Despite all the controversy there was still a race to be run. Arden threw down the first gauntlet, with Bjorn Wirdheim finally following through on pre-season promise to take pole position. Teammate Enge was third fastest behind Pantano. A stunning fourth was future star Rob Nguyen for Astromega ahead of Antonio Pizzonia and Mario Haberfeld. Bourdais could only manage seventh, almost six tenths from the pace. It was not looking great for the Frenchman.

The field jumped from the line, sprinting towards the Rettifilo where Astromega teammates Nguyen and Haberfeld clashed, sending Nguyen into Pizzonia. Nguyen then spun in front of the descending field, causing chaos. Ricardo Sperafico took avoiding action across the grass before lurching towards the track, sending Haberfeld spinning. Several drivers were delayed, including Bourdais, the series leader dropping to ninth at the end of the first lap.

Wirdheim had led that first lap pursued by Pantano, a fast starting Enrico Toccacelo, Pizzonia, Enge, Ricardo Sperafico, Derek Hill and Ricardo Mauricio. Pizzonia, keen to impress as he was believed to be negotiating with Toyota for 2003, blasted past Toccacelo down the straight. Sperafico dived under Enge into the Rettifilo. On lap four Sperafico lined up Toccacelo but it went wrong and Enge leapt past the pair of them, climbing into fourth behind Pizzonia. With Bourdais behind him and Pantano in sight, the title was Enge's. Patrick Friesacher had spun off at the end of the lap and Justin Keen soon joined him in retirement with a dead engine.

Sperafico was given a drivethrough penalty for causing an avoidable collision and dropped from contention. After serving his penalty he would clash with Tony Schmidt. By this stage Bourdais had climbed into the points. Pantano was flying, starting to close down Wirdheim's lead. Bourdais took Hill for fifth. Enge was the next car up the road, but the gap had grown to over ten seconds. The laps would surely run out. It would soon become academic as Bourdais's engine died, taking his championship aspirations with it.

Pantano was still in with a sniff, if he could pass Wirdheim. The Swede had opened the gap but Pantano set the fastest lap of the race and started to close again. Enge was a comfortable fourth, enough for the championship if Wirdheim took the win, but not so if Pantano won. Pantano couldn't quite close enough and Wirdheim looekd to have the race covered, until...

Mauricio slammed into the back of Nguyen, launching the Red Bull Lola into the air, flipping and rolling before catching fire. Mauricio escaped under his own steam, but suddenly the field is behind the pace car, giving Pantano the chance to close up to Wirdheim for one frantic final lap. It was Pizzonia though who made the best of the restart to jump into second. The move robbed Pantano of momentum and Enge was through to third, the title as secure as he could make it. Wirdheim raced away to take his maiden win from Pizzonia, Enge and Pantano. Toccacelo and Hill had collided at the same time as the Mauricio roll, taking them out of the picture and bringing Ricardo Sperafico back into the points. Nicolas Kiesa took the final point of the year.

Until the result of the hearing into Enge's anti-doping test is heard, he is the International Formula 3000 Champion, at the fourth attempt, three points clear of Bourdais and seven clear of Pantano. Wirdheim's victory took him into fourth in the championship, passing Pizzonia and the Sperafico twins. It had been quite a battle for the title, but the postscript could leave an unwanted sting in the tail.

"This weekend has been far from easy but I am absolutely delighted to have won the Championship," reflected Enge. "I was a little conservative at the start and lost a couple of places but soon moved into 4th after the Sperafico/Toccacelo accident. The car was fantastic in the race and I was easily able to catch Pizzonia. After the pace car came out I knew the situation with Bourdais but on the last lap I had the opportunity to pass Pantano to finish on the podium. A lot of hard work has gone into this Championship and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the team who have done a fantastic job this year."

Result of International Formula 3000 Championship, Round 12 of 12, Monza, Italy:

Pos  Driver                Team
 1.  Bjorn Wirdheim        Arden International
 2.  Antonio Pizzonia      Petrobras Junior Team
 3.  Tomas Enge            Arden International
 4.  Giorgio Pantano       Coloni F3000
 5.  Ricardo Sperafico     Petrobras Junior Team
 6.  Nicolas Kiesa         PSM Racing Line
 7.  Zsolt Baumgartner     Nordic Racing
 8.  Thed Bjork            Nordic Racing
 9.  Rodrigo Sperafico     Durango Formula
10.  Mario Haberfeld       Team Astromega

Final Standings (provisional): Tomas Enge 58, Sebastian Bourdais 55, Giorgio Pantano 51, Bjorn Wirdheim 28, Antonio Pizzonia 24, Ricardo Sperafico and Rodrigo Sperafico 20, Mario Haberfeld 18, Patrick Friesacher 13, Enrico Toccacelo 10, Ricardo Mauricio 9, Rob Nguyen, Tiago Monteiro and Nicolas Kiesa 2 etc.

