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Rice Won, Nice One
Rice came to the fore at pole day and has not put a foot wrong since. Rice had the best car nearly all day in the rain-interrupted race, and drove accordingly. With three cars in the top three in the closing stages, Michael Andretti could only shake his head and acknowledge he had been beaten.
Rice took the lead from pole into turn one to lead the only just full field out on the first lap. The field settled but it would be only briefly as the Foyt family started what would not be a very good day for them. AJ Foyt IV was the first to crash, on lap 11 hitting the wall in turn one, sliding across the track. Once pit lane opened, almost the entire field pitted, with the exception of Alex Barron and Bryan Herta. Dan Wheldon led the pitters out to take up third place.
Greg Ray pitted twice, the team pulling the engine cover off the car to chase the car's problem. At the restart Castroneves jumped into third position, Barron was slow as Wheldon jumped Herta for the lead. Castroneves climbed rapidly towards Wheldon until the yellows appeared as light rain swept over the circuit, soon bringing out the red flag.
AJ Foyt IV and Ray were both repaired during the stoppage, making for 33 cars again. The race went green again on lap 31 around two hours after the race had been stopped and Rice dived almost into the wall passing both Kanaan and Castroneves into turn one. Hornish moved up into third place running with his teammate. Hornish moved up past Castroneves.
It was a bad day for Foyt Enterprises, for just as the team pushed AJ's car away for the last time, uncle Larry smacked the wall in turn two. The pits opened and the entire field stopped. Rice was the first car out of the pits, leaping past Hornish, while Darren Manning, running a lot faster in the pits almost wiped out three other cars in pit lane.
Green again on lap 63, Rice leading Wheldon and Hornish, but the lap was not completed as Mark Taylor and Ed Carpenter clashed, spun and headed for the barriers. At the restart, cars went everywhere as Rice restarted slower than he had earlier in the race, creating a five car wide problem down the chute.
PJ Jones hit the wall to bring the yellows out and the field pitted again. Rice stalled trying to exit the pits, handing the lead to Hornish, but Hornish was pit bound again to have the end of the vent hose removed, after Hornish left the pits with his vent hose still attached. It was the beginning of the end for the crowd favourite as the Penske driver stalled, but behind the pace car the stall didn't matter much. Subsequently with nothing to lose he topped off next lap.
Lap 104 and Kanaan swept by Wheldon into the lead on the restart, but almost immediately after the restart, three cars slid together into the end of pit wall, covering pit lane with debris. Manning was going around Ray exiting turn four when they touched and slid towards pit entry, taking Hornish with them. Eventually the pits were cleared and opened, as some slower cars stopped, led by Franchitti as AGR rolled the dice, putting one of their cars at the head of the 'alternate' group as the threat of rain appeared on the distant horizon.
At the restart, again it was congested after the field pitted. Bruno Junqueira stayed out to hold the lead from Kanaan. But there was panic in the field. A storm was on the way, and with 60 laps to go, a sprint for the flag was suddenly on early. Tomas Scheckter passed seven cars in one move in a pack just off the lead group, which swelled to four cars abreast turning into turn three. Junqueira led, pulling away even from Kanaan, Wheldon, the flying Rice, with a gap back to sixth placed Dixon with Herta in the middle of that gap.
Lap 146 and Rice was up the inside of Wheldon to take third and Herta closed in on the British AGR driver. Junqueira, now praying for rain to get to the track as his tanks dried, was flying away from Kanaan as Rice closed steadily. As Junqueira's gamble finally failed forcing the Haas car pitwards, Rice moved past Kanaan and the surprise pole winner became the surprise late race leader. Kanaan wasn't giving up and climbed back to the back of the Rahal-Letterman car. The rain continued to hold off though and with Junqueira gone, lapped even after his stop, pit stops beckoned again. Scheckter undid all his good work and pitted.
