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.
Double Deutsch
"It is a fantastic result to win this event again," said Loeb. "The fight with Marcus through the last few stages was amazing. I thought we had enough going into the last stage but then I saw the split time and knew I was only three seconds ahead I had to put in the maximum attack for the last part but it worked."
For a number of years, the French manufacturers have been the only cars for bitumen. The Peugeots and Citreons were born and brought up on the all-tarmac French Rally Championship. This weekend the Focus WRC03 changed that. Richard Burns was the rally's early leader, as on tarmac the series points leader isn't handicapped by running in the road sweeper role, but by SS4 Markko Martin had pushed into the lead. But Martin was losing gears. On SS5 he lost fifth and sixth, necessitating a shift to the manual shifter. But the manual shifter also doubles as the handbrake in the Focus. Without the handbrake, Martin would need three point turns to get around the hairpins, a crippling blow.
Burns finished the day nine seconds up on Gronholm, with Loeb third. While several cars were in trouble, most notably Martin, Francois Duval and Petter Solberg, there were only two major retirements. An alternator claimed Tommi Makinen in SS6 while the final stage of the day claimed the brand new Skoda Fabia of Didier Auriol with engine failure.
SS11 saw the retirement of Mitsubishi's Jani Paasonen with a big accident which saw co-driver Arto Kapanen hospitalised with minor injuries. Prior to the stage being stopped it also claimed the fourth Citroen of Philippe Bugalski with a broken engine, Petter Solberg and Toni Gardemeister with broken suspension while Armin Schwarz developed gearbox dramas that had him limping. Two stages later and the surviving Fabia of Gardemeister was out with a broken tailshaft.
Punctures, three in two stages, had cost the reigning champ Gronholm dear and Loeb had slipped by into the lead on Stage 13. As SS14 began, so did heavy rain, but with the positions close everyone still had to push. After repairs, Martin was flying again, rapidly catching and passing firstly Colin McRae then Burns, to end the day third behind Loeb and Gronholm.
On the final day, Gronholm pushed as hard as he could, even damaging the suspension at one point. Loeb felt comfortable going into the last stage as Gronholm attacked. The split times dropped dizzyingly close and Citreon called down the radio for Loeb to push to save a last minute, last second defeat. He managed it, just. There were battles all the way down the field as spins to both Brits kept their battle close. Burns would snatch third over his arch rival McRae. Fifth was Martin's after the Estonian lost third place when a shaft snapped, dropping the Focus into two wheel drive for most of a stage. Duval in the second Ford pushed hard but failed to catch Sainz. Solberg claimed the final championship point for Subaru.
Burns will have to road sweep again as he maintains a four point lead over Sainz with Gronholm only one point further back. Loeb sits ten points from the lead with Solberg, McRae and Martin all within a few points. Don't go anywhere folks, this one's going to the last gasp.
Result of World Rally Championship, Round 8 of 14, Rally Deutschland, Germany:
Standings: Richard Burns 43, Carlos Sainz 39, Marcus Gronholm 38, Sebastien Loeb 33, Petter Solberg 30, Colin McRae 28, Markko Martin 27, Harri Rovanpera 16, Tommi Makinen 15, Francois Duval 11 etc.
Tracy Notches Second Straight Win On Home Soil
By Lewis Franck
Paul Tracy romped to his second straight victory at the Vancouver Grand Prix in a Lola-Ford Cosworth on Sunday just two weeks after he dominated his hometown CART race in Toronto.
"It's great to do the double in Canada," Tracy said in the victory circle. "Just like in Toronto, my car ran hard all day."
"I was a little annoyed at the start when Bruno (Junqueira) blatantly jumped the flag but the race officials did the right thing because it was obvious what had happened," Tracy said.
Junqueira denied any wrongdoing. "I didn't jump the start, I was on the throttle at the right point, I guess I'll have to watch the video," he said.
The victory was Tracy's second in Vancouver, fifth of the year and 24th of his career extending his series lead to 20 points.
Going into the race, Tracy created a stir on Friday when he was stripped of provisional pole for blocking Junqueira and another Canadian Alex Tagliani in the closing minutes of qualifying. On Saturday, he was flawless as he took pole then claimed he felt "betrayed" by CART officials who penalised him for the blocking incidents. That might have been the reason why he allowed Junqueira to jump him for the lead.
