Updates from the Rest of the Racing World
Atlas F1 Magazine Writers
San Sebastien Marino
Sebastien Bourdais was rated as a pre-season contender. At Imola he was more than that. The Super Nova team leader took pole, despite adverse weather conditions and led from lights to flag.
Last start winner, Rodrigo Sperafico was Bourdais's only opposition. Initially unable to keep in contact, a late charge brought the Durango driver back to the leader, but Bourdais kept Sperafico behind. Second place though was good enough for Sperafico to keep the lead in the championship.
"It has been a very good day and week for us. It would be difficult to do anything better. It was a tough race as it was difficult to start with the car in conditions that we had not tested in but we succeeded and that's the most important thing. Since we have started to work together the pace has been there each time so I am pretty confident and can't see why it can't work again in Barcelona and everywhere else." said Bourdais
The teams follow Formula One to Spain for the next race at Catalunya in two weeks.
Result of International Formula 3000 Championship, Round 2, Imola, Italy:
Standings: Rodrigo Sperafico 16, Sebastien Bourdais 10, Mario Haberfeld and
Antonio Pizzonia 6, Ricardo Mauricio and Giorgio Pantano 4, Patrick
Friesacher and Bjorn Wirdheim 2, Tomas Enge and Enrico Toccacello 1
Andretti's California Dreaming
At the start, polesitter Jimmy Vasser was passed by Cristiano da Matta around the outside as they entered turn 1, followed by Brack, Tracy and Kanaan. Some of the drivers towards the back of the field took the opportunity to make their first fuel stop early, hoping to gain ground later in the race. Out front, the positions remained static while the gaps between the cars expanded.
On lap 17 Tony Kanaan retired with electrical problems while running in fifth, bringing out the first caution of the day, which saw pitstops galore. When the race resumed, the order was very similar to before, with da Matta leading Vasser, Brack, Tracy and Junqueira. Da Matta again made a great start and pulled away, while on lap 22 Junqueira spun while running in fifth, dropping down the field. Scott Dixon brought out the next caution on lap 32 when his engine expired on the pit straight.
The leader of the race was now Michael Andretti from Max Papis, Vasser, Brack and Tracy, with some different pit strategies being used by those in the top five. At the restart on lap 37, Alex Tagliani spun coming through the hairpin, eventually resuming a long way down the field, while up front Papis was giving Andretti a hard time, the top five running close together. Vasser took over the lead when Andretti and Papis pitted and dropped to 14th and 15th before their fuel window ran out, with Brack and Christian Fittipaldi filling out the top three. Da Matta in his recovery was up to 12th by lap 50.
Almost as soon as they pitted Mario Dominguez crashed at turn 1, bringing out a caution, which saw Andretti and Papis make their pit stops. The caution allowed them to make the stops and hold on to their positions. Racing resumed on lap 66, with Christian Fittipaldi's day ending soon after with gearbox problems. Da Matta gained a place as Dario Franchitti almost ran into the back of teammate Tracy, ran wide, allowing da Matta through to 11th. Up front, Andretti was building up a lead, while Papis was coming under pressure from Vasser for second place, with a train of cars following Vasser as well. On lap 73, Vasser made his way past Papis for second place, quickly leaving Papis behind as he closed on Andretti, while a train of cars still followed Papis.
On Tuesday, CART announced they had fined Team Motorola $20 000 after post-race inspection of Andretti's car showed it did not meet the minimum underbody height requirement, commonly known as the 2-inch rule. The car conformed to the rule in a pre-race inspection. The race result and points scored were not affected by this decision.
Result of FedEx CART World Series, Round 2, Long Beach, California, United States:
Standings: Cristiano da Matta 27, Michael Andretti and Michel Jourdain 22, Dario Franchitti 20, Max Papis 18, Jimmy Vasser 17, Christian Fittipaldi 14, Kenny Brack 12, Paul Tracy 11, Alex Tagliani 10
Bobby's Martinsville Mastery
Biggest news of the weekend however was NASCAR 'parking' Richard Childress Racing's Kevin Harvick following his actions in the truck series race the previous day, where NASCAR felt he had deliberately taken out another racer, Coy Gibbs, after a clash between the two earlier in the race. Harvick was already on probation until the end of August following a post-race incident with Greg Biffle at Bristol last month in a Busch series event after contact between the two in the race put Harvick out of the race, Harvick also being fined $15 000 for this earlier incident. Kenny Wallace replaced Harvick in the car for race day, finishing 32nd.