The gamblers had failed and Rice led again from Kanaan, Wheldon, Herta, Junqueira and Meira when the yellows flew again as the rain finally arrived. The safety Corvette appeared and the field queued up waiting for the rain to tumble down, or go away. After several laps under the safety car, the white flag flew beside the yellow.
Hondas had dominated the results taking the top seven places with the Rahal-Letterman team sitting first, sixth and tenth, and the consistent Andretti-Green squad taking second, third and fourth. Toyotas top teams Ganassi and Penske were represented in the top ten thanks to Dixon and Castroneves in eighth and ninth. The best Chevrolet was Alex Barron in the surviving Cheever Racing car in twelfth.
As lap 180 clocked up on the tower, Arizona's Buddy Rice became the champion of the 88th Indianapolis 500.
Result of Indy Racing League, Round 4 of 16, Indianapolis 500, Indiana, United States:
Standings: Dan Wheldon 158, Tony Kanaan 157, Buddy Rice 129, Helio Castroneves 128, Scott Dixon 106, Darren Manning 100, Bryan Herta 91, Tora Takagi 88, Sam Hornish Jr 87, Alex Barron 82 etc.
Wheldon Happy To Make His Mark In North America
By Lewis Franck
While most of Britain's leading racing drivers made their name on twisting road circuits Dan Wheldon is doing just fine going round in circles. In just his second full year in the all-oval Indy Racing League (IRL) series, the 25-year-old Emberton native is beginning to making his mark.
Last month he won from pole at Honda's home track, the Twin-Ring Motegi in Japan, and on Sunday raised a few eyebrows at the most famous of U.S. motor racing venues, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Starting second in the 33-car field for the Indy 500, Wheldon finished third after a high-spirited battle with team mate Tony Kanaan and race winner Buddy Rice.
After finishing third in the British Formula Three series in 1998, Wheldon crossed the Atlantic to seek his fortune racing in North America. In 1999 he dominated the U.S. Formula 2000 championship before moving up to the Toyota Atlantic series, where he clamed rookie of the year honours 12 months later.
Stepping another rung up motor racing's ladder he finished second in Indy Lights in 2001. In the following year he joined the IRL for a partial season. Last year, he joined Scottish born Dario Franchitti, Brazil's Kanaan and American Bryan Herta on the powerhouse Andretti Green Racing team.
In his first visit to the famed Brickyard he topped the charts in practice but was knocked out of the race itself, this year he made the podium in a rain-interrupted contest.
As the storm clouds gathered on Sunday, Wheldon, getting ready to leave the famed oval after a 12-hour race day said he could not wait to do it all again.
"You know what?" he asked. "I just had a ton of fun.
"I could race like that every day of the week. I really could, for 365 days of the year."
Dan Wheldon report provided by Reuters
Toccacelo's Revenge
Ferdinando Monfardini was forced to start from pit lane as van Hooydonk got a holeshot start to lead Toccacelo and Liuzzi. Yannick Schroeder and Patrick Friesacher, the fifth row of the grid ran forwards as several drivers got woeful starts, worst of them was Giammaria who all but stalled, dropping to fifteenth by the end of the lap. Enge started well to move up to challenge Luizzi but the two clashed, damaging Liuzzi's wheel, giving him a puncture, forcing the series leader pitwards a lap later. The incident damaged the suspension and ended Liuzzi's chances of figuring in the results.
For the first nine laps the two leaders battled, with Toccacelo briefly into the lead on lap five. The BCN driver pitted on lap 9, a lap behind the second Arden of Doornbos who was the first major stopper. On his own, van Hooydonk consolidated his lead. Schroeder was briefly second before he stopped, with Enge, now third joining him in the pits. This put Esteban Guerrieri into second, but only for a lap when van Hooydonk stopped promoting Toccacelo's team mate to the lead. Van Hooydonk's stop is not good, rejoining in twelfth, already five spots behind the flying Toccacelo.
