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.
Closer To The Enge
Enge would have to face Bourdais in front of his home crowd. The Czech was equal to the challenge, taking pole position by a tenth and a half over the blue and yellow Super Nova goalpost he is chasing. Third fastest was Pantano six tenths further back, two tenths clear of Brazilian Mario Haberfeld. The Petrobras Team filled the third row, Ricardo Sperafico ahead of Williams tester Antonio Pizzonia.
The race start was delayed after a collision on the warm-up lap. Alex Sperafico (European Minardi) ran into the back of Thed Bjork near the end of the formation lap. Sperafico launched airborne over the rear of Bjork's car, rolling into retirement before the race even started. The crash looked bad, but Sperafico walked away. Bjork's first Formula 3000 start will have to wait until Hockenheim. The race was delayed while the debris was cleared.
Enge got the jump at the start but it wasn't convincing, with Bourdais closing in into the Adelaide hairpin. The two were side by side for a while but Enge was ahead at the end of the lap and started moving away. Haberfeld got the better of Pantano to be third, while Enrico Toccacelo jumped the Petrobras team to be fifth, but had both the blue and yellow teams close behind, dropping to seventh on lap 8. Two laps later and Pantano got his revenge on Haberfeld, taking third place. The race for the front looked over as Enge gradually edged away. Until the safety car bunched up the field.
The top of the table closes now to five points, with Pantano a very distant third. Pizzonia moves into fourth place in the championship as the field catches up to Rodrigo Sperafico, who has not added to his 16 points since the second race of the year. There is no rest for the Formula 3000 circus, as they travel with Formula One to Hockenheim.
Result of International Formula 3000 Championship, Round 8, Magny-Cours, France:
Standings: Sebastien Bourdais 46, Tomas Enge 41, Giorgio Pantano 24, Antonio Pizzonia 18, Rodrigo Sperafico 16, Mario Haberfeld 15, Patrick Friesacher 13, Ricardo Sperafico 12, Bjorn Wirdheim 10, Ricardo Mauricio 7 etc.
Formula 3000 points distribution
Everything Falls Rossi's Way
Just when it looked like someone was going to beat Valentino Rossi, two riders even, something happened. An error by one took out himself and the other rider with him, allowing Rossi to make it eight from nine as the series take a four week summer holiday. The rest of the field must be hoping Rossi takes the rest of the season off, as Rossi holds a 96 point lead over closest challenger teammate Ukawa with seven races remaining, the point lead equivalent to four points less than four race wins. Rossi could be beaten for the title but it sure doesn't look likely!
Up front Ukawa was being pressured by Alex Barros, as Rossi remained in eighth at the end of lap two, just behind Biaggi, who had lost another place. The start of lap four saw Rossi move up to seventh as Biaggi was baulked trying to pass Jeremy McWilliams at turn one, a lap later both moved up a place as they both passed McWilliams down the pit straight. The tight nature of the Sachsenring circuit saw the top seven riders riding in train formation, Ukawa on a four-stroke leading a string of four two-strokes. Lap six and Jacque took Barros into turn one, Rossi doing the same to Abe at the same corner. Further around the lap Barros returned the favour at the fast esses, while a corner later Rossi passed Shinya Nakano to move up to fourth, as further back Biaggi had moved up to sixth.
Out of the fast esses on lap seven Barros took the lead, with Jacque moving past Ukawa at the next turn, Rossi almost following him through as Biaggi was up to fifth on his way back up the field. Ukawa was now holding up the field behind him as the top two got away, but a lap after the two in front passed Ukawa, Rossi did the same and resumed his chase for victory. As they completed lap 11, Ukawa had closed back up to Rossi, as the top seven still ran bunched together. A crash at the last turn took out Sete Gibernau, Kageyama and Daijiro Kato. At the start of lap 13 Ukawa moved back ahead of Rossi after Rossi went too deep into the first turn. Further round lap 13 Rossi was back in third, Biaggi going past Ukawa a corner later.
