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Atlas F1 Magazine Writers
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Down Under Duel
Rally Australia makes unique demands on rally cars. The combination of Rally Finland-esque speed and the unique surface, the famed ball-bearing gravel, has traditionally favoured the experienced. So it was different to see two of rallying's young guns fighting for the prize. For the entire length or the rally, Petter Solberg and Sebastien Loeb battled, initially for second, then for the lead after the retirement of Marcus Gronholm. The result was not known until the second last stage when the lead changed for the final time and Solberg blew out the lead when conditions turned suddenly his way.
"This has been a fantastic battle and a really interesting weekend," said Solberg. "I honestly do prefer to go into the final stage in second place; I prefer to be the hunter. I was caught out by some mud earlier in the day when I went into the field, but apart from that everything has gone well. I have to say Sebastien has driven really well, given that he doesn't have so much experience of this event or driving on gravel - but it's a fantastic feeling to win."
"Right now I am a little bit disappointed with the second place," said Loeb, "but really this result is fantastic for me. I came here looking to finish somewhere in the points, maybe sixth or seventh - so this is good, but it would have been nice to win - after our tyre choices, that was very difficult."
Recent rain in the lead up to the event had turned several stages into mud, giving the rally a different feel from normal Rally Australia, but into something more familiar. Richard Burns, road sweeper again as leader of the World Championship, commented that the sweeping role was much less of a penalty than it normally would be here. It was another Peugeot making waves early as Marcus Gronholm took the lead on Stage 2 from Petter Solberg who had won the first Super Special at its new home of Gloucester Park on Thursday night. After Stage 7, Gronholm had blown the lead out to over 16 seconds. Solberg held second for most of the day until Stage 6, where on Stirling Long, Sebastien Loeb blitzed the field to be eight seconds faster than Gronholm.
In Stage 8 at Murray North, Gronholm took too big a cut at a hairpin and got stuck at a precarious angle. With the help of a swarm of spectators Gronholm regained the road, but over seventeen minutes and all hope of a points finish were gone. Gronholm completed the stage but abandoned the event at that point. This left Loeb overnight leader, only four seconds clear of Solberg despite winning the remaining two stages after Gronholm's retirement. Burns was 39 seconds distant in third place, in turn well clear of the battle for fourth as Tommi Makinen led Markko Martin and Carlos Sainz. Sainz would have been further up the order but for a gentle roll onto a tree late in the day.
Into Leg Two and Loeb was fast and effective, trading fastest times on the forest stages all day with Solberg. Solberg claimed though to be holding something back for Leg Three, something which the timesheets bore out with the Norwegian only losing a second to the Frenchman all day despite two big overshoots. The pace of the two leaders was incredible, taking almost a minute from Richard Burns in third over the course of the day. Despite the speed of the event the only significant retirement of Leg Two was Production Car World Championship leader Toshihiro Arai. After missing Rally Deutschland, the Subaru driver's points lead would now be vulnerable.
On the first stage of the final Leg, Petter Solberg eradicated the five-second gap to take the lead as the cars screamed through the Sotico stages. Loeb did not give up and was right with the Norwegian when the Subaru speared off into a field on SS22. Solberg was driving beyond Loeb's ability to resist and on the very next stage reclaimed the lead as rain tumbled down on the rally, making tyre choice even more crucial. Loeb made the wrong guess all day, but second place at only his second attempt at 'Rally Oz' was an outstanding drive. Solberg only just bettered it. The final gap between the pair blew out to over 26 seconds as the rain came down, the largest it had been all event.
Third place belonged to Richard Burns almost from the beginning of the rally. He failed to threaten the runaway leaders and was not troubled by the pursuit. Third place was able to limit the damage Solberg and Loeb did to his points lead and was able to finish ahead of his other rival Sainz. Not a bad performance, just not an especially good one.
There was a battle in the event apart from the enthralling chase for the lead. Fourth place was hotly contested throughout the rally. Led initially by Makinen, Markko Martin moved into fourth in the Focus on Stage 15. Makinen struggled on the second day with underprepared brakes which saw the four times world champion slip to sixth place behind the Citroen of Colin McRae. Disaster struck the Ford team on Saturday night. Scrutineers found a rock in Martin's car which was being used as ballast. Under the regulations there was only one sentence for the crime and the team packed up car number 4 for the trip back to Europe. "We broke a rule and were excluded, that's that, but it's very disappointing." was Malcolm Wilson's response.
This left McRae in fourth place heading into the Sotico stages and the yumps he's made his own since he first began travelling to Australia with Subaru in the mid 90s. The weather put paid to the hoped for typical McRae exhibitionism, but he was fast nonetheless and resisted the charge of his veteran teammate. Brake problems had hampered McRae early in the rally, at the event in which he might have hoped to showcase himself with a view for 2004 employment.
Makinen trailed away from the battling Citroens on Leg Three to take sixth. With Martin's disqualification, Harri Rovanpera picked up one position from the eighth he had held for most of the event to move into seventh, and this let Freddy Loix into eighth, the Belgian scoring his first point for the year in the Hyundai. Both Hyundais struggled with handling problems, the team resorting to some fairly drastic mechanical measures, including disconnecting the anti-roll bars, to get Armin Schwarz's machine to work. Schwarz was the last of the factory cars home, in thirteenth.
Rounding out the top ten were the surviving Fords, a very happy Mikko Hirvonen leading in Francois Duval. Hirvonen, still using the 02 Focus, was having a learning rally. Mindful of the 02 Focus nose-heavy habits over the West Australian yumps and learning a new rally at the same time, Hirvonen came in on the cusp of the points, on a rally with relatively low attrition, even overtaking Duval on the second last stage. Duval, still a relative rookie on some events, treated it as a learning event too. An off late in the event allowed his teammate through into ninth.
On their first flyaway event with the new Fabia, Skoda brought both cars home in eleventh and twelfth, Didier Auriol leading Toni Gardemeister. The team used the event to try and get a handle on the cars handling and Skoda were finding there is a lot to learn.
With Arai out of the event the only trouble Martin Rowe had in Group N was from the non-championship registered locals. Mitsubishi Australia's Ed Ordynski was the runaway Group N leader when he rolled out of the event, a casualty of the new Gloucester Park Super Special. This left Martin Rowe thirty seconds ahead of Dean Herridge in the Possum Bourne Motorsport Subaru Impreza. The class win takes Rowe into the lead of the Production Car World Championship.
