Drivers' Standings: Richard Burns 26, Marcus Gronholm 20, Sebastien Loeb and Colin McRae 17, Carlos Sainz 16, Markko Martin 13, Tommi Makinen 11, Petter Solberg 9, Francois Duval 8, Toni Gardemeister 7 etc.

Manufacturers' Standings: Peugeot 49, Citroen 44, Ford 26, Subaru 22, Skoda 12, Hyundai 3

Production Cars Standings: Stig Blomqvist, Karamjit Singh and Martin Rowe 11, Toshihiro Arai 10, Marcos Ligato 8, Hamed Al Wahaibi 6, Possum Bourne 5, Krzysztof Holowczyc 4, Ramon Ferreyros 4, Joakim Roman 3 etc.

WRC points distribution

  CART

Tracy! Tracy! Tracy!

Paul Tracy became the first driver in CART history to take the opening three races of the season. Unlike Monterrey and Saint Petersburg, this race was a lucky win. All weekend another car had been just so slightly better, but when Michel Jourdain Jr's gearbox broke during his final pitstop Tracy was in a secure second position.

Tracy had a troubled qualifying, only completing couple of laps on Saturday when he brushed the wall, bending a control arm. Fastest on Friday though guaranteed the Canadian a front row grid spot though, so no matter what, Tracy would be no worse than second on the grid. In Tracy's absence the pole was claimed, not by Sebastien Bourdais, but by Michel Jourdain Jr. One of CART's 2002 revelations, the Mexican claimed his first pole position.

Second fastest but third on the grid was Alex Tagliani, two tenths behind Jourdain. Tags was proving a boon to new team Rocketsports. Newman-Haas were next, Bruno Junqueira ahead of his French rookie teammate, Sebastien Bourdais. Patrick Carpentier, Adrian Fernandez, Oriol Servia, Roberto Moreno and Darren Manning completed the top ten with those ten cars covered by just under a second.

The start of a motor race is always one of the most crucial moments of any race, and your best opportunity to make up ground. A rolling start reduces that but as they came to the line Tracy had edged ahead of Jourdain and chopped across to take the lead. While the series' starter shook his own head in frustration with his green flag decision, Bobby Rahal was appealing the start which as polesitter, Jourdain should have led.

There was nothing to be done though and Tracy led away. Jourdain gave chase and the fronr two pulled rapidly clear of the field. Behind, Junqueira quickly disposed of Tagliani to set off after the fleeing leaders. Tags though had other ideas, retaking third on lap 15. He would be the first of the serious cars to pit, on lap 25. Two laps later Tracy led a big gaggle of cars down pitlane, with Jourdain leading the remaining in a lap later. Only Alex Yoong stayed out, and he jumped up the field when the yellows flew for Patrick Lemarie, stalled at the first corner.

In the meantime Jourdain led the race to catch the safety car, the Rahal crew having serviced his car faster to get out ahead of Tracy. Lemarie was restarted, but the greens only lasted a lap and a half when Yoong plowed into the tyres at turn one. Several cars stopped for a top off, removing another of their three compulsory stops. And because things happen in threes, the yellows flew within half a lap of the restart when Rodolfo Lavin crashed at turn five. Lavin's Reynard was sticking out on the racing line and it was inevitable that someone would tag it, and sure enough Robert Moreno coasted to a halt just up the road, his front left corner deranged. Moreno was in sixth place at the time. Lavin had been 15th and last on the road.

Jourdain, Tracy and third placed Junqueira were now the only ones left with two stops to come. All three were forced into green flag stops on laps 55/56. This left Servia in front of Carpentier, Fernanadez, Vasser and Mario Dominguez. Vasser was flying, having taken Dominguez around the outside into turn one. Final stops started on lap 62 when Servia led Carpentier, Vasser and Tagliani into the pits. Carpentier stalled while trying to leave the pits with his fuel hose still attached. It would end his podium hopes. Fernandez led for two laps before pitting, handing the lead to Bourdais, who similarly pitted two laps later. After his stop Bourdais ground to a halt with a dead car.

