![]() ![]() Elsewhere in Racing
Updates from the Rest of the Racing World By Mark Alan Jones and David Wright, Australia
Atlas F1 Magazine Writers
Advice: The points tables for most series covered by Elsewhere In Racing are available here. Individual series are linked to their corresponding points table after each report.
Rossi Wins In Brazil To Extend Lead
By Brian Homewood
Gibernau finished second while Japan's Makoto Tamada was third to claim the first podium of his career and complete a clean sweep for Honda. Rossi, who also won the last two races in Brno and Estoril, has 262 points in the world championship, 51 ahead of Gibernau with four races left. Rossi can wrap up the title if he wins in Japan and Gibernau fails to score a point.
Rossi has never been beaten at the Nelson Piquet circuit in any category. He won the 125cc race in 1997, the 250cc race in 1999 and the top category -- 500 cc in 2000 and 2001 and MotoGP in 2002 and 2003 -- ever year since.
"I like this track, it's very good for me and today we set the bike very well, today the bike was perfect," said Rossi, who had a winning time of 44 minutes 36.633 seconds. "My target is to keep this standard until the end of the season."
"I'm pretty happy because yesterday I had problems with the bike and after the crash I was feeling very bad," he said. "I want to thank the team because they helped me to do the race."
"It wasn't much of a battle," he added. "Once he went past, I couldn't follow him.
"Valentino did a great job, we all know what he's capable of doing. He won fair and square."
Rossi begin in pole position but Gibernau came out of the first curve in front. Despite constant pressure from the chasing Italian, Gibernau managed to keep the lead for the first nine laps before Rossi sneaked inside him on a curve to snatch first place.
After that, Rossi sped away from the field to win by more than three seconds, having at one stage been nearly four-and-a-half seconds ahead and surviving a minor scare when he skidded on the last lap.
Tamada began on the third row but worked his way steadily through the field before overtaking Italian Max Biaggi on the 12th lap and keeping his place for the second half of the race.
World championship leader Manuel Poggiali dramatically won the 250cc race after fellow title contender Toni Elias crashed when leading on the last lap. After two attempts to pass, Elias finally managed to overtake but then lost control of the bike and skidded off the track. Poggiali extended his lead to 22 points after Roberto Rolfo of Italy moved into second spot and Elias dropped to fourth.
Result of World Motorcycle Championship, Round 12 of 16, Jacarepagua, Brazil:
Standings: Valentino Rossi 262, Sete Gibernau 211, Max Biaggi 174, Loris Capirossi 123, Troy Bayliss 112, Tohru Ukawa 94, Carlos Checa 93, Nicky Hayden 85, Alex Barros 80, Shinya Nakano 77 etc.
Suzuka Dropped For 2004 Due To Safety Concerns
The season-opening Japanese motorcycling Grand Prix at Suzuka has been dropped from next year's calendar because safety demands cannot be met, the sport's governing body the FIM said on Friday.
The Suzuka track, which also hosts a Formula One race, came under scrutiny over safety after Japanese rider Daijiro Kato died from internal injuries following an accident during this year's motorcycling Grand Prix on April 6.
Next year's race was due to take place on April 4, keeping its traditional season-opening date, but the FIM said it would be omitted from the calendar because safety modifications "cannot be carried out before the Grand Prix".
A second Japanese race at Motegi, known as the Pacific Grand Prix, will now assume the title of Japanese Grand Prix and will take place on September 19. The FIM said talks will be held over the safety of the Suzuka circuit for 2005.
Reports provided by Reuters
Hornish Scorches To Victory In California
By Lewis Franck
Aiming for a third straight Indy Racing League championship, Sam Hornish scorched to victory in the California 400 at a speed of 207.151 mph on Sunday, the fastest closed course race in American history. Driving a Dallara-Chevrolet, Hornish was a repeat winner here finishing 0.353 seconds ahead of the GForce-Toyota of New Zealands's Scott Dixon. Tony Kanaan of Brazil finished third in a Dallara-Honda.
"I could run wherever I wanted to, and the that was the bid big key today," said Hornish. "We definitely didn't have the fastest car, but we had the car that could run wherever," he added.
Dixon admitted that he had could not catch his rival. "Sam definitely had a quick car," he said. "I couldn't use my car on the high side."