As they started lap 23 the lead pack was down to five, Rossi leading Jacque, Barros, Biaggi and Ukawa. Still Jacque looked for the lead, and still Rossi held him off. A mistake by Rossi around the back of the circuit, going wide and almost off the circuit on lap 25 dropped Rossi from first to third. Turn one of lap 26 and Biaggi tried to pass Rossi around the outside, failing to get past but giving notice to Rossi that he was going to have to fight for every position.
Three laps to go, and Barros had a go at the first turn to pass Jacque. Unfortunately he was in too deep, and although Jacque tried to give Barros room, Barros lowsided and took Jacque off and out of the race with him. Rossi now led the race, and was able to cruise home ahead of Biaggi and Ukawa to take another win to continue his astounding run of success in 2002.
Result of World Motorcycle Championship, Round 9, Sachsenring, Germany:
Standings: Valentino Rossi 220, Tohru Ukawa 124, Max Biaggi 109, Alex Barros 87, Carlos Checa 85, Norick Abe 82, Loris Capirossi 65, Daijiro Kato 60 etc.
Ward Burton A Winner Again
Ward Burton has had a pretty average year despite winning the opening race of the season, the Daytona 500. Sitting 25th in points, his outlook was a little brighter after winning at New Hampshire. The race saw several cars slam the wall, as the track had a groove that cars could run in that was less than two cars wide, with any car venturing higher on the track guaranteed a slow run around the corner or an unfortunate meeting with the wall.
Wallace led at the restart again, while soon after on lap 38 Bill Elliott was put out of contention when the engine died. He later rejoined the race many laps down. The next caution came out on lap 60 when Elliott Sadler did a 360 exiting turn four. Matt Kenseth emerged as the leader after the field made their second stops. After making his way up through the field, Dale Earnhardt Jr took the lead from Kenseth on lap 74 going into turn three. Less than a lap later the caution flags flew as Casey Atwood got loose exiting turn four and got tangled up with John Andretti, sliding down the front straight, stopping under the starter's stand.
Earnhardt Jr was still the leader as the race resumed, a lead which he held onto until the next caution, which came out on lap 106 after Kyle Petty slammed into the turn four wall after getting out of the groove. Ward Burton led at the restart after not pitting during the caution, but ran wide at turn one after the restart and lost several places, handing the lead over to Jerry Nadeau driving Johnny Benson's Pontiac while Benson recovers from injuries. The next caution came out when Tony Stewart slammed into the turn four wall after also getting out of the groove, a disappointing end after running up front all day.
Matt Kenseth was the leader on the restart after some cars took stops during the caution, Dale Earnhardt taking the lead on lap 152 after having been on Kenseth's tail for several laps, Kenseth returning the favour two laps later. The next caution came out on lap 159 for a smoking Ricky Rudd. Following more pit stops, Jerry Nadeau led the field as the top five stayed out, making a small break before being caught by Ward Burton, Burton taking the lead on lap 185.
Another caution came out on lap 189 when Steve Park got out of the groove and spun in turn four. About half the field stopped under yellow, as Ward Burton remained the leader at the restart as he was pressured by Earnhardt Jr, then by Kenseth after he passed Earnhardt before the tenth caution of the day came out on lap 200 when Michael Waltrip spun in turn two. Leader Burton pitted along with several other drivers under the caution, so Kenseth led at the restart but was passed on lap 209 by Earnhardt Jr. Lap 218 saw Kenseth take the lead back, and began to pull away before debris on the track brought out the caution on lap 233.
Only a few cars towards the back of the field pitted under yellow so Jarrett led at the restart, with Kenseth taking third from Burton on lap 281, and quickly moved onto Sadler's tail, who was right on Jarrett's bootlid. Lap 282 saw Kenseth and Burton pass Sadler down the back straight. Lap 283 and Kenseth moved down the inside in turn three, completing the pass through turn one on lap 284, opening a gap that allowed Burton to come through with him to take second. Another caution came out on lap 286 when Earnhardt Jr spun out of turn two after trying to move down the inside of Todd Bodine and only succeeded in tipping himself into a spin against the inside fence.
