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Gil's Justification
In the closing laps, the unique achievement of three conescutive victories for Helio Castroneves seemed reachable. The Brazilian was in second position. Only one man stood in his way, and in many ways it was the man Castroneves would have least liked to have in front of him. Castroneves tried hard from the last restart, but de Ferran was just that bridge to far. The Penske Dallara chased the Penske GForce to the flag.
An exhausted de Ferran brought his GForce-Toyota around to Victory Lane before saying to ABC's Jack Arute: "I'll tell you, it's hard to describe in words what I'm feeling right now. It's just unbelievable for me. You always dream of winning a race like this. Words escape me right now." The win was the thirteenth, and third in succession, for Roger Penske and his team at Indianapolis. It was also Toyota's first victory at the Brickyard, taking it on their first attempt.
Castroneves got the jump at the start and led the field away as fellow Brazilian Tony Kanaan charged after his close friend. Robby Gordon and Dan Wheldon ran with them briefly but soon fell back towards the fifth place battle. After only eight laps the yellows flew. Roger Yasukawa had dropped some bodywork on the circuit. Just after the yellows appeared Billy Boat blew his motor. A.J. Foyt IV was slowing and Felipe Giaffone was already out by this point. Attrition bit early this year as the marshals retrieved Boat's car.
At the restart Dixon now led from Airton Dare although Michael Andretti had other ideas and quickly swept by into second position. Fourth was Robby Gordon, although he was soon relieved of the place by Kannan. Dixon would hold the lead until lap 31. In his last race Michael Andretti wanted soemthing memorable and he charged into the lead. His second lap in the lead made it 400 laps in the lead of the 500 for Andretti. Dare was soon back in second as Dixon pitted, before Dare himself pitted. This brought Kanaan up into second with Jimmy Vasser, Castroneves and Tomas Scheckter in pursuit. The out of sequence Andretti finally pitted on lap 50.
The yellows emerged again for Robbie Buhl, who spun at pitlane exit. Most of the field dived pitward and it would be Chip Ganassi Racing who would win the race in the pits, launching Tomas Scheckter back onto the track first. Sam Hornish dived pitward while the pits were closed. Hornish had no choice, as his Chevrolet engine was sucking fumes. He didn't make it to his pit bay and stalled. Once fuelled he stalled again trying to escape the pits. And then he did it again. Another car was gone from contention.
Andretti was stretching his fuel window to its very limit, pitting on greens on lap 92, well amongst the in-sequence Chevys. The plan was working in one respect, but in another, it failed utterly. The Honda engine betrayed them. For several laps the crews tried one last time. For the boss, for Michael. Surely the Andretti Indy curse couldn't have struck again. As Castroneves started lap 98, Michael Andretti climbed from the car, was hugged by his wife, consoled by his father, he removed his helmet and the Andretti dynasty through Mario, Michael, Jeff and John was gone from open wheel racing. Despite all the talents the family had demonstrated, only one Indy 500 had been claimed, Mario's 1969 win. Andretti still had two cars running but he would sit back, spectate and let the team call the shots, as if Michael was still in his car.
Meanwhile Scheckter had pitted, Castroneves was travelling down pit lane and Jimmy Vasser dashed across the line to be leader as the race reached the halfway mark. It would last only four laps as as the Team Rahal driver, the only CART driver in the field was dropping oil and smoking with imminent engine failure. Another contender gone. Just as the field was about to go green, Kenny Brack spun in turn four while warming up his tyres. Scheckter was now leader again as the field emerged from the fluid-induced caution period. Castroneves and de Ferran were next in the dissimilar Penskes ahead of Takagi and Wheldon. Kanaan was next in and agressive mood, sweeping suddenly around four cars, including Takagi and Wheldon, in an impressive demonstration of intent.
Scheckter stabilised and came back up to speed again and settled in ahead of Takagi. The top order generally settled in at this point. Almost a quarter of the race passed without major event. It was like the field was waiting for the final stanza to begin. Another round of pitstops passed. Scheckter got back into the lead during the pitstops period. Scheckter pitted out of the lead, handing it back to Castroneves. The Penske duo arrived behind the slow car of A.J. Foyt IV. Castroneves was caught and de Ferran seized his opportunity to take the lead of the race for the first time.
Shortly afterward the yellows flew for the dead car of Robby Gordon, stopped in pit entry. The race was green for five laps when Scott Sharp brushed the wall, spun, straightened and hit the wall again. The car ground along the wall and stopped half a lap after it started. Sharp walked away.
The Safety Car retreated with 14 laps to go. As de Ferran charged away, further down field the charging Sam Hornish was pushed aside and almost onto the grass by Dan Wheldon as Wheldon blocked Hornish's attempt to pass down the backstretch. At the next corner Wheldon entered the corner far too low after his blocking manoeuvre and lost the back end of the car, smacking the wall and getting partly airborne along the short chute before landing on one of its own wheels. Wheldon needed assistance to climb from the car before he walked away.