Polesitter Jeff Gordon led for the first lap, before being passed by Bobby Hamilton, but just a few laps later Gordon retook the lead. The first caution came out soon after for debris from Ken Schrader's car when he suffered a flat left rear after contact with Kyle Petty. A multi-car collision brought out the next caution near lap 50. Gordon remained in the lead until a collision between Mike Skinner and Kenny Wallace brought out the next caution, which saw most of the leaders pit, handing the lead over to Jerry Nadeau who had pitted under one of the earlier yellows.
Pit stops by the leaders at this time saw Stewart drop back after trouble in the pits, Ward Burton taking the lead after not stopping, Terry Labonte and Burton swapping the lead as they raced side by side, eventually taking the lead before Ricky Craven took over at the front a few laps later. The next caution was caused by Ken Schrader's car simply stopping with about 175 laps remaining, all cars on the lead lap pitting, Dale Earnhardt Jr leading the field off pit road. About 40 laps later Hermie Sadler spun, bringing out another caution, and another round of pit stops for the leaders to have enough fuel to make it the rest of the way, with Bobby Labonte taking over the lead. Almost immediately after the restart Rusty Wallace passed Labonte, with Bobby Hamilton Jr doing the same to Wallace 10 laps later, pulling away from the field.
Dale Jarrett fought back from being a lap down in the middle of the race to finish fourth, Jeff Gordon fought back from his woes to finish 23rd, getting back two of the four laps he was down despite having no power steering, while series leader Sterling Marlin finished just outside the top ten in 12th place.
Result of NASCAR Winston Cup, Round 8, Martinsville Speedway, Virginia, United States:
Standings: Sterling Marlin 1209, Matt Kenseth 1182, Mark Martin 1080, Rusty Wallace 1070, Tony Stewart 1062, Kurt Busch 1027, Jimmie Johnson 1021, Jeff Gordon 1008, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Ricky Rudd 993
Skaife's Island Invasion
Race one ended soon after it began - at least the first attempt to run it did. Before entering turn one, Greg Murphy tapped Jason Bargwanna into a spin as Bargwanna moved across to defend his line, sending Bargwanna into the tyres and roll twice, sending cars everywhere as they avoided the carnage which ripped the rear axle clean off the car, ending Bargwanna's weekend. In late news, Jason Bargwanna has been fined $5 000 (US $2 650), suspended until the end of the year, for his verbal assault on the grid on Murphy before the restart of race one.
At the second attempt the race got underway cleanly, polesitter Marcos Ambrose in his Ford leading ahead of the two HRT cars of Skaife and Bright followed by Paul Radisich and David Besnard. More bad news came for Garry Rogers Motorsport as Bargwanna's teammate Garth Tander limp back to the pits on lap 1 as a wheel was not mounted correctly.
By lap 25 the gap between Ambrose and Skaife was less than a second, Skaife close but not able to make his way past. As they began lap 32, Ambrose reporte to his crew that he had a flat tyre. It later transpired that the tyre was not flat but was damaged. At the Honda hairpin on that lap Skaife ran into the back of Ambrose, lightly damaging the front of his car, the order remaining the same. Skaife looked this way and that while Ambrose defended his line, their lap times increasing by 4 seconds. This meant that as they exited the last corner of the last lap, third placed Jason Bright was right on their tail. On the run to the line, Bright closed in on teammate Skaife who was stuck behind Ambrose, initially being credited with second before quickly being demoted back to third. Later, Greg Murphy was disqualified from the race for the incident with Bargwanna, while Bright was penalised for speeding in pit lane, dropping him down to fourth.
Soon the leader was John Bowe as Bright was called in for a penalty for falling too far behind the pace car during the safety car period. Skaife and Ambrose continued to dice as they tried to make their way through those cars yet to pit, coming up onto the tail of Wilson who had yet to pit. Skaife got close but couldn't find a way past. On lap 14, Skaife's crew advised him that Wilson would get a 'bad sportsmanship' flag next time around, but Skaife went past Wilson as they exited Southern Loop.
The race resumed on lap 18, with Skaife leading Kelly and Radisich in second and third. Which is how it remained until the end, the top five places not changing from the restart until the finish, and Skaife pulling clear of Kelly, who was clear of Radisich, who came home with McConville right on his tail.
So can Skaife be beaten? Definitely, as race one proved. Will it happen often?