Although air temperatures reached a high of 101 degrees Fahrenheit it was a very clean race, with no cars crashing and only one caution for six laps to clean up debris on the two mile oval. Coincidentally, the previously fastest race was a CART 500 mile race at the same circuit, won by Jimmy Vasser at a speed of 197.955mph.
With one race remaining in the all-oval IRL series, Dixon is tied with Helio Castroneves, of Brazil with 467 points, Kanaan is second seven points back while Hornish moved to within 19 points of the lead. Indy 500 winner Gil de Ferran - who finished 15th - is the fifth and last driver with a mathematical chance, 30 points behind.
To win the championship, Hornish would have to lead the most laps, win the race, and have rivals Castroneves and Dixon finish lower than third. Last year, in the last race of the season at Texas, Hornish took the lead for good on the last lap to clinch the title.
Castroneves, a two-time Indy 500 winner, but never champion in an Indy Car, said "it's good to be a good finish for the championship, I just want to have a different end result this year."
Result of Indy Racing League, Round 15 of 16, California Speedway, California, United States:
Standings: Scott Dixon and Helio Castroneves 467, Tony Kanaan 460, Sam Hornish Jr 448, Gil de Ferran 437, Al Unser Jr 352, Tomas Scheckter 341, Kenny Brack 328, Scott Sharp 323, Tora Takagi 291 etc.
Report provided by Reuters
New Rules, Same Newman
This week saw several changes to the rules after recent incidents had many people involved in near misses on the track and on pit road. After years of debate, and strong calls during this season, racing back to the caution has finally been banished, with drivers to slow down and hold position when the caution comes out. To offset this lack of opportunity for drivers to race back to get back on the lead lap at the caution, the first car a lap down will get back on the lead lap at each caution period. As well as this, cars will come into the pits single file and can only pass on the right in pit lane, eliminating the situation which saw Gordon end up knocking over Jimmie Johnson's pit crew last weekend.
With qualifying cancelled thanks to Hurricane Isabel, the field was set by owner points, with Matt Kenseth on the pole ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr. At the start it was Kevin Harvick on the move, taking second from Earnhardt Jr before moving into the lead through turn four to lead lap one. Ryan Newman was also on the move, taking second from Kenseth on lap two. The first caution came out very soon after on lap four after Mike Skinner was squeezed down onto the apron of turn one and spun, avoiding the walls and coming to rest on the inside of the circuit. Behind him Ken Schrader was spun, bouncing off the wall. Just as Skinner got rolling again, Schrader's car slid down in front of him, Skinner suffering damage after escaping the spin unscathed.
The field pitted at this time, Harvick leading Gordon, Bill Elliott, Dale Earnhardt Jr and Stewart off pit lane. The race eventually restarted on lap 106, Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr moving past Elliott into third and four place soon after the restart as the leaders settled down, while Kenseth continued to struggle, sitting near the bottom of the top twenty as Newman continued to fight back, hoping for the free pass back to the lead lap. Lap 134 and Elliott took fourth back from Earnhardt Jr as the top three bunched up again due to traffic again. Lap 148 and this lapped traffic allowed Stewart to take second place from Gordon as the top three remained closely bunched. Bobby Labonte brought out the next caution on lap 165 when he glanced the wall in turn four. The field headed to the pits for the second time, with Gordon leading Elliott, Harvick, Earnhardt Jr and Stewart off pit road.
The race restarted on lap 171, Earnhardt Jr taking third later that lap and Stewart fourth soon after from Harvick as Michael Waltrip's car coasted to the pits, his day over. Earnhardt Jr was soon past Elliott into second place and on leader Gordon's tail, the top four all close together as they left the rest of the field in their wake, with Stewart moving into third on lap 180 while Earnhardt took the lead one lap later but Gordon wasn't giving up, sitting right on Junior's tail until Stewart moved right up on Gordon's tail, Stewart taking second on lap 185 after another close battle. Lap 195 saw Harvick take fourth from Elliott, Elliott having dropped back from the leaders while Harvick had recovered from his form after the restart as Stewart challenged Earnhardt Jr for the lead, taking the lead on lap 199 but Earnhardt Jr was soon challenging to retake the lead, the duo battling side by side once more, Earnhardt Jr retaking the lead on lap 213 as Gordon kept a watching brief while Jamie McMurray was now fourth ahead of Harvick.
