Updates from the Rest of the Racing World
Atlas F1 Magazine Writers
Cristiano Conquers Chicago
Polesitter Dario Franchitti got a huge jump at the start, but the race didn't stay green for long as Kenny Brack went five wide, turned in and took out Jimmy Vasser at turn one of lap one. The race soon got under way with Franchitti leading Alex Tagliani and Tony Kanaan as further back in the field Michael Andretti was marching forward, soon up to eighth place just behind Paul Tracy. Up front Franchitti was edging away from the pack.
On lap 68 it was pit stop time for everyone as mandated by CART's pit stop window for the race. Tagliani and Cristiano da Matta both came out in front of Franchitti, Tagliani now third ahead of a pack comprising of da Matta, Franchitti and Bruno Junqueira as Michel Jourdain Jr and Christian Fittipaldi ran at the front for a few laps, as they pitted under the early yellow, until they pitted. Lap 79 saw the retirement of Michael Andretti with engine problems after a strong race.
Back up front da Matta left Franchitti and Junequeira behind as he chased down Tagliani. Tagliani took his second stop a few laps early, handing the lead to da Matta for two laps before he also pitted, along with several other cars. Tagliani lost out to da Matta and Junqueira, almost crashing as he attempted to get past Junqueira on cold tyres. Fittipaldi again led a few laps before he pitted, da Matta the new race leader. He didn't lead under green for long, as Fittipaldi's rear left wheel fell off on the pit exit road, bringing out the yellows.
The race was soon underway with da Matta leading Junqueira and Franchitti but the yellows came out again as Townsend Bell hit the back of Michel Jourdain Jr at turn one towards the back of the field, both drivers continuing in the race relatively unscathed. The race resumed once again, with Takagi running in an impressive fourth place.
The top three ran almost as one as they prepared for their final pit stop, all three pitting on the same lap, and coming out in the same order, handing the lead over to Shinji Nakano until he pitted a few laps later, handing the lead over to Tagliani for several laps before the lead returned to da Matta with 15 laps remaining, still with Junqueira and Franchitti close behind. Franchitti fell slightly away at the end, leaving da Matta to take the win less than a second ahead of Junqueira with Franchitti in third. Japanese drivers Tora Takagi and Shinji Nakano filled the next two places, ahead of Scott Dixon in sixth, the last driver on the lead lap.
Result of FedEx CART Championship Series, Round 7, Chicago Motor Speedway, Illinois, United States:
Standings: Cristiano da Matta 95, Bruno Junqueira 70, Dario Franchitti 64, Michel Jourdain Jr 57, Christian Fittipaldi 43, Scott Dixon 42, Patrick Carpentier 38, Alex Tagliani 36 etc.
Rossi's Run Continues
Polesitter Valentino Rossi made a poor start as Max Biaggi took the lead ahead of Kenny Roberts Jr and Tohru Ukawa, Rossi quickly slotting in to fourth as Roberts passed Biaggi for the lead. Behiond Rossi was Carlos Checa and the two Honda Pons riders of Alex Barros and Loris Capirossi. Lap one remained a busy affair as around halfway through the lap Capirossi passed Barros and Checa, while Rossi moved to third ahead of Ukawa. It wasn't over yet as Capirossi then passed Ukawa for fourth and Barros passed Checa for sixth before the first lap was over.
As they completed lap one Ukawa took back fourth place, Barros moving ahead of Capirossi during the second lap as Roberts continued to lead. The start of lap three saw Rossi dive down the inside of Biaggi to take second, Barros passing Ukawa soon after, and then passed Biaggi and Rossi on consecutive corners to move up to second and passed Roberts for the lead as they completed lap three. Roberts retook the lead down the pit straight but Barros took it back into the first turn.
Up front Barros and Rossi continued to battle, Rossi sitting on his tail for lap after lap, as Ukawa battled on just ahead of the two Yamaha four-strokes of Checa and Biaggi, Checa taking third at the chicane at the end of lap eight, Ukawa losing another place to Biaggi on lap nine. Biaggi passed Checa on lap twelve before Checa passed him back almost immediately, Ukawa then taking a place after Biaggi to take fourth back on lap thirteen.
Finally, at the start of lap sixteen Rossi decided he would use all the throttle down the pit straight and blew by Barros, both riders setting their fastest lap for the race on lap sixteen as Barros pushed hard but Rossi pushed even harder. Further back Biaggi had dropped off the back of Checa and Ukawa who were battling hard for third place. Rossi went on to win from Barros, Rossi setting the fastest lap of the race on the second last lap. But there was drama further down the standings, as Ukawa made a move down the inside into the final chicane, which saw Checa run safely through the gravel while Ukawa rode across the grass and fell off, losing fourth to Biaggi but managing to remount to take fifth place just ahead of Roberts.
