Standings: Rodrigo Sperafico 10, Mario Haberfeld 6, Ricardo Mauricio 4, Antonio Pizzonia 3, Bjorn Wirdheim 2, Enrico Toccacelo 1

  Formula 3

Kerr & Jouanny Share Brands Spoils

Young British driver Robbie Kerr leads the world's hottest junior open wheeler series after his first meeting in open Formula 3s. Kerr took the win in the first race, outdragging the highly credentialled Jaguar test driver James Courtney to the first corner and was never headed. In the second race, third place was enough to secure the championship lead for the Alan Docking Racing driver.

Both races were all about the start as dual polesitter James Courtney (Carlin Motorsport) was slow away both times, being jumped by Kerr in the first race, and swamped by Kerr and Promatecme's Bruce Jouanny. With two second places Courtney sits second in the points. In race one Kerr gradually gapped Courtney and the pursuing field. In race two Courtney regained second from Kerr into turn 1 then engaged in a fierce duel for the entire race as Kerr tried to pass the Australian. Jouanny went on to win race two unchallenged while Kerr failed to make an attempt at passing Courtney stick.

In both races Ernani Judice, Mark Taylor and Rob Austin followed the leaders home in that order. Mugen Honda powered cars dominated, taking the quadrella in both races.

The F3s travel to Donington in three weeks.

Result of British Formula 3 Championship, Round 1, Brands Hatch:

Race One

Pos  Driver             Car
 1.  Robbie Kerr        Dallara-Mugen Honda
 2.  James Courtney     Dallara-Mugen Honda
 3.  Ernani Judice      Dallara-Mugen Honda
 4.  Mark Taylor        Dallara-Mugen Honda
 5.  Rob Austin         Dallara-Spiess Opel

Race Two

Pos  Driver              Car
 1.  Bruce Jouanny       Dallara-Mugen Honda
 2.  James Courtney      Dallara-Mugen Honda
 3.  Robbie Kerr         Dallara-Mugen Honda
 4.  Ernani Judice       Dallara-Mugen Honda
 5.  Mark Taylor         Dallara-Mugen Honda

Standings: Robbie Kerr and James Courtney 32, Bruce Jouanny 26, Ernani Judice 22, Mark Taylor 18, Rob Austin 14 etc

  Touring Cars

Vauxhall Commands Brands

The British Touring Car Championship got under way with a bang and a return to some of the drama which used to characterise this series during the 90s. Cream rose to the surface though, and the two factory backed Vauxhalls of James Thompson and Yvan Muller took a 1-2 finish in the feature race.

The sprint race juggled the starting order effectively, as an errant kerb at Dingle Dell caused several cars to puncture, but a multi-car collision early in the feature race bunched the field up, with Tim Harvey (Peugeot 406) and the Astras of Paul O'Neill and Tom Chilton involved, with the General's two warriors sidelined.

Muller led a fierce dice for second involving Harvey, Dan Eaves (Peugeot 406) and Matt Neal (Vauxhall Astra). Harvey was soon through this dice and Neal would fall back towards the MG of Warren Hughes. Muller built up his lead and dived quickly in for his compulsory pitstop. Muller's pitstop was flawed, and James Thompson stop a lap later was much improved. Thompson suddenly found himself in the lead as the pace car emerged during his stop after Spencer Marsh dived his Honda Civic into the sand.

From the restart Thompson was able to control the desperate Muller, with Anthony Reid coming through the carnage to finish third while Tim Harvey trickled through pit lane for a drive through that dashed his podium chances. Neal eventually finished fourth after a clash with Hughes, while keeping out of trouble rewarded Andy Priaulx (Honda Civic) and Phil Bennett (Proton Impian) with top 6 finishes.

