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Atlas F1 Magazine Writers
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Former Paris-Dakar Winner Sainct Dies In Crash
French motorcycle rider Richard Sainct, who won the Paris-Dakar rally three times, was killed in a crash in the Pharaohs Rally in Egypt on Wednesday, the French motorcycle federation (FFM) said.
Sainct, who rode for KTM, won the Paris-Dakar rally in 1999, 2000 and 2003.
The 34 year old crashed twice in the fourth stage of the Pharaohs Rally on Wednesday and the second accident was fatal, according to media reports.
Organisers said he had been taken to hospital by helicopter but was dead on arrival. His KTM team withdrew from the race after his death.
An Egyptian security official said Sainct's motorcycle overturned around 90 kms east of Siwa oasis. The official added that three other contestants were injured in the accident and two of them had been transported to a hospital near Cairo for treatment.
Sainct, who won his first honours by becoming French endurance champion in 1989, won the Pharaohs Rally in 2002, the Atlas Rally in 1997 and 1998 and the Tunisia rally in 1998 and 1999.
Report provided by Reuters
Qatar's New Track Is Hot Stuff
Even for a sport used to very high speeds, the pace at which a patch of desert in Qatar has been turned into the venue for world motorcycling's first foray into the Middle East is nothing short of remarkable.
When the MotoGP bandwagon arrives this week for Saturday's inaugural Qatar Grand Prix, it will be little more than 15 months since the deal was announced to bring grand prix motorcycling to the Gulf of Arabia. The magnificent, purpose-built Losail track in the middle of the desert on the outskirts of the capital Doha is another symbol of the oil- and gas-rich Emirate's rising sporting ambitions.
The $58 million facility for motorcycling -- a sport without any major roots in the country -- is in tune with the thinking of Qatar's planners who have been investing billions of dollars in various sports facilities, most of them for the 2006 Asian Games in Doha.
It was in June 2003 that the Qatar Motor and Motorcycling Federation (QMMF) signed an agreement with MotoGP rights holders Dorna Sports to host a Grand Prix in 2004. With Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Thani taking a keen interest in the project, more than 1,000 workers have worked around the clock to get the new venue ready.
The circuit was officially opened just over a year later on July 9 when former 500cc grand prix racer Randy Mamola completed the historic first lap on a Ducati. Mamola said the 5.4 km track would reward rider talent rather than raw horsepower, which is probably good news for Yamaha's Valentino Rossi as he looks to defend his world title against riders on the more powerful Honda RCVs.
While Losail will be a level playing field of sorts as none of the MotoGP riders have been on the track, Mamola said they might find some parts of it familiar in Thursday's first practice session.
"They have made an incredible effort with the track," he said. "It's wide, born with safety in mind and it has got lots of interesting corners to keep the riders busy.
"The straight is really fast, the bikers should do over 320 kph, and there's plenty of great turns.
"The straight is almost like the Catalunya track," Mamola added. "In fact, the Losail track has got a lot of other bits from other tracks.
"Turn one is like the first corner at Sepang, turn three is like the kink on to the back straight at Estoril, turns four and five are like the two rights into the stadium at Brno and there are a few turns which resemble corners at Welkom."
With the Losail site being flat and open, there was some apprehension about the desert sand getting on to the track but the organisers have added a three-metre wide strip of artificial grass to the inside and outside of the track.
"We have also decided to use a special glue to prevent the sand from blowing on to the track," said Nasser bin Khalifa Al Attiyah, president of the QMMF. "We are all set for action, there are no apprehensions about the track. In fact I have received the final report about the readiness of the circuit."
Situated a 30 minute drive north of the Qatari capital, the circuit has a grandstand with a capacity of 5,000.
"If needed, we are prepared to put up another temporary grandstand too," Al Attiyah said.
The biggest challenge for the riders and team may be the weather which, befitting the desert location, will be hot. Temperatures are expected to be around 40-45 degrees Celsius and down on the track could rise as high as 50 degrees.