Result of World Motorcycle Championship, Round 7, Assen, Netherlands:
Standings: Valentino Rossi 170, Tohru Ukawa 108, Carlos Checa 72, Alex Barros 71, Max Biaggi 69, Loris Capirossi 65, Norick Abe 59, Daijiro Kato 51 etc.
Hornish Closes On Penske
Sam Hornish has been taking it up to the two Penske drivers of Helio Castroneves and Gil de Ferran this year, and he did even more than that on the weekend when he won at Richmond International Raceway, a race he won with a late charge and very late pass on Penske's Gil de Ferran, while Castroneves suffered an early demise.
The two Penske Dallaras led the field around to the green. The field wasn't as organised as it could have been. There was a light contact between Mark Dismore and Greg Ray. A lap later Dismore headed for the pits and then the yellows flew as Helio Castroneves spun out of second position on the back straight, and thumped the inside wall. With it being so early in the race, only a couple of cars headed for the pits at this yellow. Sarah Fisher, Robby McGeehee and Dismore (again) troubled their crews.
The yellows were out again when Billy Boat spun coming out of turn 2 and hit the inside wall. As with Castroneves, Boat walked away unhurt. Again only a couple of cars pitted. After only three laps Scott Sharp was into the wall with a big hit coming wide onto the front straight. Fisher pitted again, another with suspect electrics.
De Ferran led again at the restart from Redon, Barron and Hornish, although Hornish soon succumbed to Buddy Lazier. But the lap wasn't complete as George Mack spun coming out of turn two and added to the inside wall's tally.
De Ferran launched away at the restart with Redon in pursuit. Buddy Lazier climbed to third, taking Barron. Redon led an IRL race for the first time after de Ferran touched a back marker and backed off. Shortly afterward Lazier's charged ended, diving into the pits with the car on fire. The fire grew rapidly and was attacked by marshalls and the yellows flew as they closed the pits to deal with the fire in the #91 car.
Once the fire was out and the pits opened, the majority of the field pitted. At the green Grey Ray led from Jeff Ward and Al Unser Jr. The former race leaders were next and led by de Ferran they were soon gobbling up the new leaders, restoring the race's status quo. Ray though would hang determinedly to the lead despite pressure from de Ferran. On lap 149 Jon Herb crashed in turn four, bringing out the yellows again. A gaggle of cars dived pitward again, including Ray and de Ferran.
De Ferran led from the green into the race's final stage, Giaffone now second with Hornish, Ward and Tomas Scheckter in close company. Scheckter was on a charge and was up to second by lap 197. Scheckter was caught out by traffic however, and lost three places. De Ferran maintained the gap over Giaffone, but gradually the top five cars bunch up.
With two laps to go Hornish worked his way into second, and pushed de Ferran hard and took the lead into turn one. Hornish only led two laps of the race, but one of them was the one that counted as Hornish, de Ferran, Giaffone and Scheckter flashed across the line together.
Castroneves's poor finish has bunched the pointscore right up. The series next travels to Nashville Speedway.
Result of Indy Racing League, Round 8, Richmond International Raceway, Virginia, United States:
Standings: Helio Castroneves 280, Gil de Ferran 277, Sam Hornish Jr 256, Felipe Giaffone 237, Al Unser Jr 194, Jeff Ward 181, Airton Dare 176, Alex Barron 169, Scott Sharp 156, Laurent Redon 145 etc.
Donner's Pikes Peak Kebab
Each year on Independance Day weekend, the biggest hillclimb in the world is held at Pikes Peak, in Colorado. It's an event made famous internationally by the video 'Climb Dance' in which Ari Vatanen charges up the mountain in his hand-built twin turbo, four wheel drive, four wheel steer, Peugeot 405 special.
This year the manufacturer backed prototypes were thinner on the ground than they have been in recent years. Nobihiro 'Monster' Tajima and his twin-engined Suzuki specials were absent. His long time Toyota-backed rival Rod Millen has retired. A pair of Swedes would race for the title this year, both names in their own right. Per Eklund and Stig Blomqvist, stars of world rallying in the mid 80s would be re-united in combat for the first time in 15 years.
But they would be defeated by a veteran local who has been climbing the hill for over 30 years. David Donner took the Donner-Dykstra open wheel special, itself an event veteran, and raced up the hill in 10:52.3 to win the climb outright. Donner last won here in 1991.
Result of 80th Race To The Clouds, Pikes Peak International Hillclimb, Colorado, United States:
Indy Kerr
Kerr launched well to lead Michael Keohane in race one, breaking the back of the Formula 3 field to race away to win on the up hill and down dale layout of Brands Hatch. Keohane had to try mightily just to keep Kerr in sight. Rob Austin, Alan van der Merwe and Fabio Carbone all had lonely races to their finishing position, with the first battle being that for sixth between James Courtney and Bruce Jouanny. It was a battle Jouanny would win. Kerr also won race two, as incidents early in the race claimed or damaged Michael Keohane, Fabio Carbone, Steven Colbert, Clivio Piccione and Gavin Smith, leading to the safety car making an appearance.