Jourdain resumed the lead with Tracy having taken Junqueira on the Brazilian's out lap to be second. Try as he might though, Tracy was not catching Jourdain. Unless the Forsythe team could reverse their day long form with a great pit stop Tracy wouldn't take the lead again. With eight laps to go Tracy made his final stop. He resumed still in second just ahead of Fernandez, who'd taken Junqueira three laps earlier when he made his last stop. Next time around Jourdain pitted. The car was serviced and sent back into action, but the car didn't move. The gearbox was broken, as was Jourdain's hopes for his first CART victory.

Tracy needed no second invitation and wound off the last five laps to win from Fernandez, and Junqueira. Jimmy Vasser was a highly competitive fourth ahead of Dominguez, the delayed Carpentier and Ryan Hunter-Reay. Tracy now has a 26 point lead over Junqueira. Jourdain drops to third, four points from Junqueira, ahead of Fernandez and Vasser. The series now has a month off while everything is packed into boxes, postmarked Brands Hatch, England.

Result of Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, Champ Car World Series, Round 3 of 18, Long Beach, California, United States:

Pos  Driver                Car
 1.  Paul Tracy            Player's-Forsythe Racing Lola-Ford
 2.  Adrian Fernandez      Fernandez Racing Lola-Ford
 3.  Bruno Junqueira       Newman-Haas Racing Lola-Ford
 4.  Jimmy Vasser          American Spirit Team Johansson Reynard-Ford
 5.  Mario Dominguez       Herdez Competition Lola-Ford
 6.  Patrick Carpentier    Player's-Forsythe Racing Lola-Ford
 7.  Ryan Hunter-Reay      American Spirit Team Johansson Reynard-Ford
 8.  Darren Manning        Walker Racing Reynard-Ford
 9.  Mario Haberfeld       Mi-Jack Conquest Racing Reynard-Ford
10.  Alex Tagliani         Rocketsports Racing Lola-Ford

Standings: Paul Tracy 64, Bruno Junqueira 38, Michel Jourdain Jr 34, Adrian Fernandez 28, Jimmy Vasser 20, Roberto Moreno and Patrick Carpentier 18, Alex Tagliani 17, Mario Haberfeld 16, Darren Manning 11 etc.

CART points distribution

  IRL

Sharpened Toyota

After years of watching the Fords take away the prizes at the circuit, a Japanese marque has finally won at the Twin Ring Motegi facility in Japan, though it was Toyota and not the circuit's owner Honda. It may have taken a switch from CART to IRL, but Scott Sharp stepped through the carnage of wrecked cars to claim a victory for himself and as importantly his team Kelley Racing, one of the veteran IRL outfits. With ex-CART teams stealing much of the glory it was important for the series to show its home grown teams are as good as the imports.

"I was really excited to come to Motegi after running so well at Homestead," enthused Sharp. "There are a lot of similarities between the two tracks. This is the kind of track that suits my style really well, and I enjoyed every lap of the race. The Delphi team gave me a real good car, and the team had great pit stops all day. We improved the car's balance throughout the day and we were really fast when it mattered."

For the next to last time the field did two parade laps behind retiring legend, Michael Andretti. After Andretti resumed his grid position Scott Dixon led the field to the green. The polesitter's lead was brief though, with Tony Kanaan slingshotting around the outside on the back straight. In race trim an understeering Dixon appeared a lame duck and was passed by car after car as Tora Takagi took up second position, chased by Tomas Scheckter, Kenny Brack and Andretti.

our. The race went green seven laps later with Andretti diving under Scheckter at the restart to claim fourth position. Brack too was on the move, taking the crowd favourite's second position. A debris yellow flew on lap 18 after Scott Dixon's rear tyre flicked Alex Barron's front wing. Both continued although Barron pitted for a new nosecone. Several cars pitted to knock over one of their pitstops.