Formula 3000 points distribution

  IRL

Down To The Shards Of The Wire

One hundredth of a second. It isn't very much. But that was the margin, not just for the race, but for the championship at Texas Motor Speedway for the season finale of the Indy Racing League. Sam Hornish defeated title rival Helio Castroneves by a hundredth of a second. For Hornish it was a justification of his series, his team and himself, facing off against the might of CART's most succesful team.

Team Menard had surprised the field in qualifying with Vitor Meira taking pole position from Al Unser Jr, Sam Hornish Jr and the two Cheever Dallara-Infinitis of Buddy Rice and Eddie Cheever. Castroneves was buried in tenth position alongside Sarah Fisher, and behind Tony Renna, Scott Sharp and Alex Barron.

Meira led the field around to take the green ahead of Unser, but Unser could not be contained, drawing alongside on the third lap around, staying there for a complete lap before completing the passing move. Hornish took Meira a couple of laps later. In a repeat of Chicago, Hornish commenced battle with Unser. Hornish took the lead on the seventh lap with Barron moving up to pressure Unser. Unser wasn't giving up and ranged up on Hornish's outside.

A brief yellow for debris came out as Hideki Noda pitted with front wing damage. Hornish led from Unser, Barron, Castroneves, Meira, Cheever and Renna. At the restart Barron jumped Unser, taking second. The field went into yellows again when George Mack spun on his own oil. When the pits opened on lap 31 most of the field pitted. Hornish led the pitters back onto the track but the race leader was now Robby McGehee, from Max Papis, substituting for the injured Gil de Ferran at Penske, Fisher, Rick Treadway and Cory Kruseman.

The field went green again on lap 36. By lap 44 Hornish was leading again. McGehee was holding down second while Barron and Castroneves squabbled over third. McGehee, an early pitter, stopped on lap 65 moving most of the leaders up a place. The race continued to the second round of pitstops, which began under green, with Cheever, Hornish, Jeff Ward, Meira, Dan Wheldon, Alex Barron, Buddy Lazier and Buddy Rice all pitting. The yellows sprung before everyone could pit when Jeff Ward and Hideki Noda clashed in turn two.

With half the field pitting under yellows, it split the race. Castroneves now led the restart from Unser, Sharp, Giaffone and Renna, although Renna was soon pitward with a broken front wing. Hornish was seventh. There only nine green laps before the race went yellow again. Once green again, Hornish continued making his way back through the pack and was fifth by lap 124, and fourth a lap later. Another three laps and Hornish took Barron for third and closed on Unser.

Behind Barron sat Sharp, Giaffone, Rice and Renna. Lap 142 and Hornish was second. Quickly on the assualt Hornish ranged up outside Castroneves. It took three laps of side-by-side racing before Hornish took the lead. Castroneves stayed where he was though. The crowd were thrilled to see the two title rivals slug it out. Hornish ended the battle by pitting on lap 153, beginning the third round of stops. When the stops were completed Castroneves was back in front ahead of Sharp, Unser, Hornish, Barron, Meira and Renna. Within a dozen laps and Castroneves had to deal with Hornish again as the Pennzoil Panther quickly dealt with Sharp after Unser retired with a broken motor.

On lap 177 the thrilling final stanza of the race began. Hornish again swung up on Castroneves's outside. The race had started with twelve points between them. Castroneves though had secured the two bonus points for leading the most laps. There were now ten points between them and ten points between first and second. If Castroneves won, the series would be tied at 521 points. The battle for third, while close, was forgotten. For the final 23 laps the crowd locked both eyes on the yellow car and the white car, side-by-side at over 220 miles per hour.

Castroneves led lap 195, Hornish 196, 197 and 198. After lap 199 the gap was just over a hundredth of a second. As the white flag was replaced with the chequer the two cars screamed down to the line and flashed across the stripe. And the computer said #4, by 0.0096 seconds. The Panther Racing pit bay exploded. Hornish knew the only way to be positively sure he'd win the title was to win. So he did, by the second smallest margin in IRL history. And that record was only a week old. Vitor Meira snatched third at the death from Scott Sharp. Alex Barron was fifth, leading home the two Buddys, Rice and Lazier.

Hornish won the title by the exact points gap from a first to second. The absent de Ferran took third in the title, Giaffone not being able to overhaul the Brazilian's pointscore. Barron was next with Sharp stealing sixth from Unser when Unser's car cried enough. Lazier finished a mere point up on Airton Dare with Eddie Cheever beating Jeff Ward to the final top ten spot.

"It has been an incredible season," said Hornish. "It would have been a little bit better if the driver hadn't have screwed up at a couple of races. The Pennzoil Panther crew, they do an awesome job for me. They always give me cars that are dependable, safe and good to go out there and run. I always enjoy to go out there and run for those guys. It's all for them. I really want to thank God, my family, my mom and dad; they made everything possible for me to be where I'm at. I wanted to win last year, and I wanted to win this year, but this year I needed to win. It's a great feeling. The Pennzoil Panther guys have given me awesome race cars all year long. Maybe we need to carry that American flag more often."