In the main game, Burns has actually increased his lead out to seven points while Sainz and Solberg share second place. Loeb has closed to be ten points behind Burns. Gronholm is now 17 points adrift of his teammate, and if Peugeot have not yet made the decision to throw their weight behind the man who is leaving the team at the end of the year, then that decision is close. With only four rounds left there are too many drivers ahead of the reigning champion.
Result of World Rally Championship, Round 10 of 14, Rally Australia:
Standings: Richard Burns 55, Carlos Sainz and Petter Solberg 48, Sebastien Loeb 45, Marcus Gronholm 38, Markko Martin 37, Colin McRae 33, Tommi Makinen 21, Harri Rovanpera 18, Francois Duval 11 etc.
Manufacturers: Peugeot 81, Citroen 73, Subaru 47, Ford 43, Skoda 20, Hyundai 6
Production Car Standings: Martin Rowe 37, Toshihiro Arai and Karamjit Singh 30, Stig Blomqvist 26, Daniel Sola 22 etc
Mexico and Japan On Expanded 2004 Calendar
Mexico and Japan will join an expanded 16 round World Rally Championship calendar next year, the sport's governing body said on Tuesday.
An International Automobile Federation (FIA) spokesman said the two new rounds would reflect "the genuinely global status of the championship".
The season will start as usual in Monte Carlo on January 23 but will end in Australia in November rather than Britain, which moves to a mid-September slot after the Japanese rally on September 3-5.
Mexico, held around the central city of Leon from March 12 to 14, will be the first round of the season to adopt the new 'Mille Piste' system of pre-race reconnaissance without the use of special gravel crews.
2004 calendar report provided by Reuters
Valentino Victorious
Just when Valentino Rossi was coming under pressure for this year's MotoGP title, he has shown he is still the man to beat, winning the last two rounds. That is not to say it has been easy, spending half the race behind Max Biaggi at Estoril after just edging out Sete Gibernau at the previous round in Brno. Sete Gibernau, having won the German GP at the Sachsenring by six hundredths of a second, has since been pipped at the line twice, losing the win at the Czech Republic GP to Rossi by 42 thousandths of a second and this time losing third place to Loris Capirossi by fifteen thousandths of a second. Rossi now leads Gibernau by 46 points, with Biaggi 30 points further back.
Ducati's Loris Capirossi sat on his third pole position for the year, ahead of Honda's Max Biaggi, Valentino Rossi and Sete Gibernau. Max Biaggi grabbed the lead at the start and led through turn one from Capirossi, Gibernau, Rossi and Troy Bayliss. Biaggi quickly began to open a gap as Rossi took third down the pit straight as they completed lap one, then moving past Capirossi as they negotiated turn six halfway through lap two. Rossi was now second, but he had a gap to close to get to Biaggi as the top five ran away from the rest of the field.
Early on lap four the gap between Biaggi and Rossi had disappeared, as Capirossi and Gibernau dropped Bayliss from their group. While Rossi was now on Biaggi's tail, he didn't try or succeed in making a pass on him for lap after lap, Rossi seemingly content in sitting right on Biaggi's tail rather than moving ahead and running away. Meanwhile Capriossi and Gibernau were still quite close. Just as the leading duo began to edge away a little Capirossi made a small break on Gibernau, only to throw it away when he ran wide at the first turn on lap twelve, allowing Gibernau into third place as Capirossi fell just behind him into fourth.
Ironically this error by Capirossi, which saw the leading duo have their largest margin over third place for the race so far, appeared to trigger Rossi into action, taking the lead from Biaggi into turn one on lap fourteen. Once Rossi took over the lead it was clear who was going to win, Rossi steadily opening the gap over Biaggi lap by lap. After his mistake, Capirossi was quickly back on Gibernau's tail as he hounded him to regain the final podium position. With two laps to go Rossi held a comfortable lead over Biaggi, who held a similar gap over the duo of Gibernau and Capirossi. But corner by corner, Capirossi was closing in.
Exiting the Parabolica with just over a lap remaining, Capirossi got into Gibernau's slipstream, taking third place into turn one. Gibernau hadn't given up, and after hounding him around the back of the circuit, helped by a moment for Capirossi exiting turn seven, dived through on the inside into the chicane and took third back. But Capirossi was still there, and had one last hope. Out of the Parabolica for the final time, and Rossi took the win ahead of Biaggi, but there was more still to come, with Capirossi closer than the lap before, slipstreaming Gibernau down the straight and beating him to the line by fifteen thousandths of a second! Fifth was Tohru Ukawa while sixth was Troy Bayliss.
Result of World Motorcycle Championship, Round 11 of 16, Estoril, Portugal:
Standings: Valentino Rossi 237, Sete Gibernau 191, Max Biaggi 161, Loris Capirossi 113, Troy Bayliss 106, Carlos Checa 86, Tohru Ukawa 85, Alex Barros 76, Nicky Hayden 74, Shinya Nakano 63 etc.
Hornish Edges Victory In Chicago
Sam Hornish Jr edged ahead of Scott Dixon and Bryan Herta to win the Chicago 300 Indy Racing League on Sunday for his second IRL victory of the year. Hornish won by 0.0099 of a second, or the length of the nose of his Indy car, as the three drivers finished side-by-side in the closest one-two-three finish in series history.
Brazilian-born Helio Castroneves could only manage 20th place but remains the series points leader with 439 to New Zealander Dixon's 427. Brazilian Tony Kanaan is third with 425. Hornish, who has 398 points, still has a mathematical chance of catching the leader with two races left in the title chase.
Hornish, driving a Dallara-Chevrolet, was second behind the Dallara-Honda of Herta on Sunday when they raced through the fourth turn on the last lap of the 1.5 mile Chicagoland oval. But as they roared toward the checkered flag, Hornish took the high line and accelerated hard with Dixon's G-Force-Toyota behind him. Then Dixon decided to go a lot lower.
Dixon said: "I was expecting to finish third. I was sure that Hornish was going to get it (the win) so I decided to give him a (aerodynamic) push." Hornish, the winner of this event last year and defending series champion, had saved his best until last. "I looked down and I saw one car, but there was another car beneath," he said.
Castroneves inadvertently helped set up the dash to the finish when his car stopped on the track with a gearbox problem on lap 184, bringing out the third and final caution of the day. South Africa's Tomas Scheckter, the ex-Jaguar Formula One test driver and son of former world champion Jody Scheckter, was race leader at the time and had just pitted.