Gil de Ferran charged across the bricks to complete 200 laps to win the Indianapolis 500. Behind Castroneves was Kanaan, the car, so quick all day, let him down in the final charge as de Ferran and Castroneves gapped the field. Scheckter was a disappointing fourth, despite having led more laps than anyone else. Takagi had been close to the lead all day, fifth a fitting reward for his drive. Teammate Alex Barron followed him home in sixth. Tony Renna took seventh for Kelley Racing, two spots ahead of teammate and representative of Indy's other great family, Al Unser Jr. Greg Ray was a very happy eighth with Roger Yasukawa completing the top ten. Six other cars were still running at the finish, Buddy Rice, Vitor Meira, Jimmy Kite, Nakano, Brack and A.J. Foyt IV, the last two amongst the DNFs in their lap counts.
In the points standings, Scott Sharp lost his points lead to Kanaan. The Brazilian is now 14 points clear of Castroneves, 21 points ahead of Sharp and 29 ahead of de Ferran. But at the moment de Ferran could not care a jot. He drank the milk, took his family on a parade lap around the circuit in a display truck and thanked generously Roger Penske and his crew. Time enough to think about the next race in Texas tomorrow. Tonight we party.
Result of the 2003 Indianapolis 500, Indy Racing League, Round 4 of 16, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indiana, United States:
Standings: Tony Kanaan 137, Helio Castroneves 123, Scott Sharp 116, Gil de Ferran 108, Kenny Brack 103, Al Unser Jr 101, Felipe Giaffone 93, Scott Dixon 88, Tomas Scheckter 87, Michael Andretti and Tora Takagi 80 etc.
Agony For Andretti On Indy 500 Swansong
By Steve Keating
There was no storybook ending to Michael Andretti's final Indy 500 on Sunday, only a familiar one. Instead of finishing his illustrious driving career in a blaze of glory clutching the Indy 500 triumph that has eluded him, Andretti's 14th visit to the Brickyard ended like all the others - in disappointment and hair-pulling frustration.
"For whatever reason it just wasn't supposed to happen," Andretti told reporters as he was being consoled by his wife in the pits. "At least I know I could have won my last race.
"I had a shot at it. I'm happy that I'm retiring knowing that I could have won the last race. I just wanted one lap this year...the last one."
Andretti had arrived at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway having led more laps (398) on the famous 2.5-mile oval than any other active driver. He left the Brickyard on Sunday with a far more dubious distinction, his 426 laps were the most led by any driver without ever winning the race. It was also just three fewer than Rick Mears, who celebrated four Indy victories.
Victory has come tantalisingly close, only to disappear like a whiff of exhaust. In 2001, Andretti was third, in 1991 he finished second and in 1992 led 160 laps only for fuel pressure problems to put him out 11 laps from the end.
Watching anxiously from the pits on Sunday was Andretti's father Mario, the former Formula One and CART champion, who has also known mostly heartache at the Indy 500, managing one win in 29 visits.
"Same song, a different day," said Mario. "Obviously the thing that was so disappointing is that it was such a fluke mechanical thing, just the throttle body that came apart.
"The first thing Michael said to me was, 'Why did it have to happen to me?'. My heart is all in pieces for him."
Before forming his own team at the end of last season and defecting from CART to the rival Indy Racing League, Andretti Jr had accumulated 42 victories, leaving him third behind AJ Foyt (67) and his father Mario (52). "Maybe I just wasn't meant to win this race as a driver, maybe I'm meant to win it 20 times as an owner," said Andretti.
Andretti report provided by Reuters
Sete Rains Over Rossi
Rossi was on pole ahead of Yamaha's Alex Barros, Ducati's Loris Capirossi and Marco Melandri on his Yamaha. Capirossi took the lead at the start for Ducati ahead of Rossi and Barros as Capirossi's teammate Troy Bayliss vaulted from fifteenth to sixth. Into the first left hander around the back of the circuit Barros dived deep under brakes, temporarily leading before running wide allowing Capirossi back through, but Barros wasn't done with Capirossi yet, taking the lead through the fast esses towards through the end of the lap, as Rossi took second at the downhill right hander on lap two as Capirossi began to hold up a group of Yamahas and Hondas.
Rossi had now closed in on Barros as Checa made an early exit, highsiding off his bike. As they began lap four Melandri passed Capirossi for third, Biaggi following through soon after as Capirossi plumetted down the order, retiring soon after with a technical problem. As Barros and Rossi continued to dice for the lead, the fight for third became a three-way battle as Honda rider Sete Gibernau joined in, Biaggi taking third from Melandri early on lap five, Gibernau passing Melandri a lap later. Troy Bayliss's day was over however, as the front end gave way and slid into the gravel.