Result of Indy Racing League, Round 15 of 15; Texas Motor Speedway, United States:

Pos  Driver                Car
 1.  Sam Hornish Jr        Dallara-Chevrolet
 2.  Helio Castroneves     Dallara-Chevrolet
 3.  Vitor Meira           Dallara-Chevrolet
 4.  Scott Sharp           Dallara-Chevrolet
 5.  Alex Barron           Dallara-Chevrolet
 6.  Buddy Rice            Dallara-Infiniti
 7.  Buddy Lazier          Dallara-Chevrolet
 8.  Eddie Cheever         Dallara-Infiniti
 9.  Tony Renna            Dallara-Chevrolet
10.  Laurent Redon         Dallara-Infiniti

Final Standings: Sam Hornish Jr 531, Helio Castroneves 511, Gil de Ferran 443, Felipe Giaffone 432, Alex Barron 366, Scott Sharp 332, Al Unser Jr 311, Buddy Lazier 305, Airton Dare 304, Eddie Cheever 280, Jeff Ward 268, Laurent Redon 229, Billy Boat 225, Tomas Scheckter 210, Richie Hearn 204, George Mack 184, Robbie Buhl 177, Sarah Fisher 161, Raul Boesel 158, Eliseo Salazar 157, Robby McGehee 142, Buddy Rice 140, Greg Ray 128, Tony Renna 121, Vitor Meira 96, Jacques Lazier 90, Shigeaki Hattori 78, Rick Treadway 76, Mark Dismore 73, Jon Herb and Anthony Lazzaro 70, Hideki Noda 54, John de Vries 53, Paul Tracy 40, Will Langhorne 36, Dan Wheldon 35, Arie Luyendyk 30, Michael Andretti 26, Robby Gordon 24, Tyce Carlson and Kenny Brack 19, Max Papis 16, Dario Franchitti 11, Billy Roe, Memo Gidley and Scott Harrington 9, Cory Kruseman 4, Jeret Schroeder 3, Tony Kanaan 2, Bruno Junqueira 1

IRL points distribution

  CART

Franchitti's Home Run

Dario Franchitti had never won an oval race. But the motivation had never been higher. The Scot was back on the island of his birth. He hadn't won a race in Britain since the days of Formula 3 in 1994. With a St Andrew's cross, symbol of his nation, emblazoned on the nose of his Lola, he was more than merely keen to change that. Team Kool Green found a way, leapfrogging the leaders with a superb final stop, to lead home series leader Cristiano da Matta by under a second. Da Matta, though, was a winner in his own way. By finishing second, da Matta has only three rivals left capable of beating him to the title.

"My mum, both grandmothers, great aunt and everybody I've ever met in my life seemed to be here," said Franchitti. "At the start of the race it was difficult to get around anybody. On the first stop I was on the rev limiter and it just stalled. I thought it was the traction control but it was the clutch. We got out of sequence and the leaders didn't dictate the laps I was turning. It came down to the last stop and the guys, who I have been pretty hard on this year, had a peach. They put me out in the lead and I was able to stretch my legs. It's great to get a win on an oval and at home. Right now this feels great."

Kenny Brack looked a likely winner after qualifying. Brack has had a dreadful run since leaving Team Rahal for Chip Ganassi Racing. Perhaps pole position was a sign of a reversal of fortunes. Michael Andretti was second in what was probably his last race in Britain. Da Matta was third on the grid alongside Tora Takagi in his best ever qualifying performance. Franchitti was well placed in fifth alongside the Chip Ganassi car of Bruno Junqueira.

Brack led the field into turn one ahead of Andretti and da Matta. Fittipaldi was an early casualty circling below pace in the early laps. The first yellows came out for Paul Tracy. The Honda was no longer producing any power and the car was stranded between turns one and two. Shinji Nakano, Adrian Fernandez and Darren Manning pitted early at the opportunity. The order settled until the next yellow, a debris yellow. Alex Tagliani was carless by this stage, mechanical failure sidelining the Canadian. This time the entire field pitted.

The Ganassi squad serviced their car quickest and Brack resumed in the lead with Takagi now second ahead of Andretti, da Matta and Carpentier. Franchitti's stop was fumbled and the Scot plunged down the order. Takagi was traveling well and was looking for a way to take the lead when the yellows re-emerged for the crash of Shinji Nakano in turn four. Nakano was unhurt.

At the greens Takagi lowered the fastest lap of the race in his pursuit of Brack. When lap 94 came around the leaders started making the second pitstops. Franchitti took up the lead at this point, while Andretti was pinged for pit lane speeding. Franchitti led from Manning, Dominguez, Brack and Takagi. Franchitti pitted on lap 110, handing the lead to the other home town hero, Darren Manning in his one-off drove for Dale Coyne Racing. Manning soon pitted and the leaders were restored to the pre-pits order with Brack leading Takagi, da Matta, Franchitti and Carpentier.

