Ryan Newman made an unscheduled pit stop under green on lap 116, dropping from the top five to a lap down. A caution followed soon after on lap 120 after John Andretti kissed the wall.

Back to green on lap 124, Sadler leading but not for long, Jeff Gordon taking over the lead a lap later. Lap 129 saw another caution as several cars spun in turn four, including Jamie McMurray, Ryan Newman, Mark Martin, Joe Nemechek and Kevin Harvick among others, with some cars suffering minor damage. Racing resumes on lap 133, Gordon leading as teammate Jimmie Johnson makes an unscheduled stop on lap 134, dropping off the lead lap. The next caution wasn't far away, coming out on lap 144 after Scott Riggs spun in turn four.

Several cars pitted at this time, including leader Gordon. This saw Earnhardt Jr move back to first ahead of Kahne, Greg Biffle, Stewart and Kenseth, back in the top five after his earlier tyre drama. Back to racing on lap 150 but it was back to caution on lap 155 after Elliott Sadler hit the wall coming off turn four, then blew a right front tyre and hit the wall hard in turn one, effectively ending his day. During the short green period Newman raced his way back on to the lead lap.

Racing resumed once more on lap 160 of 312, Earnhardt Jr continuing to show the way from Kahne and Biffle. This time the race stayed green for more than a handful of laps, with drivers making green flag stops around lap 200 or lap 220 depending on when they had last pitted. Jeff Gordon was pitting just as the next caution came out on lap 226 when teammate Terry Labonte spun. For those that had pitted around lap 200 it was good news, as it allowed them to make the extra pit stop they needed under caution instead of green, and so most of the field pitted. Johnson was now back on the lead lap, Busch was holding on right at the end of it and Matt Kenseth was the 'lucky dog'.

The race restarted on lap 232, Jeff Gordon leading Robby Gordon, with Kevin Harvick, Casey Mears and Rusty Wallace in a shaken-up top five. it was back to caution on lap 240 when Johnny Sauter spins off turn two. Back to green once more on lap 245, the top five unchanged as Dale Earnhardt Jr moves back towards the front, as with 50 laps remaining he is back in the top five. About ten laps later second place runner Robby Gordon reports engine problems as he begins to drop down the order, Harvick and Mears moving into second and third, Kenseth also reporting engine problems with his car.

Lap 279 saw Mears pass Harvick for second, while one lap later Earnhardt Jr demoted Harvick to fourth. Lap 283 saw the caution back out as Kenseth lost his second engine in two weeks, his very slim title hopes now gone. Several cars pitted, but most of the top ten stayed on track. One of those further back to stay out was Kurt Busch, who gained six places by doing so, moving up to eighth. It was back to green on lap 294, Jeff Gordon leading Mears, Earnhardt Jr, Harvick and Robby Gordon.

Lap 298 saw Earnhardt Jr take second place from Mears just before Jamie McMurray spun and brought out another caution on lap 299. Back to green on lap 303, Jeff Gordon's run at the front coming to an end a lap later as Earnhardt Jr demotes him to second place. Lap 305 and Newman moved into the top five, taking fourth from Harvick a lap later. Lap 308 saw another caution when almost simultaneously Mears blew a left rear tyre and spun hard into the turn one wall while Robby Gordon's sick engine finally blew up. The race was red flagged at this point so they could clean the oil and other debris from the track without completing lap after lap behind the pace car.

Eventually the red flag was lifted, with a green-white-chequer finish to come. Things weren't being helped though by light rain falling once again. The race restarted on lap 314, two laps past the scheduled finish, Earnhardt Jr leading Gordon, Newman, Harvick and Kahne. Gordon and Newman battled side by side for about a lap with Newman taking second on the final turn of the final lap but Earnhardt Jr was the winner, with Harvick and Kahne battling closely for fourth and fifth to the line.

Result of NASCAR Nextel Cup, Round 34 of 36, Phoenix International Raceway, Arizona, United States:

Pos  Driver              Car
 1.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Chevrolet Monte Carlo
 2.  Ryan Newman         Dodge Intrepid
 3.  Jeff Gordon         Chevrolet Monte Carlo
 4.  Kevin Harvick       Chevrolet Monte Carlo
 5.  Kasey Kahne         Dodge Intrepid
 6.  Jimmie Johnson      Chevrolet Monte Carlo
 7.  Rusty Wallace       Dodge Intrepid
 8.  Tony Stewart        Chevrolet Monte Carlo
 9.  Bobby Labonte       Chevrolet Monte Carlo
10.  Kurt Busch          Ford Taurus

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