Now Gordon was looking to retake third from Earnhardt Jr as he still held off Harvick, eventually retaking third on lap 264 as Mayfield closed in on leader Stewart. Lap 288 and debris from Schrader's car brought out the caution, with this caution seeing Ryan Newman receive the free pass back onto the lead lap giving him a (long) shot at the win, having shown good pace all day during his recovery. In came the field once more, Stewart leading Earnhardt Jr, Harvick, Gordon and Mayfield off pit road. With around 110 laps remaining when the field pitted, it was (probably) outside the pit window to make it to the end without stopping again, though Ryan Newman came back in twice to top off before the restart.
The race restarted on lap 297, Stewart and Earnhardt Jr pulling away at the front of the field initially before Earnhardt Jr fell back into the clutches of Harvick, with Gordon and Mayfield close behind, Mayfield finally taking fourth from Gordon on lap 319. Lap 326 and the caution was back out after Kenny Wallace almost or lightly scraped the turn four wall. All of the lead lap runners pitted... except Newman. Earnhardt Jr took two tyres and jumped up to second, while Stewart led the rest of the field off pit road, restarting third, ahead of Harvick, Elliott Sadler and Mayfield, while Jeff Gordon dropped to tenth. Could Newman stretch the fuel, or would he have to make a late race splash and dash?
Back to green on lap 331, Earnhardt Jr challenging Newman through turns one and two before Stewart dived throught and claimed second from Junior off turn four. As Newman led, Earnhardt Jr's decision to take two tyres looked like a bad decision, down to sixth by lap 335, with Mayfield moving to fourth past Sadler on the same lap. Further back in the top ten Gordon was making his way back up the order, Gordon taking seventh on lap 339 as he passed Earnhardt Jr who continued to head the other way as he struggled badly with the car's handling. Closer to the front Mayfield was giving Harvick a hard time before driving around the outside of him to take third on lap 342 as Newman continued to hold a small lead over Stewart at the front of the field with Mayfield closing in on both of them, right on Stewart's tail by lap 350, Mayfield taking second a lap later after Stewart got loose through turns three and four.
Lap 373 and Newman got a great restart to break clear at the front, but just one lap later Mayfield was right on his rear bumper, looking for the lead as Newman ran the low line and Mayfield even lower, the duo getting side by side a couple of times as they battled lap after lap. A little further back Stewart was absolutely flying on fresh tyres, up to fifth with just under twenty laps in the 400 lap event remaining. Up at the front the leading duo were opening the gap over Harvick in third as they continued to battle, making light contact on lap 384 as they got a little too close but Newman still held on. Finally, with 15 laps remaining, Newman finally began to edge ever so slightly away from Mayfield. Stewart meanwhile was right with Gordon for fourth place, taking the position on lap 389.
Stewart quickly closed in on Harvick, taking third place from him on lap 398. Up at the front Newman continued to hold on, going on to take the victory just ahead of Mayfield, Newman's fuel holding out long enough to do a cooldown lap, a burnout and then make it to victory lane. Stewart made it back up to third place, the same place he was before he made his final stop to beat Harvick and Gordon to fourth and fifth who were rewarded for remaining in the top ten all day.
Result of NASCAR Winston Cup, Round 28 of 36, Dover Downs International Speedway, Delaware, United States:
Standings: Matt Kenseth 4158, Kevin Harvick 3722, Jimmie Johnson 3685, Dale Earnhardt Jr 3668, Ryan Newman 3578, Jeff Gordon 3542, Bobby Labonte 3393, Kurt Busch 3372, Terry Labonte 3294, Tony Stewart 3291 etc.
The Zand Man
In front of over 60,000 of his countrymen, Christijan Albers made a triumphant return to Zandvoort, taking his fourth victory of the year. In doing so, Albers has set up a battle for the ages at the Hockenheim Grand Final with fellow Mercedes driver Bernd Schneider. The young Dutch driver trails the veteran German by a single point. Literally, it will be winner take all.
When the flag dropped, the worst thing happened, as a front row car stalled. Tomczyk's Audi failed to move as Scheider led Albers, Reuter, Menu and a fast starting Jeroen Bleekemolen. Bleekemolen briefly took fourth from Menu as the Opel drivers fought over fourth. Fassler was closing on the pair though and Bleekemolen dropped Menu in order to defend fifth. He would fail in that task, while Menu took the opportunity to attack Reuter.
