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.
Pantano Returns To The Fight
"It was hard to maintain my concentration," Pantano admitted afterwards. "I just tried to pull out a few tenths every lap. The car has been fantastic all weekend and everything was perfect in the race."
At essentially a new circuit, it was an opportunity for one of the smaller teams or one of the unheralded drivers to strike a blow. On the surface though it looked to be as normal. Pantano took pole by tenth from Enge with another tenth back to Bjorn Wirdheim, Arden hitting on the right setup. Bourdais was fourth, and in the ball park to be ahead of Antonio Pizzonia and the improving Durangos of Rodrigo Sperafico and Derek Hill.
Pantano won the start to lead the field around on the first lap with Wirdheim launching beautifully past his Arden teammate to be second. Bourdais was slow away, dropping behind Pizzonia, Mario Haberfeld, the brilliant starting Ricardo Sperafico, twin brother Rodrigo, Alex Muller and Hill. Hill had been delayed by being involved in a tangle with Patrick Friesacher and Toccacelo, with Bourdais also involved. Within a couple of laps Bourdais had spun off leaving his championship lead in the hands of Tomas Enge.
Ricardo Sperafico was electric, now past Haberfeld for fourth and closing on Pizzonia. Pizzonia, though, had his own plans, taking third spot on lap 6 when Enge ran wide in the Stadium. Enge didn't look happy on the circuit and on lap 15 was wide again at the hairpin. Sperafico took his cue and dived for the gap only to find Enge closing the door. The two clashed and Enge became a spectator. Sperafico didn't escape unscathed as a stop-go penalty was assigned. That dropped him out of the points as Rodrigo Sperafico, Haberfeld and Monteiro whizzed past.
Pantano now sits a mere seven points behind Enge and twelve behind Bourdais, making it a fight in three again. With 30 points left to offer though, luck would have to run Pantano's way fairly heavily to beat both of them. The teams now pack up and head to Spa-Francorchamps for an official test prior to re-assembling at the Hungaroring a week later.
Result of International Formula 3000 Championship, Round 9 of 12, Hockenheim, Germany:
Standings: Sebastian Bourdais 46, Tomas Enge 41, Giorgio Pantano 34, Rodrigo Sperafico 20, Antonio Pizzonia and Mario Haberfeld 18, Bjorn Wirdheim 16, Patrick Friesacher and Ricardo Sperafico 13, Ricardo Mauricio 7 etc.
Formula 3000 points distribution
Franchitti Wins One For Greg Moore
Dario Franchitti got his thin championship chances back on track by leading home teammate Paul Tracy for a Team Kool Green 1-2 victory. It was a victory made more important as for the second race running, the previously rampant series leader Cristiano da Matta watched the finish as a spectator. But the victor had another of CART's drivers on his mind. Dario Franchitti tearfully dedicated his victory to CART's fallen hero, and Vancouver native Greg Moore after receiving the trophy from Moore's father Ric.
Da Matta led the field around on the formation lap, having taken pole over Tracy by over a tenth and a half. Franchitti was third with Dixon next in a very tightly qualified group of Michael Andretti, Tony Kanaan and Christian Fittipaldi. Michel Jourdain Jr spun out of formation from 18th grid position and hit the wall, wrecking the nose cone. Jourdain rejoined the field as they came under the tower, only to find the yellows and the safety car stayed out. There was a water puddle reported at Turn 8.
Lap two and the race went green only for Andretti to spin, hitting Jimmy Vasser and Christian Fittipaldi and causing Kenny Brack to spin as well. Vasser and Brack were too damaged to continue. The race finally went green on lap 6 and da Matta led from Tracy, Franchitti, Dixon and Kanaan. Yellow again four laps later though, as Dixon spun after suspension failure. Dixon 'did a Mansell', missing all the walls, but he was out for the day, leaving only Junqueira left in the race for Ganassi.
Franchitti now leads but stops for his final stop shortly afterwards, handing Tracy the lead. Tracy needs to make another stop though. Junqueira starts slowing after his final stop, his lack of pace almost catching out Tracy who hits the slower than expected car, but gets away with minor damage. Lap 85 and Tracy's 16 second lead evaporates into his final pit stop and Franchitti is back into the lead. Five laps later and the yellows are out for debris Shinji Nakano scatters across the track as he crashes. Franchitti leads Tracy from Kanaan, Carpentier and Jourdain. The race goes green again on lap 92. Lap 92 isn't completed.