Kenseth led at the restart and opened up a small gap over the chasing pack, before the gap closed down, with Ward Burton making a move inside through turns one and two on lap 291 to take the lead, Jarrett following through soon after, Kenseth getting trapped high and losing place after place as Burton stretched the gap. Lap 296 saw Jeff Green take second from Jarrett as Ward Burton went on to take the win ahead of Green, Jarrett in third leading a pack of four Tauruses. Points leader Sterling Marlin had an up and down day finishing 14th just ahead of Jimmie Johnson, while a strategy miscue turned an average day into a bad one for Jeff Gordon, finishing 29th.
Result of NASCAR Winston Cup, Round 19, Loudon, New Hampshire, United States:
Standings: Sterling Marlin 2604, Mark Martin 2549, Jimmie Johnson 2512, Rusty Wallace 2477, Jeff Gordon 2464, Ricky Rudd 2386, Tony Stewart 2377, Kurt Busch 2365, Matt Kenseth 2293, Bill Elliott 2291 etc.
Barron Breaks The Drought
In yet another incredibly close finish, Alex Barron took the lead of the Firestone 200 with ten laps to go, and had to survive the blowtorch of a safety car restart with two laps to go to hang on to a narrow victory over the fast finishing Gil de Ferran and Sam Hornish Jr.
Billy Boat led the field around to take the green with Helio Castroneves tucked in behind, ahead of Hornish, Tomas Scheckter and Barron. Hornish was the early mover, taking second on lap 7, then the lead on lap 13 at the second attempt. Lap 18 saw the first drama when Sarah Fisher headed pitward with electrical gremlins. Shortly afterwards, last start victor Robbie Buhl smoked his way to a halt on the backstretch, bringing out a full course yellow. Most of the field took advantage of the early opportunity to bank a pitstop, but not all, and so Tony Renna took up the lead from Eliseo Salazar. At quarter distance Renna led from Hornish, Castroneves, de Ferran and Salazar.
With a second pitstop beckoning, Raul Boesel and Greg Ray separately hit the wall, bringing out the pace car and bringing on more 'free' stops. When the race went green again Eddie Cheever now led from Barron and Castroneves. Soon afterwards Hornish fought his way into the lead with Gil de Ferran following suit within half a lap. At half distance Hornish stretched the lead out to over two seconds with Airton Dare third ahead of Castroneves and Scheckter. Ten laps later the yellows flew when Salazar thumped the wall in turn two. Again the field is split as some pit and some don't. Cheever takes the lead back.
At the green Airton Dare jumps Castroneves and takes Cheever for the lead within two laps in a determined display. Dare holds the lead until lap 128 as Sam Hornish comes up. The very lap Dare loses the lead he loses the car and the yellows are out again to retrieve Dare's wreck. Hornish builds up a lead over Castroneves immediately at the restart to have 2.5 seconds in hand by three quarter distance. Scheckter, Billy Boat and Felipe Giaffone follow. Lap 160 and Castroneves is forced to make a green stop, which costs him any chance of a decent finish as ten laps later the yellows come out for Tomas Scheckter, another promising run for the South African ending prematurely.
Barron, Sharp, de Ferran, Hornish and Hearn are all bunched together. At the green Barron makes the perfect start, while de Ferran dives desperately low to get through on Sharp. De Ferran chases hard but two laps isn't enough and Barron takes his first career IRL win.
IRL officials make a change to the podium. Unhappy with the extent de Ferran has to go to pass the slow starting Sharp, they penalise Sharp a lap for blocking, dropping him to eighth. With Castroneves back in ninth, Penske teammate de Ferran takes the series lead, moving ten points clear, while Hornish's good finish sees him close further on the Penskes, only four points behind Castroneves.