Report provided by Reuters
Bourdais Edges Out Bruno
Carpentier stormed away from pole position with Junqueira and Bourdais quickly relegating the other front row starter PKV Racing's Jimmy Vasser to fourth with Rodolfo Lavin next. But already the defending champion Paul Tracy was gone. A driveline failure on the FCR Lola-Ford put the popular Canadian out of the race and out of championship contention. Junqueira moved into the lead on lap 7. Lavin pushed up into fourth as the stint grew long with Ryan Hunter-Reay pushing his 2003 teammate Vasser down another spot.
The field pitted en masse on lap 37 right on the pit window although the yellows flew for the first time in the middle of the stops as Ryan Hunter-Reay spun. Two cars did not stop and stayed out under yellows. Under complicated Superspeedway rules it took some time to re-assemble the field behind new race leader Alex Tagliani. Tagliani missed the compulsory pit window and would have a stop-go penalty to serve once the race went green. It took 14 laps the get the field going again.
Guy Smith in the Rocketsports Lola ground to a halt on lap 125 bringing out the final yellow in a remarkably incident-free race. Once under green again Bourdais and Junqueira fought hard for the lead with Bourdais making it home first by the smallest of margins. Behind Carpentier, Lavin took fourth in compensation for team leader Tracy's miserable day. Mario Dominguez claimed fifth for Herdez with Justin Wilson climbing through the pack to take sixth from Jimmy Vasser. Allmendinger was next ahead of Nelson Philippe, in an impressive rookie superspeedway drive, the last car on the lead lap.
Bourdais now holds a 27 point lead over Junqueira, and as long as Bourdais keeps finishing races, it should be enough. 66 points back is Carpentier, now well and truly long odds for the title. Tracy still hangs on to fourth position, 89 points behind Bourdais but only 10 ahead of Tagliani with Dominguez sitting closely behind.
Result of Champ Car World Series, Round 12 of 15, Bridgestone 400, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Nevada, United States:
Standings: Sebastien Bourdais 307, Bruno Junqueira 280, Patrick Carpentier 241, Paul Tracy 218, Alex Tagliani 208, Mario Dominguez 203, A.J. Allmendinger 184, Ryan Hunter-Reay 176, Oriol Servia 174, Jimmy Vasser 171 etc.
Flyin' Ryan
Jeremy Mayfield and Ryan Newman lined up on the front row, with Newman taking the lead as the race got underway. The race was soon under caution on lap 15 when Kasey Kahne's engine let go. Two thirds of the field pitted but the leaders stayed out. The race went back to green on lap 23, Newman continuing to show the way until he was passed on lap 33 by Matt Kenseth, who had qualified uncharacteristically well. The next caution wasn't far away, coming out on lap 49 when Brian Vickers crashed hard in turn two.
This time the whole field headed for the pits, with Kenseth leading Newman, Rusty Wallace, Jeremy Mayfield and Jimmie Johnson out the other end. Back to green on lap 56, Kenseth maintaining the lead but Newman was waiting to pounce, eventually taking the lead from Kenseth on lap 93. Kenseth felt his tyres were going away and so decided to pit a little earlier. Unfortunately he lost control as he attempted to slow down for pit entry and slid into a pile of tyres, doing major damage to his car and bringing out the caution, which was quickly followed by a red flag for about 10 minutes.
When the red was lifted the field made stops, Newman leading Johnson, Wallace, Kurt Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr as racing resumed on lap 128. Newman was still showing the way as the next caution came out on lap 171 after Jeff Burton slammed the turn three wall after a right front tyre let go, flames coming from the car when it came to rest. Once again the field were pit bound, Newman leading teammate Wallace, Busch, Johnson and Dale Jarrett out of the pits. Johnson was about to get some bad news however, as he had been caught speeding on the pit lane and dropped to 19th.
With the pit stops over Newman retained a big lead over teammate Wallace, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon and Busch. Lap 284 saw second and third positions swap. As the field approached their final stops Tony Stewart had moved his way up to fifth place. Rusty Wallace had only just pitted when a caution for debris came out, costing him dearly. The caution was perfectly placed for everyone else though, with the rest of the field making pit stops.