Takagi made his third stop on lap 138 as da Matta stepped up the pace, further lowering the fastest lap of the race. Three laps after Takagi the majority of the field pitted, again handing the lead to the two out of sync Brits. After Franchitti pitted the yellows flew again as a wing endplate blew off Manning's Lola. Manning retained the lead despite the aerodynamic penalty until pitting on lap 159.

The yellows were out again after Tony Kanaan walled his car on the back straight. The field pitted en masse for the final stop on lap 173. Team Kool Green pulled a blinder, and the out of sync Franchitti was launched back into the race at the front of the field. At the green Franchitti led from da Matta, Carpentier, Oriol Servia and Junqueira, while Brack tumbled down the order when the Ganassi crew fumbled the ball at the crucial moment. With just 27 laps left at full speed on a circuit difficult to pass on, Franchitti was in the box seat. Da Matta tried what he could but it wasn't enough and Franchitti led his St Andrew's Cross to victory. The top five finished in that order with Takagi and Brack a disappointing sixth and seventh considering the pairs' form earlier in the race.

Result of FedEx CART Championship Series, Round 15 of 19, Rockingham, United Kingdom:

Pos  Driver                Car
 1.  Dario Franchitti      Lola-Honda
 2.  Cristiano da Matta    Lola-Toyota
 3.  Patrick Carpentier    Reynard-Ford
 4.  Oriol Servia          Reynard-Toyota
 5.  Bruno Junqueira       Lola-Toyota
 6.  Toranosuke Takagi     Reynard-Toyota
 7.  Jimmy Vasser          Lola-Ford
 8.  Kenny Brack           Lola-Toyota
 9.  Darren Manning        Lola-Ford
10.  Michael Andretti      Lola-Honda

Standings: Cristiano da Matta 191, Bruno Junqueira 133, Dario Franchitti 126, Patrick Carpentier 115, Christian Fittipaldi 98, Michel Jourdain Jr 94, Paul Tracy 86, Michael Andretti 85, Alex Tagliani 83, Scott Dixon 82 etc.

CART points distribution

  NASCAR

Newman's New Hampshire Number One

Rain wasn't able to stop Ryan Newman taking his first ever Winston Cup win at New Hampshire, a race he led most of the way from its rainy start to its rainy finish. Once again the battle for the championship tightened up, as Mark Martin finally overtook Sterling Marlin who has led the title chase for almost the entire season so far. That didn't mean Martin had a great day, as several of the title contenders struggled - Jeff Gordon finished 14th, Martin 16th, Rusty Wallace 19th and Sterling Marlin 21st.

Rain delayed the start of the race by just under an hour. When the race did start, Ryan Newman took the lead and edged away as Johnny Benson held onto second as Newman moved away. The rain soon returned however, and on lap 20 the race was under caution before the red flag came out as the rain got heavier.

After another rain delay, this time almost two hours, the cars resumed racing on lap 30 with Newman still in the lead, Benson and Bobby Labonte and Kurt Busch closing in just before lap 60 before Newman edged away again. Lap 75 saw the first 'proper' caution when Rusty Wallace hit Kyle Petty in turns one and two. As this was just before when everyone was scheduled to pit, the whole field headed for pit lane, Newman holding onto the lead through the stops.

It was green again on lap 80, as this time Benson was able to hang on to Newman taking the lead into turn one on lap 88, and slowly stretching his lead. At this point in the race the drivers were aware that the weather was closing in again, and that they were closing in on half distance, lap 150, at which point the race could be declared if the race could not be restarted.

Benson was enjoying a nice run at the front until he got held up lapping some of the cars further back in the field. While lapping Rusty Wallace, Wallace pinched down on Benson on the exit, sending Benson's car into a slide which allowed brother Mike Wallace to slip back ahead of Benson onto the lead lap. A few laps later, after getting alongside Mike Wallace through turns three and four, Benson and Mike Wallace made contact through turns one and two, allowing Newman and Busch to slip past as Benson dropped just behind them to third place.

Lap 145 saw Mark Martin forced to pit from seventh place as he suffered a flat right rear tyre, and then had a slow pit stop, dropping him down to 38th, though with pit stops looming for others, he could hope to gain some ground back. Lap 148 saw contact between Ward Burton and John Andretti, but no yellow was required. Pit stops loomed closer and closer as the race passed the halfway mark. Would drivers take a full complement of fuel and tyres, or take a gamble on less?

Lap 154 saw the start of these stops as Harvick was forced to pit with a flat left front, these stops continuing through until lap 167. Most drivers took four tyres and fuel, though among those who gambled were Jeff and Robby Gordon, both taking two tyres and one can of fuel, gambling that the weather would win out in the next 40 to 50 laps. Meanwhile Ricky Craven had moved up to fourth as otherwise not much changed at the head of the field.