Result of Indy Racing League, Round 10, Nashville Superspeedway, Tennessee, United States:
Standings: Gil de Ferran 347, Helio Castroneves 337, Sam Hornish Jr 333, Felipe Giaffone 295, Alex Barron 243, Airton Dare 239, Jeff Ward 218, Scott Sharp 208, Al Unser Jr 207, Eddie Cheever 179 etc.
Charges Dropped, As Unser Jr Seeks Help
Two-time Indy 500 winner Al Unser Jr. said on Thursday he will seek treatment for alcohol abuse after a prosecutor announced he will not face criminal charges for allegedly hitting his girlfriend.
"If this were a case against John Q. Public, would this be the kind of case where we would file charges based on this evidence? The answer is definitely and decidedly 'no,"' Newman said.
After the prosecutor's announcement, Unser, who won the Indianapolis 500 in 1992 and 1994 and was pursuing a comeback this season, said he would be entering a substance abuse treatment center.
"I have a problem with alcohol abuse," Unser said at the famed Indianapolis racetrack. "Nearly every poor choice I've made in my life occurred under the influence of alcohol. I don't understand why I have the problem, but I know I have to straighten it out."
Unser will skip at least two races, the Firestone Indy 200 in Nashville and the Michigan Indy 400 in Brooklyn, Michigan.
Unser's girlfriend Jena Soto originally told police Unser was inebriated and struck her in the face while she was driving after she tried to stop him from playing with the vehicle's gears. When she pulled over, he drove off and left her stranded on a highway.
When he was arrested later, Unser at first denied knowing Soto, then claimed she hit him first, according to police. A subsequent interview with Soto was not conclusive enough to make the case, authorities said.
Report provided by Reuters
Capitol Panoz
In the first ever visit to Washington D.C., Panoz upset predictions with David Brabham and Jan Magnussen taking a fine win over the Audis on the RFK Stadium Street Circuit.
Qualifying saw the touring car veteran Frank Biela take pole for Audi, three hundredths quicker than Dindo Capello. Biela though was only half a second clear of Jan Magnussen in third, ahead of Johnny Herbert in the Champion Audi. Could Panoz spring a surprise on this virginal new circuit? Cadillac's lead car was only a second from the pace, as the battle for the race became three cornered.
Stefan Johansson was flying in the white Audi, up to tenth place within four laps. In less than a quarter of an hour, the Audis and Panoz were encountering the back of the GT class, and in the concrete canyon, some bumping resulted, with Capello hitting Tony Kester. Bryan Herta in the second Panoz struck the same Porsche a lap later. Capello finally took second place from Magnussen placing the ever familiar sight of the silver stormers running 1-2.
Elsewhere, Terry Borcheller (Saleen S7R) and Mike Fitzgerald (Porsche 996 GT3) brushed and spun. Both recovered and so the safety car stayed in its bay. Half an hour in, and problems momentarily strike Biela, allowing Capello through to lead with Magnussen quickly up to second. Shortly afterward, Stefan Johansson trying perhaps too hard spun the Audi but kept it off the walls. Johansson recovered quickly but almost a lap had been lost, the leaders on the white car in an instant. Johansson and Capello had a brief moment and the enemy took full advantage, Magnussen darting through into the lead. Next lap though Magnussen pitted for fuel tyres and David Brabham. The culprit for the stop? A puncture.
Capello and Biela swapped places as the two Audis pushed hard. The Panoz was too fast for comfort this weekend. Capello now led the race again as the race went into yellows nearing the end of the first hour. The troubled KnightHawk MG was dead on the circuit now, and needed a tow. While a truck was dispatched, Biela and Herta queued up behind Capello. The pits opened and all the leaders were in. With the lead Panoz having already stopped, David Brabham was now the race leader, as the three Audis, the two Cadillacs and the second Panoz pitted together. There were problems for Eric Bernard though, the lead Cadillac Northstar heading behind the wall with gearbox dramas.