Carpentier spins, misses everything and Jourdain whizzes by. Next in line Tagliani tries to squeeze through but bashes the barriers. Tagliani continued briefly until suspension failure from the damage tosses the Player's car back into the wall again. Fernandez and Junqueira hit each other in the confusion. The race was red flagged and Fernandez was sent to hospital complaining of pain in his hip, but fortunately was later cleared of any serious injury.
After 15 minutes the cars were restarted and the race was go again on lap 96. Franchitti leads his teammate away as Kanaan dives under Jourdain for third. That is the last position change as the Kool Green cars finish in 1-2 formation. Kanaan takes third ahead of the ever consistent Jourdain with Carpentier surviving in fifth. Andretti claims sixth despite all his troubles.
Result of FedEx CART Championship Series, Round 10 of 19, Vancouver, Canada:
Standings: Cristiano da Matta 122, Dario Franchitti 84, Bruno Junqueira and Michel Jourdain Jr 74, Patrick Carpentier 72, Paul Tracy 68, Michael Andretti and Kenny Brack 60, Christian Fittipaldi and Alex Tagliani 58 etc.
Edwards Edges Closer To Battered Bayliss
Honda's Colin Edwards must feel like Christmas has arrived early, as after a string of wins by Ducati's Troy Bayliss, he is now on a roll of his own, winning both races at Brands Hatch after winning the second race at Laguna Seca the round before. Though Bayliss had a bad weekend by this season's standards, two podium places were a great result after a collision during practice which involved his own teammate Ruben Xaus left Bayliss with a broken rib, these following on from injuries he had suffered in the previous round at Laguna Seca. Edwards's two wins sees the gap between the two leaders down to less than two race wins with three rounds and a total of six races remaining.
Polesitter Neil Hodgson won the race into turn one in race one, just ahead of Troy Bayliss and Colin Edwards, the rest of the thundering pack close behind. Edwards took second at Dingle Dell on lap one, as the top three broke away from the pack almost immediately. Edwards now began to attack leader Hodgson, and it wasn't long before he was through, Edwards taking the lead at Stirlings on lap three. Back in fourth place and leading the trailing pack was Hodgson's teammate James Toseland, closely followed by Bayliss's teammate Ruben Xaus and a string of private and factory bikes.
Up front the top three continued to run fast and close together, as Xaus moved up to fourth past Toseland on lap five, who soon came under pressure from Noriyuki Haga, Haga moving up to fifth on lap seven. Haga soon was on to the tail of Xaus, a battle that would continue for lap after lap, heading a pack of bikes that varied in numbers through the race but always led by Xaus or Haga.
By lap 10 leader Edwards was starting to edge ever so slightly away from Hodgson, as Bayliss edged slightly closer to Hodgson, as Haga temporarily took fourth from Xaus before Xaus took the place back. After running well in the top ten throughout the race, Michael Rutter slid out of the race on lap 21.
Bayliss continued to harry Hodgson, but over the closing laps Bayliss decided to settle for third, as at almost the same time Hodgson made a last-ditch effort to catch Edwards. Xaus and Haga finally broke away from the rest of the pack, but their dice and position swapping continued. Hodgson's efforts to catch Edwards failed, though the gap closed to less than a second, Edwards winning from Hodgson and Bayliss, Ruben Xaus providing a highlight as he battled with Haga for fourth as he ran into the back of Haga just before they greeted the chequered flag, both riders staying upright but both riders surely getting a scare.
Race two saw Hodgson and Edwards side by side through turn one, Edwards falling in behind and dropping to third as Bayliss took second before the end of lap one. This didn't last long, as Edwards took second place back at the start of lap two, and moved on to Hodgson's tail once again. Michael Rutter and Pierfrancesco Chili led the chasing pack which also included the duelling Xaus and Haga. Lap four and Edwards repeated his move from race one at Stirlings. Hodgson ran in deep and passed Edwards back at the next turn Clearways, but his deep entry saw him run wide and Edwards went back through to the lead. Further back Chili and Xaus had passed Rutter to move into fourth and fifth place, Haga doing the same a lap later.
Up front it was a repeat of race one, with Edwards edging away from the two chasing Ducatis. However, with race one out the way, Bayliss knew he only needed to complete race two to end his day, and so he pushed harder knowing this was all the pain he would have to endure for the day. Chili and Xaus had broken away from the rest of the pack behind them, and were in fact still quite close to the top three. Lap nine and Bayliss's attack was successful, as he moved into second place into Paddock Hill bend, while further back, Xaus took fourth place from Chili on lap ten as they slowly began to be dropped by the Ducatis of Bayliss and Hodgson, who themselves were losing touch with leader Edwards.