From there Toccacelo raced away to a nine second win over the Monaco resident Doornbos. Schroeder's early race success and a good stop saw him on Toccacelo's heels as the stops took place. He stuck with Toccacelo and picked up Doornbos once the Italian was through to the lead and chased Doornbos hard to the chequer. Guerrieri was fourth, leading a train with Lopez and Giammaria just behind, the trio benefiting from a clash between Enge and Friesacher which pushed the Austrian out of the race and the Czech to seventh. That trio had previously swamped a lack lustre van Hooydonk. The Belgian Coloni driver faded to eighth at the finish, but his early laps promised at far more than one point.
Liuzzi finished eleventh, almost forty seconds from the win. The championship lead was gone; Arden's lead driver now trailed Toccacelo by four points, but was eleven points clear of Giammaria in third place. Already this season has become a two horse race, and it seems the driver with the least DNFs of the two will be champion.
Result of International Formula 3000 Championship, Round 4 of 10, Nurburgring, Germany:
Standings: Enrico Toccacelo 34, Vitantonio Liuzzi 30, Raffaele Giammaria 19, Robert Doornbos 17, Jose Maria Lopez 13, Patrick Friesacher and Esteban Guerrieri 9, Yannick Schroeder 8, Jeffrey van Hooydonk and Tomas Enge 6, Mathias Lauda 2 etc.
Just Jimmie
Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman sat on the front row. At the green flag Johnson grabbed the initiative, beginning to open a gap over the remainder of the field. By lap 45 Elliott Sadler had bridged the gap to Johnson, taking the lead from him on lap 54 just before green flag stops began. Lap 58 saw third place starter and Johnson's teammate Jeff Gordon go a lap down as Gordon struggled with his car, while a lap later Johnson retook the lead from Sadler. After the stops were over Sadler led again, only for Johnson to take the lead back from him around ten laps later as the duo continued to street the field.
Ryan Newman and Matt Kenseth were forced to pit early, before green flag stops began again at around lap 110, continuing for the next fifteen to twenty laps, with Sadler again leading after the stops were over. As before, Johnson eventually reclaimed the lead, taking over again at the front on lap 146. So frantic was the pace at the front that by lap 150 of the 400 lap race there were only eleven cars on the lead lap! Finally, the first caution of the day came out on lap 161 when Johnny Sauter hit the turn one wall. It was too late for Jeff Gordon, having just pitted and now five laps down. In came the field for stops, with Sadler leading Johnson, Mark Martin, Jeremy Mayfield and Matt Kenseth as the race restarted on lap 167.
It quickly returned to the Elliott and Jimmie show, the duo doing their disappearing act again, Johnson taking the lead back on lap 176. Lap 219 and we were down to nine cars on the lead lap. Lap 225 to 230 saw cars make green flag stops, just before the caution came out on lap 235 when Greg Biffle slid coming off turn four. Back to green on lap 244, Johnson and Sadler pulling away but then being caught by Kasey Kahne as the laps continued, Kahne taking second from Sadler on lap 291. Green flag stops followed soon after, with the order Johnson, Sadler, Mayfield, Jamie McMurray and Kahne after they had been completed.
Mayfield and teammate Kahne was on the move soon after, moving up to second and third before Kahne took second and closed in on Johnson. Lap 338 and it was caution time when John Andretti spun through the frontstretch grass after a bump from Ryan Newman. In came the field to the pits, Johnson leading Kahne, McMurray, Michael Waltrip and Sadler as the field restarted on lap 345 but it was back to caution five laps later for debris. Back to green again on lap 356, Johnson opening a gap on Kahne who was doing the same to McMurray.
Johnson knew he had to move quickly and did so, threading the needle through turns three and four between a lapped car and Kahne to retake fourth on lap 376, taking Mayfield in slightly easier circumstances a lap later, and Waltrip on lap 379. Within two laps of passing Waltrip for second Johnson had caught leader McMurray. Here he faced a tougher task, but on lap 384 he found a gap and took advantage of it to retake the lead.