Mexico's Michel Jourdain Jr. finished fourth followed by Britain's Darren Manning, his second-best finish in his rookie year.
After the race, Tracy stands on 161 points with Junqueira on 141. Jourdain is third with 125.
Result of Champ Car World Series, Round 11 of 19, Vancouver Street Circuit, Canada:
Standings: Paul Tracy 161, Bruno Junqueira 141, Michel Jourdain Jr 125, Sebastien Bourdais 100, Patrick Carpentier 88, Oriol Servia 76, Adrian Fernandez 70, Mario Dominguez 65, Darren Manning 60, Alex Tagliani 51 etc.
Report provided by Reuters
Barron Leaves It Late For Dramatic Victory
Barron driving a Panoz GForce-Toyota took the lead coming out of turn four at the two-mile oval beating Hornish's Dallara/Chevrolet by the narrowest of margins. Barron's second win in the series came at an average speed of 180.917 mph. Hornish led 126 laps and was shaping to break his winless drought, but Barron didn't let up.
Incredibly, the winner survived a spin when his car touched the GForce-Toyota of polesitter Tomas Scheckter, the ex-Jaguar test driver and son of former Formula One world champion Jody on lap 164. He kept his car off the wall and had dropped to sixth place before working his way back through the field. Scheckter finished third.
"Part of that is luck when you are going that fast and you spin around," Barron said. "You just guide it the best way that you can, and you are just fortunate if it goes back straight."
Scheckter's teammate, Scott Dixon of New Zealand, finished fifth and took over the series points lead on 318 points, one ahed of Brazil's Tony Kanaan and three in front of another Brazilian, Gil de Ferran.
Result of Indy Racing League, Round 10 of 16, Michigan International Superspeedway, Michigan, United States:
Standings: Scott Dixon 318, Tony Kanaan 317, Gil de Ferran 315, Helio Castroneves 295, Kenny Brack 257, Al Unser Jr 249, Sam Hornish Jr 228, Scott Sharp 225, Tomas Scheckter 214, Tora Takagi 203 etc.
Report provided by Reuters
Rossi Rues As Gibernau Grabs The Glory
What was the reason for this? Maybe it was that after making a great start and leading the first half of the race, being passed by Gibernau but then harrying him lap after lap, then taking him on the second last corner of the last lap, he figured he should have won. But as he entered the final turn he made a mistake, allowing Sete Gibernau to duck back through and take the victory, Gibernau's fourth, one more than Rossi has claimed this season. Rossi still holds a comfortable 29 point lead over Gibernau in the championship, his only real rival for the title after Max Biaggi's mid-race fall.
Max Biaggi sat on pole for the second consecutive race, ahead of Jeremy McWilliams still on the two-stroke Proton, Loris Capirossi on the Ducati with MotoGP champ Valentino Rossi filling out the front row. In a reversal of fortunes at the last GP, Rossi made a great start and led the field while Biaggi made a shocker, completing lap one in tenth place. Behind Rossi were the two Ducatis of Capirossi and Troy Bayliss, with Sete Gibernau in fourth place ahead of Marco Melandri. Into the steep downhill left hander late on lap one Gibernau took Bayliss to move into third with Melandri then passing Bayliss into turn one on lap two, as Rossi began to pull away from Capirossi.
During lap three Gibernau and Melandri caught the fading Capirossi, the trio going three wide into the steep downhill left hander, coming out order reversed, before Gibernau dived through at the final left hander to take second place, only to be repassed by Melandri on the run down to turn one before Gibernau retook second around the back of the circuit. Capirossi next fell victim to teammate Bayliss on the final turn of lap four. With Gibernau in second place, Rossi's lead began to stabilise as Bayliss attacked and then passed Melandri to move into third place as they completed lap five.
Now it was a question of whether either Gibernau or Biaggi (or both) could continue to haul in and pass Rossi. Whether Biaggi could or not soon became academic when he lost the front end and crashed out halfway through lap fourteen, promoting Bayliss back to third place. Alex Barros was the next rider out, crashing on lap 16 having missed the previous round following a warmup crash. Meanwhile Gibernau was still slowly closing in on Rossi, moving on to his tail by lap 20. As they completed lap 20 Gibernau got a better run out of the final turn and moved ahead of Rossi as they ran down the pit straight, taking over the lead.