At the front of the field Newman and Busch were fighting hard for the lead, Busch able to get partly alongside but not able to make the pass stick. This went on for lap after lap, Busch poking his nose in entering the corners before Newman accelerated away on the exit. The battle eventually ended when the race went back under caution on lap 200 as the rain had returned.

The chequered flag was waved 93 laps early when it was decided that the weather would not allow the race to restart once it was stopped, Newman taking his first Winston Cup win in his rookie year, after four second placings already this year. Busch was second, with Tony Stewart in third and Johnny Benson fourth.

Result of NASCAR Winston Cup, Round 27 of 36, Loudon, New Hampshire, United States:

Pos  Driver             Car
 1.  Ryan Newman        Ford Taurus
 2.  Kurt Busch         Ford Taurus
 3.  Tony Stewart       Pontiac Grand Prix
 4.  Johnny Benson      Pontiac Grand Prix
 5.  Bobby Labonte      Pontiac Grand Prix
 6.  Ricky Craven       Ford Taurus
 7.  Dale Jarrett       Ford Taurus
 8.  Michael Waltrip    Chevrolet Monte Carlo
 9.  Jimmie Johnson     Chevrolet Monte Carlo
10.  Matt Kenseth       Ford Taurus

Standings: Mark Martin 3545, Sterling Marlin 3539, Jimmie Johnson 3505, Tony Stewart 3486, Jeff Gordon 3478, Rusty Wallace 3399, Bill Elliott 3354, Ryan Newman 3353, Matt Kenseth 3325, Ricky Rudd 3318 etc.

NASCAR points distribution

  V8 Supercar

Finally Ford!

After a barrage of Holden wins, Ford finally won at the Queensland 500 on the weekend, David Besnard and Simon Wills taking the victory after a race which saw many changing fortunes. The usual suspects, HRT, lost their lead car of Jason Bright and Mark Skaife before half distance, their second car finishing in fourth after a poor qualifying position. Their stablemates at KMart Racing looked set for victory before they paid dearly for making a too short fuel stop as the car of Todd Kelly and Greg Murphy stumbled to the finishline, having lost their other car driven by internationals Andy Priaulx and Yvan Muller earlier in the race. Despite not finishing, Skaife's lead remained large and almost unassailable at the end of the day as his main contenders for the title either didn't finish (co-driver Jason Bright) or saw a large points haul turn into a smaller one (Greg Murphy and Todd Kelly).

Mark Skaife took the lead into turn one from second on the grid as the two Stone Brothers cars went side-by-side through turns one and two, Besnard running out of room on the exit of turn two and losing a place to John Bowe. On lap four Besnard moved ahead of Bowe at turn three as Skaife and Ambrose drew away together. The safety car made a one lap appearance on lap 27 for the Tony Quinn/Andy Miedecke car stuck in the gravel before racing resumed, with the situation soon returning to how it had been beforehand. Despite the longer race distance, there was little passing.

Lap 35 saw the safety car back on the track after John Faulkner collided with Cameron McConville while at almost the same time Jason Richards lost a wheel. The race resumed on lap 39, Skaife still leading, Ambrose and Besnard running with the leader. Further down the field, as Craig Baird limped back with a sick engine to the pits, Andy Priaulx slammed into the back, damaging both cars and sending them both to the pits. Soon after, on lap 48, the safety car was back on the track as the Quinn/Miedecke car was in the gravel again. Besnard took the opportunity to make a pit stop and swap with Simon Wills just as the caution came out, coming in at the end of lap 47.

Just as the race restarted on lap 50, Skaife came in to the pits and swapped with Jason Bright, resuming near the back of the field. The next lap saw Brad Jones swap with John Bowe, as Ambrose continued to lead. However, the next few laps saw most of the field pit, Ambrose handing over to Paul Weel on lap 55. After doing their brake pad stop at the first stop, Bright was now behind both Stone Brothers cars, as well as several others. Still some cars circulated having yet to pit. Leader Greg Murphy handed over to Todd Kelly on lap 62, allowing Neil Crompton to lead a few laps before he handed over to Lowndes on lap 66. In the meantime the unthinkable had happened. The #1 car of Mark Skaife and Jason Bright had retired, the engine ruined after losing a drive belt.

With everyone now having pitted, and only some having made their compulsory brake pad stop, the order was quite jumbled up. The top ten was Besnard/Wills from Larkham/Power, Morris/Wakefield, Forbes/Bates, B Jones/Bowe, Ambrose/Weel, Ingall/S Richards, Jim Richards/Mezera, Murphy/T Kelly and Perkins/Dumbrell. The top five benefited from making their first stop under the third safety car period, with the Besnard/Wills car now nearly 40 seconds ahead of the Ambrose/Weel car having been just trailing it before the stops. Further back Crompton/Lowndes and Tander/Bargwanna had moved up a couple of places.