Just as Kenseth took fifth the caution came out on lap 395 as Ryan Newman's engine went up in a cloud of smoke. The caution flew just in time for NASCAR to red flag the race to clear up the oil from Newman's engine and have a green flag finish. The red flag was lifted after a short delay, with the race restarting on lap 398, Johnson pulling away as Kenseth took fourth at turn one, as McMurray and Waltrip battling side for second through turns three and four.
They continued to fight side by side as they went down to take the white flag, Waltrip edging ahead as they came off turn two with Kenseth following through. At about the same time Bobby Labonte hit the turn two wall after Kasey Kahne pushed up off the bottom, bringing out the caution on the last lap, freezing the field. And so Jimmie Johnson took the win, with Michael Waltrip second, Matt Kenseth with a late surge taking third, Jamie McMurray and Elliott Sadler completing the top five.
Result of NASCAR Nextel Cup, Round 12 of 36, Charlotte Motor Speedway, North Carolina, United States:
Standings: Dale Earnhardt Jr 1798, Jimmie Johnson 1793, Matt Kenseth 1687, Jeff Gordon 1654, Tony Stewart 1587, Bobby Labonte 1554, Elliott Sadler 1537, Kurt Busch 1521, Ryan Newman 1500, Kevin Harvick 1498 etc.
New System To Be Tested In Acropolis Rally
A new system allowing drivers to re-enter a rally after crashing out or retiring will be tested for the first time at the Acropolis Rally in Greece this weekend, the governing body said on Wednesday.
The International Automobile Federation (FIA) said in a statement that a trial would go ahead but without the cars concerned either scoring points or being classified in the event.
The introduction of the 'SupeRally' system, awarding points on each day and allowing retired crews back into contention on the following day, has been agreed in principle for introduction next year despite opposition from some quarters.
At present only those drivers still running at the finish can score points and any car failing to finish a stage is barred from continuing.
The dummy run in the sixth round of the 16 rally championship came as a surprise and could have a major bearing on running positions in the second and third legs of this weekend's event.
Report provided by Reuters
Haga And Laconi Star In Germany
It should have been a double for Noriyuki Haga, but it wasn't to be. A win in race one looked like being followed by another in race two until gremlins struck, Regis Laconi taking the win after having pushed Haga hard during race two. These two riders were the riders of the day, yet the rider who ended the day with the most points was James Toseland who put in somewhat disappointing performances in both races, continuing his recent somewhat poor form. Toseland has now taken the lead in the points, two ahead of teammate Laconi, with Pierfrancesco Chili 42 points further back.
Race one was all Noriyuki Haga, leading from start to finish. Second place was taken by James Toseland who just edged out Pierfrancesco Chili, the two having diced for most of the race for the place, Chili holding second until Toseland took it on lap 9, Chili harassing him for the place until the flag dropped, while Troy Corser consolidated his qualifying position by finishing in a competitive fourth. Regis Laconi did a fantastic job to end the race in sixth place after taking a ridethrough penalty for a technical infringement the previous day with the engine cutoff switch failing to work when tested, the penalty having seen Laconi as low as sixteenth.
Race two looked like it would see the same winner as race one, Noriyuki Haga holding a small lead over Regis Laconi, the duo leaving the rest of the field by a second or more a lap. But with eight laps remaining his bike slowed and he was forced to retire. Earlier in the race Pierfrancesco Chili had been chasing Laconi for second when he crashed out at the final bend on lap 7. All this meant that James Toseland was able to take second place again, with Haga's teammate Leon Haslam taking the final podium position. Aussie Steve Martin and Troy Corser both crashed while well placed.
Result of World Superbike Championship, Round 5 of 11, Oschelsleben, Germany:
Standings: James Toseland 157, Regis Laconi 155, Pierfrancesco Chili 113, Garry McCoy 107, Noriyuki Haga 94, Chris Vermeulen 92, Leon Haslam 89, Troy Corser 79, Chris Walker 78, Steve Martin 73 etc.