With changes to the rules for the 2003 season relating to race stoppages, the first race was considered a non-event, apart from the race positions setting the grid for the new 13 lapper, Rossi on pole from Barros, Ukawa, Biaggi with Gibernau rounding out the top five. During the break riders swapped bikes, settings and tyres as they adapted to the wetter track. As the race start approached the sun made an appearance, with the front straight in particular drying out, some riders gambling on a drying track by taking intermediate tyres, generally on the rear. Among those to do so was Max Biaggi, but when the field began their two warm-up laps, he soon realised the gamble would not pay off, switching to wets, joining teammate Ukawa and Olivier Jacque in starting from pitlane.
At the start Barros took the lead from Rossi, with Gibernau slotting in behind before passing Rossi for second into the downhill left hander, the top three quickly dispensing with the rest of the field. Meanwhile Biaggi and Ukawa, despite the penalty of starting from pitlane after the field had passed them, had clearly made the right choice, up to ninth and tenth in the nineteen bike field after the end of lap one. The top three were as one, Gibernau ducking and diving but unable to make the pass. The wet conditions proved to be just what Garry McCoy needed, the Kawasaki running well inside the top ten and just outside the top five. Meanwhile it became clear that some riders' gamble had failed, with Shinya Nakano, Marco Melandri and Kenny Roberts Jr being lapped by the leaders as early as lap four!
One lap to go and Rossi still led, with Gibernau sitting in his slipstream, as Barros set the race's fastest lap. Down the straight into the downhill left hander Gibernau pulled alongside and took the lead from Rossi. But if Gibernau had hoped the points leader would give in, he was wrong. Into the slow esses Rossi closed right onto Gibernau's tail, and with a better exit took the lead as the duo turned into the faster esses. But he ran wide, allowing Gibernau to steal the lead back in the middle of the two bends. All that remained now was the two sharp right handers, with Rossi once again on Gibernau's exhausts. Rossi dived inside Gibernau into the first of the two right handers taking the lead. But once again he ran wide, this time onto the beginning of some tarmac runoff, allowing Gibernau to get inside Rossi and retake the lead once more, taking the win just ahead of Rossi, Barros close behind in third place. Fourth was Olivier Jacque, with Max Biaggi taking fifth and teammate Tohru Ukawa seventh sandwiching Jeremy McWilliams in probably the last outing for the Proton KR3.
Result of World Motorcycle Championship, Round 4 of 16, Le Mans Bugatti, France:
Standings: Valentino Rossi 90, Max Biaggi 67, Sete Gibernau 63, Alex Barros 46, Troy Bayliss 40, Tohru Ukawa 32, Olivier Jacque 26, Nicky Hayden and Shinya Nakano 22, Colin Edwards 18 etc.
Johnson's (Rain-Affected) Revenge II
Rain before the race saw the first three laps run under caution as the track continued to dry out, so racing didn't began until lap 4. When it did, polesitter Ryan Newman jumped into the lead ahead of Elliott Sadler and Mike Skinner. Lap 8 saw Jeff Gordon pass Skinner for third, Tony Stewart passing Skinner one lap later. As Newman continued to lead, Gordon and Stewart battled, swapping positions with each other as they battled for second, Sadler having dropped back. Eventually Stewart took second for good around lap 42, catching Newman by lap 46, taking the lead four laps later.
Green flag stops followed soon after, Stewart holding on to the lead with Gordon now second with Kurt Busch on his tail, as Newman dropped outside the top five. But Busch was in a hurry and took second from Gordon on lap 66. Meanwhile Gordon's teammate Jimmie Johnson was on a charge, up to 20th after 65 laps having started the race at the back of the field following an engine change. As they approached the 100 laps mark the cars of Bobby Labonte and Matt Kenseth were well placed in the top ten having raced forward from where they began.
Soon after Stewart began to slow, Kenseth taking over the lead on lap 123 as Stewart dropped back through the field. Just a few laps later on lap 128 the caution was back out after Jeremy Mayfield hit the wall in turns one and two wall. The leaders pitted once again, Kenseth coming out ahead of Sadler, Busch, Labonte and Gordon. The race restarted on lap 135, Johnson continuing his charge up the field by passing teammate Gordon on lap 140 for fifth place, and Sadler for fourth 20 laps later. Just as this happened Stewart took his car behind the wall in the hope the crew could firstly determine and then fix the problem with his engine. They replaced the carburettor but Stewart lost about 30 laps in the process.
Busch began to close in on teammate Kenseth for the lead, right behind around the lap 180 mark. About 10 laps later the green flag stops began once again. Most of the field had made their stops when Ricky Rudd tried to make a late entry to the pits. Instead he ended up taking a trip through the soaked grass, sliding sideways slowly down the grassy infield, spraying mud and water over his car as it went. He managed to get out of the grass onto tarmac only for the engine to stop, bringing out caution number three on lap 200. Of the lead lap cars, only Bobby Labonte, Greg Biffle and Dale Earnhardt Jr hadn't pitted, and so these drivers benefitted greatly as they pitted under yellow, restarting the race behind most of the lead lap runners as they led them by almost a lap.