Gibernau was now leading but the race was far from over in what was now a two-horse event. Rossi sat right on Gibernau's rear wheel, but never really looked like passing him as the laps wound down. Meanwhile lap 24 saw the demise of Melandri when he crashed, having been in a promising fourth place at the time as John Hopkins' Suzuki exited the race on the same lap in a cloud of engine smoke. Still Rossi ran close but Gibernau continued to lead. As they took the steep downhill left hander with two laps to go, Rossi went to the inside but didn't pass, possibly a rehearsal for the final lap. A bobble off the final turn meant that Gibernau had the tiniest of breaks as they began the final lap.
As Rossi now exited the corner much slower than Gibernau it soon became obvious Rossi's move was a mistake, and a serious one. Hugging a tighter line and despite the finish line being fairly soon after the corner, Gibernau was able to retake the lead and win the race, just edging out Rossi. Bayliss finished third to take his second MotoGP podium finish, while a battle between Loris Capirossi and Nicky Hayden that had seen Hayden in front of Capirossi with a lap remaining finished in the Italian's favour, Capirossi taking fourth ahead of a season-best result for Hayden in fifth.
Result of World Motorcycle Championship, Round 9 of 16, Sachsenring, Germany:
Standings: Valentino Rossi 187, Sete Gibernau 158, Max Biaggi 130, Loris Capirossi 97, Troy Bayliss 80, Tohru Ukawa 66, Carlos Checa 65, Shinya Nakano 63, Alex Barros 62, Nicky Hayden 57 etc.
Newman Wins At Pocono
Ryan Newman was on the pole with Jimmie Johnson alongside, with Newman jumping into the lead at the start while Johnson lost a couple of places early, Elliott Sadler slotting into second at turn one. Newman's teammate Rusty Wallace was on the move early, taking fifth from John Andreitti on lap five, and was up to second by lap 11 as he made it a one-two for Penske, with his teammate Newman a clear leader, the duo clearing off. Lap 26 saw Bobby Labonte move past Sadler for third place. As the laps rolled by Newman maintained his lead though teammate Wallace closed in. Lap 32 saw Newman begin the first round of pit stops, with the order Newman, Wallace, Bobby Labonte, Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch at the end of the cycle, with Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon up to twelfth and thirteenth after starting 33rd and 25th respectively.
A smoking Jeff Green brought out the first caution of the day on lap 50. The field pitted, with the majority taking two tyres and fuel, though one of those to take four was leader Newman who dropped to tenth as the top five was now Wallace, Busch, Bobby Labonte, Jamie McMurray and Sterling Marlin. The race restarted on lap 54, McMurray going past Labonte into turn one on lap 55 to move into third as Gordon and Stewart moved past Marlin in the following two laps before Stewart passed Gordon for fifth on lap 59. Up front Wallace was slowly moving clear of Busch, while Stewart was flying and was up to third by lap 70, Newman back up to sixth.
Lap 78 and the race returned to green, with Mears's run in the lead only lasting until lap 79 when Wallace and Burton both passed him, Mears dropping steadily down the order as the race moved on. Meanwhile Burton moved the other way, taking the lead from Wallace on lap 81, while Stewart was moving back towards the front, up to third by lap 90, and taking second from Wallace on lap 91. Also moving forward was Matt Kenseth, taking fourth from Newman on lap 92, and third from Wallace five laps later. Up at the front Stewart had closed in on Burton, Burton letting Stewart take over the lead on lap 98.
Sterling Marlin was yet another driver on the move up the order, taking fourth from Wallace on lap 105 as Newman lost sixth place to Bobby Labonte a lap later. Kenseth's run to the front continued, passing teammate Burton on lap 107 as most of the field pitted over the next five laps. Of the front runners, Earnhardt Jr and Waltrip stayed out on the track, pitting just as the caution came out on lap 117 for Ricky Craven's stationary car. Waltrip, Earnhardt Jr, Joe Nemechek and Ward Burton stayed on track as the rest of the field pitted, most taking fuel and two tyres, Newman beating Stewart and Kenseth off pit road.