The first of the wrecks occurred on lap 9 with Scott Mayer crashing at the exit of turn fAt the restart Brack was again on the move, and taking two laps to do it, rounded up Kanaan to take the lead. The next crash was on lap 37 with Sarah Fisher wiping the turn three wall. When the pits opened the field descended on pit lane. Kanaan won the race out of the pits to take up fifth spot with Brack in sixth. Takagi undid all of his good work by pitting twice to have his fuel vent removed after it was left on after his stop.

Leading now was Dixon, ahead of Buddy Lazier, Buddy Rice and Roger Yasukawa. Rice would not last as he spun in turn four on the run up to the green. Next lap Yasukawa spun right after the green, only this time Yasukawa hit the wall, taking Helio Castroneves along as an innocent victim. With the yellow reactivated Rice pitted to shed his flat spotted tyres. Kanaan was now up to third without having done a thing. Brack was up to fifth, having been jumped by Scheckter on that one green lap.

The race was flagged green again on lap 57 and Kanaan took Lazier into turn one and immediately ranged up on Dixon's outside. The Andretti-Green driver was unable to make it stick though. Officials hung out a black flag for Takagi for Mo Nunn Racing's fuel stop shenanigans. Buddy Lazier stopped with a failed engine. Lap 83 and Brack started the second round of pitstops under green flag conditions, reporting a flat tyre. Hattori rejoins after a long stop to replace a suspension arm and Rice pulled in for a gearbox change.

Dixon pitted on lap 85, handing the lead to Kanaan who would hold it until his stop just past the halfway mark. Three laps later after Kanaan's stop and A.J. Foyt IV contributed the next wreck to the list, hitting the wall in turn four. Despite having pitted just ahead of the yellow, when the safety car queue formed Kanaan was at the front again ahead of Scott Sharp, Scheckter, Felipe Giaffone and Al Unser Jr.

Kanaan led away at the restart with Scheckter moving past Sharp to challenge for the lead. After ten laps of trying, Scheckter took the lead on lap 125, while just behind team mate Dixon took Sharp for third place. Scheckter moved further clear as the stint wore on. At the 150 lap mark Kanaan started to close back in again. With forty laps to go the final stops began, with Scheckter the first of the leaders to pit with Andretti just behind. The following lap Kanaan led in Dixon and Barron. Then came Dan Wheldon, finally making an impression on the score card after early race delays.

Sharp pitted on lap 164 from the lead along with Unser. Giaffone was the final of the leaders to pit on lap 167. As was the trend, the following lap a car crashed, this time Barron in Gil de Ferran's Penske Dallara in turn four. At practically the same time Scheckter made an attempt to pass Kanaan which failed and also ran into the wall. The race only went green again for a lap when the biggest shunt of the race occured. Dixon moved up to challenge Kanaan but was carrying too much speed into turn three, and the Ganassi car slid uptrack and into the Brazilian. There was contact and the pair flew into the wall at high speed, destroying both cars. Kanaan's arm was broken in the impact.

The race restarted on lap 181 with Sharp now leading Giaffone, Unser, Brack and Andretti. Yellows would fly once more on lap 193 after Shinji Nakano and Jaques Lazier clashed and were sent into the wall. Brack had been charging during the final laps and moved up into second but the yellows were still out at lap 200, ending the race and depriving Brack a chance of running at Sharp. Giaffone trundled in behind in third. Andretti was fourth with Unser the only other car on the lead lap. Sam Hornish Jr was one lap down in sixth and again the highest placed Chevrolet. Dan Wheldon and Tora Takagi were two laps down, with Greg Ray the only other car within five laps of the leaders.

Sharp now leads the series by four points over Kanaan with Giaffone 14 points down in third. The next event on the IRL program is the big one. The month of May and the four week exercise that is the Indianapolis 500.