The race was relatively calm for the next few laps, B Jones/Bowe moving to third on lap 70, while lap 74 saw Morris/Wakefield pit with major problems from fourth place, Ambrose/Weel moving up another place the following lap after passing Forbes/Bates. Just before half distance it started to rain, the safety car coming out on lap 81 after the Dumesny/Whincup car bunkered itself in the turn one kitty litter. Already only 13 cars remained on the lead lap. The race restarted on lap 84, the track still wet in most places apart from a dry line as the rain abated.

The Larkham/Power car dropped down through the field, Ambrose/Weel also losing three places before gaining one back. Meanwhile Murphy/T Kelly moved from fifth to third by lap 86, Tander/Bargwanna moving up three places from the restart to eighth by lap 87. Lowndes/Crompton were doing well despite being nudged from behind into a 360 degree spin as elsewhere cars were going off but making it safely back on track. Once again Besnard/Wills had a substantial lead as further back in the field there was a freight train of cars with the narrow dry line making passing difficult.

The safety car was back out once again on lap 91 thanks to Canto putting his car in the gravel. Lap 95 and it was green again, Besnard/Wills leading Bowe/B Jones, Ingall/S Richards, Murphy/T Kelly and Ambrose/Weel. Lowndes was charging, taking two places on lap 97 and another on lap 102 to move up to eighth place as the second round of stops approached. On lap 107 they began when Wills handed back over to Besnard and Ingall and S Richards also stopped, Besnard coming in in front but coming out behind them.

Next of the leaders to pit was Tander/Bargwanna on lap 110, followed by Ambrose/Weel on lap 111, Bowe/B Jones on lap 112, Jim Richards/Mezera on lap 113, Murphy/T Kelly on lap 115 and finally Lowndes/Crompton on lap 119. Lowndes and Murphy's stops were the most interesting, as they clearly didn't completely fill the tank, nor did they need to, but had they given it enough? The stops had seen another shuffle in the order, Murphy/T Kelly now leading by seven seconds after their quick stop from Ingall/S Richards, Besnard/Wills, Lowndes/Crompton, Tander/Bargwanna, Ambrose/Weel, Bowe/B Jones, Perkins/Dumbrell, A Jones/Ritter and Jim Richards/Mezera.

Ambrose was soon on a charge, zooming up onto the back Tander but unable to find a way past, giving him a tap or two, the battle allowing Bowe to close in on the dicing duo. Lap after lap they battled, but a small error by Ambrose proved costly, Bowe sneaking through at the end of lap 128 and moving on to Tander's tail, Bowe then passing Tander with help from a little tap from behind on lap 130, catching and then passing Lowndes on lap 135. Further up front Besnard had chased down Steven Richards, making his way through on lap 131, setting off after leader Murphy. There was some bad news coming for Bowe though, receiving a drivethrough penalty for tapping Tander.

Ambrose continued to attack Tander but his attempts remained unsuccessful. With 20 laps remaining Murphy/T Kelly led Besnard/Wills by seven seconds, Ingall/S Richards just under four seconds further back, with the rest out of contention for the win unless the safety car made another appearance. Thanks to Bowe's penalty and two passes Jim Richards/Mezera were up to seventh by lap 145, and continued the charge, catching Ambrose soon after and passing him on lap 151. Meanwhile Besnard was still closing in on Murphy, but the laps were running down quicker for Besnard than they needed to.

Just when the race seemed to be all over, Steve Owen spun and bogged his car in the turn one gravel, bringing out the safety car on lap 156, the last thing Greg Murphy and Todd Kelly wanted to see. Or was it? During the safety car period it was discovered that the low fuel warning was on inside the car. Maybe the safety car could be the difference between them running out and making it? Soon we would see, as the race restarted on lap 159, three laps under green remaining.

Murphy opened up a small gap at the restart as lapped traffic held the chasing pack up a little. Halfway through the lap they were dispensed with. As they entered turn three on lap 160, Besnard closed, and on the exit he flew past as Murphy's Commodore hiccupped. While Besnard ran away in the lead, Murphy was not about to give up all his chances, defending against the pack on his tail. Exiting the last corner to start the final lap, Murphy's car hiccupped again, causing Steven Richards to bump him once, and then a second time, spinning Murphy out into the grass down to the tail of the lead lap. Further back in the field also on lap 160 Lowndes had lost three places to the cars just behind him.

And that was how it stayed, David Besnard and Simon Wills going on to take the win in a dramatic finish once again to the Queensland 500, Wills winning for the first time after having recently separated from another Ford team. Second was Steven Richards and Russell Ingall, while third was Garth Tander and Jason Bargwanna, steadily moving forward all day after starting 16th, followed by Jim Richards and Tomas Mezera in the second HRT car having started 20th, just beating home Ambrose and Weel who had a quick car but just couldn't use all the speed they had in the best way possible. Tenth and last car on the lead lap was Todd Kelly and Greg Murphy, just making it across the finish line to score some valuable points, though they did cop a thirty second penalty (which still saw them in tenth place!) as Murphy took a short cut to ensure they made the flag. Had they not made the line on that last lap they would've ended the day without scoring a point.