The race restarted on lap 336 with Newman leading Martin, Gordon, Busch and Greg Biffle. Biffle's run in the top five was shortlived when he was forced to pit again just six laps later, dropping him to thirteenth. With 25 to go Elliott Sadler was forced to pit to make a similar stop, dropping Sadler to 20th. At the front Newman was pulling away once more, Martin and Gordon secure in second and third. However Kurt Busch was struggling in the closing laps, losing fourth on lap 395 and just holding off Stewart at the finish as Newman took the win from Martin, Gordon, Jarrett and Busch.
Result of NASCAR Nextel Cup, Round 28 of 36, Dover Downs International Speedway, Delaware, United States:
Standings: Jeff Gordon 5371, Kurt Busch 5370, Dale Earnhardt Jr 5353, Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin 5314, Elliott Sadler 5275, Matt Kenseth 5272, Ryan Newman 5264, Tony Stewart 5236, Jeremy Mayfield 5214 etc.
SEAT and BMW Put Down Alfa Romeo
Channel Islander Andy Priaulx and Swede Rickard Rydell each took home a trophy after the European Touring Car Championship made its second of two visits to Germany, at the Oschersleben circuit.
Qualifying saw Alfa Romeo on top of the timesheets but it was Autodelta's junior third driver Augusto Farfus with the pole, a tenth clear of Priaulx in the Team GB BMW. Tarquini shared the third row of the grid with Dirk Muller with Autodelta's ring-in driver James Thompson making a red line down the inside of the grid. Sixth fastest was Frank Diefenbacher in the first of the SEAT Toledos with Jordi Gene backing him up immediately. Salvatore Tavano sat in the precious eighth spot for reverse grid and also first privateer entry.
Priaulx led the field away, outjumping Farfus with Tarquini moving into third ahead of Dirk Muller and Thompson. Just behind Fabrizio Giovanardi was menacing Diefenbacher for sixth position with the Alfa moving up before the second lap was completed. Giovanardi immediately picked up another spot as Tarquini slowed to a halt. Transmission failure had crueled the Italian's chances, and stranded out on the circuit, chances of replacing the gearbox before race two were slim.
Up front Piraulx, Farfus and Muller were getting away from Thompson, who was holding up the field. Thompson fought with Diefenbacher, the SEAT retiring after a clash between the pair. Thompson paused, and Giovanardi and a quiet Jorg Muller were through.
Coronel won the start to lead towards turn one ahead of Rydell, Jorg Muller, Thompson and Dirk Muller. Rydell was quickly into the lead, his first since joning SEAT this season, while Coronel was soon shuffled back into fifth position. Prialux's championship chances were dealt a savage blow when a collision with Farfus put the BMW driver into retirement. Further back another multi-car collision ended the races of Diefenbacher and Garcia, while Giovanardi barely survived.
In all the squabbling Rydell escaped. Dirk Muller chased the Swedish driver down, but it was too late. Farfus was best of the rest in third ahead of a consistent Coronel with Thompson running his own race without Tarquini to assist. Gene took sixth gaining more points for SEAT with Carl Rosenblad in an excellent seventh as retirements hit the finishing order. Giovanardi took the final point.
Into the final round and Dirk Muller holds a twelve point advantage over Priaulx. If Team GB are to get their man to the title, Muller will need at least one DNF. Jorg Muller is also still in the points race, but seventeen points adrift of his teammate, the former Formula 3000 champion is more likely to be press ganged into an assistants role to keep Priaulx at bay. With 20 points still available, Tarquini is exactly one point out of the hunt, but is still in range to pressure for third or even second in the championship.
Result of European Touring Car Championship, Rounds 17 & 18 of 20, Oschersleben, Germany:
Standings: Dirk Muller 107, Andy Priaulx 95, Jorg Muller 90, Gabriele Tarquini 86, Fabrizio Giovanardi 63, Augusto Farfus 49, Antonio Garcia 43, Jordi Gene 39, Rickard Rydell 29, Tom Coronel and James Thompson 25 etc
The Italian Stallions
In only its second FIA GT event, the AF Corse team put one of their controversial Maserati MC12s onto the top step of the podium, taking victory at Oschersleben in the penultimate round of the series.