Result of Indy Japan 300, Indy Racing League, Round 3 of 16; Twin Ring Motegi, Japan:

Pos  Driver              Car
 1.  Scott Sharp         Dallara-Toyota
 2.  Kenny Brack         Dallara-Honda
 3.  Felipe Giaffone     GForce-Toyota
 4.  Michael Andretti    Dallara-Honda
 5.  Al Unser Jr         Dallara-Toyota
 6.  Sam Hornish Jr      Dallara-Chevrolet
 7.  Dan Wheldon         Dallara-Honda
 8.  Tora Takagi         GForce-Toyota
 9.  Greg Ray            GForce-Honda
10.  Robbie Buhl         Dallara-Chevrolet

Standings: Scott Sharp 106, Tony Kanaan 102, Felipe Giaffone 92, Kenny Brack 89, Helio Castroneves 83, Al Unser Jr 79, Michael Andretti 77, Scott Dixon 75, Gil de Ferran 58, Sam Hornish Jr 57 etc.

IRL points distribution

  V8 Supercar

Lowndes Wins Island Washout

It was only the second championship round for Ford Performance Racing, as well as for the BA Falcon, but both now are round winners after Craig Lowndes won a rain-shortened race at Phillip Island on the weekend. Although Lowndes had won races for Ford in 2001 and 2002, Lowndes' victory at Phillip Island is actually his first overall round win for the Blue Oval. However, despite Ford taking the win, a long list of Commodores followed him home, filling the next seven placings. The championship sees a similar situation, with Holden drivers holding down the top seven placings, led by Jason Bright.

The event saw the first of several 300 km races this season, with a compulsory stop for tyres and a compulsory stop for fuel. A crash in qualifying meant that Russell Ingall would start last, in 33rd position. Under overcast skies, with rain threatening, polesitter Mark Skaife made a great start and led into turn one, followed by Jason Bright, Todd Kelly, Marcos Ambrose and Craig Lowndes. As David Besnard retired with a broken clutch on lap two, Skaife eased away at the front, who was beginning to open a buffer over the trio of Kelly, Ambrose and Lowndes. Next up was Greg Murphy, while Tander was on the move, moving up from tenth at the start to seventh place after six laps. Ingall was also on the move, 15th after 12 laps of the 67 lap event.

Bright was the first of the leaders to make a stop, taking on fuel on lap 21, Ambrose and Murphy doing the same three laps later, Skaife two laps further on. Three laps later Skaife was back in pit lane, but not for a pit stop, serving a drivethrough penalty after speeding in pit lane at his fuel stop, costing him several positions. All these pit stops meant that Craig Lowndes was in the lead, staying out as he waited to see what happened with the weather, as the clouds continued to threaten but not produce any rain. Meanwhile Skaife was now just behind Murphy, until lap 32, when Skaife looked inside Murphy into MG hairpin. In almost a replay of the Ingall-Bowe incident in race one at round one, Skaife got almost alongside Murphy before he realised Murphy was going to turn in, Skaife trying to avoid contact as Murphy continued to close the door, spinning Murphy around, losing six places while Skaife continued on and took the place.

Todd Kelly came in from seventh place as he made his compulsory tyre stop on lap 34, as Lowndes continued to lead. He finally pitted for fuel on lap 36, the same lap Ambrose made his tyre stop, Lowndes resuming in third, Ambrose just outside the top ten, Skaife making his tyre stop soon after on lap 39, dropping to 12th. Paul Morris led the race for a few laps before finally pitting for fuel on lap 40, coming out in sixth place, This gave the lead to Jason Bright, over 10 seconds ahead of Craig Lowndes, Garth Tander around half a minute further back with Greg Murphy on his tail, all having only made one stop, with Ambrose in fifth more than five seconds away the best placed of those who had already made both compulsory stops.

However, the window for completing both compulsory stops was closing in, lap 47 being the last lap that drivers could make their second such stop. Compounding this was the weather, which continued to threaten rain. Though it threatened, it was lap 46 before the first sprinkles began, Tander in third and Glenn Seton in ninth deciding this was as good a time as any to pit, making their tyre stops and changing to wets. More rain fell on lap 47 with the track now damp, Bright, Lowndes and Murphy doing the same thing as Tander and Seton had the previous lap as they switched to wets for 'free'. One more lap and most of those who had already made their compulsory stop came in to switch to wets, the track getting damp enough to just favour the wets over slicks. Lap 49 and the rain continued to fall, wets now definitely the go, with almost all those still on slicks coming in for wets.