Though Bayliss had passed Hodgson, he hadn't given up on finishing in second place, riding in Bayliss's wheeltracks as he looked for a way to get the place back. Lap eleven and Ben Bostrom passed Haga for sixth place, as the pair began to close the gap on Xaus and Chili, Chili taking fourth back on lap fifteen. Bostrom's progress saw him take Xaus on lap seventeen and Chili on lap eighteen, Chili dropping from fifth to eighth in one lap as Haga and Xaus went past as well.
After temporarily running second for a couple of corners a few laps earlier, Hodgson made the move stick on lap 18.
Just like Hodgson hadn't given up on second before he took the place back, Bayliss was determined to wrestle second place back from Hodgson. Meanwhile fourth was a fierce battle between Bostrom, Xaus and Haga, with places being swapped between Xaus and Haga just like race one. Lap 21 saw Bayliss move ahead of Hodgson into Paddock Hill bend just like he had done twelve laps earlier, except this time he was able to make it stick, holding on to second place to the finish ahead of Hodgson, Edwards going on to take a relatively comfortable win, Bostrom holding on to fourth ahead of the duelling Haga and Xaus, Haga taking fifth back from Xaus on the final lap!
Result of World Superbike Championship, Round 10 of 13, Brands Hatch, Great Britain:
Standings: Troy Bayliss 441, Colin Edwards 402, Neil Hodgson 257, Noriyuki Haga and Ben Bostrom 206, Ruben Xaus 193, James Toseland 131, Chris Walker 126 etc.
Superbikes points distribution
Scheckter Mark II
In 1973, Jody Scheckter exploded out of the lesser formulae to qualify third on the grid in only his second race in Formula One. Tomas Scheckter's run towards Formula One has been rockier, with his experiences with Jaguar being controversial rather than progressive. However, in his first year in a major international category, the younger Scheckter has broken through to take his debut IRL victory. It's a win that has been a long time coming with Scheckter being in good, even dominant form in several races, including the Indy 500.
"I didn't care about conserving fuel," said Scheckter. "I didn't care about anything. I just cared that my right foot was flat, and that's what I did the whole race. I could use a different line than anybody. I could get a lot lower than anybody, which enabled me to pass a lot of people. That was a wild race. I'm still dreaming now. I'm going to win a lot more. This is just the beginning."
Arguably more impressive was Buddy Rice's drive into second in his first ever IRL race. It was a proud moment for Eddie Cheever who had stuck his own car into the wall early in the race.
Eddie Cheever Racing dominated qualifing. The three car front row was all one colour scheme; Red Bull blue. Scheckter qualified on pole at 221.868 miles per hour, mere fractions ahead of the team's next car at 221.831. The surprise though was the occupant. Buddy Rice was extremely impressive, even taking into account the obvious superiority of the Cheever cars. Third fastest was team boss Eddie Cheever. Sam Hornish Jr led the rest in the Pennzoil Panther. Series leader Gil de Ferran was a mere 17th.
Scheckter led the field around to the green, but a perfect start from sixth qualified Helio Castroneves saw the Penske driver slot into second at turn one ahead of Rice. Rice ranged up and looked at retaking second early on but Castroneves held firm and Rice would drop to fourth behind Hornish. Soon Giaffone followed suit, but Rice climbed back to fourth a few laps later. The battle was tight, with fractions separating the five leaders. Cheever was some distance back in sixth.
Dare led the field into the pits. Scheckter was again an early stopper with Castroneves and Giaffone stretching their stints a further eight laps. The stops had just completed when Ward crashed into the wall in turn four. De Ferran had yet to stop, and so leapfrogged up the order with his 'free' stop. At the restart de Ferran was now fifth behind Scheckter, Giaffone, Rice and Sharp. Sharp didn't last long and de Ferran moved to fourth as Rice regained second from Giaffone.
As lap 119 came around, Dare trailed into the pits, parked his car and walked away. Four laps later and Scheckter made his third stop. Rice pits from the lead after seven laps. Giaffone spending five laps in the lead before his stop. This left Hornish leading for three laps. Castroneves was the last to pit and three laps later the yellows were out for debris again. Back into the green and Scheckter leads from Rice, de Ferran, Hornish, Giaffone and the flying Sarah Fisher. After five more laps Fisher reaches third position.
With lap 163 the thirsty Infinitis again start the pitstop cycle, with Scheckter in first, before losing time as he stalled on the exit of his stop. Rice again was second in. And then Cheever crashed in turn two, bringing out the yellows and isolating his teammates from the field with the yellows out. At the green de Ferran completed his charge up the order by leading out the field from the last stops. Sharp was second from Hornish, while Castroneves pounced on Giaffone to take fourth. Rice was tenth and Scheckter twelfth.