Result of V8Supercar Series, Round 2, Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia:
Standings: Mark Skaife 580, Greg Murphy 304, Garth Tander 289, Todd Kelly 252, Steven Richards 221, Craig Lowndes 216, Marcos Ambrose 204, Steven Johnson 180, Tony Longhurst 178, Jason Bright 170
Keohane's Donington Double
Emboldened, Keohane would beat Courtney to the first turn in the second race and drove away from a Courtney driving conservatively to protect his recentlty replaced engine. Once again, engine problems started to claim the Jaguar Formula One test driver, this time he was able to hold on to second to claim Carlin's first 1-2 of the year. Third would be taken by Robbie Kerr, just failing to pass Courtney with Rob Austen fourth.
The other star of the meeting was Scholarship Class victor, Adam Carroll would take a fourth and fifth outright in the two races, making all sit up and take notice of what could be done with an older car. Courtney's four podiums places from four starts has kept him atop the championshuip standings.
Result of Avon Tyres British Formula Three Championship, Rounds 3/4, Donington Park:
ORECA Cruises Estoril
The factory Courage team claimed second place, despite losing time when a pitstop ended with a car the refused to start. Boris Derichebourg fought his way back up to third, and took second from the Dutch Dome of Val Hillebrand in the closing stages.
Fourth place was taken by the Henri Pescarolo turbocharged Courage. The first SR2 class car was the Peroni/Savoldi Lucchini.
FIA Sportscar Championship, Round 2, Estoril, Portugal
Standings: Olivier Beretta 35, Jean-Christophe Boullion 30, Didier Cottaz and Boris Derichebourg 23, Val Hillebrand and Jan Lammers 22, Sebastien Bourdais and Nicolas Minassian 20
Also in IRL, Eliseo Salazar underwent emergency surgery to repair a torn artery in his chest after crashing into the wall at turn 1 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Salazar was testing for the Indy 500, driving the car of A.J. Foyt Racing teammate Airton Dare. The surgery was successful and Salazar has been listed as stable.
Formula 3000
Adding Brazil to the Formula 3000 season has had the same effect as Formula One's trip to the region. There is a sense the real season doesn't begin until Imola. A situation exacerbated by the Brazilian's local knowledge of Interlagos.
The battle for third also kept the crowd entertained, as Giorgio Pantano had to be the fastest car in the race to close down the gap to Antonio Pizzonia. Offs and driving errors characterised the battle as the two swapped places. Tomas Enge, so dominant at Interlagos was disappointing at Imola, losing fifth spot to Patrick Friesacher just past half distance.
Pos Driver Team
1. Sebastien Bourdais Super Nova
2. Rodrigo Sperafico Durango Formula
3. Giorgio Pantano Coloni
4. Antonio Pizzonia Petrobras Junior
5. Patrick Friesacher Red Bull Jr
6. Tomas Enge Team Arden
7. Bjorn Wirdheim Team Arden
8. Nicolas Kiesa PSM Racing
9. Zsolt Baumgartner Nordic Racing
10. Tiago Monteiro Super Nova
CART
Cristiano Da Matta's three race winning streak in CART has been broken - but only after he was involved in an incident while leading the race. Michael Andretti took the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach win after some good strategy moves paid off when the caution periods came out at the right time for him. The results of the race sees the championship battle wide open.
This led to another round of pit stops, as the teams could go the rest of the race from this point with only one more stop for fuel. However, as da Matta left his pit bay to resume his race, Adrian Fernandez was about to enter his own pit bay. The two collided, Fernandez sliding but going on to make his stop, while da Matta ended up on an angle, facing the pit wall. It took time for the crews in pit lane to drag da Matta's car off the wall so he could resume his race, which he was able to do, towards the back of the field.
The next caution came out when Junqueira went straight ahead into the tyres at turn one. Racing resumed on lap 56 with positions basically unchanged, only to go back under caution when Townsend Bell collided with a slowing Alex Tagliani, both drivers retiring soon after. Racing resumed once again on lap 59, with positions as before. On lap 61, most of the field piled into the pits as their fuel window ran out, Andretti and Papis remaining on the track, taking over the top two places, with former leader Vasser next ahead of Brack and Fittipaldi.
A blown engine for Scott Dixon brought out the final caution of the day with less than 10 laps remaining. The race resumed on lap 84, with Vasser again giving leader Andretti a hard time as they left the rest of the field behind. However, he couldn't find a way through, Andretti going on to take the win just ahead of Vasser, followed by Max Papis, scoring the Sigma team's first podium, Kenny Brack and Michel Jourdain. Da Matta made his way through the field after his earlier mishap to finish 8th.