Race leader Ambrose realised this and dived for the pit entry. Second placed Jason Bright was just behind him, and with Ambrose slowing for pit entry, dived inside Ambrose. The two bounced off each other, heading over the grass between pit entry and the final turn before coming back onto the track. Ambrose, realising Bright was still alongside, ran wider and wider towards the edge of the turn as he tried to get out of Bright's way. But Bright continued to follow him up the track, tapping Ambrose again several times before finally spinning Ambrose around. This meant that although Ambrose had only lost a few seconds and was still second, he still had slicks on when track conditions demanded wets, causing him to go off at least once before he pitted at the end of the lap, dropping down to seventeenth place.

Bright hadn't escaped unscathed however, damaging his right front suspension in the contact with the Ambrose car, the wheel wobbling around as he headed around the track, allowing Lowndes to take the lead from him during lap 50, the lap following the incident with Ambrose. The rain was now bucketing down, the track extremely wet, which was demonstrated when firstly Max Wilson ran wide off turn three, running off into the grass at turn three, sliding all the way through and past the hairpin, followed seconds later by Paul Dumbrell going off turn three sideways, almost rolling as his car 'safely' bunkered itself. With cars heading off the track in this fashion the officials called for the safety car, the track looking more like a river. Even behind the safety car with visibility was very poor, so on lap 56 the race was red-flagged, with results declared after 54 laps. This meant Craig Lowndes was the winner from Jason Bright, with Murphy in third. Skaife ended the day in sixth, one place behind teammate Todd Kelly. A 90 minute stewards' enquiry into the incident between Jason Bright and Marcos Ambrose determined no action was required.

Result of V8 Supercar Championship Series, Round 2 of 13, Phillip Island, Australia:

Pos  Driver                Car
 1.  Craig Lowndes         Ford Falcon BA
 2.  Jason Bright          Holden Commodore VX
 3.  Greg Murphy           Holden Commodore VX
 4.  Garth Tander          Holden Commodore VY
 5.  Todd Kelly            Holden Commodore VY
 6.  Mark Skaife           Holden Commodore VY
 7.  Steven Richards       Holden Commodore VX
 8.  Paul Weel             Holden Commodore VX
 9.  Glenn Seton           Ford Falcon AU
10.  Russell Ingall        Ford Falcon BA

Standings: Jason Bright 357, Mark Skaife 351, Todd Kelly and Steven Richards 336, Greg Murphy 315, Paul Weel 297, Garth Tander 288, Russell Ingall 279, Paul Radisich 276, Craig Lowndes 270 etc.

V8 Supercar points distribution

  NASCAR

Gordon Gets It Done

After coming close to winning more than once this season, Jeff Gordon must have been somewhat relieved to finally 'seal the deal' at Martinsville. Mind you, the win only came after a short track 'bump and run' (albeit a very light one) helped him retake the lead late in the race. Then again, he led the race more than once and was always in contention to take the win. More surprising was the second place car of Bobby Labonte, having almost been lapped by Gordon during the opening green run of the race, the duo battling side-by-side lap after lap late in the race before Gordon made the move. With his win, Gordon moves into third position in the points standings 139 points behind leader Matt Kenseth who finishing 22nd a lap down, having run near last early in the race, with third place finisher Dale Earnhardt Jr splitting them, 51 points back from Kenseth.