Once again all the leaders pitted, this time Brabham as well. Kristensen emerged as the new leader at the two hour mark ahead of Magnussen and Pirro. At the restart Pirro hit the back of Milka Duno's Lola-Judd, damaging the Audi's front end. It started to look like Kristensen would have to carry the flag for Audi, but Kristensen had succumbed and Magnussen was through into the lead again. Kristensen was not giving up, harrying the big roadster at every opportunity. Magnussen held firm, taking a one second victory over the Audis. While the #7 Cadillac had long since died, Max Angelelli and Christophe Tinseau did better, bringing their untroubled Caddy home in fourth place, ahead of the blighted Champion entry. Herta and Auberlen were sixth ahead of the Dyson Racing Riley & Scott.
GTS class was an interesting battle, but the strength of the two car Corvette team was too much for the Olive Garden Ferrari, Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell getting the better of race strategy to lead home teammates Andy Pilgrim and Kelly Collins. The Ferrari of Emanuelle Naspetti and Domenico Schiattarella finished a lap behind the second Corvette, with another lap back to Terry Borcheller and Franz Konrad in the Saleen S7R.
Twelfth outright was the lead LMP675 car, the Intersport MG-Lola of Jon and Clint Field, some eight laps clear of the 18th placed Pilbeam MP484 Nissan of Jeff Bucknum and Bryan Willman and Team Bucknum Racing, who in turn was another seven laps clear of the 22nd placed Lola B2K/40 Millington-Ford of Archangel Motorsports and Ben Devlin and Will Langhorn.
In GT, the top three cars, Porsches all, all finished on the same lap. The Alex Job Racing Porsche of Lucas Luhr and Sascha Maassen took the win from The Racers Group Porsche of Kevin Buckler and Brian Cunningham. The second Alex Job car of Timo Bernhard and Jorg Bergmeister were third in class and fifteenth outright, immediately behind its fellows. The second Racers Group Porsche was next, emphasising just how important those two teams are to ALMS GT.
Result of American Le Mans Series, Round 6, RKF Stadium Circuit, Washington DC, United States:
When The Cat's Away
The first race though was won in a surprise by Shinya Hosokawa. The Carlin Motorsport driver finally got a good qualifying performance together and coupled with a great getaway, saw Hosokawa arrive at the first turn alongside Fortec's Heikki Kovalainen and Courtney's substitute Derek Hayes. Hosokawa emerged from the clash first and led from there to the flag. It was not an easy victory though as Kovalainen chased mercilessly but was unable to find a way past the Japanese driver. Hayes took third after emerging relatively intact from a clash Chris Hodgetts which ended in the safety car being called out so the mess could be cleared up. Bruce Jouanny was fourth ahead of Fabio Carbone and Kerr. Adam Carroll again climbed his year old 'Scholarship' car into the top ten.
With Kerr having won back the points from a disqualification on appeal, a race win would give him the lead in the championship. Sounds simple, doesn't it. Kerr got a good start from his front row spot to be just behind the fast starting Kovalainen with Hayes in close company, the trio quickly gapping the field being led by Ronnie Bremer. Kerr stalked Kovalainen, before passing the Renault development driver just past half distance. Kerr ran away from Kovalainen to win. Hayes took third ahead of Bremer, while Carroll had a blinder to be fifth at the chequer in the F301.
Result of British Formula 3 Championship, Rounds 17 and 18; Rockingham, Great Britain:
Standings: Robbie Kerr 200, James Courtney 191, Bruce Jouanny 152, Michael Keohane 142, Mark Taylor and Heikki Kovalainen 106, Alan van der Merwe 80, Rob Austin 77, Fabio Carbone 72, Richard Antinucci 53 etc.