Result of British Touring Car Championship, Round 1 Feature Race, Brands Hatch, UK:

Pos  Driver             Car
 1.  James Thompson     Vauxhall Astra
 2.  Yvan Muller        Vauxhall Astra
 3.  Anthony Reid       MG ZS
 4.  Matthew Neal       Vauxhall Astra
 5.  Andy Priaulx       Honda Civic
 6.  Phil Bennett       Proton Impian
 7.  Tim Harvey         Peugeot 406
 8.  Warren Hughes      MG ZS
 9.  Robert Collard     Renault Clio
10.  Tom Boardman       BMW 320i

Standings: Yvan Muller and Matthew Neal 23, Anthony Reid 18, James Thompson 16, Dan Eaves 13, Tom Chilton 10, Phil Bennett and Andy Priaulx 9, Aaron Slight 7, Tim Harvey 5 etc

  Hillclimb

Millen Strikes Gold At Last

Rod Millen has finally defeated his bridesmaid tag on the Queenstown Gold Rush, and claimed the event in his Toyota HiLux. After three consecutive runner-up appearances behind either 'Monster' Tajima or 'Possum' Bourne, Pikes Peak legend Millen finally won the world's most torturous hillclimb. The US-based New Zealander zoomed his hybrid ute up the climb in a time of 8:43.76.

"I'm glad it took that long to finally win it. We have come down here and enjoyed our times here. If you had won the first time then you perhaps wouldn't have been around to keep trying," said a delighted Millen.

Defending champion 'Possum' Bourne had to be disappointed. On his final flying run, a pothole caused a puncture, forcing New Zealand's favourite son to abort his run. Bourne does have the consolation of having set the fastest run of the weekend in qualifying, although even that time was subject to a ten second penalty for Bourne starting out of order.

Second fastest was Australian Steve Riley in a Suzuki-based open wheeler buggy. Third was a modified Evo VI Mitsubishi Lancer rally car driven by local Mike Turfus ahead of the first of the quad bikes, a BRM ridden by Ian Ffitch.

The off-road hillclimbers gather again for the Race to the Clouds in July at Pikes Peak, Colorado.

Result of Silverstone Race To The Sky, Queenstown, New Zealand:

Pos  Driver             Car
 1.  Rod Millen         Toyota Hilux
 2.  Steve Riley        Suzuki Special
 3.  Mike Turfus        Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI
 4.  Ian Ffitch         BRM 1100 Quad
 5.  Brett Hayward      Suzuki Special

  MotoGP

Two Stroke or Not Two Stroke?

This weekend see the belated start of the World Motorcycle Championship. Will the wait have been worth it? For this is the brave new world. Four stroke Grand Prix bikes will join the series in the biggest technical evolution in the history of Grand Prix motorcycle racing. By necessity this has meant doing away with the 500cc designation as the four strokes need bigger engines to compete. They won't look different, but they'll sound different. Particularly with most of the field still riding the 500s.

Already though, the formula is a success, for watching and waiting in the wings is Ducati, with their first Grand Prix motorcycle set to debut in 2003. With Troy Bayliss already steamrolling his way to a second World Superbike crown, he will be watching the new Ducati with expectant eyes.

All throughout the winter a wisdom developed. Long term, four stroke will be the way to go, but initially they'll be slower. Yamaha bore this out, as Max Biaggi and Charlie Checa struggled to develop the new Yamaha four stroke, while Garry McCoy and Alex Criville were setting startlingly quick times on the just superseded YZR500. Similar stories emerged from the Suzuki camp.

But now doubt surrounds Yamaha. Garry McCoy was sidelined with a broken leg and is a doubtful starter for the Suzuka opener. Alex Criville succumbed to dizzy spells he has been suffering from for some years and has taken a sabbatical, pending his return to full health. Stand by for a Biaggi blow up if it becomes apparent he's stuck on the wrong bike and injury replacements fail to capitalise on the YZRs.

Honda's NSR500 brigade continued to set times as you would expect, with Alex Barros, Tohru Ukawa and the rest continuing to tune the old bikes. The new RCV didn't run much early as its designated rider, Valentino Rossi, was having contractual disputes with Honda. It was speculated Rossi wasn't happy with the pace of the new Honda. But once the contract was signed, the blood the opposition had scented evaporated. Rossi was whole seconds quicker. It was chalk and cheese. The world champion's pace looks frightening. Have Honda kicked the same sort of goal they did when the built their first V10 Formula One motor in the post-turbo era?

Suzuka will bring the answers. Some answers. Well, maybe just more questions.