Lap 228 it was green, but it was back to caution on lap 230 after Steve Park in his first championship race for RCR spun coming off turn two. Lap 233 and it was race time again, Labonte getting freight-trained the next lap as he dropped from the lead to fifth place. The next caution wasn't far away, Kevin Harvick bringing it out on lap 241 after cutting a tyre and going high through turn two, soon after banging panels with teammate Robby Gordon. In came the leaders again, as they got ready to race hard with rain apparently on the way, Jimmie Johnson's crew doing a fantastic job to get him into the lead, ahead of teammate Gordon, Kenseth, Labonte and Sterling Marlin. Kurt Busch had lost several places after running over debris and hitting the wall just before the caution, making two stops under the caution to fix his car. Earnhardt's car was also in trouble, having suffered very hot rear brakes ever since his lap 200 spin, and they pushed the car behind the wall to see if they could fix it.
Lap 245 and it was green once again, Johnson having made it from second last on the grid to first, Kenseth taking second from Gordon on the restart lap, Labonte third a lap later. Kurt Busch's woes weren't over, coming into the pits again on lap 250 after suffering a flat tyre. Up front Jimmie Johnson was pulling away from the field.
The next caution came out on lap 265 when Ricky Craven's engine blew going into turn three, with Larry Foyt and John Andretti close behind crashing on his oil, but it wasn't over, as Elliott Sadler crashed as he attempted to get back on the lead lap, running through the oil at full speed and hitting the wall hard.
So Jimmie Johnson managed to do what he couldn't quite do the year before, a similar tale to what happened at The Winston just a week before. Jeff Gordon's last pit stop problem proved costly, dropping him from fourth to eighth, as Jimmy Spencer and Ryan Newman scored the top five finishes they needed. And Matt Kenseth's second place was valuable on a day when Kurt Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr both finished well down the order, in 15th and 41st respectively.
Result of NASCAR Winston Cup, Round 12 of 36, Charlotte Motor Speedway, North Carolina, United States:
Standings: Matt Kenseth 1799, Dale Earnhardt Jr 1639, Jeff Gordon 1583, Kurt Busch 1575, Jimmie Johnson 1552, Bobby Labonte 1546, Michael Waltrip 1511, Kevin Harvick 1457, Sterling Marlin 1405, Rusty Wallace 1401 etc.
Ambrose Wins At Weird Winton
The event at Winton was one of the single 300 km race variety, with a compulsory stop for tyres and a compulsory stop for fuel. Marcos Ambrose sat on pole position again, ahead of Greg Murphy, Jason Bright and Russell Ingall, with Mark Skaife back in fifth position. The start was a fairly sedate affair, the top five completely unchanged, Ambrose quickly opening a gap on Murphy who did the same to the pack led by Bright behind him. Steven Johnson and Brad Jones were among a few drivers who pitted in the first five laps to make their compulsory tyre stop, leaving them a 95+ lap stint on their second set of tyres.
Lap after lap Ambrose pulled away from Murphy, who was doing the same to Bright, who began to move clear of the Ingall and Skaife battle behind him, with Steven Richards leading a group of three as he was hotly pursued by Todd Kelly and Garth Tander, with Max Wilson keeping a watching brief just behind them. One driver who was on the move was Craig Lowndes, having moved up to thirteenth after 20 laps, having started the race from eighteenth. The safety car made an appearance soon after on lap 29 after Simon Wills hit the tyre wall while trying to pass Jamie Whincup, Wills getting on the marbles and hitting the tyres side-on. Some people took advantage of this to make one of their compulsory stops, with Bright, Lowndes and Wilson amongst them taking tyres.
Those that pitted at or before the first safety car period were the biggest winners, Bright now the best placed driver of those who had stopped twice in fourth position, while Ambrose was outside the top ten, and Skaife was even further back. Lap 45 and the race resumed, but one of the well placed cars in Brad Jones was soon involved in an incident with another car, going off track twice. Todd Kelly went off the track around the back of the circuit at this time as well, further compounding his troubles as he slipped almost to the back of the pack after being delayed by Skaife's stops during the safety car period.
Lowndes was hassling Wilson for fifth place, effectively the battle for second, eventually diving up the inside in a tight squeeze at turn seven. Ambrose was slowly making his way back through the field, moving inside the top ten and then inside Wilson at the same turn as Lowndes a few laps earlier. Ambrose got the place but the contact between the two put Wilson into a spin, losing ten places. Ambrose had been a fair way alongside when the two made contact, but was there a penalty to come? As it turned out, the move was not deemed unfair. In the next few laps the leaders who hadn't made their second compulsory stop, handing the lead officially to Jason Bright, with Lowndes in second, Ambrose in third, Tander in fourth, and Murphy in fifth, with Skaife up to seventh and Ingall up to twelfth after a disastrous time in the pits.