Stewart continued to move forward again, moving into third soon after before taking second from Waltrip on lap 142, Newman having passed Nemechek for fourth two laps earlier as he moved up the order as well, Kenseth back up to fifth place. While this was all happening Earnhardt was out in front, building up a comfortable lead. The next caution came out on lap 154 when Stewart suffered another engine failure in 2003, once again while running in a strong position on track. In came the field, most drivers taking four tyres, but a few gambled on two, including the Penske dup of Newman and Wallace who emerged in first and second ahead of Earnhardt Jr and Kenseth. Waltrip led a few cars into the pits with one to go, topping off on fuel as they hoped to make it the rest of the way without pitting again, Waltrip restarting in sixteenth.
Lap 159 and the race returned to green flag racing, Jeff Burton moving past Sadler to take fifth on lap 161. Two laps later Kevin Harvick pitted to take on a splash of fuel, Bobby Labonte, Jimmie Johnson and Sterling Marlin among those who made similar stops in the next few laps just before Casey Mears hit the wall hard and brought out the next caution on lap 167. This caution was a conundrum - if it went long enough, some of those who were on the edge would have enough fuel to make it to the end. On the other hand, if it didn't, it would be better to pit now than have to pit later under green conditions.
The pits were busy this time, Jeff Burton, Rusty Wallace and Matt Kenseth leading the charge to the pits, most taking four tyres, with Burton and Kenseth restarting sixteenth and seventeenth, Wallace nineteenth. The race restarted on lap 189, Newman continuing to lead as Terry Labonte lost two places to Waltrip and Joe Nemechek on lap 190. 10 to go in the 200 lap race and Busch took second from Earnhardt Jr and quickly closed in on leader Newman as Earnhardt Jr came under pressure from teammate Waltrip, Waltrip taking the place with six to go before Earnhardt Jr took the place back three laps later. Up at the front Busch got right on to Newman's tail but couldn't make a pass, Newman holding on to take the win.
Result of NASCAR Winston Cup, Round 20 of 36, Pocono International Speedway, Pennsylvania, United States:
Standings: Matt Kenseth 2977, Dale Earnhardt Jr 2745, Jeff Gordon 2669, Jimmie Johnson 2547, Bobby Labonte 2545, Michael Waltrip 2538, Kevin Harvick 2443, Kurt Busch 2418, Ryan Newman 2363, Jeff Burton 2355 etc.
Alesi Ascendant
Jean Alesi returned to the scene of his first DTM triumph, and repeated the dose. He was on top of his game from the very start of the weekend, giving away pole to his team leader Bernd Schneider by less than two tenths. But once the race started Alesi would not be denied.
At race start, Alesi got the better of Schneider while Marcel Fassler stormed past a slow away Ekstrom with Aiello in Fassler's wake. Martin Tomczyk spun midfield with Manuel Reuter heading out of the race while trying to avoid. Schneider was unable to stay with Alesi and found he had to defend from Fassler. With three laps down, chaos erupted in the upper midfield as Aiello spun in the Esses and was hit by the closely following Menu and Christian Abt.
Ekstrom and Peter Dumbreck were the first to pit, pitting immediately after the pit window opened, with Alesi and Schneider pitting the following lap. Alesi rejoined without losing the lead, but a train formed behind the Frenchman as Schneider, Fassler, Ekstrom and Christijan Albers each pressed their claim. The five circulated for several laps in close company until Ekstrom, the only non-Mercedes of the group, stopped for the second time on lap 19. Alesi and Schneider pitted together again on lap 22, just returning to the track in front of Ekstrom. Fassler and Albers pitted together next time around, handing the lead back to the Alesi-Schneider-Ekstrom battle. The second pair of Mercs rejoined right behind Ekstrom and the five car train was running again.
Meantime, the patched up Aiello received a warning from race control as the race-taped door threatened to come loose. Alesi pulled the lead out to almost half a second, only for Schneider to pull it back in again over the closing laps. Alesi found something, and stretched the lead back out again. Schneider's handling was going away as his tyres were used up, allowing Ekstrom to close. The laps ran out on Ekstrom, and Alesi won by almost a second and a half over Schneider and Ekstrom. Fassler had to defend from Albers throughout the closing laps, but did not yield fourth place. Dumbreck spun late in the race, but still was best of the rest, and top Opel in the field with Thomas Jager and Timo Scheider taking the remaining points.
Result of Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, Round 6 of 10, Donington Park, United Kingdom::
Standings: Bernd Schneider 43, Christijan Albers 40, Marcel Fassler 34, Peter Dumbreck 26, Jean Alesi 25, Mattias Ekstrom 23, Laurent Aiello 22, Timo Scheider 8, Alain Menu 7, Christian Abt 3 etc.
