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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.
Solberg Comfortably Wins His First Swedish Rally
Norway's Petter Solberg comfortably won his first Swedish Rally on Sunday after the withdrawal of closest challenger Marcus Gronholm on the day's second stage.
Gronholm ruined a tyre by hitting a stone on the Rammen 1 stage and got stuck in a curve, blocking the way for drivers behind him.
Peugeot's Estonian driver Markko Martin finished second, more than two minutes behind. Finland's Toni Gardemeister in a Ford finished third, 3:14.7 behind Solberg.
It was the 11th career win but the first on the snow-covered stages in Karlstad for Subaru's Solberg, the 2003 World Champion, who drove more conservatively during the final day.
He clinched the day's opening Lesjofors 1 stage but then opted for safety when Gronholm retired, and the highest he placed in the remaining stages of the day was fifth.
"It's incredible," said Solberg, who was engulfed by an enthusiastic Scandinavian crowd at the finish. "It has been a dream for me to win this event for years, and the support of the fans from Sweden and Norway this weekend has been great.
"Also, I can't tell you how much work the team have put in before this rally after the disappointment of Monte Carlo," he added, referring to his withdrawal from last month's rally after he hit a wall after the ill-famed Turini mountain pass.
Citroen's reigning World Champion Sebastien Loeb of France was in third going into the final leg before engine problems he sustained on the final two stages on Saturday forced him out after Lesjofors 2, the day's fourth stage.
Result of World Rally Championship, Round 2 of 16, Swedish Rally, Sweden:
Drivers' Standings: Toni Gardemeister 14, Markko Martin 13, Sebastien Loeb and Petter Solberg 10, Harri Rovanpera 7, Gilles Panizzi 6, Marcus Gronholm and Henning Solberg 4, Manfred Stohl and Daniel Carlsson 3 etc.
Manufacturers' Standings:Ford 20, Peugeot and Mitsubishi 17, Citroen 11, Subaru 10, Skoda 3
Report provided by Reuters
500 Not Far Away
With all this out the way, the drivers ran qualifying for the Daytona 500 earlier this week, with Dale Jarrett clinching pole ahead of Jimmie Johnson, a Ford and a Chevrolet on the front row following on from Johnson's Bud Shootout victory which saw Greg Biffle run strongly in the lead until Johnson took the lead at the compulsory pit stop. Later this week are the twin 150 mile qualifying races, which will set the rest of the field for the Daytona 500.
These two qualifying races are unique to the Daytona 500, and how cars are allocated to each race has changed for 2005. Race one will comprise of the pole sitter on the pole, then the odd positions (1st, 3rd, 5th, etc.) of the highest-ranked 35 finishers in the final 2004 Nextel Cup car owner points standings. Race two will see the outside pole ie. second fastest qualifier on the pole, then the even positions (2nd, 4th, 6th, etc.) of the highest-ranked 35 finishers in the final 2004 Nextel Cup car owner points standings.
Cars that were not among the top 35 in the final 2004 car owner points will be alternated between the first and second races using an odd-even format. The odd number positions will be assigned to the first race while the even number positions will be assigned to the second race. However, it is not as simple as it sounds. Odd-even does not mean the qualifying position overall, it is the qualifying order amongst those cars not part of the top 35 in 2004 points. So a car that qualifies in twelfth, but has seven cars ahead of it that finished in the top 35 in 2004 owner points, ranks fifth which is an odd position and would start in race one!
Finally after all this, the starting order for the Daytona 500 will comprise the two front-row qualifiers, top 35 in owner points and the two highest finishers not among the top 35 in owner points placed in their finishing order in the Duel races. Then the remaining places will be filled by the next fastest qualifiers as the 43rd and final place, which is reserved for past Champions not already qualified, doesn't have any past Champions eligible to fill it as the only past Champions to qualify are already guaranteed a place by being in the top 35 in owner points. At least the result of the Daytona 500 is determined in the the same way as usual...
Qualifying results:
Rally
The Finnish two-times World Champion led the rally on Friday and duelled with Solberg during Saturday's stages, trailing 12.6 seconds behind the Norwegian going into the final leg.