Result of V8 Supercar Championship Series, Round 9 of 13; Queensland 500, Queensland Raceway, Australia:

         
Pos  Drivers                          Car
 1.  Simon Wills/David Besnard        Ford Falcon AU
 2.  Russell Ingall/Steven Richards   Holden Commodore VX
 3.  Garth Tander/Jason Bargwanna     Holden Commodore VX
 4.  Jim Richards/Tomas Mezera        Holden Commodore VX
 5.  Marcos Ambrose/Paul Weel         Ford Falcon AU
 6.  Craig Lowndes/Neil Crompton      Ford Falcon AU
 7.  Larry Perkins/Paul Dumbrell      Holden Commodore VX
 8.  Alan Jones/Greg Ritter           Ford Falcon AU
 9.  Brad Jones/John Bowe             Ford Falcon AU
10.  Todd Kelly/Greg Murphy           Holden Commodore VX

Standings: Mark Skaife 1775, Jason Bright 1096, Greg Murphy 1058, Marcos Ambrose 1029, Todd Kelly 1002, Steven Richards 951, David Besnard 819, Craig Lowndes 802, Garth Tander 771, Russell Ingall 716 etc.

V8 Supercar points distribution

  Formula 3

Another Fast Finn?

Heikki Kovalainen had taken two wins previously, at Oulton Park and Snetterton. The Renault-backed Finn's season has been gathering momentum as it progresses. Kovalainen dominated proceedings at Thruxton, taking both victories. The championship battle continues to reverse its season long trend as Robbie Kerr extends his lead to 37 points. With only 42 points available at the season finale at Donington, James Courtney's run at the British Formula Three Championship title for 2002 looks all but over.

Bruce Jouanny got the jump in the first race but lost the lead to a committed Kovalainen. Jouanny spun off trying to chase down Kovalainen and Shinya Hosokawa crashed heavily, causing the race to be stopped prematurely. The race was restarted, this time Kovalainen leading all the way ahead of Michael Keohane. Keohane's teammate Courtney crashed into the barriers after a clash with Kerr. That, along with several other crashes, kept the pace car out until the final lap, at which point Kovalainen simply held position to win from Keohane. Third was Stefan de Groot in the Opel-powered car, taking his best finish for the season. Kerr was fourth ahead of de Groot's Menu Motorsport teammate Rob Austin. Robert Dahlgren upset the status quo in the Scholarship Class, defeating Adam Carroll.

In race two Jouanny again made the best of the front row spot to lead Kovalainen, Kerr and Courtney into turn one, but again lost the lead to Kovalainen before the first lap was completed. A pace car period after Harold Primat and Pedro Barral clashed bunched the field up again and allowed Jouanny to close and make a grab for the lead on lap nine. Jouanny continued to push until losing momentum while making another attempt five laps later and fell into the clutches of Kerr. Kerr was equally unable to find a way past and the top three finished as they were, with Courtney fourth ahead of Fabio Carbone and Ronnie Bremer. Dahlgren again got the better of Carroll to win the Scholarship Class.

Result of British Formula 3 Championship, Rounds 23 and 24, Thruxton, Great Britain:

Round Twenty Three

Pos  Driver              Car
 1.  Heikki Kovalainen   Dallara F302 Sodemo Renault
 2.  Michael Keohane     Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
 3.  Stefan de Groot     Dallara F302 Spiess Opel
 4.  Robbie Kerr         Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
 5.  Rob Austin          Dallara F302 Spiess Opel
 6.  Stefan Hodgetts     Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
 7.  Ronnie Bremer       Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
 8.  Robert Dahlgren     Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda
 9.  Adam Carroll        Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda
10.  Stephen Colbert     Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda

Round Twenty Four

Pos  Driver              Car
 1.  Heikki Kovalainen   Dallara F302 Sodemo Renault
 2.  Bruce Jouanny       Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
 3.  Robbie Kerr         Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
 4.  James Courtney      Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
 5.  Fabio Carbone       Dallara F302 Sodemo Renault
 6.  Ronnie Bremer       Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
 7.  Michael Keohane     Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
 8.  Robert Dahlgren     Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda
 9.  Rob Austin          Dallara F302 Spiess Opel
10.  Stefan de Groot     Dallara F302 Spiess Opel

Standings: Robbie Kerr 282, James Courtney 245, Heikki Kovalainen 221, Bruce Jouanny 213, Michael Keohane 161, Fabio Carbone 126, Mark Taylor 122, Alan van der Merwe 98, Rob Austin 87, Ronnie Bremer 83 etc.