Byrne Sets Brands Alight
Wildcard Shane Byrne showed why he is leading the British Superbike Championship by beating the World Superbike regulars twice at Brands Hatch. Race one saw Byrne take a commanding win after Reynolds was forced to retire, while race two was much closer as Reynolds led Byrne, then pushed him all the way after Byrne took the lead. Meanwhile Neil Hodgson is another step closer to claiming the championship, holding a 140 point lead over Ruben Xaus with a maximum of 150 points available, Xaus the only rider with a mathematical possibility of snatching the title from Hodgson.
Race one began with John Reynolds taking an early lead, but began to come under pressure from Shane Byrne, as the world series regulars were having a bit of a struggle as the leading duo pulled away. Xaus was the best of those regulars, moving quickly up to third place, but unable to do anything about the leading duo. Lap seven and Byrne moved ahead of Reynolds, the duo remaining well clear of the second pack led by Xaus. At least unti Reynolds was forced to retire on lap twelve when his bike failed, promoting Chris Walker to second, Xaus having made an error the lap before at Druids, allowing Walker back through.
Meanwhile Hodgson was steadily making his way through the order, despite not finding things particular easy, up to fourth by lap twelve. As Byrne continued to pull away at the front Xaus continued to push for second until his race went up in smoke on lap sixteen, his engine calling it a day. This promoted Hodgson to third and he didn't stop there, taking Walker for second place as they completed lap seventeen, but there was nothing he, nor anyone else, could do about the leader, Byrne taking a comfortable win ahead of Hodgson who just held off Walker, with Regis Laconi a close fourth. Sean Emmett and a slightly disappointing James Toseland filled the top six places. Hodgson's second place combined with Xaus's DNF put the title within Hodgson's reach if the cards fell his way in race two.
Race two began with a blatant jump start by Sean Emmett. He led the early laps but was given a stop-go penalty which he ignored, and so was black flagged, Emmett pulling in when he saw the flag. This promoted Reynolds to the lead just ahead of Byrne, having moved ahead of him during the early laps, closely followed by Walker and Toseland, who were then closely followed by Xaus and Hodgson. The battles within each team were hard fought, but it took until lap 11 before Toseland was able to find a way past Walker and make it stick. This began a downhill slide for Walker, dropping to sixth by lap 14 before crashing at the end of lap 15.
The top four of Byrne, Reynolds, Toseland and Xaus began to drop Hodgson and Lavilla off at this point. A couple of laps later the lead pack was down to three, as Xaus began to fall back and into Hodgson's hands. Though Reynolds was able to stick right with Byrne after Byrne took the lead on lap 11, he couldn't get the lead back, and so it was Byrne who took the double, just ahead of Reynolds, with Toseland filling out the podium, with the two factory Ducatis of Xaus and Hodgson completing the top five, Hodgson unable to pass Xaus. That result ensured the battle for the championship will go at least one more round.
Result of World Superbike Championship, Rounds 9 of 12, Brands Hatch, United Kingdom:
Standings: Neil Hodgson 386, Ruben Xaus 246, James Toseland 227, Regis Laconi 208, Gregorio Lavilla 185, Chris Walker 172, Pierfrancesco Chili 159, Steve Martin 97, Marco Borciani 95, Lucio Pedercini 91 etc.
Superbikes points distribution
Freisinger In The Rain
Result of Proximus 24 Hours, FIA GT Championship, Round 6 of 9; Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium:
Standings (GT): Thomas Biagi and Matteo Bobbi 50, Lilian Bryner and Enzo Calderari 39, Luca Cappellari and Fabrizio Gollin 38, Andrea Piccini 31, Stefano Livio 24, Jean-Denis Deletraz 23, Bobby Verdon-Roe 19 etc
N-GT: Stephane Ortelli and Marc Lieb 48, Fabrizio de Simone 34.5, Andrea Bertolini 29, Tim Mullen 31.5, etc
Rally
Last year Citroen's tarmac terror Sebastien Loeb broke through for a belated debut WRC victory. This year, Loeb is a definite top six competitor and has a pointscore which puts him in title contention with six rounds to go. The rally was a competitive battle almost in spite of itself, as dominating pace swung between several cars. Weekend rain did give Loeb's rivals a chance to catch the Frenchman. Marcus Gronholm gave the pursuit his all, falling just 3.6 seconds short in a dramatic final stage charge that set the radio waves alight.