Lap 185 and Fisher takes the lead, demoting Giaffone to second with Castroneves now third. But the real mover was Scheckter. By lap 191 Scheckter was through Giaffone and hunting down Fisher. On lap 194 Scheckter reasserted his dominance of the field by retaking the lead. Rice was now far behind, moving into fourth taking Renna. Fisher was tumbling down the order with a problem. With two laps to go Scheckter had a second over Giaffone with the fast closing Rice and Renna about to pounce. As the chequer approached Rice forced his way into second, beating Giaffone and Renna to the line. De Ferran was fifth with Castroneves sixth.
With de Ferran, Castroneves and Hornish all finishing together down the bottom of the ten the mover in the championship is Giaffone, closing to withing thirty points of Hornish's third place. Kentucky beckons for the series twelfth round.
Result of Indy Racing League, Round 11 of 15, Michigan Speedway, Michigan, United States:
Standings: Gil de Ferran 377, Helio Castroneves 365, Sam Hornish Jr 359, Felipe Giaffone 330, Alex Barron 261, Airton Dare 246, Scott Sharp 230, Jeff Ward 223, Al Unser Jr 207, Tomas Scheckter 202 etc.
Excellent Elliott
The polesitter might have won the race, but it was definitely not a lights-to-flag win for Bill Elliott at Pocono. Elliott led early and late in the race, but the rest of the race was dominated by fellow Dodge runner and points leader Sterling Marlin, a race which saw several big wrecks including a lap one incident involving teammates that ended up causing a large time delay.
After an hour delay, the race finally resumed, with Rudd leading the field away at the restart. On lap 10 Elliott went past Rudd to retake the lead. Meanwhile, drivers back in the field were running two and three wide as they battled hard to make it to the front quickly in case bad weather closed in. Lap 24 and the caution came out for rain, Joe Nemechek sneaking in for a pit stop just as the yellow came out, with almost everyone else pitting the next lap. The rain intensified, causing a two hour delay before the race could be restarted (again), with Earnhardt's repaired car joining the field again after the lap one wreck.
After not pitting during the flurry of stops when the rain came out, Morgan Shepherd came into the pits just before the green after leading his first laps in five years, handing the lead over to Joe Nemechek. The race finally restarted on lap 33 with Nemechek leading the way, before lap 39 saw Marlin take the lead down the short chute into turn three, and edge away from the rest of the field, pulling out seven seconds over second place by lap 55, which was Bill Elliott as he passed Tony Stewart for the place on that lap.
The third caution came out on lap 105 after Mike Skinner ran out of fuel on the backstretch. With many cars having just stopped, several cars didn't stop under the caution, though those towards the back took the chance to make a 'free' stop. The race restarted on lap 110 with Marlin continuing to lead from Bill Elliott, as the 25 other lead lap cars waded their way through lapped traffic. Thanks to the yellow, Elliott was now right on Marlin's rear bumper, though Marlin began to edge ever so slightly away again as the laps ran on. At around lap 125 it was announced the race would be shortened from 200 laps to 175 laps due to impending darkness.
The final scheduled stops of the day began with 40 laps remaining, some cars pitting just before Jeremy Mayfield brought out another caution on lap 144 after spinning after contact at the 'tunnel' turn, clouting the inside wall hard. The race restarted on lap 146 with Marlin getting a great restart, leaving Elliott and the rest of the field in his wake, Jeff Burton taking second at turn three on the lap after the restart only for the left rear tyre to go flat as he made the pass. As Burton limped back to the pits, Jerry Nadeau had a huge crash at the 'tunnel' turn, bringing out another caution.
Lap 152 and the race restarted, Marlin continuing to lead Elliott as the Dodges continued to show the way. Elliott was hanging on to Marlin this time however, and on lap 157 passed Marlin for the lead, Marlin losing second to Kurt Busch one lap later. That was how it stayed to the end, Elliott winning ahead of Busch and Marlin, Dale Jarrett and Ryan Newman finishing off consistent good days in fourth and fifth place. Jeff Burton's late flat tyre saw him finish down in 16th place.
Result of NASCAR Winston Cup, Round 20 of 36, Pocono Raceway, Pennsylvania, United States:
Standings: Sterling Marlin 2779, Mark Martin 2673, Jimmie Johnson 2635, Jeff Gordon 2591, Kurt Busch 2540, Ricky Rudd 2525, Tony Stewart 2523, Rusty Wallace 2520, Bill Elliott 2471, Matt Kenseth 2435 etc.