Kerr moves up to second in the championship, but is still 40 points shy of the man from 'Down Under'. Next stop for the world's blue riband Formula 3 series is the intimidating form of Rockingham Speedway.
Result of British Formula 3 Championship, Rounds 15 and 16, Brands Hatch, Great Britain:
Standings: James Courtney 192, Robbie Kerr 152, Bruce Jouanny 144, Michael Keohane 136, Mark Taylor 105, Rob Austin 77, Heikki Kovalainen 76, Alan van der Merwe 75, Fabio Carbone 63, Richard Antinucci 52 etc.
Skaife Succumbs
Mark Skaife really did have his worst V8Supercar round of the year at Barbagallo. A DNF in race two and only seventh in race three combined with his win in race one saw him finish 'only' fourth overall for the round. HRT still won the round as Skaife's teammate Jason Bright finished second in races one and two and won race three. Although Skaife's championship has been reduced (ever so slightly), he is still leading by 609 points. The weekend's events now see the top four championship contenders all coming from the TWR Australia stable, with HRT's Mark Skaife and Jason Bright sandwiching Greg Murphy and Todd Kelly in second and third. Marcos Ambrose is the leading Ford runner in fifth just ahead of fellow Ford runner Craig Lowndes in sixth.
Race two saw a different result at the start, as Murphy passed both HRT cars into turn one, while further back smoke poured from Marcos Ambrose's Falcon from broken power steering. As they came around to complete lap one, Skaife hit the back of Murphy's car as they exited the final corner hard enough to force him wide, allowing Skaife to make the pass down the pit straight. The stewards weren't happy with Skaife however, giving him a drivethrough penalty for the incident, taking it immediately at the end of lap four and handing the lead to teammate Bright, Skaife dropping to fifteenth as most of the top runners made their compulsory pit stop over the next few laps, including Skaife who came in for his tyre stop on lap seven.
At around this point of the race Anthony Tratt spun off, ending up deep in the sand at the back of the circuit, so Bright came in for his stop on lap eight, beating the safety car which eventually came out a lap or so later after three more incidents occurred in quick succession. These incidents were Skaife going off at the same corner as Tratt had on his out lap from the pits, recovering around the outside on the grass, then Lowndes went off after Todd Kelly repeated Skaife's move from earlier in the race except instead of tapping Lowndes to the side, he spun him off the track into the sand on the inside of the pit straight, while the third incident involved Marcos Ambrose running off the track at turn one, recovering much like Skaife had seconds earlier. Lowndes lost a lap while Skaife was back in 28th place.
By lap 20, Skaife was up to 14th as he carved back through the field after his early troubles. Lap 23 and he was in the sand at the last turn after locking his brakes and going straight ahead into the sand, ending his race, his first DNF of the year. This brought the safety car out once again, the race resuming on lap 28 with Rick Kelly still leading and still yet to stop. Finally on lap 30 Kelly made his stop, dropping from first to 28th, handing the lead to Murphy just ahead of Bright and John Bowe who was having a great run in third.
The top three ran close and hard but the order remained the same, Murphy winning from Bright and Bowe. One of only two incidents of note over the remaining laps occurred on lap 32, when Russell Ingall and Steven Johnson were battling for 11th place. Ingall first got alongside, then inches ahead of Johnson when he decided to turn in on Johnson, first forcing Johnson off the track then back in to Ingall, sending them both off the track, Ingall receiving his second penalty in two races for the incident, finishing in 27th, last car on the lead lap. The other incident occurred on lap 40, when Paul Morris dropped from fourth to tenth and David Besnard from fifth to seventh, Morris running through the sand at the last turn.
Eventually, after at least three laps since the first car spun off into a dangerous position, the safety car came out, staying out for several laps with the race resuming on lap seventeen, Bright now leading the race from Besnard and Murphy as Crompton received a drivethrough penalty for spinning Bowe earlier in the race. Lap nineteen was an interesting one, as exiting the turn on to the long straight, Ambrose nudged into the back of Ingall, the two cars banging panels before Ambrose took the place, Ingall also losing out to Paul Radisich.
Due to cars spearing off the road, good strategy and good driving, Skaife had already moved up to seventh by lap eight, and moved up to sixth soon after the restart on lap 21 when Morris dropped from fifth to ninth. This turned out to be significant as the top five places remained the same for the remaining 21 laps. Lap 25 and Tander took sixth from Skaife, which was also significant as sixth to fourteenth remained unchanged for the remainder of the race, Bright winning just ahead of Besnard with Murphy in third.