Morning rain brought on the great tyre guessing game, and most got it wrong, starting on intermediates before moving to slicks. Gronholm took the lead from his teammate in SS9 while Loeb was closing on both Peugeots rapidly.
Of the remaining factory cars, Peugeot drivers completed the top ten, Cedric Robert ahead of the disappointing Gilles Panizzi. While Skoda had long since disappeared, their pace with the new Fabia must be a worry to Hyundai. Hyundai however collected a manufacturers' point via Freddy Loix's 11th place. He received good support from Armin Schwarz in 12th. Manfred Stohl was slightly disappointed to be 18th. In between was the Focus 02 of Mikko Hirvonen, running consistently and learning the event in 13th.
Pos Driver/Co-driver Car
1. Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena Citroen Xsara
2. Marcus Gronholm/Timo Rautiainen Peugeot 206 WRC
3. Richard Burns/Robert Reid Peugeot 206 WRC
4. Colin McRae/Derek Ringer Citroen Xsara
5. Markko Martin/Michael Park Ford Focus RS WRC 03
6. Carlos Sainz/Marc Marti Citroen Xsara
7. Francois Duval/Stephan Prevot Ford Focus RS WRC 03
8. Petter Solberg/Philip Mills Subaru Impreza WRC2003
9. Cedric Robert/Bedon Peugeot 206 WRC
10. Gilles Panizzi/Herve Panizzi Peugeot 206 WRC
CART
Teammates Bruno Junqueira of Brazil and France's Sebastian Bourdais finished second and third. After a three-lap caution for multiple car collisions on the opening lap on the 2.84-kilometre city street circuit, Junquiera jumped the green flag and was ordered to move over for Tracy on the 24th circuit. From that point on the race was never in doubt and Tracy led every lap until the chequered flag, as he had in Toronto.
Pos Driver Car
1. Paul Tracy Player's-Forsythe Racing Lola-Ford
2. Bruno Junqueira Newman-Haas Racing Lola-Ford
3. Sebastien Bourdais Newman-Haas Racing Lola-Ford
4. Michel Jourdain Jr Team Rahal Lola-Ford
5. Darren Manning Walker Racing Reynard-Ford
6. Ryan Hunter-Reay American Spirit Team Johansson Reynard-Ford
7. Mario Haberfeld Mi-Jack Conquest Racing Reynard-Ford
8. Rodolfo Lavin Walker Racing Reynard-Ford
9. Max Papis PK Racing Lola-Ford
10. Mario Dominguez Herdez Competition Lola-Ford
IRL
Alex Barron stormed into the lead on the final turn to win the fastest race in IndyCar Series history at the Michigan 400 on Sunday. Driving his second race for Mo Nunn Racing, Barron beat last year's series' champion Sam Hornish Jr. by a mere 0.121 seconds in the fourth-closest finish in the event.
Pos Driver Team
1. Alex Barron Mo Nunn Racing GForce-Toyota
2. Sam Hornish Jr Panther Racing Dallara-Chevrolet
3. Tomas Scheckter Chip Ganassi Racing GForce-Toyota
4. Scott Sharp Kelley Racing Dallara-Toyota
5. Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing GForce-Toyota
6. Tora Takagi Mo Nunn Racing GForce-Toyota
7. Gil de Ferran Team Penske Dallara-Toyota
8. Roger Yasukawa Super Aguri Fernandez Racing Dallara-Honda
9. Al Unser Jr Kelley Racing Dallara-Toyota
10. Greg Ray Access Motorsports GForce-Honda
MotoGP
It wasn't the usual Valentino Rossi post-race at the Sachsenring. Instead of the happy, exuberant Rossi taking a cruisy slowdown lap as he waved to the crowd after taking the chequered flag, it was a rider returning to the pits in somewhat of a hurry. When he took his helmet off, he didn't look any happier, though he did manage to crack a smile on the podium. He was short and sharp in the press conference too.