On lap 63, with Murphy right on his tail, Lowndes kissed the kerb through the fast right hand sweeper at turn five. This kiss caused Lowndes' car to oversteer and head towards the grass. In an effort to save the car from spinning, Lowndes hit the brakes. Murphy had nowhere to go and tapped the back of Lowndes, damaging the front of his car and sending Lowndes car onto the grass, though it was almost certain he would've left the tarmac without the tap anyway. Murphy continued on but immediately protested his innocence on the radio, while Lowndes recovered fairly quickly and resumed the track at turn eight, actually back in front of Murphy! You're wondering what is so bad about this? Just wait and you'll find out...
Murphy made a successful pass on Lowndes the following lap as Ambrose continued to duck and dive left and right, looking for a way past Bright. Finally on lap 67 Ambrose got better drive out of turn two and took Bright into turn three. Just prior to this pass for the lead it was announced that Murphy would receive a drivethrough penalty. To say that Murphy was unhappy would be more than a small understatement. Absolutely furious would be closer to the mark. And it was not just Murphy who failed to understand the decision, fans and commentators alike bewildered that the stewards felt that Murphy had deliberately punted Lowndes rather than make unavoidable contact when Lowndes got sideways. After last year's five minute penalty at Bathurst Murphy must by now be feeling a little victimised. In fact, many considered the decision was so bad it was the worst they had witnessed.
Surprisingly, the battle didn't end in Skaife's favour, Skaife spinning on lap 90 at turn seven after thinking about passing Tander and then trying to pull out and sending himself into a spin, dropping to seventh position. Richards gained another place when he passed Tander at the second last turn on lap 93, Ingall finally passing Weel on the very same lap. With this it appeared all the day's drama was over. But not quite. Remember those cars possibly marginal on fuel? Well it turned out there were four cars that were, including Tander in fourth place. In the end, he ran out of fuel while on his 99th lap, after choosing not to pit, scoring only a handful of points. The three other cars pitted, those being Todd Kelly, who was already having a bad day, Rodney Forbes and Craig Baird. They made it to the end, but there was bad news for them yet to come...
Up front Ambrose was cruising, and went on to take a comfortable win ahead of Jason Bright and Steven Richards, who had made a steady climb up the field during the second half of the race. Fourth was Ambrose's teammate Ingall, while fifth was Bright's teammate Weel. Skaife made it home in sixth, the wounded Lowndes in tenth and the angry Murphy finished in fourteenth. So what was the bad news for Kelly, Forbes and Baird? Well, for making a pit stop for fuel in a race where the only fuel stop allowed was the compulsory one, the stewards excluded them from the results! So Tander's decision to run out of fuel was not such a bad one after all...
Result of V8 Supercar Championship Series, Round 4 of 13, Winton, Australia:
Standings: Jason Bright 717, Steven Richards 666, Russell Ingall 633, Marcos Ambrose, Paul Weel, Mark Skaife and Greg Murphy 597, Craig Lowndes 594, Paul Radisich 540, Rick Kelly 507 etc.
V8 Supercar points distribution
Twee Albers
Albers was the fastest in qualifying, if only by a hundredth over Abt-Audi driver Mattias Ekstrom. The pole shootout saw Fassler take the pole from Albers with Ekstrom dropping to fourth behind Martin Tomczyk. Fifth place was the best thus far for Opel in 2003, former BTCC champion Alain Menu representing the General.
Ekstrom cared little for fourth place and made a scorching start to lead from Albers, Fassler and Tomczyk. It was a messy start with several cars rubbing slightly, even Albers. Spinners were everywhere as Christian Abt, Peter Dumbreck, Bernd Schneider and Karl Wendlinger all having off track excursions while Gary Paffett pitted with a damaged nose.
The Safety Car was quickly out as a tyre barrier had come adrift onto the racing line. Behind the Safety Car sat Ekstrom, Fassler, Albers, Tomczyk, Alain Menu, Jeroen Bleekemolen, Jean Alesi and the recovering Schneider. The two ex-Formula One drivers quickly pushed past Bleekemolen at the restart. Confusion quickly reigned as the field pitted over the next two laps. The AMG crew serviced Marcel Fassler with blistering speed, sending their charge out first of the first group of cars to pit. Once everyone had pitted Fassler led. Meanwhile, Alesi was out after damaging his car after an off.
With the second round of stops complete, Schneider had a new rival for third, Aiello. The season-long protagonists from last year went at it like we remembered, but not for the lead. Schneider got his way and took third, but upset the car doing so, and third would be fleeting, the Audi of Aiello getting to the line first, but ahead of him were Albers and Fassler, maintaining the impressive form both drivers have shown this season. Peter Dumbreck climbed to take fifth and be the first Opel to the line ahead of Menu. A flying Ekstrom passed Manuel Reuter and Christian Abt in the dying stages, while Abt hung on for the final point.
Albers now leads the series on 24 points, three ahead of Fassler and five ahead of Schneider. The first Audi is Aiello, six points distant, whilst Dumbreck is the best Opel on eleven points. Next stop in two weeks' time is the Lausitzring.