British Formula 3 points distribution
Michael Andretti Buys Team Kool Green
Michael Andretti, a member of American motor racing's first family, has purchased CART team Team Kool Green paving the way for an expected move to the rival Indy Racing League.
The most successful driver in CART history with 42 career wins, Andretti becomes majority owner, the team's chief executive officer and driver. Andretti, however, would not confirm which series he will enter cars in next year - CART or IRL - saying he would leave that decision up to team sponsors. The 39-year-old driver, however, made it clear that the Indianapolis 500, under the control of the IRL and one of motorsport's most prestigious events, would figure prominently in any plans.
A move by Andretti to the IRL would be another punishing blow to CART which has suffered a series of setbacks over the last year. The season began with Roger Penske, the most successful owner in American open wheel racing, defecting to the IRL. Two of the series engine manufacturers Honda and Toyota have also jumped ship while the race in Lausitz, Germany was recently cancelled due to a lack of funds.
The series has fielded as few as 18 cars for recent races while stock shares have plummeted.
In acquiring Team Kool Green Andretti takes over one of CART's most consistent and successful teams. Winners of the 1995 Indy 500 and the CART drivers title with Jacques Villeneuve, Team Kool Green currently fields cars for Andretti, Canadian Paul Tracy and Scotland's Dario Franchitti.
The team was also at the heart of the controversial finish of this year's Indy 500, owner Barry Green appealing the result arguing Tracy was the winner having passed leader Helio Castroneves before the caution light came on after a crash on the 199th lap. The appeal was later rejected.
"CART at the moment is in a very important time," said Andretti, who also had a brief unsuccessful stint in Formula One. "It's a critical time right now and the jury is out on whether it will continue and be positive or negative."
Report provided by Reuters
Formula 3000
The battle for the championship is now well and truly joined. With two-thirds of the championship run, it has come down to a two horse race. Tomas Enge won his second consecutive Formula 3000 race, and closed in on Sebastian Bourdais's championship lead, with a decisive drive at the eighth round at Magny-Cours. Sebastian Bourdais limited the damage to his series lead, finishing second. Third was Giorgio Pantano.
Derek Hill and Nicolas Kiesa were embroiled in a tremendous battle for sixteenth when Kiesa dived up the inside of Hill and the two clashed, with Hill rolling in the final turn. Kiesa helped Hill from the wreck. From the pace car restart, Enge was able to build up a lead again before an engine miss in the Zytek V8 slowed the Arden car. It looked close for a while as Bourdais closed in on the slowing Enge, but he wasn't closing quickly enough and Enge hung on for a 1.1 second victory. Pantano raced a lonely race for third, while Pizzonia, passing Haberfeld on the last lap, won the battle of Brazil. Toccacelo took the final point after Ricardo Sperafico pitted late in the race.
Pos Driver Team
1. Tomas Enge Arden International
2. Sebastien Bourdais Super Nova Racing
3. Giorgio Pantano Coloni F3000
4. Antonio Pizzonia Petrobras Junior Team
5. Mario Haberfeld Team Astromega
6. Enrico Toccacelo Coloni F3000
7. Patrick Friesacher Red Bull Junior Team
8. Rodrigo Sperafico Durango Formula
9. Tiago Monteiro Super Nova Racing
10. Ricardo Mauricio Red Bull Junior Team
MotoGP
For the first time all season, Rossi was not on the front row of the grid, qualifying sixth just behind his recovering teammate Tohru Ukawa in fifth. On pole was Olivier Jacque, who made a good start, but the best start of all was by Max Biaggi who led into turn one, followed by Tohru Ukawa, Jacque and Alex Barros, with Rossi down in eighth place. Ukawa immediately passed Biaggi, taking him around the outside of the chicane just after the first turn, with Barros following soon after to push Biaggi back to third. Biaggi lost another two places down the pit straight completing lap one and another one as he went through turn one, dropping from first to sixth in a lap.