That allowed Hornish to pit under the yellow flag and gain an advantageous position on his return to the track. "We ran lean all day to conserve fuel," said Hornish. "It helped us because we were able to stay out longer."
Result of Indy Racing League, Round 14 of 16, ChicagoLand Speedway, Illinois, United States:
Standings: Helio Castroneves 439, Scott Dixon 427, Tony Kanaan 425, Gil de Ferran 422, Sam Hornish Jr 398, Al Unser Jr 330, Kenny Brack 318, Tomas Scheckter 309, Scott Sharp 299, Tora Takagi 279 etc.
Report provided by Reuters
Newman Makes It Six
After last week's disaster at Darlington, Ryan Newman got things back on track in the best way possible by winning this week's race at Richmond. Jeff Gordon looked like he might be on target to the win for the first two-thirds of the race until the handling of his car fell away, though he was able to stay on the lead lap and managed to finish the night in tenth place, his best result since Indianapolis. Another driver who looked set for a strong finish was Kevin Harvick, who was heading for his fourth consecutive second place until Ricky Rudd made contact with him late in the race, dropping Harvick to sixteenth place at the finish. The incident wasn't over however, with Harvick pulling alongside Rudd's car in pit lane and jumping out of the car, verbally venting his anger at Rudd. This and further action by his crew ended with Harvick copping a $35,000 fine and being placed on probation until the end of the year, and several of his crew fined, suspended and/or on probation.
Meanwhile Harvick's teammate Robby Gordon was not in the best of moods either. After bringing out the caution and falling off the lead lap, Robby Gordon was up in the top five late in the race when contact with Jeff Burton slammed him into the wall, dropping him from fifth at the time to a 29th place finish. After the race he seemed to be on a Harvick-like mission before sanity prevailed. While all this was happening Matt Kenseth bounced off the wall for the second week in a row, but still finished the night in seventh place, as he once again extended his points lead, Dale Earnhardt Jr's late race stop under green dropping him down to seventeenth place as Harvick's late race misfortune allowed him to hold onto second place in the points, 418 behind Kenseth.
Mike Skinner set the fastest time in qualifying but crashed in practice and so was forced to start at the rear of the field, moving Greg Biffle and Mark Martin onto the front row. At the start Martin moved to the front but was quickly rounded up by Biffle, Jeff Gordon to second as Martin lost a few places, as Gordon took the lead from Biffle at the start of lap four. Jeff Burton was another driver on the move early, quickly into third before taking second from Biffle on lap seven, slowly closing in on the leader. The first caution wasn't far away, coming out on lap 25 after Robby Gordon hit the inside wall on the backstretch after spinning to avoid running into Elliott Sadler. The second half of the field pitted as the rest stayed out.
The race restarted on lap 29, Gordon leading Burton, Ryan Newman and Biffle, Gordon opening a gap as Burton came under pressure initially from Newman before shaking him off. Lap 45 saw Ward Burton move into fourth ahead of Biffle, while four laps later Newman was ahead of Jeff Burton into second. Around lap 60 Gordon began to enter lapped traffic, allowing Newman and both Burtons to close in, Newman getting alongside Gordon but unable to complete the pass. All this came to an end when Greg Biffle spun down the frontstretch, bringing out the next caution on lap 65. This time almost the whole field, including the leaders, pitted, Newman leading Gordon and Jeff Burton off pit road. However Jason Leffler and Mike Wallace had stayed out and were now one and two as the race resumed on lap 69.
Gordon quickly looked for a way past Newman as Burton made it a three-way battle for third, Gordon finally taking third on lap 75 to trigger off a number of people passing Newman in the next few laps. Another caution wasn't far away, coming out on lap 85, Kenseth hitting the turn four wall with Elliott Sadler being spun by another car as he slowed to avoid the spinning Kenseth. Most of the field stayed out at this time although leader Leffler was among those to make a stop. Lap 89 and it was back to green, Wallace leading at the restart but Gordon taking the lead back from Wallace on lap 92. A multi-car crash brought out the next caution on lap 95, beginning when Dave Blaney spun off turn two with Dale Jarrett, Steve Park, Johnny Sauter, Kyle Petty, Bill Elliott, Kenny Wallace and Todd Bodine all getting caught up with nowhere to go in the smoke, several cars suffering major damage.
The race eventually restarted on lap 113, Gordon leading Mike Wallace, Kevin Harvick and Jeff and Ward Burton. Wallace was having a battle for second with Harvick and Jeff Burton, Harvick losing third to Burton on lap 116 before both of them passed Wallace three laps later. Another multi-car crash wasn't far away, beginning when Biffle spun John Andretti off turn two, Jason Leffler, Sterling Marlin, Jamie McMurray, Dale Jarrett and Kurt Busch getting caught up in the mayhem, Busch suffering the most damage as most got off fairly lightly, bringing out the caution on lap 121. Most of the leaders pitted again. However seven cars stayed out and now led the field as the race resumed on lap 127, Harvick leading Terry Labonte and Ricky Rudd, as Jeff Gordon in eighth was the first car in the order to have pitted, just ahead of Tony Stewart and Jeff Burton. Unfortunately Stewart was the next caution on lap 130, hitting the turn three wall after trying to go around the outside of Jeff Burton into turn three and bouncing off the side of him instead.
Back to green on lap 134, Harvick still leading Labonte and Rudd. Casey Mears hit the turn four wall twice, glancing the first time before slamming it the second time, bringing out the caution on lap 145. This time Harvick and Rudd pitted from the front as most of the field stayed on track, dropping them outside the top twenty. At the restart on lap 149 Terry Labonte now lead from brother Bobby, with Kenseth third ahead of Jeff Burton and Dale Earnhardt Jr, though Kenseth quickly dropped down the order as Bobby Labonte took the lead on lap 152, Earnhardt Jr getting into Burton as he looked for a way past Terry Labonte with Burton pulling off a miraculous save, keeping third place after Earnhardt Jr backed out of the pass.