After his poor start, Biaggi was making his way back through the field, taking one bike per lap to be up to fourth after seven laps, Bayliss next on the list as Gibernau began to slowly close on Rossi. Unfortunately Noriyuki Haga's exit was the next incident of note, crashing at the final turn on lap eight. Although Biaggi caught Bayliss quite quickly, he was not finding it as easy to pass him as the riders before him. As they began lap 12 Biaggi was inside and alongside Bayliss through turn one, but Bayliss held on. One lap later Bayliss ran wide at turn one but it wasn't enough to let Biaggi through, before running wide again just a couple of corners later, this time enough for Biaggi to take the upper hand and third place.
By the middle of turn one most of that gap had disappeared and Rossi was right on Gibernau's tail just a couple of corners later, looking at every opportunity to make the move as he rode just millimetres away from the back of Gibernau's bike. On the run down into the steep downhill left hander Rossi got alongside and so it was no surprise that Rossi completed the pass through the turn, Gibernau unable to outbrake him into the bend. Clearly in the lead, Rossi then took a tight line into the final turn, locking the rear brake and getting a little sideways as Gibernau swept wide to maximises his exit speed.
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Sete Gibernau Honda RC211V
2. Valentino Rossi Honda RC211V
3. Troy Bayliss Ducati Desmosedici
4. Loris Capirossi Ducati Desmosedici
5. Nicky Hayden Honda RC211V
6. Tohru Ukawa Honda RC211V
7. Shinya Nakano Yamaha YZR-M1
8. Carlos Checa Yamaha YZR-M1
9. Olivier Jacque Yamaha YZR-M1
10. Norick Abe Yamaha YZR-M1
NASCAR
A strong run for Penske throughout the day saw Ryan Newman take the win at Pocono, though Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch and the DEI duo of Dale Earnhardt Jr and Michael Waltrip looked like they might claim the prize at stages during the second half of the event after Newman and teammate Rusty Wallace looked like running away with the event in the first fifty laps. Though a slightly poor strategy decision by Matt Kenseth dropped him to thirteenth in the final results, it was a pretty good day for him in the championship as Jeff Gordon and Bobby Labonte both finished outside the top thirty, Dale Earnhardt Jr the only driver of note championship wise to make up any points on Kenseth.
The next caution came out on lap 69 after contact between Robby Gordon and Jeremy Mayfield off turn two ended with Mayfield making heavy contact with the wall. In came the field again, most taking four tyres this time, but Wallace, Newman and Jeff Burton took two and were first out the pits. However Casey Mears chose not to pit and was the new leader as the race restarted on lap 73, Burton taking third from Newman just before the race returned to caution on lap 75 when Mark Martin hit the turn two wall after bouncing off Dale Earnhardt Jr then being unavoidably spun by Earnhardt Jr's teammate Michael Waltrip. Most of the field stayed out having just pitted, though both Earnhardt Jr and Waltrip made stops.
The race restarted on lap 124 but was back to yellow one lap later after a chain reaction saw Dave Blaney left with nowhere to go, tipping Jeff Gordon into a spin, hitting the turn three wall reasonably hard. The race returned to green on lap 130, Earnhardt Jr passing his teammate for the lead one lap later, Nemechek passing Waltrip a lap after Earnhardt Jr before Waltrip retook second place on the next lap. Lap 133 was a bad lap for Ward Burton as Stewart, Newman, Kenseth and brother Jeff Burton dropped him from fourth to eighth place.
Kenseth and teammate Jeff Burton decided they would pit and dropped from third and fourth to 21st and 22nd. The race restarted on lap 171, Newman leading Earnhardt Jr, Terry Labonte, Waltrip and Kurt Busch, with Waltrip taking third from Labonte at turn one after the restart, Busch doing the same a lap later as Newman and Earnhardt Jr pulled away at the head of the field. With 23 laps remaining Tony Stewart's teammate Bobby Labonte began to slow and lose track position as the top five began to close back up. Lap 183 and it was caution time again after Bobby Labonte's engine called it a day, spinning Labonte into the wall at turn two.
Pos Driver Car
1. Ryan Newman Dodge Intrepid
2. Kurt Busch Ford Taurus
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet Monte Carlo
4. Michael Waltrip Chevrolet Monte Carlo
5. Terry Labonte Chevrolet Monte Carlo
6. Jeff Burton Ford Taurus
7. Joe Nemechek Chevrolet Monte Carlo
8. Todd Bodine Ford Taurus
9. Dave Blaney Ford Taurus
10. Sterling Marlin Dodge Intrepid
DTM
Against threatening skies, the Superpole got under way. Alain Menu and Laurent Aiello both lowered the mark before Alesi thumped down a 1:28.3. Two cars later Bernd Schneider undercut the time even further. The four remaining cars could not beat Schneider or Alesi, although Mattias Ekstrom got within a few hundredths of Alesi.