Down the pit straight at the start of lap 15 Biaggi passed Rossi to take third place. Towards the end of lap 15 Rossi returned to third as he passed Biaggi again, and began attacking the two two-strokes again who were battling hard with each other. Finally, at turn one on lap 19, Rossi passed Jacque for second place and began pressing Barros, taking Barros just after the esses later in the lap. Jacque, having followed Barros for over ten laps, passed him at turn one on lap 21, as he chased after Rossi in pursuit of his first win on a 500cc bike.
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Valentino Rossi Honda RC211V
2. Max Biaggi Yamaha YZR M1
3. Tohru Ukawa Honda RC211V
4. Carlos Checa Yamaha YZR M1
5. Shinya Nakano Yamaha YZR500
6. Norick Abe Yamaha YZR500
7. Jeremy McWilliams Proton KR3
8. Nobuatsu Aoki Proton KR3
9. Garry McCoy Yamaha YZR500
10. Alex Hofmann Honda NSR500
NASCAR
Polesitter Bill Elliott lost the lead going down the back stretch on lap one, Mike Skinner taking the lead, but then ran up high into turn one on lap two, handing the lead to Rusty Wallace. The caution then came out as Dave Blaney and Skinner made contact in turn three on lap two. Wallace led at the restart. The next caution came out on lap 20 after Jimmy Spencer spun coming out of turn two, with the field taking the opportunity to make their first stops. Wallace remained in the lead before the next caution came out after 30 laps when Joe Nemechek hit the turn one wall hard.
Most of the field took this opportunity to make their final stop of the day, with Jarrett among the few drivers who didn't pit, and consequently became the new race leader. Another caution came out when Michael Waltrip spun again. Jarrett remained in the lead as the green flags flew once again, soon coming under pressure from Elliott Sadler, taking the lead on lap 259. Lap 261 saw Ward Burton move up to third, while lap 269 saw Jarrett retake the lead. Casey Atwood spun into the turn one wall to bring out another caution on lap 272.
Pos Driver Car
1. Ward Burton Dodge Intrepid
2. Jeff Green Chevrolet Monte Carlo
3. Dale Jarrett Ford Taurus
4. Rusty Wallace Ford Taurus
5. Ryan Newman Ford Taurus
6. Todd Bodine Ford Taurus
7. Robby Gordon Chevrolet Monte Carlo
8. Kurt Busch Ford Taurus
9. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Monte Carlo
10. Elliott Sadler Ford Taurus
IRL
"I got a good run on Scott (Sharp) on the restart," Barron said. "I was going to go around him on the high side, but you can't really run up high at the end of the race here. I tried it once, but you lose the front end of the car. I kind of backed off, let him drift up, and then I swung back underneath him, punched off hard. I got a good run on him and got underneath him. Once I got out front, my car was perfect and I just had the pedal down flat out until the end of the race."
At the new green Scott Sharp leads for the first time only for more yellows, this time for only three laps as Buddy Lazier hits the wall. At the restart Sharp and Barron are side-by-side sweeping into turn 1, Barron completing the pass on the backstretch. Hornish too is moving, passing Hearn for fourth. With Barron 1.5 seconds clear, Jeff Ward spins with five laps to go. The track is quickly cleared for two frenetic final laps.
Pos Driver Car
1. Alex Barron Dallara-Chevrolet
2. Gil de Ferran Dallara-Chevrolet
3. Sam Hornish Jr Dallara-Chevrolet
4. Richie Hearn Dallara-Chevrolet
5. Raul Boesel Dallara-Infiniti
6. Eddie Cheever Dallara-Infiniti
7. Felipe Giaffone GForce-Chevrolet
8. Scott Sharp Dallara-Chevrolet
9. Helio Castroneves Dallara-Chevrolet
10. Tony Renna Dallara-Chevrolet
Marion County Prosecutor Scott Newman told reporters there was not enough evidence to convict Unser, 40, in the alleged July 9 assault on his 38-year-old girlfriend as the two drove back from the "Classy Chassy" strip club in Indianapolis.