Superman Skaife
Mark Skaife must be watching Michael Schumacher it seems. After a dominant season in a red car which he has won all but one round and all but five of the season's eighteen races, he is on track to score a record-equalling fifth touring car title, as he expanded his lead in the championship out to 797 points with a maximum of 1280 points up for grabs. It saw him take his 60th career win, scoring his fourth win at the venue in the last four years. He did face challenges at times during the races but they weren't enough to stop him from claiming both races.
Skaife was one of the first to pit, stopping at the end of lap four. Ambrose stopped at the end of the next lap, only to suffer a problem with the right rear wheel nut, costing Ambrose twenty seconds and several positions. Lowndes stopped on the next lap and resumed just behind Skaife, Bright being the last of the expected contenders to stop on lap nine, resuming just behind McConville who promptly spun out on lap 14 when his steering locked up, having been one of the first to pit. This brought the safety car out, with Seton now leading but Skaife the first car to have pitted back in fifth just ahead of Lowndes, Bright and Tander.
Lap nineteen and racing resumed, Skaife immediately going after the cars ahead, Lowndes and Bright trying but failing to make moves on the car ahead stick. Further back in the field Murphy was involved in more contact as he tried to turn across the front of Cameron McLean's Falcon on the exit of a corner. Up front Lowndes continued to push Skaife as they moved closer and closer to retaking the lead, finally doing so when Seton pitted on lap 24. Further back Tander was up into fourth by lap 26 ahead of Castrol teammates Steven Richards and Russell Ingall.
The safety car came out for a few laps to recover some dead cars around the track, which cost Lowndes as at the restart as he was suffering electrical problems, and so his wounded car was easy meat for several others, dropping him from third to end the race in twelfth place. Lap 52 saw Brad Jones spin off the track on oil, bringing out the safety car once again, the race resuming with three laps remaining, though the only change of note was Ambrose passing Ingall just after the restart, as the two HRT cars of Skaife and Bright led home the field ahead of Steven Richards, Ambrose and Russell Ingall.
Race two began with the two HRT cars on the front row, but Steven Richards from third on the grid beat them both into turn one. Unfortunately he understeered wide two corners later, letting Skaife through into the lead once again. Further back Steve Ellery was fourth ahead of Neil Crompton, Ingall and Ambrose, Ingall passing Crompton before the end of lap one to take fifth. For the second race in a row there was early action going on to the bridge, as Paul Romano spun Brad Jones in a similar incident to the Murphy/Besnard incident in race one.
Lap thirteen saw Tander make his stop, which handed the lead to Larry Perkins. By lap seventeen most cars had stopped and Skaife was back up to second place, with Ambrose moving past Richards up to third on lap 18, followed by Bright, Ingall and Ellery. Lowndes was charging up through the field, passing teammate Crompton for tenth on lap 19. Perkins enjoyed twelve laps in the lead before making his stop on lap 24, dropping down to 20th when he resumed. Besnard moved ahead of Ellery on lap 27 to move up to sixth place.
Just after half distance Ambrose closed the gap to Skaife, at one stage getting the gap down to under two seconds, before spinning into the same sand that Brad Jones was bogged in in race one, except Ambrose managed to escape, rejoining just in front of Richards and Bright, before edging away from them. The race had basically ended at half distance however, as from lap 29 to the last lap, lap 58, the top ten finishers remained in the top ten positions, the only changes coming when Bright passed Richards to take third on lap 44 and Lowndes passed Ellery to take seventh on lap 49. This meant that once again Skaife was the winner, followed by Ambrose, Bright, Richards and Ingall, Lowndes recovering to seventh.
Result of V8Supercar Championship Series, Round 7 of 13, Oran Park, Australia:
Standings: Mark Skaife 1693, Jason Bright 896, Greg Murphy 894, Marcos Ambrose 809, Todd Kelly 802, Steven Richards 731, Craig Lowndes 714, David Besnard 561 etc.
V8Supercar points distribution
Vauxhall Ascendant
"I am delighted with my race win and very pleased that the team has come away with two race wins this weekend," said Muller. "I've lost so many points this year with bad luck that I'm still not really thinking about the championship, if it is my destiny to win, then I will. There is a lot of respect between the Vauxhall drivers and that is very important. We still fight and fight hard, but not at any cost. That brings me great pleasure. I'm enjoying my racing more than ever now and look forward to Knockhill in two weeks' time."