Pos Driver Car
1. Jean Alesi Mercedes CLK-DTM
2. Bernd Schneider Mercedes CLK-DTM
3. Mattias Ekstrom Audi TT-R
4. Marcel Fassler Mercedes CLK-DTM
5. Christijan Albers Mercedes CLK-DTM
6. Peter Dumbreck Opel Astra V8 Coupe
7. Thomas Jager Mercedes CLK-DTM
8. Timo Scheider Opel Astra V8 Coupe
9. Gary Paffett Mercedes CLK-DTM
10. Joachim Winkelhock Opel Astra V8 Coupe
Superbikes
Race One
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Shane Byrne Ducati 998F02
2. Neil Hodgson Ducati 999F03
3. Chris Walker Ducati 998F02
4. Regis Laconi Ducati 998RS
5. Sean Emmett Ducati 998RS
6. James Toseland Ducati 998F02
7. Gregorio Lavilla Suzuki GSX-R 1000
8. Michael Rutter Ducati 998F02
9. Pierfrancesco Chili Ducati 998RS
10. Yukio Kagayama Suzuki GSX-R 1000
Race Two
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Shane Byrne Ducati 998F02
2. John Reynolds Suzuki GSX-R 1000
3. James Toseland Ducati 998F02
4. Ruben Xaus Ducati 999F03
5. Neil Hodgson Ducati 999F03
6. Gregorio Lavilla Suzuki GSX-R 1000
7. Pierfrancesco Chili Ducati 998RS
8. Regis Laconi Ducati 998RS
9. Yukio Kagayama Suzuki GSX-R 1000
10. Leon Haslam Ducati 998RS
FIA GT
Spa-Francorchamps is infamous for its weather. Rain is a frequent visitor to the famous Belgian circuit. This year it plagued the Spa 24 Hours, working its own way into the proceedings, causing havoc in its wake. Out of the mists and between the trees emerged an N-GT car. After 479 laps, the form team from the last N-GT event at Donington Park, Stephane Ortelli, Marc Lieb and Romain Dumas in Freisinger Motorsport's Porsche 996 won Europe's biggest GT race.
Pos Drivers Car
1. Stephane Ortelli/Marc Lieb/ Porsche 996 GT3-RS
Romain Dumas (1st N-GT)
2. Luca Cappellari/Fabrizio Gollin/ Ferrari 550 Maranello
Lilian Bryner/Enzo Calderari (1st GT)
3. Gabrio Rosa/Alex Caffi/ Porsche 996 GT3-RS
Andrea Chiesa/Luca Drudi (2nd N-GT)
4. Vincent Vosse/Christophe Bouchut/ Chrysler Viper GTS-R
Patrick Huisman/Sebastien Dumez (2nd GT)
5. Didier de Radigues/Kurt Mollekens/ Chrysler Viper GTS-R
Pedro Lamy (1st G2)
6. Pierre-Yves Carthals/Paul Belmondo/ Chrysler Viper GTS-R
Yann Clairay/Emmanuel Clerico (3rd GT)
7. Robert Pergl/Jaroslav Janis/ Ferrari 360 Modena
Yannick Schroeder (3rd N-GT)
8. Fabrizio de Simone/Luciano Burti/ Ferrari 360 Modena
Iradj Alexander (4th N-GT)
9. Koen Wauters/Jos Menten/ Porsche 996 Turbo
Albert Varierschot/Kris Wauters (2nd G2)
10. David Sterckx/Andrea Piccini/ Lister Storm
Gabriele Lancieri/Gavin Pickering (4th GT)
Upcoming Events Calendar
Please Contact Us for permission to republish this or any other material from Atlas F1.
 Email to Friend
Volume 9, Issue 31
Atlas F1 Exclusive
The Art of Selling: Sponsorship 101
Giancarlo Fisichella: Through the Visor
Articles
Season in the Sun
Rear View Mirror
2003 German GP Preview
2003 German GP Preview
Germany Facts & Stats
Columns
The Fuel Stop
The F3000 Trivia Quiz
Bookworm Critique
Elsewhere in Racing
The Weekly Grapevine
> Homepage |