ALMS
The race would be short one car very early on, as the AB Motorsport Pilbeam-Nissan had an engine failure in the morning warm-up. Another drama was to befall a prototype. The Champion Team made the decision to change tyres on their R8 for the race start, accepting the penalty of a rear of grid start along with it. American ViperRacing worked against time to get their second Viper back into the race after crashing in the warm-up and succeeded, allowing Shane Lewis to start from pitlane. Just past midday, Frank Biela led the field around to the start and over the first flying lap of the race chased by Magnussen and Capello. Already another of the prototypes was in trouble though, as the KnightHawk Racing MG-Lola was in the pits with turbo problems.
At the green Brabham led the way from Kristensen and Pirro in the two Audis, but Kristensen was soon pitward for a stop-go penalty for the part he played while trying to lap the Champion car earlier. This allowed Bill Auberelen into third briefly as a misfire struck the Panoz. A quick stop saw a stuck rev limiter fixed with a new steering wheel. With the race now at half distance a furious dice erupted for the lead between Brabham and Pirro, the two former Formula One drivers turned sportscar veterans swapping the lead on track. While this was happenning, two GT Porsches of Paul Mears Jr and Adam Merzon clashed, leaving the chicane covered with debris. Both limped to the pits with Merzon retiring.
Pos Drivers Car
1. Jan Magnussen/David Brabham Panoz LMP01
2. Rinaldo Capello/Tom Kristensen Audi R8
3. Frank Biela/Emanuele Pirro Audi R8
4. Max Angelelli/Christophe Tinseau Cadillac LMP02 Northstar
5. Stefan Johansson/Johnny Herbert Audi R8
6. Bryan Herta/Bill Auberlen Panoz LMP01
7. Chris Dyson/James Weaver Riley & Scott MkIIIA Lincoln
8. Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell Chevrolet Corvette C5-R (GTS)
9. Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins Chevrolet Corvette C5-R (GTS)
10. Emanuelle Naspetti/ Ferrari 550 Maranello (GTS)
Domenico Schiattarella
Formula 3
Runaway series leader James Courtney was absent from Formula 3's visit to the Rockingham facility. The previous week, Courtney had a monster shunt at Monza at over 320 km/h while testing the Jaguar R3B Formula One car. With the doctor prescibing rest, Robbie Kerr made the most of it, taking a win in the second race of the weekend.
Round Seventeen
Pos Driver Car
1. Shinya Hosokawa Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
2. Heikki Kovalainen Dallara F302 Sodemo Renault
3. Derek Hayes Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
4. Bruce Jouanny Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
5. Fabio Carbone Dallara F302 Sodemo Renault
6. Robbie Kerr Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
7. Mathew Gilmore Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
8. Adam Carroll Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda
9. Mark Taylor Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
10. Ronnie Bremer Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
Round Eighteen
Pos Driver Car
1. Robbie Kerr Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
2. Heikki Kovalainen Dallara F302 Sodemo Renault
3. Derek Hayes Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
4. Ronnie Bremer Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
5. Adam Carroll Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda
6. Michael Keohane Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
7. Alan van der Merwe Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
8. Fabio Carbone Dallara F302 Sodemo Renault
9. Mark Taylor Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
10. Richard Antinucci Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
CART
"At this point, we really don't know," said Andretti. "It's going to be up to our sponsors and our partners which series we compete in. We wanted to get this done and then we will work on the sponsorship side of it and they will be the ones making the decision. That will determine where they are going to be and where I'm going to be as a driver."
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Volume 8, Issue 30
Articles
Never Say Nevers Again
Stepping into the Unknown
Ann Bradshaw: View from the Paddock
French GP Review
The 2002 French GP Review
July Champion
Job Security in France
German GP Preview
The 2002 German GP Preview
Local History: Germany
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Qualifying Differentials
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