Having lost the lead a few laps earlier, Terry Labonte was back on brother Bobby's tail, taking the position back on lap 157, Burton and Earnhardt Jr moving past, dropping Bobby to fourth as a three car battle for the lead ensued, Burton and Earnhardt Jr both moving past Terry Labonte on lap 160, Jeff Gordon passing both Labontes into third as he completed lap 160, with Bobby moving back ahead of brother Terry the next lap as Terry faded. It continued to be all action at the front as Earnhardt Jr battled with Burton for the lead, taking it from him on lap 164. Soon after Burton had Gordon and Bobby Labonte on his tail, Gordon taking second on lap 176 with Labonte following through on the next lap as fifth placed Jimmy Spencer was the next to look for a way past Burton, making his way through soon after as Burton began to fall down the top ten.
The 'long' run under green ended on lap 196 when Tony Stewart spun off turn two. The field pitted, Earnhardt Jr leading Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte, Terry Labonte and Matt Kenseth out of the pits and at the restart on lap 201, Gordon immediately setting about taking the lead from Earnhardt Jr, racing side-by-side as they battled, Gordon finally taking the place on lap 214 as in the meantime Burton had moved past Bobby Labonte into third. A few laps later Earnhardt Jr was back on Gordon's tail, looking to take the lead back, before Gordon opened a small lead, as Kenseth move past Bobby Labonte into fourth place. Having dropped outside the top twenty around 100 laps earlier when he pitted from the lead, Kevin Harvick was now up to sixth place and looking for a way past Bobby Labonte as the field completed 240 laps of the 400 lap event.
Lap 243 and Earnhardt Jr retook the lead from Gordon, and pulled away from him, with Kenseth moving up to third and Harvick to fifth soon after, Harvick moving up to fourth in the next few laps. Another long green run came to an end on lap 269 when Dale Jarrett and Jamie McMurray made contact, McMurray spinning. The field pitted, Gordon beating Newman, Harvick, Earnhardt Jr and Kenseth off pit road. The race returned to green on lap 275, Newman taking over the lead on lap 277 as Gordon dropped to fifth as he was worried about a flat tyre. Lap 281 saw Bobby Labonte move past Earnhardt Jr into third, Jimmy Spencer taking fifth from Kenseth three laps later before Labonte took second from Harvick a lap after that, as Jeff Gordon continued to fall down the standings.
Not long after Elliott Sadler backed into the turn one wall, bringing out the caution on lap 287. Most of the field stayed out as Kevin Harvick and Jeff Gordon were among those who pitted, dropping to eleventh and thirteenth respectively. The race restarted on lap 294, Newman leading the way as the race settled down, very little happening before the next caution came out on lap 320 for debris. Just before the caution fourth placed Jimmy Spencer slowed and lost places with engine problems while Earnhardt Jr hit the debris that brought out the caution. Most of the lead lap cars pitted except Newman and Earnhardt Jr and five other cars, Johnny Benson leading those who made a stop off pit road in eighth.
The race restarted on lap 324, Newman leading Earnhardt Jr, Harvick, Robby Gordon and Ricky Rudd, Earnhardt Jr pushing Newman hard for the lead before Newman opened a small gap as Earnhardt Jr fell into Harvick's clutches. Then Earnhardt Jr was forced to pit under green with a deflating right front tyre, losing almost two laps. This meant the top five were now Newman, Harvick, Rudd, Robby Gordon and Terry Labonte, Harvick closing in on Newman as they negotiated lapped traffic before a battle to lap Mike Skinner saw Harvick almost take the lead then lose a lot of ground.
Robby Gordon, having lost fourth to Jeremy Mayfield with just over 25 laps remaining, then battled with Jeff Burton for fifth. The close battle ended with Gordon in the turn three and four wall when Burton washed up high in the middle of the turn, spinning Gordon out and into the wall, bringing out another caution with eighteen laps remaining. A handful of cars made pit stops but the leaders stayed out as the race returned to green with fourteen laps remaining but debris brought the caution back out two laps later.
Nine laps to go and it was game on, Newman just ahead of Harvick and Rudd, Harvick falling into the clutches of Rudd quickly before a nudge from Rudd spun Harvick around, hitting the turn one and two wall hard and bringing the caution back out with seven to go. Rudd's contact with Harvick allowed Mayfield to sneak up the inside and move into second place. Four to go and the race restarted once again, and though Mayfield got very close on the last lap he still couldn't quite do it, Newman holding on to take the win ahead of Mayfield, Rudd, Jeff Burton and Rusty Wallace who snuck into the top five from nowhere late in the race.
Result of NASCAR Winston Cup, Round 26 of 36, Richmond International Raceway, Virginia, United States:
Standings: Matt Kenseth 3864, Dale Earnhardt Jr 3446, Kevin Harvick 3423, Jimmie Johnson 3363, Jeff Gordon 3271, Ryan Newman 3255, Bobby Labonte 3208, Kurt Busch 3205, Terry Labonte 3082, Michael Waltrip 3079 etc.
Faster Fassler
DTM's return to Austria saw a repeat winner. Marcel Fassler defended his A-1 Ring crown the hardest way possible, defending from a relentless Bernd Schneider attack. Third was Christijan Albers, the three title rivals taking the majority of the points.
Qualifying told the early tale as Mercedes drivers swept the top of the order. Jean Alesi was fastest in qualifying from the Audi of Laurent Aiello with Bernd Schneider third ahead of Peter Dumbreck's Opel. Superpole brought out the best in Fassler though, improving to snatch pole from teammate Alesi. Albers slipped into third ahead of Aiello with Bernd Schneider leading Christian Abt, his best qualifying effort in some time, on the third row. Dumbreck was again the best Opel in eighth.
The start descended into chaos as when the lights went Alesi did not move. While Fassler bolted Alesi had stalled, with the entire field bearing down on him. Abt hit the back of Alesi's Merc with Dumbreck following into the collision. Dumbreck was able to limp back to the pits, along with Timo Scheider who damaged his Opel avoiding the pile-up. The two Opels did not re-emerge from the pits.
Behind the safety car Fassler led from Albers, Aiello, Schneider, Mattias Ekstrom and Martin Tomczyk. The safety car stayed out until lap six where, with the field released, Tomczyk led three other cars into immediately stopping. The leaders then waited a few laps with Schneider pushing his old rival hard until taking third on the second flying lap. Fassler pitted on lap 10 with Schneider following in. Fassler's crew kept him in front of the '02 champ. Albers lead of the race lasted only a lap before pitting, who in turn handed it again only for a lap to Aiello. Gary Paffett stayed out, pushing the Merc as the field re-organised behind him with Fassler leading the real race from Schneider, Albers and Ekstrom. Ekstrom's fifth was short lived as Aiello pushed through to try and stay with the fleeing Mercedes.