Result of V8Supercar Championship Series, Round 6, Barbagallo Raceway, Australia:
Standings: Mark Skaife 1493, Greg Murphy 884, Todd Kelly 802, Jason Bright 752, Marcos Ambrose 677, Craig Lowndes 654, Steven Richards 615, David Besnard 507, Garth Tander 501, John Bowe 456 etc.
Audi Back On Top
With their dominant Le Mans performance still in their veins, Audi reasserted their presence in the ALMS taking a 1-2 victory at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. But it wasn't the 1-2 result they had planned. Tom Kristensen gambled by not making a pitstop in the second half of the race, allowing the second of the factory Audis to take control of the race. That control lasted until the final lap of the race when the car ran out of fuel. Kristensen, acutely aware that the two Panoz, as well as his own teammate were all on the lead lap, limped the Audi to the line but couldn't hang on to the win and so Emanuele Pirro (and teammate Frank Biela) slipped by to take the win. The gap was enough that the two Panoz couldn't catch Kristensen.
The lead GTS cars were the two Chevy Corvettes, utterly dominant in their class, Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell finishing a lap ahead of teammates Andy Pilgrim and Kelly Collins. A very distant third in class was the Chrysler Viper of Marc Bunting and Tom Weickardt in 23rd outright.
Le Mans GT Champion Kevin Buckler backed that result up with a class win with B.J. Zacharias in The Racers Group Porsche 996 GT3-R in eleventh outright. Twelfth was Porsche Supercup competitors Timo Bernhard and Jorg Bergmeister in the Alex Job Racing Porsche 996 GT3-R. 16th was Justin Jackson and Mike Fitzgerald in another Porsche.
In between the GT car were the LMP675 podium winners, with the class being taken out by the Pilbeam-Nissan of Chris McMurry and Bryan Willman. Next on the road was the Lola-Ford of Ben Devlin and Bret Arsenault, whilst third in class was won by the Lola-Nissan Steve Knight and John Fergus.
Result of American Le Mans Series, Round 4, Mid-Ohio, Ohio, United States:
Standings LMP900: Tom Kristensen 66, Johnny Herbert and Rinaldo Capello 64, Frank Biela and Emanuelle Pirro 59, James Weaver and Bryan Herta 56, David Brabham and Bill Auberlen 55, Jan Magnussen 46 etc.
Lammer-Dome
The swinging battle between Racing for Holland and Pescarolo Sport captured those present at Magny-Cours. Clutch problems struck the Courage and victory went to the Dutch Dome of Jan Lammers and Val Hillebrand by 40 seconds over the repaired Courage-Peugeot of Jean-Christophe Boullion and Sebastien Bourdais.
Third place too would be a battle of interest, but the Durango of Alessandro Battaglin and Giannaria Bruni had an engine failure in the middle portion of the race handing third to the Judd powered R & M of Mauro Baldi and Vincenzo Sospiri.
The very close SR2 battle was finally resolved in favour of the privately entered Lucchini-Alfa of father and son Massimo and Ernesto Saccomano. They were able to break clear of the battle between the works Lucchinis and the Pilbeams to win by over a minute, despite a 30 second penalty applied for an unsafe pitstop.
Pescarolo's Boullion is now the man taking the fight to the Dome drivers in the point's standings as unreliability continues to slow the Courage-Judd team.
Result of FIA Sportscar Championship, Round 4, Magny-Cours, France:
Standings: Val Hillebrand and Jan Lammers 62, Jean-Christophe Boullion 45, Didier Cottaz and Boris Derichebourg 38, Olivier Beretta and Sebastien Bourdais 35, Mauro Baldi 32, Vincenzo Sospiri 24, Nicolas Minassian 20 etc
Scuderia Italia Closes on Lister
Andrea Piccini and Jean-Denis Deletraz won their second race of the season in a heavily weather affected fifth round of the FIA GT Series at Anderstorp in Sweden.
By lap 18 trouble struck the plagued Lister of Knapfield, spinning into retirement. Campbell-Walter would not last much longer, going off after setting the brake bias incorrectly, the resultant affect on handling catching Campbell-Walter out while under pressure from Piccini.
Most of the first hour was spent behind the pace car as conditions worsened. Once freed from the pace car the Ferrari took control of the race, leading the three-hour race and winning by 21 seconds. Gollin and Cappellari in the second of the Carsport Holland Vipers was second for much of the early running but had to give best to first the Larbre Viper of Christophe Bouchut and David Terrien, then to their Carsport teammates.
The Freisinger Porsche of Stephane Ortelli and Emmanuel Collard took the N-GT battle over the JMB Ferrari Modena of Andrea Garbagnati and Andrea Bertolini. The Autorlando Porsche of Walter Lechner Jr and Toto Wolff was third ahead of the lead JMB Modena of Christian Pescatori and Andrea Montermini.