Result of Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, Round 3 of 10, Nurburgring, Germany:
Standings: Christijan Albers 24, Marcel Fassler 21, Bernd Schneider 19, Laurent Aiello 18, Mattias Ekstrom 11, Peter Dumbreck 10, Jean Alesi 7, Alain Menu 4, Timo Scheider 2, Christian Abt 1
IRL
Gil de Ferran has had mixed fortunes since Roger Penske took his team from CART to IRL. In CART he was a dual champion, but while his first season in IRL was competitive, it ended prematurely in an accident and injury. Earlier this year crash and injury again reached out for de Ferran at Phoenix, forcing him to miss Motegi. In his two recent attempts at the Indy 500 bad luck had blighted de Ferran, while fortune smiled on his teammate Castroneves who won the event each time. But the team was always capable and de Ferran's talents were never in doubt.
The early surprise though was Kanaan, Gordon and Andretti all pitting as soon as the pits opened during this first yellow period as Andretti Green Racing made an early roll of the dice. Kanaan and Andretti took full service, while Gordon went with fuel only. Castroneves now led from Dan Wheldon, Kenny Brack, Tora Takagi and Scott Dixon. Just one lap after the re-start as can so often happen, a car slid into the wall. Sarah Fisher though had help when her engine dumped oil on her rear tyres, ending Fisher's race. The rest of the field headed for the pits.
With pit lane open the pits were again flooded with cars. As the field stabilised for the restart it was Andretti back in front ahead of Castroneves, Scheckter, Gil de Ferran and Takagi. The race was green only a few laps when Richie Hearn slid upwards into the wall at turn three. Jaques Lazier was forced to stand on the brakes as he came past the unfolding crash and spun infield. Both were unhurt and out of the race. Once green again Scheckter made his move, passing Castroneves and heading after Andretti to reclaim the lead he had held before the pitstops. That would take only one more lap. Andretti immediately dropped behind Castroneves to third. In another tewnty laps he would lose another position to de Ferran as the next round of stops beckoned.
The yellows came out again on lap 127, as Airton Dare clobbered the wall. Elsewhere, Doug Hardwick, vent controller on Shinji Nakano's crew was struck by a tyre after Nakano was forced to turn too sharply into his pit box, just clipping the tyre, which in turn struck Harwick in the knee who immediatly collapsed in pain and did not get up, as the remainder of the crew serviced Nakano's car. Hardwick was taken to hospital for further examination of the leg. Scheckter slowed after the restart, dropping to fourth bringing the Penske cars to the lead. De Ferran in second was under huge pressure from Kanaan.
As the field prepared to restart on lap 192, Dixon lost control of his car warming up the tyres and clipped the pit straight wall. From the outside the car seemed okay, but when Dixon stood on the gas, the wounded left rear corner broke completely and the car spun to a halt on the grid. The field eventually went green with five laps to go. De Ferran stood on the gas and charged away from Castroneves. Castroneves pegged the lead back slightly. At last the pair had dropped Kanaan enough. It was a fight in two. Castroneves looked for an opportunity to get a run, to find a way to get that statistically elusive third consecutive win, but there was no time, no laps left.
Pos Driver Team
1. Gil de Ferran Team Penske GForce-Toyota
2. Helio Castroneves Team Penske Dallara-Toyota
3. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green Racing Dallara-Honda
4. Tomas Scheckter Chip Ganassi Racing GForce-Toyota
5. Tora Takagi Mo Nunn Racing GForce-Toyota
6. Alex Barron Mo Nunn Racing GForce-Toyota
7. Tony Renna Kelley Racing Dallara-Toyota
8. Greg Ray Access Motorsports GForce-Honda
9. Al Unser Jr Kelley Racing Dallara-Toyota
10. Roger Yasukawa Super Aguri Fernandez Racing Dallara-Honda
For a brief moment on a cool, overcast day it seemed as if the racing gods might smile on him when he rocketed past Scott Dixon into the lead 33 laps into the 200-lap race, the massive crowd of more than 350,000 roaring their approval. But the 40-year-old American's dreams were crushed by a broken throttle cable, his Dallara-Honda coasting to a stop as the race reached the midway point.
MotoGP
Sete Gibernau won a titanic battle against Valentino Rossi to win the French round of the MotoGP series, a battle which saw the lead change four times in the last four corners of the final lap! The race was actually a restart of the original race which was halted after it rained just past half distance in the original event. Alex Barros, Max Biaggi and Tohru Ukawa also rode well in both sections to finish at the pointy end of the field. Rossi's second place allowed him to extend his lead in the title race by a further nine points over Biaggi, with Gibernau just four points further back.