Paffett eventually stopped on lap 21, just as Thomas Jager started the second pit stop cycle early. Ekstrom dived into the pits from fifth, the first of the leaders to complete both compulsory stops. A lap later Albers and Aiello stopped. Lap 26 saw Schneider stop, the AMG crew servicing the veteran in time to keep him ahead the closing Albers. Fassler stopped a lap later, without losing his lead. Fassler then had to soak up twelve laps of pressure from the senior Mercedes driver.
With nine laps to go the two cars were joined, but try as he might Schneider could not make an impression and Fassler took the chequer. There was a five second gap back to Albers and a further four second back to Aiello, the first non Mercedes. Ekstrom was some distance back in fifth ahead of Paffett. Alain Menu was the first Opel home with Tomczyk taking the final championship point.
Schneider stretched his lead out to a still thin three points over Albers but Fassler's win has brought him into the championship battle, nine points adrift. Aiello is now 20 points behind, no longer a mathematical chance with two rounds left.
Result of Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, Round 8 of 10, A-1 Ring, Austria:
Standings: Bernd Schneider 57, Christijan Albers 54, Marcel Fassler 48, Laurent Aiello 37, Mattias Ekstrom 32, Jean Alesi 28, Peter Dumbreck 26, Timo Scheider 10, Alain Menu 9, Gary Paffett 4 etc.
A-1 Aussie
Ryan Briscoe underlined his championship aspirations with a dominant performance at the A-1 Ring in his Prema Powerteam Dallara-Opel. The Toyota Formula One test driver took both pole positions and both race victories, having led every lap at the Austrian venue. Alexandre Premat took both second places while Premat's ASM teammate Bruno Spengler and Nico Rosberg shared the third places.
Qualifying for the first race was interrupted at the most disruptive point, with less than five minutes to go as everyone headed out to slam down final attempts at a time when Nicolas Lapierre spun and stalled. When the session was restarted there was practically no time to warm up tyres and drivers with the time left remaining and Briscoe stayed on pole with Premat alongside. The second row was made up of Bruno Spengler and Markus Winkelhock followed by an all Austrian third row, Andreas Zuber heading Christian Klien.
A clean start saw the top three pull away in grid order with Zuber getting the jump on Winkelhock. Spengler immediately put pressure on Premat in a battle for the podium position, allowing Briscoe to skip away while just behind the top three Zuber and Winkelhock fought over fourth. Briscoe's leading championship rival had an awful start, dropping to eighth. The Mucke Motorsport driver picked off those in front of him one by one, first Nico Rosberg, then Adam Carroll, and taking the spinning Zuber along the way, climbing towards the back of teammate Winkelhock. He would fall short. Up front the top three was unchanged from their grid positions, with Briscoe taking his fifth victory of the year.
For the second race Briscoe again sat on pole position, with Premat again alongside. Rosberg shared the second row with Briscoe's teammate Robert Kubica while the third row held Olivier Pla and Klien. Electrical gremlins prevented Kubica from taking the grid leaving a free space in front of Klien. Klien was unable to take advantage and was jumped by the fast starting Pla while Briscoe was again away well and again Premat was immediately embroiled in a fight to hold off the next grid car, this time Nico Rosberg instead of Bruno Spengler. Rosberg was quickly through Premat and keen to set off after the fleeing Australian. A full course yellow was quickly held out and so Briscoe's flying start was erased behind the safety car.
Andreas Zuber had had a horrendous accident, a Dallara-destroying barrel roll, that with the help of the efficient Austrian marshals, the home track hero walked away from. At the restart Briscoe charged away and a slight error from Rosberg saw Premat back into second. Pla was holding off Winkelhock and Klien climbing over the pair of them, looking for a way through. Klien eventually got through Winkelhock but as they started the last lap Pla was the proverbial bridge too far and Klien almost lost fifth to his teammate, over driving the Dallara-Mercedes. Race one podium driver Spengler took seventh ahead of Robert Doornbos and Timo Glock, the Opel Team KMS driver still unable to recapture his early season form.
Briscoe now leads the series by 32 points, almost three compete races. With six races to go, he isn't home and hosed yet, but the pursuit looks more like being about chasing second position. Klien holds an eight point advantage over Pla with Winkelhock and Premat a further seven points away. Next stop, Formula 3's European haven of Zandvoort in two weeks.
Result of European Formula Three Championship, Round 7 of 10, A-1 Ring, Austria:
Standings: Ryan Briscoe 89, Christian Klien 57, Olivier Pla 49, Markus Winkelhock and Alexandre Premat 42, Fabio Carbone 41, Nico Rosberg 39, Timo Glock 35, Robert Doornbos 26, Robert Kubica 23 etc.
F3 Euro Series points distribution
Joest One More and the Job Done
Joest Racing claimed another American Le Mans Series victory when Frank Biela and Marco Werner edged ever closer to the ALMS LMP900 crown in their Audi R8 at Fry's Electronics Sports Car Championships at Laguna Seca. The Audi raced away from the only other car to give them trouble all day, the Lola-MG of James Weaver and Butch Leitzinger in a relatively untroubled drive. Third was the JML Panoz of Olivier Beretta and David Saelens. Further back in the field, Sascha Maassen and Lucas Luhr returned to their winning ways in the GT Class, giving them the points to successfully defend Alex Job Racing's ALMS GT championship.
The silver Audi scorched around the famous Californian track in qualifying to score pole position for Frank Biela with a time of 1:16.224, three tenths clear of James Weaver in the Dyson Racing Lola-MG with the Champion Racing Audi R8 of Johnny Herbert in third. The second Dyson Lola was fourth fastest in the hands of Andy Wallace ahead of Jon Field (Intersport Lola-MG), David Saelens (JML Panoz LMP01), Jeff Bucknum (Pilbeam MP91 Willman) and Clint Field (Intersport Riley & Scott MkIIIC Lincoln). Qualifying was red flagged early after the second JML Panoz of Benjamin Leuenberger crashed heavily exiting the Corkscrew putting him and Gunnar Jeannette out of the race.
Drama amongst the prototypes didn't end there after the Champion Racing Audi R8 caught fire during the morning warm-up. The car made the grid, but it was a rushed effort to repair the damage. Also having problems was Olive Garden Ferrari Maranello driver Domenico Schiattarella, a kidney stone putting him out of the race, the team calling upon veteran Bill Auberlen to take over from the Italian.