A fascinating battle for the championship is now building with the lead Lister Storm car equal on points with the Larbre Competition Viper. The Scuderia Italia Ferrari is only three points further adrift.
Result of FIA GT Championship, Round 5, Anderstorp, Sweden:
Standings: Jamie Campbell-Walter, Nicolaus Springer, Christophe Bouchut and David Terrien 24, Jean-Denis Deletraz and Andrea Piccini 21, Mike Hezemans and Anthony Kumpen 16, Vincent Vosse 13 etc.
Aiello's Last Gasp Win
The Norisring is a spooky place. While the huge viewing stand and the vast expanses of concrete might have been made for motor racing, those black and white films of its use for the Nuremburg rallies forever remind you of its past.
The qualifying race gave no indication of this as a startline crash caused chaos in the field. Marcel Fassler, Timo Scheider, Karl Wendlinger and Patrick Huisman were all embroiled in the melee that erupted off the line. This brought the safety car out with Mattias Ekstrom leading in the Abt Audi from Uwe Alzen, Schneider and Aiello. Ekstrom held off the field from the green to take the win with the others following.
Ekstrom and Schneider squabbled over the start of the main event, allowing Uwe Alzen to slip past into an early lead. Schneider recovered first and chased Alzen across the line followed by Aiello, Ekstrom and Joachim Winkelhock. Alzen though would soon have cause to think on his start as a stop-go was given for a jumped start. Winkelhock's good start wasn't to last as Jean Alesi was soon past into fifth. A lap later Winkelhock and Jager collided, also involving Stefan Muecke ending the chances of all three.
This left Schneider leading Aiello and Ekstrom as the pit stops began. Aiello pitted first and gained on Schneider, the two rejoining battle with nothing between them. The Frenchman briefly took the lead but the German countered. Ekstrom meanwhile was hunting down the pair of them, lighting up the track as the leaders squabbled.
Coming into the last lap Schneider led and backed off slightly seeing the yellow flags. The flags though were just being withdrawn and Aiello pounced, getting inside the corner and winning the drag race to the line. Ekstrom failed to catch the two in front and led home Alesi, the fast returning Alzen and Christijan Albers.
Result of Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, Round 5, Norisring, Germany:
Standings: Laurent Aiello 48, Mattias Ekstrom 23, Bernd Schneider 21, Jean Alesi 20, Christian Abt 12, Alain Menu 6, Timo Scheider, Christijan Albers and Martin Tomczyk 5 etc.
Jorg Muller Breaks Alfa Stranglehold
Jorg Muller broke through to achieve what no one else has achieved all season, beat the Alfa Romeos.
Ekblom then had an off at the first turn letting Giovanardi through for third, but the more surefooted BMW of Dirk Muller was soon past the series leader. Giovanardi wouldn't let it lie and the two clashed, ending with a steamed Muller off the track in the mud. Giovanardi then closed down the gap on the leaders with Jorg Muller and James Hanson in the second Volvo right behind.
Larini had pulled a gap on Rydell who was soon under threat from the lead Alfa. Rydell couldn't hold Giovanardi back and the series status quo was restored. It was a lead the red cars would hold to the line. Rydell held on to third after Muller and Hanson both had offs trying hard to take third. Jorg Muller recovered for fourth ahead of Jordi Gene and Ferrier.
Race two was held on a practically dry circuit. Gene won the start as Ferrier bogged down. Rydell passed Muller for third but when both Gene and Ferrier outbraked themselves into the final turn, Rydell took the lead at the end of the first lap ahead of Jorg Muller and di Simone.
Larini was then involved with a collision between Tommy Rustad and Eric Cayrolle, leaving the Alfa at the rear of the field. Peter Kox and Hanson collided leaving Hanson's Volvo wrecked against the wall. Giovanardi lost fourth to Tom Coronel while trying to take third from di Simone and getting it wrong.
It was soon apparent that di Simone was holding up the field as Giovanardi, Coronel, Cayrolle, Dirk Muller and Larini followed just behind. All this fierceness of the battle allowed the top three to escape, and with both Alfas pinned behind di Simone a new racer was going to win.
Jorg Muller was the fastest of the trio, first passing Ekblom for second then Rydell to lead, much to the disappointment of the home crowd. Rydell chased Muller home ahead of Ekblom. Di Simone eventually succumbed to the pressure and as the train reassembled themselves Larini took the top spot, only to have another off allowing Giovanardi through. Larini and Dirk Muller completed the points.
Result of European Touring Car Championship, Round 5; Anderstorp, Sweden:
Standings: Fabrizio Giovanardi 81, Nicola Larini 64, Jorg Muller and Dirk Muller 33, Rickard Rydell 24, Frederik Ekblom 9, Paolo Ruberti and James Hanson 5, Jordi Gene 2 etc.