Pos Driver/Co-driver Car
1. Petter Solberg/Phil Mills Subaru Impreza WRC 2004
2. Markko Martin/Michael Park Peugeot 307 WRC
3. Toni Gardemeister/Jakke Honkanen Ford Focus RS WRC 04
4. Harri Rovanpera/Risto Pietilainen Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05
5. Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud Ford Focus RS WRC 04
6. Daniel Carlsson/Mattias Andersson Peugeot 307 WRC
7. Gianluigi Galli/Guido D'Amore Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05
8. Roman Kresta/Jan Tomanek Ford Focus RS WRC 04
9. Jani Paasonen/Jani Vainikka Skoda Fabia WRC
10. Mattias Ekstrom/Stefan Bergman Skoda Fabia WRC
NASCAR
It's February, and that means it's time for another Daytona 500. The jewel in the crown of the NASCAR season, it is the first points scoring event of the year for the Nextel Cup series. For 2005 most of the drivers have stayed where they were in 2004. However for Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace 2005 will be their last year as full-time drivers, while Terry Labonte's full-time drive at Hendrick has been taken by 2004 Busch series runner-up, Kyle Busch, younger brother of 2004 Nextel Cup champ Kurt, Labonte taking up selected drives for the team during the year. Dodge has changed from Intrepid to Charger, while NASCAR has made its almost traditional aerodynamic changes to the cars.
However, the starting order in each race is still fastest to slowest, so a driver who finished outside the top 35 in points can still start at the pointy end of the field.
Pos Driver Car
1. Dale Jarrett Ford Taurus
2. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Monte Carlo
3. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Monte Carlo
4. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Monte Carlo
5. Joe Nemechek Chevrolet Monte Carlo
6. Scott Riggs Chevrolet Monte Carlo
7. Jason Leffler Chevrolet Monte Carlo
8. Kurt Busch Ford Taurus
9. Ricky Rudd Ford Taurus
10. Elliott Sadler Ford Taurus
11. Boris Said Chevrolet Monte Carlo
12. Kyle Petty Dodge Charger
13. Mike Skinner Dodge Charger
14. Greg Biffle Ford Taurus
15. Kasey Kahne Dodge Charger
16. Kyle Busch Chevrolet Monte Carlo
17. Jamie McMurray Dodge Charger
18. John Andretti Ford Taurus
19. Jeff Burton Chevrolet Monte Carlo
20. Mike Bliss Chevrolet Monte Carlo
21. Rusty Wallace Dodge Charger
22. Jeremy Mayfield Dodge Charger
23. Mark Martin Ford Taurus
24. Bobby Labonte Chevrolet Monte Carlo
25. Carl Edwards Ford Taurus
26. Mike Wallace Chevrolet Monte Carlo
27. Scott Wimmer Dodge Charger
28. Tony Stewart Chevrolet Monte Carlo
29. Ryan Newman Dodge Charger
30. Dave Blaney Chevrolet Monte Carlo
31. Martin Truex Jr Chevrolet Monte Carlo
32. Kerry Earnhardt Chevrolet Monte Carlo
33. Michael Waltrip Chevrolet Monte Carlo
34. Sterling Marlin Dodge Charger
35. Casey Mears Dodge Charger
36. Brian Vickers Chevrolet Monte Carlo
37. Ken Schrader Dodge Charger
38. Robby Gordon Chevrolet Monte Carlo
39. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet Monte Carlo
40. Kenny Wallace Chevrolet Monte Carlo
41. Kirk Shelmerdine Ford Taurus
42. Johnny Sauter Dodge Charger
43. Kevin Lepage Dodge Charger
44. Hermie Sadler Ford Taurus
45. Eric McClure Chevrolet Monte Carlo
46. Matt Kenseth Ford Taurus
47. Travis Kvapil Dodge Charger
48. Stanton Barrett Chevrolet Monte Carlo
49. Greg Sacks Dodge Charger
50. Bobby Hamilton Jr Chevrolet Monte Carlo
51. Morgan Shepherd Dodge Charger
52. Derrike Cope Chevrolet Monte Carlo
53. Randy LaJoie Chevrolet Monte Carlo
54. Larry Gunselman Ford Taurus
55. Geoffrey Bodine Chevrolet Monte Carlo
56. Andy Belmont Ford Taurus
57. Jeff Green Dodge Charger
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Volume 11, Issue 7
Articles
Interview with Narain Karthikeyan
Formula One's Tobacco Addiction
Technical Analysis: Jordan EJ15
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