Biela won the start to lead the race from Herbert and Weaver, while chaos erupted down amongst the GTS cars. The two Prodrive Ferrari Maranellos of Jan Magnussen and Tomas Enge clashed in turn two, with cars scattering in avoidance. The Chevrolet of Oliver Gavin went off track looking for a way forward. Magnussen's car returned to the pits with a gashed front spoiler.
At the restart Weaver pushed the white Audi ahead of him, taking second position. Weaver then settled into second, some ten seconds behind Biela as the first stint wore on. Herbert was the first of the leaders to pit, having been fiddling with the car during the session with continuing electrical glitches. Once serviced, the car was sent to the paddock where the team undertook a clutch change. Jon Field had pitted earlier, handing over to Duncan Dayton, but the Intersport Lola was soon back in the pits suffering from alternator problems.
Chris Dyson pitted his Lola-MG shortly after Herbert, while teammate James Weaver had an off at turn five without losing second place. Dyson was back after only a lap, the Lola-MG venting oil. The job was done in an astonishing ten minutes, retuning the R8 to battle with Lehto at the wheel. Biela finally pitted, surrendering the lead to Weaver. Weaver held the lead for three laps before pitting himself handing the lead back to the Joest Audi and Marco Werner.
Werner drove to the second round of stops and rejoined without losing the lead. From there the order settled down. Coming back through the field, Herbert and Lehto ran out of cars to overtake when they reached fourth position, behind the surviving JML Panoz, while Biela and Werner cruised to victory, two laps clear of the third placed Panoz, and almost a lap in front of Dyson and Leitzinger.
Of the LMP675 cars, attrition again decimated the class with the Lola-Nissan of Jason Workman and Scott Bradley second in class in 18th outright, 14 laps down on the Lola-MG, with Jon Field and Duncan Dayton finishing in their much delayed Lola-MG in 27th outright.
GTS was the only class where the result was in doubt all the way. After the early race incident, drama followed the Prodrive Ferraris through the race with Jan Magnussen clashing with Shane Lewis (GT Ferrari 360), spinning the smaller Ferrari. Magnussen received a stop-go penalty handing the class lead to teammates Tomas Enge and Peter Kox, a lead they held to the finish. The Chevrolets finished third and fourth in class, as it finally seems the ageing 'Vettes have been surpassed by a later model car in the Prodrive Maranellos. Fellows and O'Connell finished third, the team putting their championship leader ahead for the points benefit.
In GT the Alex Job Porsche team led all the way, with only the team's second car of Timo Bernhard leading early. Alternator problems sidelined the #24 car, putting Maassen and Luhr into the lead and into a successful championship defence. They finished twelfth outright. 14th was the Ferrari 360 Modena of Ralf Kelleners and Anthony Lazzaro just ten seconds ahead of the Porsche 996 of Johnny Mowlem, Craig Stanton and Nic Jonsson.
With only two rounds to go the championships are getting close to being decided. Biela and Werner moved away from Lehto to be 18 points clear. Chris Dyson continues to lead LMP675, now only ten points ahead of Jon Field and Duncan Dayton. GTS is all but decided with only the two Corvette crews still in the fight. Fellows and O'Connell lead Gavin and Collins by 23 points.
Result of American Le Mans Series, Round 6 of 9, Road America, Wisconsin, United States:
Standings, P900: Frank Biela and Marco Werner 135, JJ Lehto 117, Johnny Herbert 114, Olivier Beretta 92, David Saelens 66, Gunnar Jeannette 60, Michael Lewis and Tomy Drissi 38, Didier Theys and Clint Field 36 etc.
P675: Chris Dyson 95, Jon Field and Duncan Dayton 85, Jason Workman 79, Andy Wallace, James Weaver and Butch Leitzinger 69 etc.
GTS: Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell 120, Oliver Gavin and Kelly Collins 97, Tomas Enge and Peter Kox 75 etc.
GT: Lucas Luhr and Sascha Maassen 122, Timo Bernhard and Jorg Bergmeister 72, Johnny Mowlem and Craig Stanton 63 etc.
The Fighting MGs
It was a red letter day for MG at Brands Hatch. In a season when the black cars have had to give best to both Vauxhall and Honda, Warren Hughes and Colin Turkington both broke through for their first BTCC wins of the season, and for Turkington, of his career. Yvan Muller though expands his series lead ever so slightly over teammate James Thompson. The Frenchman may yet face discipline over an ugly incident at the conclusion of Race Two, which saw a confrontation between Muller and MG driver Anthony Reid in the pits ending with the Scot sprawled over the bonnet of his MG.
Race one saw Muller roar away from the field with Hughes in pursuit. The pistops worked against Muller though, and he dropped behind Hughes. The Vauxhall driver was reeling the MG in when the engine went off song. Muller held onto to second, but pushing for the lead was out of the question. Muller was able to hold his lead over Turkington in third place with Matt Neal coming home fourth ahead of the other VX Racing Astras of James Thompson and Paul O'Neill. Thompson tried the entire race to get by Neal but the Honda driver drove as defensively as possible.
In the second race Muller's lead was out to over nine seconds as the race reached its conclusion, but a late race safety car brought the field back to Muller. At the restart the series leader was unable to pull away and on the first corner of the last lap slid wide allowing Turkington to slip through into the lead. Tucked in behind Anthony Reid followed his young teammate through only to collide with the recovering Muller. This allowed Paul O'Neill and Alan Morrison to dive past the pair with Reid finishing fourth, just ahead of Muller, the race he'd dominated dashed at the last moment. The frustrated Muller then approached Reid after the race in a confrontation that became physical.
Heading into the Donington round Muller leads defending champion Thompson by 25 points with the third VX Racing driver of Paul O'Neill making it a championship trifecta, although O'Neill is only five points ahead of Neal, and sixteen ahead of Reid.
Result of British Touring Car Championship, Rounds 15 and 16 of 20, Brands Hatch, Great Britain:
Standings: Yvan Muller 183, James Thompson 158, Paul O'Neill 119, Matt Neal 114, Anthony Reid 103, Alan Morrison 99, Warren Hughes 75, Colin Turkington 69, Tom Chilton 61, Robert Collard 32 etc.