CART
Cristiano da Matta showed he is the man to beat for this year's title after winning on an oval for only the second time in his career, taking his fourth win out of seven races this season, opening a 25 point lead over Dario Franchitti. It was a race littered with collisions and flying wheels, with incidents often occurring just after a restart.
Some teams took the opportunity to pit under the yellow. One of these was Scott Dixon, who joined the growing number of drivers who have lost a left rear wheel this year just after a pit stop, Dixon losing the wheel soon enough that the crew could drag him back and fit a new one. Da Matta, Junqueira, Tagliani, Franchitti and Paul Tracy led the field as the race restarted, but the yellows flew once again as Tagliani and Tracy made contact at the first turn after the field bunched up behind Junqueira after the restart, bringing out the yellows once again, as Tracy lost a lap after stalling his engine. Both drivers pitted under the yellow, exiting the pits side-by-side!
Pos Driver Car
1. Cristiano da Matta Lola-Toyota
2. Bruno Junqueira Lola-Toyota
3. Dario Franchitti Lola-Honda
4. Tora Takagi Reynard-Toyota
5. Shinji Nakano Lola-Honda
6. Scott Dixon Lola-Toyota
7. Alex Tagliani Reynard-Ford
8. Tony Kanaan Lola-Honda
9. Paul Tracy Lola-Honda
10. Michel Jourdain Jr Lola-Ford
MotoGP
For a long time in this race, it looked like Rossi's run would be broken. But like several times before, just when it looked like Rossi might be beaten, he showed he hadn't been, taking his sixth win in seven races this year, though he was made to push throughout the race by Alex Barros on the 'inferior' two-strokes, the only two-stroke in the top six placings at a track that was expected to favour the two-strokes. Rossi's lead in the title race was further boosted due to a late-race fall for teammate Ukawa.
Rossi moved past Roberts during lap four, Ukawa doing the same as they started lap five. Almost simultaneously Loris Capirossi crashed spectacularly from sixth as Roberts lost another place to Biaggi. All these manouevres saw the lead pack split, with Barros and Rossi breaking away from Ukawa, Biaggi, Checa and Roberts. Lap seven saw Biaggi lose a position to his teammate Checa, as they left Roberts behind.
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Valentino Rossi Honda RC211V
2. Alex Barros Honda NSR500
3. Carlos Checa Yamaha YZR M1
4. Max Biaggi Yamaha YZR M1
5. Tohru Ukawa Honda RC211V
6. Kenny Roberts Suzuki GSVR
7. John Hopkins Yamaha YZR500
8. Shinya Nakano Yamaha YZR500
9. Norick Abe Yamaha YZR500
10. Jurgen vd Goorbergh Honda NSR500
IRL
At the restart de Ferran led Sam Hornish while Alex Barron attacked Laurent Redon for third. Redon defended, then pressured Hornish, taking second two laps later with Barron following through. Robbie Buhl dived pitward with a suspected electrical problem.
Redon stayed out and regained the lead. At the green de Ferran blasted past Barron to take second. Yellows again, this time for the troubled plagued Sarah Fisher, who collected the wall coming onto the straight. Redon pitted and De Ferran was leader again. Just after his stop, Redon's run ended after hitting the wall. Redon clashed with Eddie Cheever, ending Redon's great drive. Cheever too was out.
Pos Driver Car
1. Sam Hornish Jr Dallara-Chevrolet
2. Gil de Ferran Dallara-Chevrolet
3. Felipe Giaffone GForce-Chevrolet
4. Tomas Scheckter Dallara-Infiniti
5. Al Unser Jr Dallara-Chevrolet
6. Airton Dare Dallara-Chevrolet
7. Richie Hearn Dallara-Chevrolet
8. Jeff Ward GForce-Chevrolet
9. Robby McGehee Dallara-Chevrolet
10. Alex Barron Dallara-Chevrolet
Hillclimb
Car Results
Pos Driver Car
1. David Donner Donner Dykstra
2. Per Eklund Saab 9-3 Viggen
3. Jimmy Keeney Greenwood-Hull
4. Stig Blomqvist Ford Escort RS200E
5. Mark Lovell Subaru Impreza WRX
6. Clint Vahsholtz Ford Mustang
7. Tanner Foust Wells
8. Steve Clark Clark
9. Leonard Vahsholtz Ford Bronco
10. Paul Choiniere Hyundai Tiburon
Motorcycle Results
Pos Driver Motorcycle
1. Bobby Parr 2002 Lone Star Quad
2. Matt Lee 2002 Yamaha Quad
3. Davey Durelle Suzuki 500
4. Greg Tracy 2001 Honda 500
5. Rick Ambrosino 2002 Yamaha Quad
6. Anders Jansson 1997 Honda 500
7. Kevin Cowart 2002 Yamaha Quad
8. Theodore Bernhard 1988 Suzuki Quad
9. Jim Goertz 1995 Yamaha Quad
10. Gary Trachy 2002 Honda 250
Formula 3
The return to Brands Hatch on the shorter Indy circuit saw a reversal of fortunes for the great local hope in the championship. Robbie Kerr was utterly dominant all weekend, snatching pole position and both race wins, allowing Alan Docking Racing to get one back on the Carlin Motorsport squad.