Standings: Heikki Kovalainen 63, Tiago Monteiro 60, Enrique Bernoldi 55, Narain Karthikeyan 47, Juan Cruz Alvarez 36, Tristan Gommendy 34 etc
Standings: Yvan Muller & James Thompson 124, Matt Neal 87, Anthony Reid 82, Jason Plato 70, Dan Eaves 62 etc
Standings: Armin Kremer 20, Karamjit Singh 18, Geof Argyle 14, Chris Atkinson 13, Katsuhiko Taguchi 11 etc
IRL
For the first time since 1998, America had one of its own to celebrate for as Buddy Rice stormed away from a trio of Andretti-Green cars to become the first polesitter since Arie Luyendyk in 1997 to win the Indianapolis 500.
Castroneves moved up into second place as Rice paused momentarily while lapping Jaques Lazier who had earlier taken over Robby Gordon's car when the NASCAR driver had to leave to make the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte.
Wheldon blitzed the restart to blow by Kanaan into the lead for lap 117 with Castroneves third then Herta, Adrian Fernandez, Dixon and Rice. Lap 120 and Kanaan returned the favour on Wheldon as the Andretti Green team progressively shook the life out of the race. Rice was on form though, moving by the defending IRL series champion on lap 132 just as Marty Roth piled into the wall exiting turn four after losing downforce underneath Robby McGehee.
But on lap 164 the rain did arrive at the circuit, but disappeared just as quickly. Sucking on fumes, Kanaan had to stop, and pitted on lap 165. A lap later Wheldon pitted. Jaques Lazier pushed it a lap too far and ran out of fuel, rolling Robby Gordon's car towards the pits. Rice stopped on lap 167, handing the lead to Herta. Herta, Vitor Meira and Kosuke Matsuura stopped on lap 169, but Adrian Fernandez stayed out as rain again gave subtle indications it was there. Fernandez stopped as Castroneves was using partial throttle, betting on the rain.
Pos Driver Team
1. Buddy Rice Rahal-Letterman Racing GForce-Honda
2. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green Racing Dallara-Honda
3. Dan Wheldon Andretti Green Racing Dallara-Honda
4. Bryan Herta Andretti Green Racing Dallara-Honda
5. Bruno Junqueira Newman-Haas Racing GForce-Honda
6. Vitor Meira Rahal-Letterman Racing GForce-Honda
7. Adrian Fernandez Fernandez Racing GForce-Honda
8. Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing GForce-Toyota
9. Helio Castroneves Team Penske Dallara-Toyota
10. Roger Yasukawa Rahal-Letterman Racing GForce-Honda
"It was my most enjoyable race ever from a driving standpoint," Wheldon said. "To come up a just little short makes you want the Indianapolis 500 to start again."
Formula 3000
Qualifying wasn't especially unusual as runaway championship leader Vitantonio Liuzzi sat three tenths clear of season long rival Toccacelo. A further tenth away was category veteran Tomas Enge giving Ma-Con their best qualifying result to date to lead the second row with emerging star Jose Maria Lopez alongside in the CMS fettled car. Jeff van Hooydonk and Raffaele Giammaria were the only other cars within a second of Liuzzi, leaving six teams represented in the top six.
After his dreadful start, Giammaria stayed out and would be one of the last to pit, holding the lead for two laps. While Liuzzi struggled, Arden were still in the frame through Doornbos. When Nico Verdonck pitted from second, Arden's strategy of putting Doornbos into clear air early looked set to pay dividends. The battle was now second as Toccacelo caught Doornbos. Toccacelo took Doornbos into the first turn on lap 15, and became the race leader at the end of the lap when Giammaria stopped.