Manufacturers' Standings: Vauxhall 62, Proton 22, Honda 12, MG 8
Hodgson's Title
Two tough battles at the front saw two factori Ducati 1-2s, with both Neil Hodgson and Ruben Xaus scoring a win and a second place each. But it was Neil Hodgson's first race second place that was the most important result of the weekend, as it secured for him the 2003 World Superbike Championship with two rounds of the season still remaining. Though Hodgson has always appeared to be on his way to the title, it still had to be done, and he took it the way he has ridden all year, trying hard to win. Xaus's strong results shored up his second place in the title but third place is still up for grabs.
Race one began with new world champion Hodgson jumping into the lead ahead of Chris Walker, Pierfrancesco Chili (who started on pole), Gregorio Lavilla, Regis Laconi and Ruben Xaus, though Xaus quickly moved past Laconi as Walker dropped from second to fifth as before the end of lap one, Lavilla diving up the inside at the final chicane to move into second place. Halfway through lap two Lavilla stole the lead from Hodgson through the fast esses. Xaus was the next rider on the move, taking Chili into turn one at the start of lap three before passing teammate Hodgson at the final chicane, somewhat out of control as he did so with his right leg coming off the bike under brakes.
Xaus attacked Lavilla, at one point nearly falling off as he did so. Lap five of the sixteen lap race saw the end of Regis Laconi's challenge with bike problems, followed soon after by Gregorio Lavilla who lost the front end around the back of the circuit and crashed out of the race while leading. This promoted Xaus to the front, Hodgson second just ahead of Chili, with a small gap back to Walker with teammate James Toseland closing in to complete the top five. By lap seven the top five were in one group. Lap eight saw Hodgson retake the lead into turn one, while a few corners later Toseland moved past Walker for fourth after a close encounter through one of the bends, the leading group down to four as Walker began to fall away.
Xaus was looking everywhere for a way back past but it took a small mistake at the final chicane which allowed him to retake the lead at the end of lap eleven, only for Hodgson to immediately retake the lead into turn one on lap twelve. Xaus hadn't given up and took the lead back again a couple of corners later, only for Hodgson to retake the lead on the second half of the lap, Chili and Walker watching the dice ahead with interest. Positions looked like going unchanged at the front on lap thirteen until Xaus retook the lead in the last few corners and Toseland passed Chili for third at the final chicane.
Two laps to go and the battle continued, Hodgson appearing to run too deep into one of the early bends, but instead using that extra speed to go around the outside of Xaus and retake the lead. Xaus then retook the lead in the last few corners only for Hodgson to steal it back at the final chicane. Xaus got a better exit and got alongside as they began the final lap but couldn't make the pass stick. Xaus hadn't given up and retook the lead halfway through the final lap through the fast esses, the leading duo dropping the battle between Toseland and Chili off during the final tour, Chili then snatching third from Toseland a few corners after the lead changed.
Hodgson made a last ditch attempt at the final chicane but couldn't do it and ran a little wide, but held safely onto second place ahead of Chili and Toseland as Xaus took the win. Troy Corser scored a great result for the Foggy Petronas team bringing the bike home in sixth place. Hodgson's second place may have been just another podium but it was much more significant than that - he was now unbeatable for the title, and therefore was now the 2003 World Superbike Champion.
Race two began with new world champion Hodgson jumping into the lead ahead of teammate Xaus, Laconi, Lavilla and Toseland through turn one, Chili down from pole to sixth. As they completed lap two Laconi dived through to second into the final chicane, but Xaus immediately fought back and dragged Lavilla past as well to drop Laconi to fourth into turn one on lap three. Lap three also saw Chili pass Toseland to move back into the top five, the leading trio of Hodgson, Xaus and Lavilla starting to edge away.
The leading trio diced lap after lap, Xaus looking and almost getting past Hodgson a couple of times as they fought for the lead. Lap eight and Chili passed Laconi to take fourth, Toseland taking fifth from Laconi one lap later. Finally towards the end of lap ten Xaus took the lead through the fast esses, only for Hodgson to take the lead back into the final chicane. Lap eleven and Toseland continued his move upwards, taking fourth place from Chili. On lap thirteen the two factory Ducatis finally broke away from Lavilla as they continued their private battle for the win.
Early on lap fourteen fourth place changed hands as Toseland slowed, baulking Chili as he did so, allowing Laconi to take both of them as Chili remained in fifth, Toseland cruising back to the pits to retire after tyre problems. Meanwhile Xaus was still all over Hodgson, right there with one lap to go. But Hodgson was ready for it, and set the fastest lap of the race on the last lap to ensure he held on ahead of his teammate to take a second one-two for the factory in the two races, each rider scoring a win. Lavilla held on for third ahead of Laconi and Chili.
Result of World Superbike Championship, Round 10 of 12, Assen, The Netherlands:
Standings: Neil Hodgson 431, Ruben Xaus 291, James Toseland 240, Regis Laconi 221, Gregorio Lavilla 201, Chris Walker 191, Pierfrancesco Chili 186, Steve Martin 109, Marco Borciani 98, Lucio Pedercini 97 etc.