In the sprint race Neal jumped away from the field with Thompson in close company. Warren Hughes was third initially but couldn't hold out Muller. Priaulx moved up to attack Muller as Neal pulled over, out of the lead with engine gremlins. Priaulx chased hard but Muller was too good and kept the Honda at bay, who in turn was being unsuccessfully attacked by Anthony Reid.
The feature race began with Thompson leading, with Neal in pursuit. Into the Esses Neal ranged up and took the lead. Muller was close behind in third with Alan Morrison in fourth and building a break on the rest. Morrison's challenge would not last, the Honda claimed by a puncture. Then the pitstops were upon the field. Muller emerged in the lead from Thompson and Neal, with Neal again soon past Thompson. Meanwhile the two MGs of Warren Hughes and Anthony Reid had closed on the leaders after some fantastic stops from the MG team.
Thompson now has a 25 point lead over Muller. Neal has fallen 21 points behind the factory cars. The best non-Vauxhall, Reid, is 17 points further back. Next the series ventures north to Scotland and the high speed action of Knockhill.
Result of British Touring Car Championship, Round 13 and 14 of 20; Snetterton, Great Britain:
Standings: James Thompson 146, Yvan Muller 121, Matt Neal 100, Anthony Reid 83, Andy Priaulx 76, Warren Hughes 64, David Leslie 61, Paul O'Neill 60, Dan Eaves 41, Tim Harvey 35 etc.
Formula 3000
Formula 3000 had become a two horse race. Sebastien Bourdais and Tomas Enge had between them won the last six races and were seventeen points clear of Giorgio Pantano. But fate reminded them there are more than two cars on a grid when both watched from the sidelines as Giorgio Pantano closed the gap to be within striking distance of the series front runners. Pantano struck a blow for Coloni by clearing away from pole position to take a near untroubled win at the new-look Hockenheim.
With only a couple of laps to go, bad luck reached out and claimed Pizzonia, a podium place robbed by a car no longer wishing to race. Pizzonia limped back to the pits and retired. Out front Pantano and Wirdheim were untroubled, taking first and second at their leisure. Having lucked into fourth, Rodrigo Sperafico now found himself in third at the line. Haberfeld and Monteiro finished up a spot, while Ricardo Sperafico climbed back into the points. A form reversal saw Nordic back into the top ten with Thed Bjork in seventh ahead of Zsolt Baumgartner ahead of the much troubled Hill whilst Pizzonia would be classified in tenth.
Pos Driver Team
1. Giorgio Pantano Coloni F3000
2. Bjorn Wirdheim Arden International
3. Rodrigo Sperafico Durango Formula
4. Mario Haberfeld Team Astromega
5. Tiago Monteiro Super Nova Racing
6. Ricardo Sperafico Petrobras Junior Team
7. Thed Bjork Nordic Racing
8. Zsolt Baumgartner Nordic Racing
9. Derek Hill Durango Formula
10. Antonio Pizzonia Petrobras Junior Team
CART
"I've been waiting two years to say this, but this one's for you, Greg," said the Scot-Italian on the podium. Later he was more expansive. "A one-two finish for Team KOOL Green, we've done this before, haven't we? I do like it better this way though. The Team KOOL Green guys did a great job on the pit stops today and I'm really happy. We knew late in the race that Paul would have to pit again and it's unfortunate for him, but our strategy worked wonderfully today. Kyle (Moyer, Team KOOL Green team manager) said Paul would be strong on the restart but I made sure I stayed in the lead and built a decent gap. It is really special for me to win here in Vancouver, I've been waiting two years to see Ric Moore at the top of the podium."
Da Matta's lead was out to five seconds when the leaders began their first stops. Da Matta retained the lead after the stops, and almost immediately afterwards the yellows were out as Andretti and Takagi tangle with the wall. Andretti is push started. Some of the leaders stop again, and Tracy now leads with Da Matta and Franchitti next but have had a fuel top up. The field ran reasonably untroubled from there up to lap 61 when Carpentier starts slowing out of fourth place. While he continues, two laps later both of the Newman-Haas cars die together on lap 64. Fittipaldi makes it back to the pits, whilst da Matta stops in pit exit.