At the start, polesitter Jeff Gordon moved into the lead, Ryan Newman finally moving into second ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr, Kenny Schrader and Rusty Wallace. Earnhardt Jr soon moved up onto Newman, taking the place on lap 17. Gordon had built a good lead up front but was about to lose most of it as he began to lap cars. Soon after Ryan Newman began to lose places as he fell down the top ten. Tony Stewart was on his way up, passing Wallace for fourth on lap 42 and Schrader for third on lap 58. Meanwhile Gordon was in a wad of cars, trying to lap them, allowing Earnhardt Jr and Stewart to close in. Lap 61 saw Gordon put points leader Matt Kenseth a lap down, while one lap later Stewart passed Earnhardt Jr for second place. Jimmie Johnson was also moving up through the field, up to fifth position, while Kevin Harvick moved from 29th to tenth. The first caution of the day came out on lap 80 after Jerry Nadeau moved down in front of Stewart, Nadeau tapped into a spin. The field pitted, Gordon leading Wallace, Stewart, Earnhardt Jr and Johnson off pit road.

Back to green on lap 85, Gordon opening a small lead as he cleared the lapped traffic at the restart. Just after lap 90 Earnhardt Jr moved past Stewart back into third, while lap 105 it was Johnson past Stewart for fourth as Jimmy Spencer and Kenny Schrader closed in on Stewart, Spencer moving past on lap 109 into fifth. Ricky Rudd spun in turn four to bring out the second caution of the day on lap 120 after heading into turn three too quickly. In came the leaders, with Jimmy Spencer taking two tyres to lead everyone off pit road, with Stewart, Wallace, Gordon, Earnhardt Jr and Craven next out. Unfortunately Spencer took a churn of fuel with him until the end of pitlane, earning himself a penalty, starting at the tail of the lead lap instead of the front of it, Stewart taking over the lead as the race restarted on lap 127, Wallace riding on his bumper as Earnhardt Jr did the same to Gordon a little further back. Earnhardt Jr took third from Gordon on lap 131, while Wallace took the lead from Stewart one lap later.

Earnhardt continued to move forward, taking second from Stewart on lap 135, and then the lead from Wallace on lap 145, though Wallace stayed with him, as a little further back Gordon moved past Stewart as they approached lap 150 and slowly closed in on Wallace who was slowly falling back from Earnhardt Jr. Jimmie Johnson moved past Stewart as they approached lap 190 to move up to fourth place. Gordon moved past Wallace on lap 192 to take second and begin to close in on Junior, moving on to his tail in just a few laps. Just after the 200 lap mark Johnson moved into third behind his teammate after passing Stewart, who lost a place to Wallace soon after. However, on lap 217 Stewart passed Wallace for fourth, and on lap 226 he passed Johnson for third. Jeremy Mayfield spun off turn two to bring out the caution on lap 244, Gordon having retaken the lead just a few laps earlier. Everyone headed for pitlane, Gordon leading Wallace, Earnhardt Jr, Stewart and Johnson off pit road.

It was back to racing on lap 250, Gordon moving away as the rest of the field got caught up behind lapped cars. Lap 267 Earnhardt Jr took second from Wallace. Jerry Nadeau brought out the next caution on lap 272 when his car just rolled to a stop. Of the lead lap cars, only those towards the tail of the lead lap made stops. Lap 282 and it was back to green, the top two pulling away, but it was caution time again on lap 295 when Jack Sprague was spun by Michael Waltrip in turns three and four. The leaders pitted this time, coming out in the order Johnson, Gordon and Earnhardt Jr. However, they were now in fifth, sixth and seventh as they lined up behind those who had pitted at the previous caution.

Lap 300 and new leader Sterling Marlin headed Jamie McMurray and Terry Labonte, Labonte taking second on lap 307. Lap 310 saw Earnhardt Jr pass Gordon, while the next lap he took Johnson to move up to fifth. Lap 319 and it was caution time, this time for debris. The leaders continued to stay out of sync, with those pitting at the last caution staying out while those that didn't came in this time. This moved Earnhardt Jr back to the front as they restarted on lap 325, followed by Johnson, Stewart and Gordon, the trio fighting with each other as they lost time to the leader. About 15 laps later Stewart finally made it past Johnson and took over second. Contact between Steve Park and Dave Blaney, which saw Blaney spin, brought out the next caution on lap 349. Most of the cars on the lead lap pitted, Marlin taking two tyres to be first off pit road ahead of Earnhardt Jr, Stewart and Gordon.