Superbikes points distribution
Rally
Pos Driver/Co-driver Car
1. Petter Solberg/Philip Mills Subaru Impreza WRC2003
2. Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena Citroen Xsara
3. Richard Burns/Robert Reid Peugeot 206 WRC
4. Colin McRae/Derek Ringer Citroen Xsara
5. Carlos Sainz/Marc Marti Citroen Xsara
6. Tommi Makinen/Kaj Lindstrom Subaru Impreza WRC2003
7. Harri Rovanpera/Risto Pietilainen Peugeot 206 WRC
8. Freddy Loix/Sven Smeets Hyundai Accent WRC Evo 3
9. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen Ford Focus RS WRC 02
10. Francois Duval/Stephan Prevot Ford Focus RS WRC 03
Event Date
Monte Carlo January 23-25
Sweden February 6-8
Mexico March 12-14
Argentina April 30-May 2
Cyprus May 14-16
Greece May 28-30
Turkey June 25-27
New Zealand July 16-18
Finland August 6-8
Germany August 20-22
Japan September 3-5
Britain September 17-19
Italy October 1-3
France October 15-17
Spain October 29-31
Australia November 12-14
MotoGP
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Valentino Rossi Honda RC211V
2. Max Biaggi Honda RC211V
3. Loris Capirossi Ducati Desmosedici
4. Sete Gibernau Honda RC211V
5. Tohru Ukawa Honda RC211V
6. Troy Bayliss Ducati Desmosedici
7. Marco Melandri Yamaha YZR-M1
8. Carlos Checa Yamaha YZR-M1
9. Nicky Hayden Honda RC211V
10. Makoto Tamada Honda RC211V
IRL
Pos Driver Team
1. Sam Hornish Jr Panther Racing Dallara-Chevrolet
2. Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing GForce-Toyota
3. Bryan Herta Andretti Green Racing Dallara-Honda
4. Dan Wheldon Andretti Green Racing Dallara-Honda
5. Tomas Scheckter Chip Ganassi Racing GForce-Toyota
6. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green Racing Dallara-Honda
7. Alex Barron Cheever Racing Dallara-Chevrolet
8. Roger Yasukawa Super Aguri Fernandez Racing Dallara-Honda
9. Tora Takagi Mo Nunn Racing GForce-Toyota
10. Robbie Buhl Dreyer & Reinbold Dallara-Chevrolet
NASCAR
Pos Driver Car
1. Ryan Newman Dodge Intrepid
2. Jeremy Mayfield Dodge Intrepid
3. Ricky Rudd Ford Taurus
4. Jeff Burton Ford Taurus
5. Rusty Wallace Dodge Intrepid
6. Bobby Labonte Chevrolet Monte Carlo
7. Matt Kenseth Ford Taurus
8. Terry Labonte Chevrolet Monte Carlo
9. Johnny Benson Pontiac Grand Prix
10. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Monte Carlo
DTM
Pos Driver Car
1. Marcel Fassler Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM
2. Bernd Schneider Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM
3. Christijan Albers Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM
4. Laurent Aiello Audi TT-R
5. Mattias Ekstrom Audi TT-R
6. Gary Paffett Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM
7. Alain Menu Opel Astra V8 Coupe
8. Martin Tomczyk Audi TT-R
9. Thomas Jager Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM
10. Manuel Reuter Opel Astra V8 Coupe
Euro F3
Race One
Pos Driver Team
1. Ryan Briscoe Prema Powerteam Dallara F303 Spiess Opel
2. Alexandre Premat ASM F3 Dallara F303 Mercedes
3. Bruno Spengler ASM F3 Dallara F303 Mercedes
4. Markus Winkelhock Mucke Motorsport Dallara F303 Mercedes
5. Christian Klien Mucke Motorsport Dallara F303 Mercedes
6. Adam Carroll Opel Team KMS Dallara F303 Spiess Opel
7. Charles Zwolsman Kolles Dallara F303 Mercedes
8. Nico Rosberg Team Rosberg Dallara F303 Spiess Opel
9. Andreas Zuber Team Rosberg Dallara F303 Spiess Opel
10. Robert Doornbos Team Ghinzani Dallara F303 Mugen-Honda
Race Two
Pos Driver Team
1. Ryan Briscoe Prema Powerteam Dallara F303 Spiess Opel
2. Alexandre Premat ASM F3 Dallara F303 Mercedes
3. Nico Rosberg Team Rosberg Dallara F303 Spiess Opel
4. Olivier Pla ASM F3 Dallara F303 Mercedes
5. Christian Klien Mucke Motorsport Dallara F303 Mercedes
6. Markus Winkelhock Mucke Motorsport Dallara F303 Mercedes
7. Bruno Spengler ASM F3 Dallara F303 Mercedes
8. Robert Doornbos Team Ghinzani Dallara F303 Mugen-Honda
9. Timo Glock Opel Team KMS Dallara F303 Spiess Opel
10. Nicolas Lapierre Signature Plus Dallara F303 Renault Sodemo
ALMS
Pos Drivers Team
1. Frank Biela/Marco Werner Audi R8
2. James Weaver/Butch Leitzinger Lola EX257 MG (1st P675)
3. Olivier Beretta/David Salaens Panoz LMP01 Elan
4. Johnny Herbert/JJ Lehto Audi R8
5. Peter Kox/Tomas Enge Ferrari 550 Maranello (1st GTS)
6. Michael Lewis/Tomy Drissi Riley & Scott Mk IIIC Lincoln
7. Jan Magnussen/David Brabham Ferrari 550 Maranello (2nd GTS)
8. Clint Field/Rick Sutherland Riley & Scott Mk IIIC Elan
9. Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell Chevrolet Corvette C5-R (3rd GTS)
10. Kelly Collins/Oliver Gavin Chevrolet Corvette C5-R (4th GTS)
BTCC
Round Fifteen
Pos Driver Car
1. Warren Hughes MG ZS
2. Yvan Muller Vauxhall Astra
3. Colin Turkington MG ZS
4. Matt Neal Honda Civic
5. James Thompson Vauxhall Astra
6. Paul O'Neill Vauxhall Astra
7. Anthony Reid MG ZS
8. Tom Chilton Honda Civic
9. David Leslie Proton Impian
10. Carl Breeze Vauxhall Astra
Round Sixteen
Pos Driver Car
1. Colin Turkington MG ZS
2. Paul O'Neill Vauxhall Astra
3. Alan Morrison Honda Civic
4. Anthony Reid MG ZS
5. Yvan Muller Vauxhall Astra
6. Warren Hughes MG ZS
7. Tom Chilton Honda Civic
8. David Leslie Proton Impian
9. Phil Bennett Proton Impian
10. James Thompson Vauxhall Astra
Superbikes
Race One
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Ruben Xaus Ducati 999F03
2. Neil Hodgson Ducati 999F03
3. Pierfrancesco Chili Ducati 998RS
4. James Toseland Ducati 998F02
5. Chris Walker Ducati 998F02
6. Troy Corser Foggy FP1
7. Leon Haslam Ducati 998RS
8. Ivan Clementi Kawasaki ZX7RR
9. Steve Martin Ducati 998RS
10. Mauro Sanchini Kawasaki ZX7RR
Race Two
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Neil Hodgson Ducati 999F03
2. Ruben Xaus Ducati 999F03
3. Gregorio Lavilla Suzuki GSX-R 1000
4. Regis Laconi Ducati 998RS
5. Pierfrancesco Chili Ducati 998RS
6. Leon Haslam Ducati 998RS
7. Ivan Clementi Kawasaki ZX7RR
8. Chris Walker Ducati 998F02
9. Troy Corser Foggy FP1
10. John Reynolds Suzuki GSX-R 1000
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Volume 9, Issue 37
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Interview with Sam Michael
Fisichella: Through the Visor
Season in the Sun
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