Pos Driver Car
1. Dario Franchitti Lola-Honda
2. Paul Tracy Lola-Honda
3. Tony Kanaan Lola-Honda
4. Michel Jourdain Jr Lola-Ford
5. Patrick Carpentier Reynard-Ford
6. Michael Andretti Lola-Honda
7. Alex Tagliani Reynard-Ford
8. Adrian Fernandez Lola-Honda
9. Bruno Junqueira Lola-Toyota
10. Mario Dominguez Lola-Ford
Superbikes
Race One
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Colin Edwards Honda VTR 1000 SP2
2. Neil Hodgson Ducati 998 F 01
3. Troy Bayliss Ducati 998 F 02
4. Noriyuki Haga Aprilia RSV 1000
5. Ruben Xaus Ducati 998 F 02
6. Chris Walker Kawasaki ZX-7RR
7. Ben Bostrom Ducati 998 F 02
8. Pierfrancesco Chili Ducati 998 RS
9. James Toseland Ducati 998 F 01
10. Shane Byrne Ducati 998 RS
Race Two
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Colin Edwards Honda VTR 1000 SP2
2. Troy Bayliss Ducati 998 F 02
3. Neil Hodgson Ducati 998 F 01
4. Ben Bostrom Ducati 998 F 02
5. Noriyuki Haga Aprilia RSV 1000
6. Ruben Xaus Ducati 998 F 02
7. Pierfrancesco Chili Ducati 998 RS
8. Chris Walker Kawasaki ZX-7RR
9. Michael Rutter Ducati 998 RS
10. Shane Byrne Ducati 998 RS
IRL
It was a strange situation as the relationship between Scheckter and team owner Eddie Cheever had become strained in recent times, even to a point the Cheever fronted a third car for the team's test driver Buddy Rice. But a win does change everything.
Castroneves's fight for the lead came to an end when Hornish attacked on lap 25. Giaffone soon pushes past Hornish to give Castroneves a breather. Rice then regains a spot from Hornish. Lap 38 and Scheckter pits from the lead, the first of the leaders to do so, followed quickly by Hornish and Rice. As the stops were completed a couple of pieces of debris brings out the yellows. At the restart Scheckter again assumed the lead from Rice, Giaffone, Castroneves and Airton Dare. Giaffone and Rice started swapping second position as Scheckter started to move away again as the second stop approached.
Castroneves quickly bridged the gap to de Ferran to fight with his teammate. Giaffone dived under the pair of them as Fisher moves up on the Penskes. The vicous dicing is playing into the hands of the two Cheever Dallara-Infinitis who are moving through the field to get back to the leaders.
Pos Driver Car
1. Tomas Scheckter Dallara-Infiniti
2. Buddy Rice Dallara-Infiniti
3. Felipe Giaffone GForce-Chevrolet
4. Tony Renna Dallara-Chevrolet
5. Gil de Ferran Dallara-Chevrolet
6. Helio Castroneves Dallara-Chevrolet
7. Sam Hornish Jr Dallara-Chevrolet
8. Sarah Fisher GForce-Infiniti
9. Scott Sharp Dallara-Chevrolet
10. Richie Hearn Dallara-Chevrolet
NASCAR
Polesitter Bill Elliott had to wait a little while to take the start as the field took a few extra pre-race laps to dry off the damp track. Elliott led into turn one on lap one but Ricky Rudd led out of it as further down the field Rusty Wallace, Steve Park and Dale Earnhardt Jr made contact. Steve Park and Dale Earnhardt Jr's cars were sent sharp left, Earnhardt's car pushing Park's car all the way into the Armco barrier as they slid over the wet grass, Park's car a mangled mess after somersaulting into the air after contact with the Armco. Earnhardt Jr came running over to Park's car as he helped to extricate his teammate, both drivers emerging basically unscathed. The field ran a few laps under yellow before the red flag was thrown to fix the damaged section of Armco.
The first round of pit stops passed fairly uneventfully, with Marlin continuing to lead a closing Elliott ahead of a field that was getting more and more strung out, with 34 cars on the lead lap after 82 laps. After closing early in the run, Elliott drifted ever so slightly back from Marlin as the field closed in on another round of pit stops as they approached lap 100, Jeff Burton moving ahead of Dale Jarrett for third.
Pos Driver Car
1. Bill Elliott Dodge Intrepid
2. Kurt Busch Ford Taurus
3. Sterling Marlin Dodge Intrepid
4. Dale Jarrett Ford Taurus
5. Ryan Newman Ford Taurus
6. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Monte Carlo
7. Tony Stewart Pontiac Grand Prix
8. Matt Kenseth Ford Taurus
9. Terry Labonte Chevrolet Monte Carlo
10. Ricky Rudd Ford Taurus
V8Supercar
The weekend's events comprised of two 150km races, each featuring a compulsory pit stop for tyres. Polesitter Marcos Ambrose held on to the lead at the start as Mark Skaife jumped from fourth to second and Cameron McConville moved from fifth to third, followed by Craig Lowndes and Jason Bright as the field made their way around lap one. The pit stops began at the end of lap three, with those in the middle of the field taking their stops first. On lap four Greg Murphy barged his way past David Besnard just before the flyover, allowing Steven Richards to sneak through as well. As they came off the bridge, Murphy's car spun in front of the field, possibly due to light contact from Steven Richards car, Murphy resuming unscathed at the back of the field.