Lap six and Rossi took the lead into the second downhill right hander, making the move just in time as Biaggi and Gibernau closed in on Barros, the top four fairly closely bunched for a while before Rossi began to stretch the gap, as Ukawa joined the battle for second. Lap fourteen proved to be a sign of things to come, as drops of rain began to fall. Ukawa was in a hurry and took Gibernau and then teammate Biaggi on lap 14 to move into third behind Barros. Barros and Ukawa pulled away from Biaggi and Gibernau, but soon after the battling came to a halt as the rain got heavier, Rossi putting his hand up on lap seventeen, in somewhat of a reminder of last year, to call a halt to the race. However this year the rain was much heavier, several riders including Rossi using their feet to steady their bikes as they returned to pitlane.
For a lap or two Barros and Gibernau dropped Rossi off, but Rossi quickly closed back in. Lap seven saw Gibernau lead temporarily into the downhill left hander, but Barros rode alongside on his outside through the bend to retake the lead into the following right hander. Into the final pair of right handers Rossi dived inside Gibernau to take second, but Gibernau took the place back into the downhill left hander on the following lap. Five laps to go and the three at the front were as close as ever, all three desperate to win. Barros couldn't hold on any longer, Gibernau taking the lead at the fast esses with Rossi diving through at the same place he had passed Gibernau two laps earlier, Barros sitting a second or so behind Rossi. Rossi was now on Gibernau's tail with three laps remaining, and once again dived through into the the first of the two sharp right handers at the end of the lap, taking the lead. Gibernau wasn't going to give in to Rossi however, sitting right on his tail, right on his exhausts.
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Sete Gibernau Honda RC211V
2. Valentino Rossi Honda RC211V
3. Alex Barros Yamaha YZR-M1
4. Olivier Jacque Yamaha YZR-M1
5. Max Biaggi Honda RC211V
6. Jeremy McWilliams Proton KR3
7. Tohru Ukawa Honda RC211V
8. Noriyuki Haga Aprilia Cube
9. Garry McCoy Kawasaki ZX-RR
10. Colin Edwards Aprilia Cube
NASCAR
For the first time since 1997, a driver has competed the double of The Winston and the longest event of the NASCAR season, the World 600 at Charlotte. Just like in 1997 it was a Hendrick car, and just like in 1997, the 600 was 600 in name only, the race again shortened by rain, this year's event covering only 414 miles. But it didn't bother Jimmie Johnson too much, having led last year's event late in the race before costing himself time overshooting his bay, his win breaking a four year streak of Roush winners at Charlotte. Not that Roush were far away, Matt Kenseth finishing second and extending his points lead as others drivers had trouble, including Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr and Kenseth's teammate Kurt Busch.
The first caution of the night arrived soon after on lap 104, as a shower of rain hit the track. With green flag stops approaching, in came the field for stops, Stewart leading Gordon, Sadler, Busch and Kenseth, while Johnson continued to move up and was now eleventh. Earnhardt Jr was forced to pit again to fix a missing lug nut, putting him to the back of the lead lap cars in 24th after running around the top ten. The race was red flagged for around 15 mins while the jet driers took to the track, the race going back to green on lap 111, Gordon losing several places soon after the restart as Busch and Kenseth moved up to second and third, before Busch then lost two places.
Lap 205 and it was back to green, and those holding such an advantage soon dropped to two when Biffle was forced to pit thanks to Kenny Wallace's slowly expiring motor spraying oil and water out of the overflow. Biffle then had to visit the pits again after he was too fast in pitlane. Then one of the other two drivers to benefit, Dale Earnhardt Jr, had a lazy spin coming off turn four and lightly tapped the frontstretch wall, bringing out the caution on lap 223, nullifying any advantage gained at the previous caution. Into the pits they came, and out they went in the order Labonte, Kenseth, Gordon, Busch and Johnson.
In came the leaders once more as they reached two-thirds distance, Johnson leading Kenseth, Labonte, Jimmy Spencer and Newman off pit road, as Jeff Gordon dropped from fourth to eighth. It soon became obvious no-one had predicted what happened next, the leaders all having pitted, as rain hit the track. The cars ran around for a few laps on the wet track before NASCAR threw the red flag after 276 laps of the 400 scheduled. Would the race restart? Most of the teams, drivers and crews thought it would, but after a relatively short delay NASCAR decided otherwise, saying it would take several hours to dry the track, and that was not including further rain that was on the way.
Pos Driver Car
1. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Monte Carlo
2. Matt Kenseth Ford Taurus
3. Bobby Labonte Chevrolet Monte Carlo
4. Jimmy Spencer Dodge Intrepid
5. Ryan Newman Dodge Intrepid
6. Michael Waltrip Chevrolet Monte Carlo
7. Sterling Marlin Dodge Intrepid
8. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Monte Carlo
9. Dale Jarrett Ford Taurus
10. Ward Burton Dodge Intrepid
V8 Supercar
Marcos Ambrose is Ford's darling at the moment, with Ambrose becoming the first Ford driver to score back-to-back round wins since 1995. It wasn't as easy for him this time however, having to pass cars to regain the lead after he pitted at just the wrong time for his first stop, though many others who hadn't pitted suffered even more. Bizarrely, some who stopped earlier ended up suffering the most, when they either ran out of fuel or pitted to take on more late in the race. But they weren't the most harshly penalised, for Greg Murphy must take the cake there for the penalty he received during the race for an incident he was involved in with another car in which he was virtually an innocent bystander in. Despite scoring his second round win (and third race win), Ambrose is still only in equal fourth place alongside round one winner Mark Skaife, Paul Weel and Greg Murphy, with Jason Bright's consistent finishes maintaining his lead of the title chase ahead of Steven Richards and Russell Ingall.