Round Fifteen
Pos Driver Car
1. Robbie Kerr Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
2. Michael Keohane Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
3. Rob Austin Dallara F302 Spiess Opel
4. Alan van der Merwe Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
5. Fabio Carbone Dallara F302 Sodemo Renault
6. Bruce Jouanny Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
7. James Courtney Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
8. James Andanson Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
9. Shinya Hosokawa Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
10. Mathew Gilmore Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
Round Sixteen
Pos Driver Car
1. Robbie Kerr Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
2. James Courtney Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
3. Bruce Jouanny Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
4. Alan van der Merwe Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
5. Heikki Kovalainen Dallara F302 Sodemo Renault
6. Adam Carroll Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda
7. James Andanson Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
8. Rob Austin Dallara F302 Spiess Opel
9. Mark Taylor Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
10. Shinya Hosokawa Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
V8Supercar
All three races were 100 km long, each race featuring a compulsory stop for tyres, with the first race held the day previous to the other two. Polesitter Mark Skaife won the start of race one from his teammate Jason Bright, who after pitting early like most of the field, ran 1-2 for most of the race after the other cars pitted. Amongst those who stayed out and benefitted was Craig Lowndes, who moved up from his 18th starting position to tenth after completing his pit stop, and continued to march up the field with his fresher tyres to finish the race in fifth, only finishing behind the TWR juggernaut of the Holden and KMart teams, Skaife ahead of Bright and Greg Murphy ahead of Todd Kelly. A last lap incident between Russell Ingall and David Besnard saw Ingall hit with a 22 second penalty after the race, dropping him from sixth to 16th.
Max Wilson was now the leader, though along with the three cars just behind him, he had yet to make his compulsory tyre stop as they restarted on lap 13, Rick Kelly also yet to stop taking the lead before the end of the lap, as Murphy looked strongly placed to take over the lead once the other cars pitted. More penalties were being issued, with firstly Marcos Ambrose given a drivethrough for cutting off Paul Radisich in pit lane, soon followed by Todd Kelly receiving the same penalty for bunkering Lowndes. At the front Murphy was up to second on the track, with Kelly still yet to stop less than two seconds ahead.
Race three and Murphy led from pole ahead of Bright, as Skaife, Lowndes and Todd Kelly started their charges from the rear of the grid. A lot of cars pitted early, including John Bowe who was spun by Neil Crompton as he went through the last turn. Lap five and Mark Larkham and Tony Longhurst bunkered their cars in the same sand Tratt had done the same in race two, possibly spinning on oil coming from the smoking car of Craig Baird. Race leader Murphy as well as Lowndes then ran off the track at the last turn, probably also due to the oil, both deciding this would be as good a time as any to make their stop. Steven Richards also ran off the track at the same corner
Race One
Pos Driver Car
1. Mark Skaife Holden Commodore VX
2. Jason Bright Holden Commodore VX
3. Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VX
4. Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VX
5. Craig Lowndes Ford Falcon AU
6. Marcos Ambrose Ford Falcon AU
7. David Besnard Ford Falcon AU
8. Steven Richards Holden Commodore VX
9. John Bowe Ford Falcon AU
10. Tony Longhurst Ford Falcon AU
Race Two
Pos Driver Car
1. Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VX
2. Jason Bright Holden Commodore VX
3. John Bowe Ford Falcon AU
4. Tony Longhurst Ford Falcon AU
5. Cameron McConville Holden Commodore VX
6. Neil Crompton Ford Falcon AU
7. David Besnard Ford Falcon AU
8. Brad Jones Ford Falcon AU
9. Cameron McLean Ford Falcon AU
10. Paul Morris Holden Commodore VX
Race Three
Pos Driver Car
1. Jason Bright Holden Commodore VX
2. David Besnard Ford Falcon AU
3. Greg Murphy Holden Commodore VX
4. Brad Jones Ford Falcon AU
5. Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VX
6. Garth Tander Holden Commodore VX
7. Mark Skaife Holden Commodore VX
8. Jason Bargwanna Holden Commodore VX
9. Cameron McConville Holden Commodore VX
10. Marcos Ambrose Ford Falcon AU
ALMS
This time last year Panoz returned from their Le Mans disaster to take the win running old cars that hadn't been touched in six months. This time they were only good enough to beat everyone except the Audis with the lead car of David Brabham and Jan Magnussen taking the final podium position with the team's second car of Bryan Herta and Bill Auberlen backing up ably in fourth place.