As they came down the pit straight at the end of lap 33 Bright curiously passed Lowndes, in what was going to turn out to be a disappointing race for Lowndes. Lap 36 and Tander dropped from fourth to eighth also in a fairly inexplicable manner, as he managed to maintain his pace for the rest of the race. Contact on lap 40 between Paul Radisich and David Besnard cost Radisich several places and earned Besnard a penalty, dropping them from 9th and 10th to 12th and 28th four laps later. Lap 43 saw contact at turn two as John Bowe made an ambitious move down the inside of Max Wilson, less than two laps after Wilson and Tander had made contact, costing Tander four places.
Unfortunately the outcome this time was much worse, as a stationary sideways Jones was collected heavily by Todd Kelly, ending their days, and delivered glancing but fatal blows to Max Wilson and Steve Johnson, while Greg Murphy spun in avoidance and dropped to rear of field. Not surprisingly the safety car made another appearance, with the race resuming on lap six, Ambrose immediately attacking and passing Crompton. Ellery pitted from fourth at the end of lap six, Skaife pitting a lap later, with Richards, Bright and Ambrose following the next lap with Ingall and Lowndes the other top runners following on one lap further on. Of those that had stopped, Bright lost a place to Ambrose as after ten laps Tander led, with Skaife in eighth the first of those who had stopped.
Race One
Pos Driver Car
1. Mark Skaife Holden Commodore VX
2. Jason Bright Holden Commodore VX
3. Steven Richards Holden Commodore VX
4. Marcos Ambrose Ford Falcon AU
5. Russell Ingall Holden Commodore VX
6. Steve Ellery Ford Falcon AU
7. Neil Crompton Ford Falcon AU
8. Rick Kelly Holden Commodore VX
9. Glenn Seton Ford Falcon AU
10. Garth Tander Holden Commodore VX
Race Two
Pos Driver Car
1. Mark Skaife Holden Commodore VX
2. Marcos Ambrose Ford Falcon AU
3. Jason Bright Holden Commodore VX
4. Steven Richards Holden Commodore VX
5. Russell Ingall Holden Commodore VX
6. David Besnard Ford Falcon AU
7. Craig Lowndes Ford Falcon AU
8. Steve Ellery Ford Falcon AU
9. Garth Tander Holden Commodore VX
10. Neil Crompton Ford Falcon AU
BTCC
It is now a race in two. With Matt Neal again scoring no points, and Anthony Reid and Andy Priaulz too far behind, James Thompson and Yvan Muller will fight out this year's championship. The pair of factory Vauxhalls took a win and a second each, with Muller taking the greater points from the feature race, thus closing the gap ever so slightly between them.
Neal was outracing his opponents as he closed in on Muller before getting the better of Muller in the Esses, leaving the EggSport car in the lead. Neal's feature race luck was no better than in the sprint race, however. A broken driveshaft claimed Neal's Vauxhall. Muller and Thompson moved gradually clear of the MGs. Reid had the best of the battle for fourth between himself, Hughes and Priaulx until a puncture then claimed him. A hub failure struck Priaulx's Honda and so Hughes was left to claim fourth from the Atomic Kitten MGs of Colin Turkington and Gareth Howell.
Round Thirteen
Pos Driver Car
1. James Thompson Vauxhall Astra
2. Yvan Muller Vauxhall Astra
3. Andy Priaulx Honda Civic
4. Anthony Reid MG ZS
5. David Leslie Proton Impian
6. Alan Morrison Honda Civic
7. Warren Hughes MG ZS
8. Phil Bennett Proton Impian
9. Colin Turkington MG ZS
10. Gareth Howell MG ZS
Round Fourteen
Pos Driver Car
1. Yvan Muller Vauxhall Astra
2. James Thompson Vauxhall Astra
3. Warren Hughes MG ZS
4. Colin Turkington MG ZS
5. Gareth Howell MG ZS
6. Carl Breeze Peugeot 406
7. Dan Eaves Peugeot 406
8. Tom Chilton Vauxhall Astra
9. Aaron Slight Vauxhall Astra
10. Anthony Reid MG ZS
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Volume 8, Issue 31
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The Complexities of Ralf Schumacher
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