The race restarted on lap 31, Ambrose again opening a lead over Murphy, who did the same to Ingall and Skaife, now in third and fourth, with Richards, Todd Kelly and Tander up to fifth, sixth and seventh. During the next ten laps a few cars including Tander and Ambrose made stops for fuel, with Tander among a handful who pitted early enough that he could be marginal on fuel at the end of the race, these stops helping Bright to move up well inside the top ten. Just as Ambrose exited the pits Morris came to a halt in the gravel off between turns six and seven after a failure of some description in the left front, bringing out the safety car again on lap 41. This was a trigger for an avalanche of pitstops, with most drivers either making their second compulsory pitstop or doing both pitstops on consecutive laps.
There was beginning to be a problem at the front, as drivers on worn tyres such as Bright and Lowndes attempted to fight off the advances of drivers who changed tyres at the previous safety car period. Ambrose was still charging and took second from Lowndes on lap 59 at the notorious turn seven, quickly closing in on the fading Bright. One lap later saw Murphy pass Tander for fourth, as with fresher tyres Murphy closed in on Lowndes for third position, Skaife passing Bowe for sixth on the same lap. Further back Ingall clashed with Canto as he tried to lap him at turn one. Something worse was just about to occur however.
To his credit, Murphy did come in and take the penalty at the end of the lap, dropping to fourteenth, while Tander was now up to third. Meanwhile Murphy's combatant Lowndes was suffering with worn tyres and slight damage to the rear after the incident with Murphy, losing fourth to Skaife on lap 69, Richards on lap 73, Paul Weel and Ingall three laps later, as he took a slow slide down the order. Meanwhile teammate Kelly was having a bad day, spinning and losing several places. Up front Ambrose was slowly pulling away from Bright, while Bright's teammate Weel fought off Ambrose's teammate Ingall for sixth position. A little further forward Tander was coming under pressure from Skaife, with Steven Richards tacking on to the tail of the battle, and then allowing Tander to pull away for a lap or two when he begun giving Skaife a hard time, before Skaife closed in on Tander again, this time with Richards in tow.
Pos Driver Car
1. Marcos Ambrose Ford Falcon BA
2. Jason Bright Holden Commodore VX
3. Steven Richards Holden Commodore VX
4. Russell Ingall Ford Falcon BA
5. Paul Weel Holden Commodore VX
6. Mark Skaife Holden Commodore VY
7. Paul Radisich Ford Falcon BA
8. John Bowe Ford Falcon BA
9. Max Wilson Ford Falcon BA
10. Craig Lowndes Ford Falcon BA
DTM
Christijan Albers has again shown why AMG have show such faith in the 24 year old Dutchman. Albers won his second race of the season in dominant fashion, just under eight seconds clear of fellow Mercedes driver Marcel Fassler. Defending champion Laurent Aiello took third, for the third time.
Menu was now third for Opel, sitting just behind Albers and ahead of Schneider, Ekstrom and Tomczyk. Tomczyk's chances were quickly shattered as he was assigned a drivethrough penalty for crossing the blend line. Fassler was under pressure from Albers, pressure he ultimately succumbed to. The two Mercedes drivers had a small gap though as Menu was now holding up Schneider, who in turn was under fire from Ekstrom. That battle would not be resolved until half distance when Menu and Ekstrom pitted for their second stops and Schneider continued on for another lap. Ekstrom's stop was slow and he would be pushed from contention. Worse was in store for Menu though, a drivethrough also for crossing the blend line.
Pos Driver Car
1. Christijan Albers Mercedes CLK-DTM
2. Marcel Fassler Mercedes CLK-DTM
3. Laurent Aiello Audi TT-R
4. Bernd Schneider Mercedes CLK-DTM
5. Peter Dumbreck Opel Astra V8 Coupe
6. Alain Menu Opel Astra V8 Coupe
7. Mattias Ekstrom Audi TT-R
8. Christian Abt Audi TT-R
9. Manuel Reuter Opel Astra V8 Coupe
10. Joachim Winkelhock Opel Astra V8 Coupe
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Volume 9, Issue 22
Atlas F1 Exclusive
Jos the Way It Is
Giancarlo Fisichella: Through the Visor
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Remembrance of Things Past
Murphy & the Franco-American Special
Season in the Sun III
The Fuel Stop: Special Edition
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Monaco GP Facts & Stats
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