Rain which fell before the race start affected the start in that it clouded the decision on which tyres to start the race. Andrea Bertolini started fourth after qualifying fifth as the Ferrari of Matteo Bobbi was forced to start rear of grid after changing an engine during qualifying. Polesitter Walter Lechner Jr led early in the Saleen with Bertolini and Paolo Ruberti fighting over second. After early stops Michael Bartels pushed up into the lead but the Saleens struck trouble as the race went on. The Maseratis had the Ferraris' measure. When the last stops were made, Johnny Herbert in the second Maserati was the last of the front runners to stop, Mika Salo was in the lead and more than half a lap clear of the best of the Ferraris. By race's end the Maserati was a lap clear.
But Luca Cappellari had no need to push. With the Maseratis not eligible for series points, Cappellari was the de facto race leader, and the nearest car behind was the Saleen of Chris Goodwin and GT newcomer, rally driver Jose Pedro Fontes. Of the championship threats Gabriele Gardel finished in fifth, behind Tarso Marques in the Ferrari 575M Maranello while Philip Peter and Fabio Babini were outside the top ten, slow in qualifying and the race. Cappellari and Gollin cruised to second place, and their series championship crown.
In N-GT, the championship will go down to the end with just 4.5 points between the two Freisinger Porsche crews after Sascha Maassen and Lucas Luhr pegged the lead back by a further two points, but they will have to hope some level of misfortune befalls Stephane Ortelli and Emmanuel Collard. Third in class was the Ferrari 360 Modena of Christian Pescatori and Vincent Vosse. Alexei Vasiliev is next in the championship pointscore, but is too distant to threaten the top two Freisinger crews.
Next event is new ground for the GT series, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
Result of FIA GT Championship, Round 9 of 10, Oschersleben, Germany:
Standings: Luca Cappellari and Fabrizio Gollin 80, Matteo Bobbi and Gabriele Gardel 57.5, Philipp Peter and Fabio Babini 46, Karl Wendlinger 45.5, Enzo Calderari and Lilian Bryner 40, Uwe Alzen and Michael Bartels 38 etc
N-GT Standings: Stephane Ortelli and Emmanuel Collard 80, Sascha Maassen and Lucas Luhr 75.5, Alexei Vasiliev 47 etc
Down To The Wire
With just next week's round at Magny-Cours remaining, there are four riders in with a chance of becoming 2004 World Superbike Champion. The top three of Regis Laconi, James Toseland and Chris Vermeulen are separated by just 13 points with 50 up for grabs, the two factory Ducatis leading the lone Honda of Vermeulen in Vermeulen's, his team's and the bikes first season in the top class. Regis Laconi's twin wins moved him to the top of the points while a fine recovery after a crash before race two even began keeps Chris Vermeulen in the hunt. Meanwhile a disaster for Laconi, Toseland and Vermeulen is the only way Noriyuki Haga could become champion.
Race one saw a close battle at the front, as Chris Vermeulen, Regis Laconi, Noriyuki Haga, James Toseland and Garry McCoy ran away at the front. By lap 12 Vermeulen and Laconi began to edge away as McCoy began to fall off while Toseland and Haga had a private battle for third. Vermeulen led all the way until three laps to go when Laconi took the lead from him and never looked back, Vermeulen holding onto second while Toseland held off Haga to take fourth with McCoy taking fifth. Vermeulen's second place was good enough for him to claim the overall points lead.
Vermeuelen's good day turned for the worse when he crashed at Tamburello on the warm-up lap for race two, forcing him to start the race from the pit lane on his spare bike. Race two began as a three-way battle between Laconi, Haga and Toseland with Vermeulen making his way steadily towards the front from the rear of the field. Haga and Toseland both demoted Laconi on lap nine to take over at the front, but the next lap saw Haga out as he crashed in spectacular fashion cresting the rise after Tosa. This left the race between the two teammates of Toseland and Laconi. As in race one, Laconi took the lead with three laps to go to take the win just ahead of Toseland, with Steve Martin, Gianluca Nannelli and Garry McCoy completing the top five. Chris Vermeulen's recovery saw him make it up to sixth place.