Pos Driver Car
1. Michael Andretti Reynard-Honda
2. Jimmy Vasser Lola-Ford
3. Max Papis Lola-Ford
4. Kenny Brack Lola-Toyota
5. Michel Jourdain Lola-Ford
6. Toranosuke Takagi Reynard-Toyota
7. Paul Tracy Reynard-Honda
8. Cristiano da Matta Lola-Toyota
9. Dario Franchitti Reynard-Honda
10. Adrian Fernandez Lola-Honda
NASCAR
Bobby Labonte showed that despite no previous success on short tracks, he was the one they needed to beat as he won the Virginia 500 at Martinsville Speedway, Virginia. Keeping out of trouble and making the right decisions on strategy saw the 2000 Winston Cup champion end the day in the best position, Victory Lane.
Just after lap 100 the next caution came out after Jimmy Spencer hit the outside wall, Nadeau remaining in the lead. Not long after the restart, Tony Stewart took the lead, building up a 5 second lead until Brett Bodine brought out a caution for a flat tyre on lap 170, with the leaders pitting again, Stewart holding onto the lead. A blown motor in John Andretti's car caused Frank Kimmel and Robby Gordon to spin, bringing out another caution. While trying to avoid the two spun cars, Jeff Gordon and the lapped Jimmy Spencer made contact, damaging the front left of Gordon's car, causing a flat tyre. During these repairs, there were too many people in Gordon's pit, earning him a lap penalty. Stewart remained in the lead, with the next caution just after halfway, caused by Jeff Gordon losing power steering fluid, leaving him without power steering for the remained of the race.
Another caution came out when Jimmy Spencer and Ricky Craven tangled, all the leaders pitting except Jeff Burton, who took over the lead, leading for a few laps before being passed by Hamilton Jr. Tony Stewart passed Hamilton Jr for the lead with just under 70 laps remaining, before contact between Stacy Compton and Johnny Benson brought out a caution. Some leaders pitted, while others stayed out. This saw Bobby Labonte back in the lead. With 25 laps remaining, Jimmy Spencer and Ricky Craven tangled and brought out another caution. Labonte remained in the lead as another caution came out when Buckshot Jones spun, and led from the restart until the final caution of the day when Bobby Hamilton Jr spun on the second last lap, Labonte taking the win under yellow flags, his first short track win, while Matt Kenseth continued his great form this year, finishing second ahead of Labonte's teammate Tony Stewart.
In late news NASCAR has announced Kevin Harvick has been fined $35 000 and his probation extended until the end of the season. NASCAR also made it clear that if Harvick commits actions which they believe are detrimental to the sport or disruptive to the conduct of an event, he will be suspended indefinitely.
Pos Driver Car
1. Bobby Labonte Pontiac Grand Prix
2. Matt Kenseth Ford Taurus
3. Tony Stewart Pontiac Grand Prix
4. Dale Jarrett Ford Taurus
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet Monte Carlo
6. Terry Labonte Chevrolet Monte Carlo
7. Ricky Rudd Ford Taurus
8. Mark Martin Ford Taurus
9. Jeff Burton Ford Taurus
10. Kurt Busch Ford Taurus
V8 Supercars
Mark Skaife's weekend at Phillip Island was not perfect - he wasn't fastest in qualifying, he wasn't fastest in the shootout, he didn't even win race one. Compared to everyone else's weekend, howeer, it was fantastic - a second place in race one and a win in race two saw him leave the round with a 276 point lead, more points than a round win at most events this year. This lead is after just two rounds...
Up front, Ambrose was just holding off Skaife, who was a second or two clear of Bright, the rest of the field dropping away at a second a lap or more. Finally on lap 11 Skaife sneaked up the inside at Honda Hairpin, which saw Ambrose take his compulsory tyre stop at the end of the lap. At about the same time in the middle of the pack Steven Ellery spun Max Wilson and himself coming up to Lukey Heights, costing them both time and position. A couple of laps later, Russell Ingall spun his teammate Steven Richards at Honda hairpin as he went in too deep under brakes, Ingall surviving unscathed, Richards losing ground. Skaife came in for his tyre stop at the end of lap 14, rejoining in third thanks to a slower stop and some fast laps by Ambrose, leader Bright pitting four laps later, resuming third behind Ambrose and Skaife.
Race two saw Skaife and Todd Kelly pass Ambrose at the start, Bright just behind in fourth. Skaife began to pull away from Kelly, who had Ambrose right on his tail, Bright right on Ambrose's tail. On lap 2, Rodney Forbes lost the rear end of his car under brakes for the hairpin, t-boning Paul Romano. As Forbes and then Romano got going again, Romano turned hard left into Forbes's car, doing further damage to both cars. Marcos Ambrose managed to pass Kelly at Southern Loop just before the safety car came out, which saw most but not all of the leaders come in for their compulsory tyre stop, Jason Bright becoming the new leader as those who had pitted tried to make their way through the six who hadn't stopped.