Kevin Harvick and Elliott Sadler stayed out and led Earnhardt Jr and the rest of the field as the race restarted on lap 355, Sadler fighting hard to take the lead from Harvick, at one stage moving ahead only to be blocked in by his own teammate allowing Harvick back through, the rest of the leaders closing in as Marlin began to fade back a little. Lap 364 Sadler took the lead, one lap later Earnhardt Jr relieved Harvick of second place. Lap 368 and Earnhardt Jr moved into the lead as Stewart passed Harvick for third. Lap 371 Gordon moved ahead of Harvick to take fourth, passing teammate Johnson soon after, quickly catching Stewart before passing him on lap 384, while Sadler was now back in fifth place. Around lap 400 Johnson moved past Stewart to move into fourth.

70 to go and Gordon moved right in on Earnhardt Jr's tail, while Bobby Labonte took fifth from Sadler with 67 remaining. Very soon after, on lap 436, Ryan Newman spun, bringing out another caution. Everyone headed for the pits for some fuel and tyres, Bobby Labonte taking two tyres to beat Earnhardt Jr and Gordon off pit road who took four tyres. Lap 444 and it went back to green flag racing, with Earnhardt Jr getting caught outside Craven who ran wide off turn two, allowing Gordon, Johnson and Stewart to sneak past before he could get back in line. Just a couple of laps later Craven featured again when he stopped against the fence, bringing out the caution on lap 447. Craven was then stopped in the pits for a lap for bringing out the caution in this manner.

Lap 452, 49 to go, and the race resumed, Bobby Labonte leading Gordon, Johnson, Stewart and Earnhardt Jr, Gordon's fresher left-side tyres helping him in his attempt to retake the lead from Labonte, looking high and low for a way past. Lap 462 saw Labonte's teammate Stewart pass Gordon's teammate Johnson for third. After many laps of trying, Earnhardt Jr finally passed Johnson for fourth with 30 to go, as Stewart sat just off the back of the dicing duo upfront, who then began to battle side-by-side. As they came up to 20 to go Labonte got Gordon behind him instead of beside him. Meanwhile Earnhardt Jr was on Stewart's tail, Stewart having dropped just back from the duo upfront, Earnhardt Jr taking the place with 18 to go.

14 to go and Labonte got the lightest of bumps from Gordon, causing Labonte to run wide and allowing Gordon to get alongside and then move ahead, but Labonte got back down the inside into turn three before Gordon moved clear in the lead as they completed the lap. Just as the race was sneaking up on the finish the caution flew again on lap 489 when Terry Labonte ran under the back of Matt Kenseth, before Kenseth's teammate Kurt Busch ran into Labonte and spun Labonte around. All the leaders stayed out with just a handful of laps to the chequer. With just 8 laps to go Gordon got the green to resume racing, jumping clear of the rest of the field as Earnhardt Jr looked for a way past Labonte, Stewart right on Junior's tail, as this pressure saw Stewart fall away from Labonte in second.

Then Matt Kenseth got spun in turn four, putting up a smokescreen as he recovered, hitting Kurt Busch as he recovered who then spun on the exit of turn two and couldn't move, bringing out the caution with 3 to go, the field racing back to the line as they knew there was no time to go back green, Stewart dropping from fourth to sixth through turns three and four as Jeff Burton, Sadler and Stewart raced through the turns three wide! So the race ended under caution, Jeff Gordon taking his first win of 2003 ahead of Bobby Labonte and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jeff Burton snuck through late in the race to finish fourth, while Jimmie Johnson lost several places late to finish ninth, just ahead of Kenny Schrader in the BAM Dodge that many thought would never finish well.