Result of World Superbike Championship, Round 10 of 11, Imola, Italy:
Standings: Regis Laconi 295, James Toseland 291, Chris Vermeulen 282, Noriyuki Haga 254, Pierfrancesco Chili 222, Garry McCoy 185, Steve Martin 170, Leon Haslam 150, Troy Corser 137, Marco Borciani 130 etc.
Motorcycles
"I can confirm only that Richard died. We don't have any more details," an FFM spokesman said.
MotoGP
OWRS
On lap 134 of 166, the green flag was waved for the field and the Newman Haas Racing drivers staged a duel from there to the chequer, and at the end of it Sebastien Bourdais had beaten teammate Bruno Junqueira by a tenth of a second. The Champ Car World Series ran its first oval Race since May of last year. Patrick Carpentier finished in third place at the end, and these three will take the championship to its conclusion.
Tagliani led away, pursued by Junqueira and Lavin, but Bourdais was soon on the rampage. Junqueira drifted to fourth while his team mate picked off one car after another to lead the race on lap 58. Shortly afterwards Tagliani pitted. On lap 74 the pit window threatened to close again and Bourdais led Vasser, A.J. Allmendinger, Lavin and Junqueira onto the ramp. After the pits Bourdais was back in the lead with Junqueira fighting his way past Vasser and Allmendinger to take back second position. Behind the NHR car, the positions fluctuated between six cars.
Pos Driver Car
1. Sebastien Bourdais Newman Haas Racing Lola-Ford
2. Bruno Junqueira Newman Haas Racing Lola-Ford
3. Patrick Carpentier Forsythe Championship Racing Lola-Ford
4. Rodolfo Lavin Forsythe Championship Racing Lola-Ford
5. Jimmy Vasser PKV Racing Lola-Ford
6. A.J. Allmendinger RuSport Lola-Ford
7. Mario Dominguez Herdez Competicion Lola-Ford
8. Justin Wilson Mi-Jack Conquest Racing Lola-Ford
9. Nelson Philippe Mi-Jack Conquest Racing Lola-Ford
10. Roberto Gonzalez PKV Racing Lola-Ford
NASCAR
Leading 325 of 400 laps at Dover meant there was little doubt who was going to win, Ryan Newman showing absolute domination that left only eight runners on the lead lap when the chequered flag fell. Newman's win helped him manage the damage he suffered last week when he suffered an engine failure. An uncharacteristic driving error by Matt Kenseth saw him finish 32nd and drop down to seventh in the chase as Jeff Gordon took back the lead by one point from Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr seventeen points further back and Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin tied 39 points further behind.
Back to green on lap 178, Newman still showing the way but not for long, with Busch taking the lead on lap 185. However Busch's run in front was short-lived, Newman taking the place back on lap 196, as he pulled away from Busch (and everyone else). On lap 236 Johnson's day got worse as Newman put him a lap down, even though Johnson had gained places since the restart. Laps 260 to 270 saw the field make green flag stops, with only 12 cars still left on the lead lap thanks to Newman's relentless pace.
Pos Driver Car
1. Ryan Newman Dodge Intrepid
2. Mark Martin Ford Taurus
3. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Monte Carlo
4. Dale Jarrett Ford Taurus
5. Kurt Busch Ford Taurus
6. Tony Stewart Chevrolet Monte Carlo
7. Jeremy Mayfield Dodge Intrepid
8. Jamie McMurray Dodge Intrepid
9. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet Monte Carlo
10. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Monte Carlo
ETCC
At the previous round at Imola, Alfa Romeo in the form of veteran touring car raceer Gabriel Tarquini fought his way back into the championship fight with a pair of race victories. A couple of weeks later and a pair of non-finishes has equally dashed Tarquini and Alfa Romeo's chances. Heading to the championship finale in Dubai, the fight is now a three-cornered fight amongst the BMW drivers. A pair of podiums for Dirk Muller has the Schnitzer driver in the box seat.