The pits began servicing cars on lap six as Scheider led Menu and Fassler into the pits. Schneider also pitted, already well into the top ten, and a demon outlap could surely net him a spot or two. Albers pitted from the lead a lap later along with Reuter, Peter Dumbreck and a chastened Martin Tomcyzk. Albers resumed behind Scheider with Bleekemolen now leading, if only for a lap. Bleekemolen collided with Christian Abt on his outlap, ending his chances of a top five finish down the way. He wouldn't give up though.
With the first stop completed Albers was climbing all over Scheider with the yet to stop Peter Terting third ahead of Menu and... Bernd Schneider, as sure enough the '01 Champion had leapt up the pack during the stops. Reuter was fifth ahead of Jean Alesi and Ekstrom. Menu's charge ended a lap later as he clashed with Terting, sending the Opel hard towards the wall and out of the race. Terting would have another collision with Bernd Maylander four laps later.
When the stops were completed, Albers had over ten seconds on Bernd Schneider. With the help of an inspired Vodafone-AMG crew, Schneider had raced through the field to be second as the laps ran down. Despite his much faster race pace Schneider's rival was too far up the road and the points lead was now all but gone.
The battle for third was on in earnest as the leading Audi hunted down the leading Opel. Ekstrom caught Reuter with six laps to go, forcing his way past. Alesi would take fifth, while Fasslers seventeen-lap battle with Bleekemolen saw the Opel succumb on the final lap. Fassler is now secure in third place in the championship, both too far ahead and too far behind to be affected by the final race of the season. Former Formula One driver, Karl Wendlinger, claimed the final point of Zandvoort and his first for the season.
The two minor championship have long since been decided with the Vodafone/Express Service team of Schneider and Albers over 40 points clear of the 'sister' AMG squad and MB has thrashed its rivals in the manufacturers cup. The equation for the grand final at Hockenheim couldn't be simpler. If Albers finishes in front of Schneider, and in the points, he becomes champion. If Schneider beats Albers, Schneider wins. In the event of a tie, a countback favours Albers, so the equation stands. Beat the other guy.
Result of Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, Round 9 of 10; Zandvoort, The Netherlands:
Standings: Bernd Schneider 65, Christijan Albers 64, Marcel Fassler 51, Mattias Ekstrom 38, Laurent Aiello 37, Jean Alesi 32, Peter Dumbreck 26, Timo Scheider 10, Alain Menu 9, Manuel Reuter 5 etc.
Manufacturers: Mercedes-Benz 218, Audi 80, Opel 53
Klein Closing
Klien's carryover form from the Masters was readily apparent, taking both pole positions in practice on Friday and Saturday in the Mucke Motorsport Dallara-Mercedes. On Friday Klien led a Mercedes-powered domination of the grid, with five of the top six qualifiers wearing the three-pointed star. Only Briscoe broke the formation, sharing the front row with Klien. The two rows following saw Olivier Pla alongside Markus Winkelhock, and Alexandre Premat with Bruno Spengler. Qualifying for race one saw an all Mercedes front row with Premat joining Klien. Briscoe was third with Spengler, Pla and Winkelhock following as the same top six shuffled.
The first race saw Briscoe jump well to launch past Premat into second, only for Premat to ram the Australian off the circuit in turn one in the first corner crush. The safety car was despatched as three other cars joined Briscoe. Briscoe rejoining well down the field. Premat did not rejoin. Nor did Bernhard Auinger, Jamie Green or Patrice Manopoulos. The race restarted on lap five and only lasted four laps before another safety car period was brought out when Sakon Yamamoto left the circuit.
When racing resumed, there would only be three racing laps for Briscoe to recover any lost ground. He climbed to 17th by flagfall. Out front Klien was unchallenged as he raced to win from Spengler, Pla and Winkelhock. Robert Doornbos was the first non Mercedes-powered Dallara ahead of Simon Abadie and Briscoe's teammate Robert Kubica.
Briscoe's lead over Klien has dropped to 22 points, which means Klien needs to make up six points in each of the remaining races. Klien will need another first corner incident to take the crown from Toyota's Formula One test driver.
Result of European Formula 3 Championship, Round 8; Zandvoort, The Netherlands:
Standings: Ryan Briscoe 99, Christian Klien 77, Olivier Pla 61, Markus Winkelhock 52, Alexandre Premat 46, Fabio Carbone 44, Nico Rosberg 40, Timo Glock 35, Robert Doornbos 32, Bruno Spengler 27 etc
F3 Euro Series points distribution
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