Result of NASCAR Winston Cup, Round 9 of 36, Martinsville Superspeedway, Virginia, United States:

Pos  Driver                Car
 1.  Jeff Gordon           Chevrolet Monte Carlo
 2.  Bobby Labonte         Chevrolet Monte Carlo
 3.  Dale Earnhardt Jr     Chevrolet Monte Carlo
 4.  Jeff Burton           Ford Taurus
 5.  Elliott Sadler        Ford Taurus
 6.  Tony Stewart          Chevrolet Monte Carlo
 7.  Sterling Marlin       Dodge Intrepid
 8.  Rusty Wallace         Dodge Intrepid
 9.  Jimmie Johnson        Chevrolet Monte Carlo
10.  Ken Schrader          Dodge Intrepid

Standings: Matt Kenseth 1330, Dale Earnhardt Jr 1279, Jeff Gordon 1191, Jimmie Johnson 1151, Kurt Busch 1125, Kevin Harvick 1097, Tony Stewart 1092, Michael Waltrip 1088, Ricky Craven 1082, Elliott Sadler 1055 etc.

NASCAR points distribution

  MotoGP

Abe To Replace Melandri In South Africa

Japan's Norick Abe will replace injured Italian Yamaha rider Marco Melandri in this month's South African round of the MotoGP championship.

Yamaha said that Abe, who stood in for last year's 250cc champion in the season-opening race in Japan after Melandri's accident on April 4, will ride the latest specification YZR-M1 at Welkom on April 27.

Melandri, in his first MotoGP season, suffered multiple leg injuries including a double fracture of his right ankle when he fell in practice for the opening round at Suzuka.

Abe, 27, has won three 500cc races since his first Grand Prix in 1994.

Report provided by Reuters

  Briefs

• Vale Fermin Velez, 1959-2003. The 1987 and 1989 World Sports Prototype Champion died last week of cancer. Velez was a mainstay of sportscar racing in the late 80s and early 90s, racing with John Fitzpatrick Racing and Spice Engineering.

• Peugeot driver Miguel Campos has further expanded his European Rally Championship lead with a win in co-efficient 20 Rally de Canarias just six days after his victory in the Rally Mille Miglia.

  Upcoming Events Calendar

• April 19 - International Formula 3000 Championship, Round 1 of 10; Imola, Italy
• April 19 - Race To The Sky; Queenstown, New Zealand
• April 20 - British Formula 3 Championship, Round 2 of 12; Snetterton, United Kingdom
• April 21 - British Touring Car Championship, Round 1 of 10; Mondello Park, Ireland
• April 27 - World Motorcycle Championship, Round 2 of 16; Phakisa Freeway, South Africa
• April 27 - European Formula 3 Championship, Round 1 of 10; Hockenheim, Germany
• April 27 - Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, Round 1 of 10; Hockenheim, Germany
• April 27 - NASCAR Winston Cup, Round 10 of 36; California Speedway, California, United States
• April 27 - European Formula 3000 Championship, Round 1 of 10; Estoril, Portugal
• April 27 - World Series by Nissan, Round 2 of 9; Zolder, Belgium
• April 27 - European Touring Car Championship, Round 2 of 9; Magny-Cours, France
• April 27 - World Superbike Championship; Round 3 of 12; Sugo, Japan
• April 27 - FIA GT Championship, Round 2 of 9; Magny-Cours, France
• April 27 - All-Japan Formula Nippon Championship, Round 3 of 10; Mine, Japan
• May 3 - International Formula 3000 Championship, Round 2 of 10; Barcelona, Spain
• May 3 - NASCAR Winston Cup, Round 11 of 36; Richmond International Raceway, Virginia, United States
• May 4 - British Formula 3 Championship, Rounds 5 & 6 of 24; Croft, United Kingdom
• May 4 - 24 Heures du Mans Test Day; Le Mans, France
• May 4 - V8 Supercar Championship Series, Round 3 of 13; Eastern Creek, Australia
• May 5 - Champ Car World Series, Round 4 of 18; Brands Hatch, United Kingdom
• May 5 - British Touring Car Championship, Round 2 of 10; Brands Hatch, United Kingdom