  Briefs

• Ralph Firman has won the opening round of the Formula Nippon series in Japan. Formula Nippon evolved from Formula 3000 when the European Formula 3000 championship became a control chassis formula. Firman lead a 1-3 result for former Tyrrell and Lotus Formula One driver Satoru Nakajima's team with Tsugio Matsuda finishing third. Second was Takeshi Tsuchiya for the LeMans team.

• As if CART didn't have enough problems, CART is now embroiled in what will probably become a long running legal dispute. CART has decided to sue former Chairman, Joseph Heitzler, for lost revenue from its contracts. Heitzler in turn has countersued, claiming conflicts of interest from the board hindered his ability to run the company. Heitzler was sacked in December after a tumultuous 12 months at the helm.

• The world's second largest manufacturer of formula racing cars, Reynard, is now in the hands of administrators. Reynard had been trying to rebuild itself financially in recent years, although some investments in the meantime have turned sour. The Premier 1 series which was slated to start this year saw Reynard take over the contract from Dallara to supply the cars, but has been delayed to 2003 so there have been no cars to supply to the teams. Add to that Lola chipping away at CART sales, failing to win the Formula 3000 deal and disappointing sales of prototype sportscars appears to have been enough to put the manufacturer to the wall. Reynard once had the proud record of winning in every series it had contested on debut. Reynard made championship winning cars in CART, Formula 3000, Formula 3, Formula Ford and Formula Nippon amongst others.

  The collapse of Reynard has had immediate effect on several CART teams. Front running Reynard runner Team Kool Green was ready, however, with Dario Franchitti and Paul Tracy testing Lola chassis, alongside their stablemate, Michael Andretti's Motorola Team. Other teams to be affected will by Player's/Forsythe Racing (Patrick Carpentier & Alex Tagliani), Walker Racing (Tora Takagi), Mo Nunn Racing (Tony Kanaan) and Patrick Racing (Townsend Bell).

• Toyota and Penske have announced an engine agreement which will see a supply of 3.5 litre naturally aspirated V8s for Penske Racing for the 2003 Indy Racing League season. "It's a historic day as we enter a partnership with Penske Racing, the most successful team in open-wheel racing history," said Toyota's Motorsport Vice President, Jim Aust. "It's great to partner with 11 times Indy 500 winners." Toyota announced last year they would be withdrawing from CART in favour of IRL, which has a much greater fanbase within the US than CART. Penske are presently using the near ubiquitous Chevrolet engine, known in previous years as the Oldsmobile Aurora. Penske will begin testing the new Toyota IRL engine later in the season.

• In the wake of the court fight over the services of Richard Burns at the start of the season, the FIA's Contract Recognition Board which currently presides over Formula One driver contracts, will be expanded or duplicated for the drivers in the World Rally Championship. A fight erupted over Burns when Burns signed with Peugeot in the run up to the final rounds of the World Championship last year. A clause in his contract with Subaru supposedly stated he could leave Subaru last year if he did not win the World Championship. A combination of accidents and Burns's excellent form on the RAC won Burns the World Championship, slightly unexpectedly, which created the problem.

• 1980 Formula One World Champion Alan Jones is coming out of semi-retirement to join the front running Australian V8Supercar team, Dick Johnson Racing. 55 year old Jones will join Paul Radisich, Steven Johnson and Greg Ritter in the team's two Ford Falcons in the endurance races of the V8Supercar Championship Series, the Queensland 500 and the Bathurst 1000. Jones has only raced four times in the past two seasons.

  Upcoming Events Calendar

• April 6 - Formula Nippon Series, Round 2; Mount Fuji, Japan
• April 7 - World Motorcycle Championship, Round 1; Suzuka, Japan
• April 7 - World Superbike Championship, Round 3; Kyalami, South Africa
• April 7 - FIA Sportscar Championship, Round 1; Catalunya, Spain
• April 7 - NASCAR Winston Cup, Round 7; Texas Motor Speedway, Texas, United States
• April 13 - International Formula 3000; Round 2, Imola, Italy
• April 14 - San Marino Formula One Grand Prix; Imola, Italy
• April 14 - FedEx CART World Series, Round 2; Long Beach, California, United States
• April 14 - NASCAR Winston Cup, Round 8; Martinsville Speedway, Virginia, United States
• April 18 - World Rally Championship, Round 5; Cyprus Rally, Cyprus