As they entered Honda hairpin, Skaife defended the inside line from Wilson, who lightly tapped Skaife and ran slightly wide. Ambrose saw half a gap and went up the inside of Wilson, but the gap closed and the two cars touched, Wilson spinning into the middle of the exit of the corner, while Ambrose ran off the outside of the corner. Ambrose limped back to the pits to retire with steering damage, but worse was to come for Wilson. Former CART driver Wilson floored the throttle to spin the car around, creating a wall of tyre smoke as his car gyrated around. Unfortunately, Lowndes collided with the spinning Wilson, ending both of their races with damaged cars. Not surprisingly, this caused another safety car period.
One would have to say no, as Philip Island proved that the HRT team still are the cars to beat for consistent pace and good strategy. If anyone is to beat Skaife to the title this year, Skaife will have to suffer some misfortune or his competitors will have to show something that hasn't been seen in the two rounds so far. Unfortunately for Skaife's competitors, neither seems likely.
Race One
Pos Driver Car
1. Marcos Ambrose Ford Falcon AU
2. Mark Skaife Holden Commodore VX
3. Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VX
4. Jason Bright Holden Commodore VX
5. David Besnard Ford Falcon AU
6. Tony Longhurst Ford Falcon AU
7. Paul Radisich Ford Falcon AU
8. Steven Johnson Ford Falcon AU
9. John Bowe Ford Falcon AU
10. Glenn Seton Ford Falcon AU
Race Two
Pos Driver Car
1. Mark Skaife Holden Commodore VX
2. Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VX
3. Paul Radisich Ford Falcon AU
4. Cameron McConville Holden Commodore VX
5. Rick Kelly Holden Commodore VX
6. Garth Tander Holden Commodore VX
7. Tony Longhurst Ford Falcon AU
8. Glenn Seton Ford Falcon AU
9. Jason Bright Holden Commodore VX
10. Steven Johnson Ford Falcon AU
Formula 3
Michael Keohane broke through for his first victory in Formula Three, then the Irishman immediately backed it up with his second. Ostensibly the Carlin teams number two driver, Keohane took victory in Race 1 after team mate James Courtney's engine went off song. Keohane then cleared away to win, while Courtney would succumb to Bruce Jouanny.
Round Three
Pos Driver Car
1. Michael Keohane Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
2. Bruce Jouanny Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
3. James Courtney Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
4. Adam Carroll Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda
5. Rob Austin Dallara F302 Opel-Spiess
6. Robbie Kerr Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
Round Four
Pos Driver Car
1. Michael Keohane Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
2. James Courtney Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
3. Robbie Kerr Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
4. Rob Austin Dallara F302 Spiess-Opel
5. Adam Carroll Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda
6. Heikki Kovalainen Dallara F302 Sodemo-Renault
Sportscars
After the disappointment of Barcelona, ORECA proved to be the class of the FIA Sportscar Champiosnhip at Estoril. Olivier Beretta lost momentum at the start of the race when Jan Lammers blasted to the front of the field. Beretta dropped to sixth place at the start but fought his way to the front, then to a clear lead. When he handed the car to Nicolas Minassian the race was effectively over, and the CART refugee cruised to ORECA's first outright victory in sportscar racing.
Pos Drivers Car
1. Olivier Beretta/Nicolas Minassian ORECA Dallara Judd
2. Didier Cottaz/Boris Derichebourg Courage C60JX Judd
3. Jan Lammers/Val Hillebrand Dome S101 Judd
4. Jean-Christophe Bouillon/Franck Lagorce Courage C60 Peugeot
5. Mauro Baldi/Alex Caffi R&M Judd
6. Piergiuseppe Peroni/Mirko Savoldi Lucchini Alfa Romeo
7. Gianni Collini/Fabio Mancini Lucchini Alfa Romeo
8. Mattias Andersson/Niklas Loven Lola B2K/40 Nissan
9. John Stack/Sam Hignett Pilbeam MP484 Nissan
10. Ranieri Randaccio/Leonardo Maddalena Lucchini Alfa Romeo
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Volume 8, Issue 16
Atlas F1 Exclusive
Interview with Geoff Willis
Ann Bradshaw: View from the Paddock
San Marino GP Review
San Marino Grand Prix Review
Reflections on Imola
Lapped by the Gods
Relentless
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