British Formula 3 points distribution

  MotoGP

Bayliss, Capirossi For Ducati In 2003

By Nick Mulvenney

World Superbike champion Troy Bayliss and former 250cc World Champion Loris Capirossi will lead Ducati's four-stroke challenge when the manufacturer makes its MotoGP debut next season, the Italian team said. Australian Bayliss, who has been associated with Ducati since 1998, will make his Grand Prix debut on the new four-stroke Desmosedici, which was unveiled at the Italian Grand Prix in May.

The announcement raises the mouth-watering prospect of the 33-year-old, who defends his Superbike title in a final round showdown with Colin Edwards at Imola on September 29, going wheel-to-wheel with 500cc World Champion and runaway MotoGP leader Valentino Rossi next season.

"We strongly wanted Troy and Loris because both have shown themselves to be extremely talented riders and above all because they are totally committed to our project," Ducati Corse chief executive Claudio Domenicali said in a team statement. "The desire to win and to face new challenges that we see in both of them was the deciding factor in our decision. Thanks to their experience, we are certain that we will make our MotoGP debut with a top-level team and with the right motivation to develop the Desmosedici as quickly as possible.

Bayliss was a late arrival on the international motorcycling scene, securing his Ducati Superbike ride as surprise replacement for four times World Champion Carl Fogarty when the Briton was forced to retire after a crash in 2000. But since then he has won 22 races and appeared on the podium 44 times.

Italian Capirossi, 29, has raced in the top category of Grand Prix racing with the Spanish Honda Pons team for the last three seasons, but the two-stroke machine has not been competitive this year with the arrival of the 990cc machines.

"I have spent three very happy and successful years with the West Honda Pons team and now I feel it is time to move on," Capirossi told the official MotoGP website. "For sure I shall miss the team as I it has been the best team I have ridden in during my career but I am relishing the new challenge offered to me by Ducati. The prospect of being the number one rider with such a prestigious Italian constructor as Ducati is a great honour for any Italian rider."

Capirossi burst on to the Grand Prix scene by winning the 125cc crown at his first attempt as a 17-year-old in 1990. He successfully defended his title for Honda the next year before moving up to the 250cc class for two seasons. A move onto the 500cc class for 1995 and 1996 was not an overwhelming success and he dropped back to 250cc, where he won the championship for Aprilia in 1998 after controversially colliding with his teammate Tetsuya Harada in the final race. He has won 22 Grands Prix in his career, two in 500cc.

Ducati are by far the most successful team in World Superbikes, having won the manufacturers' title in 10 of the 14 years of the championship's history.

Report provided by Reuters

  Briefs

• The extremely silly season in American open wheelers was further complicated with the announced of Team Green's 2003 plans. To be known as Andretti Green Racing, it will field three Honda-powered cars in the 2003 IRL season for current drivers, co-owner Michael Andretti and Dario Franchitti, along with current Mo Nunn Racing driver Tony Kanaan. Kanaan leaving Mo Nunn Racing for the IRL brings into doubt Mo Nunn's CART intentions for 2003, as Nunn already runs a car in the IRL for Felipe Giaffone who finished fourth in this year's series, a title contender until the last round. Kanaan meanwhile has been uncompetittive in this year's CART championship.

  Upcoming Events Calendar

• September 19 - World Rally Championship, Round 11; Rally San Remo, Italy
• September 21 - World Motorcycle Championship, Round 12; Jacarepagua, Brazil
• September 22 - NASCAR Winston Cup, Round 28; Dover Downs, Delaware, United States
• September 22 - British Formula 3 Championship, Rounds 25 and 26; Donington Park, Great Britain
• September 22 - American Le Mans Series, Round 9; Laguna Seca, California, United States
• September 22 - FIA Sportscar Championship, Round 6; Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
• September 22 - European Touring Car Championship, Round 8, Enna-Pergusa, Italy
• September 22 - FIA GT Championship, Round 8; Enna-Pergusa, Italy
• September 22 - British Touring Car Championship, Rounds 19 and 20; Donington Park, Great Britain
• September 22 - European Formula 3000 Championship Round 8; Dijon-Prenois, France
• September 29 - World Superbike Championship, Round 13; Imola, Italy
• September 29 - NASCAR Winston Cup, Round 29; Kansas Speedway, Kansas, United States
• September 29 - Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, Round 9; Zandvoort, Netherlands
• September 29 - Telefonica World Series, Round 6; Catalunya, Spain
• October 3 - World Rally Championship, Round 12; Rally New Zealand, New Zealand
• October 6 - World Motorcycle Championship, Round 13; Motegi, Japan
• October 6 - NASCAR Winston Cup, Round 30; Talladega Speedway, Alabama, United States
• October 6 - Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, Round 10; Hockenheim, Germany
• October 6 - European Touring Car Championship, Round 9; Donington Park, Great Britain
• October 6 - FIA GT Championship, Round 9; Donington Park, Great Britain
• October 6 - European Formula 3000 Championship, Round 9; Cagliari, Italy