Pos Driver Team
1. Enrico Toccacelo BCN Competicion Lola-Zytek
2. Robert Doornbos Arden International Lola-Zytek
3. Yannick Schroeder Durango Formula Lola-Zytek
4. Esteban Guerrieri BCN Competicion Lola-Zytek
5. Jose Maria Lopez CMS Performance Lola-Zytek
6. Raffaele Giammaria I.E. Engineering Lola-Zytek
7. Tomas Enge Ma-Con Engineering Lola-Zytek
8. Jeffrey van Hooydonk Coloni Motorsport Lola-Zytek
9. Jan Heylen Team Astromega Lola-Zytek
10. Mathias Lauda CMS Performance Lola-Zytek
NASCAR
When Jimmie Johnson took the lead at the start of the race they could have handed him the win then. So dominant was he throughout the race that he led over 300 laps, in the meantime putting his teammate Jeff Gordon seven laps down, Gordon finishing the race in thirtieth place. The only driver to consistently battle Johnson was Elliott Sadler, though Johnson's win ultimately required some skilled passing after a late race caution or two. Johnson's win has moved him to within five points of Dale Earnhardt Jr in the points standings while Matt Kenseth's third place in the race moved him into third in the standings ahead of Jeff Gordon.
Lap 369 and we were back to caution after Ryan Newman hit the turn two wall following contact with Derrike Cope. This time all the leaders pitted. Well, almost all of them. Everyone except McMurray came in, who now took over the lead, while of those who came in, Waltrip and Mayfield took two tyres and were first back out, Kahne and Johnson taking four to complete the top five. The race went back to green on lap 374, McMurray getting a great restart despite his 'old' tyres.
Pos Driver Car
1. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Monte Carlo
2. Michael Waltrip Chevrolet Monte Carlo
3. Matt Kenseth Ford Taurus
4. Jamie McMurray Dodge Intrepid
5. Elliott Sadler Ford Taurus
6. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Monte Carlo
7. Casey Mears Dodge Intrepid
8. Jeremy Mayfield Dodge Intrepid
9. Tony Stewart Chevrolet Monte Carlo
10. Rusty Wallace Dodge Intrepid
WRC
Superbikes
Race One
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Noriyuki Haga Ducati 999RS
2. James Toseland Ducati 999F04
3. Pierfrancesco Chili Ducati 998RS
4. Troy Corser Foggy Petronas FP1
5. Steve Martin Ducati 999RS
6. Regis Laconi Ducati 999F04
7. Leon Haslam Ducati 999RS
8. Jurgen Oelschlager Honda CBR 1000RR
9. Garry McCoy Ducati 999RS
10. Mauro Sanchini Kawasaki ZX10
Race Two
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Regis Laconi Ducati 999F04
2. James Toseland Ducati 999F04
3. Leon Haslam Ducati 999RS
4. Garry McCoy Ducati 999RS
5. Gianluca Nannelli Ducati 998RS
6. Mauro Sanchini Kawasaki ZX10
7. Chris Walker Foggy Petronas FP1
8. Chris Vermeulen Honda CBR 1000RR
9. Ivan Clementi Kawasaki ZX10
10. Andy Meklau Suzuki GSX 1000R
Briefs
Touring car action at the picturesque Oulton Park circuit saw rounds 10 through 12 of the British Touring Car Championship. Vauxhall's Yvan Muller and Honda's Dan Eaves took the silverware after three races. Muller and Vauxhall teammate James Thompson dominated round 10 for an all the way 1-2 with Matt Neal (Honda) third. Round 11 saw the debut victory of Honda driver Dan Eaves after taking an all the way victory over Jason Plato (SEAT) and Anthony Reid (MG). Muller took the lead from Plato in round 12 to win. Thompson was third, tying up the championship chase, with the two Vauxhall drivers now well clear of the rest with Neal holding down third place, almost 40 points behind.
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Volume 10, Issue 22
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Interview with Anthony Davidson
Bjorn Wirdheim: Going Places
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