Priaulx though was gone. The battling pair of Farfus and Muller were caught by Giovanardi and the other Muller. Giovanardi had a coming together with Dirk Muller dropping him back behind his teammate, a position he quickly regained. Giovanardi crossed the line in third behind Farfus, but a 30 second penalty for the collision with Dirk Muller dropped him outside the points. Behind Jorg Muller, Thompson came home fifth ahead of Jordi Gene in the first SEAT with Rickard Rydell and Tom Coronel claiming front row of the race two grid with seventh and eighth places.
Round Seventeen
Pos Driver Car
1. Andy Priaulx BMW Team Great Britain BMW 320i
2. Augusto Farfus AutoDelta Alfa Romeo 156 S2000
3. Dirk Muller BMW Team Deutschland BMW 320i
4. Jorg Muller BMW Team Deutschland BMW 320i
5. James Thompson AutoDelta Alfa Romeo 156 S2000
6. Jordi Gene SEAT Sport SEAT Toledo Cupra
7. Rickard Rydell SEAT Sport SEAT Toledo Cupra
8. Tom Coronel Carly Motors BMW 320i
9. Antonio Garcia BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320i
10. Duncan Husiman Carly Motors BMW 320i
Round Eighteen
Pos Driver Car
1. Rickard Rydell SEAT Sport SEAT Toledo Cupra
2. Dirk Muller BMW Team Deutschland BMW 320i
3. Augusto Farfus AutoDelta Alfa Romeo 156 S2000
4. Tom Coronel Carly Motors BMW 320i
5. James Thompson AutoDelta Alfa Romeo 156 S2000
6. Jordi Gene SEAT Sport SEAT Toledo Cupra
7. Carl Rosenblad Crawford Racing BMW 320i
8. Fabrizio Giovanardi AutoDelta Alfa Romeo 156 S2000
9. Luca Rangoni Oregon Team Alfa Romeo 156 Gta
10. Duncan Husiman Carly Motors BMW 320i
FIA GT
While Andrea Bertolini and Mika Salo could celebrate the race win, the real party was at Scuderia Italia, where Luca Cappellari and Fabrizio Gollin followed the Maserati home to become the FIA GT Champions.
Pos Driver Car
1. Andrea Bertolini/Mika Salo Maserati MC12
2. Luca Cappellari/Fabrizio Gollin Ferrari 550 Maranello
3. Jose Pedro Fontes/Chris Goodwin Saleen S7-R
4. Karl Wendlinger/Tarso Marques Ferrari 575M Maranello
5. Matteo Bobbi/Gabriele Gardel Ferrari 550 Maranello
6. Stefano Livio/Enzo Calderari/ Ferrari 550 Maranello
Lilian Bryner
7. Thomas Erdos/Mike Newton Saleen S7-R
8. Johnny Herbert/Fabrizio de Simone Maserati MC12
9. Sascha Maassen/Lucas Luhr Porsche 996 GT3-RS
(1st N-GT)
10. Stephane Ortelli/Emmanuel Collard Porsche 996 GT3-RS
(2nd N-GT)
Superbikes
Race One
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Regis Laconi Ducati 999F04
2. Chris Vermeulen Honda CBR 1000RR
3. James Toseland Ducati 999F04
4. Noriyuki Haga Ducati 999RS
5. Garry McCoy Ducati 999RS
6. Steve Martin Ducati 999RS
7. Pierfrancesco Chili Ducati 998RS
8. Marco Borciani Ducati 999RS
9. Gianluca Nannelli Ducati 999RS
10. Leon Haslam Ducati 999RS
Race Two
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Regis Laconi Ducati 999F04
2. James Toseland Ducati 999F04
3. Steve Martin Ducati 999RS
4. Gianluca Nannelli Ducati 999RS
5. Garry McCoy Ducati 999RS
6. Chris Vermeulen Honda CBR 1000RR
7. Lucio Pedercini Ducati 998RS
8. Marco Borciani Ducati 999RS
9. Ivan Clementi Kawasaki ZX10
10. Troy Corser Foggy Petronas FP1
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