Pos Drivers Car
1. Frank Biela/Emanuele Pirro Audi R8
2. Rinaldo Capello/Tom Kristensen Audi R8
3. David Brabham/Jan Magnussen Panoz LMP01
4. Bryan Herta/Bill Auberlen Panoz LMP01
5. Chris Dyson/James Weaver Riley & Scott MkIIIA Lincoln
6. Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell Chevrolet Corvette C5-R (GTS)
7. Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins Chevrolet Corvette C5-R (GTS)
8. Milka Duno/Scott Maxwell Panoz LMP07 Mugen-Honda
9. Mark Neuhaus/Joel Field Lola B2K/10 Judd
10. Stefan Johansson/Johnny Herbert Audi R8
Sportscars
Disappointing for those watching was that the factory Courage of Didier Cottaz and Boris Derichebourg failing virtually on the grid with Derichebourg speculating the problem was electrical.
Pos Drivers Car
1. Jan Lammers/Val Hillebrand Dome S101 Judd
2. Jean-Christophe Boullion/ Courage C60 Peugeot
Sebastien Bourdais
3. Mauro Baldi/Vincenzo Sospiri R & M Judd
4. Massimo Saccomanno/Ernesto Saccomanno Lucchini Alfa Romeo (SR2)
5. John Stack/Sam Hignett Pilbeam MP484 Nissan (SR2)
6. Marc Rostan/Pierre Bruneau Pilbeam MP484 Sodemo Peugeot (SR2)
7. Ranieri Randaccio/Leonardo Maddalena Lucchini Alfa Romeo (SR2)
FIA GT
The series leading Lister Storm of Jamie Campbell-Walter led from the start of the race from pole position with Fabrizio Gollin in second ahead of Paul Knapfield in the second Lister and Andrea Piccini in the Scuderia Italia car.
Pos Drivers Car
1. Andrea Piccini/Jean-Denis Deletraz Ferrari 550 Maranello
2. Christophe Bouchut/David Terrien Chrysler Viper GTS-R
3. Mike Hezemans/Anthony Kumpen Chrysler Viper GTS-R
4. Fabrizio Gollin/Luca Cappellari Chrysler Viper GTS-R
5. Enzo Calderari/Lilian Bryner Ferrari 550 Maranello
6. Vincent Vosse/Carl Rosenblad Chrysler Viper GTS-R
7. Paul Belmondo/Claude-Yves Gosselin Chrysler Viper GTS-R
8. Stephane Ortelli/Emmanuel Collard Porsche 996 GT3-R (NGT)
9. Jean-Pierre Jarier/Lafon Chrysler Viper GTS-R
10. Andrea Garbagnati/Andrea Bertolini Ferrari 360 Modena (NGT)
DTM
DTM has been a regular visitor to this most surreal of racetracks, but the event put the circuit's history behind them with a thrilling battle for the fifth round of the German-based series. From the halfway point of the race Aiello caught defending champion Bernd Schneider and staged a tremendous battle that went down to the last corner. Aiello won the drag race to the flag after a momentary error from that most hardened of campaigners.
Pos Driver Car
1. Laurent Aiello Audi TT-R
2. Bernd Schneider Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM
3. Mattias Ekstrom Audi TT-R
4. Jean Alesi Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM
5. Uwe Alzen Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM
6. Christijan Albers Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM
7. Manuel Reuter Opel Astra V8 Coupe
8. Bernd Maylander Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM
9. Peter Dumbreck Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM
10. Patrick Huisman Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM
ETCC
Race one dawned overcast and wet. Rain, which swept the circuit, stopped in time for the race, but it would be a lights on and wets affair. Larini used all his experience and got the best leap from the grid to lead from local hero Rickard Rydell in the Volvo and Frederik Ekblom's BMW. Ferrier was next but a slip off track let through Giovanardi and the Muller 'brothers'.
Race One
Pos Driver Car
1. Nicola Larini Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
2. Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
3. Rickard Rydell Volvo S60
4. Jorg Muller BMW 320i
5. Jordi Gene BMW 320i
6. Tom Ferrier Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
7. Fabrizio di Simone BMW 320i
8. Peter Kox BMW 320i
9. Tom Coronel BMW 320i
10. James Hanson Volvo S60
Race Two
Pos Driver Car
1. Jorg Muller BMW 320i
2. Rickard Rydell Volvo S60
3. Frederik Ekblom BMW 320i
4. Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
5. Nicola Larini Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
6. Dirk Muller BMW 320i
7. Tom Coronel BMW 320i
8. Peter Kox BMW 320i
9. Jordi Gene BMW 320i
10. Tom Ferrier Alfa Romeo 156 GTA
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