Updates from the Rest of the Racing World
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.
Max Attacks!
Max Biaggi sat on pole ahead of Valentino Rossi and Kenny Roberts, with Sete Gibernau fourth on the grid, with the leading riders' times all tightly bunched, a second covering the top fourteen riders. At the start Biaggi led the way from Rossi and Roberts, Rossi staying on Biaggi's tail before ducking through at the second half of the esses late in the lap. It didn't last long, Biaggi sweeping around the outside of Rossi into the steep downhill left hander to retake the lead. And this was all before the end of lap one!
Biaggi and Rossi continued to ride nose to tail, Rossi looking here and there but never really threatening too strongly to pass. Behind them Roberts began to fall back, Gibernau taking third from him into turn one at the start of lap two and latching onto the leading duo. Carlos Checa was a man on the move, taking third from Gibernau at the start of lap four after starting in seventh place. But Checa's hold on third was a short one, crashing out on the exit of the second last corner before lap four was complete.
Loris Capirossi, Nicky Hayden and Alex Barros were the next riders to make it past Roberts as he continued to fall. The leading trio became a leading duo when Gibernau lost the front end halfway through lap eight and joined Checa out of the race, Gibernau's second crash in two races. Less than a lap later Capirossi had also crashed out, the third rider in succession to crash out of third place! Nicky Hayden was now third with teammate Alex Barros just behind, the duo swapping places on lap thirteen as they edged closer to Biaggi and Rossi in the 30 lap event.
Lap 21 saw the demise of teammates Marco Melandri and Norick Abe from seventh and eighth, Melandri putting a wheel in the dirt and highsiding, Abe also highsiding as he tried to avoid his teammate's bike in front of him. Lap 22 and at the front Rossi had been caught, and now had the three Hondas of Biaggi, Barros and Hayden right behind him.
As they began lap 23 Biaggi had a look on the outside at turn one but tucked back in. As they entered the last turn of lap 23 Biaggi dived inside Rossi and took the lead back, immediately opening a gap.
A big wobble for Rossi early on lap 24 allowed Barros through to second, while Hayden took third from Rossi at turn one on lap 25. While Barros pressured Biaggi for the lead, Hayden couldn't close the gap to them as he broke away from Rossi before fading back towards Rossi. Despite Barros's best efforts he couldn't get past Biaggi, and so Max Biaggi finally took his first win of 2004 just ahead of Alex Barros, while a last lap charge by Valentino Rossi saw him almost displace Nicky Hayden from third but he didn't quite do it. Colin Edwards was over a quarter of a minute behind the winner in fifth but less than a second ahead of Makoto Tamada in sixth.
Result of World Motorcycle Championship, Round 8 of 16, Sachsenring, Germany:
Standings: Valentino Rossi 139, Max Biaggi 138, Sete Gibernau 126, Alex Barros 79, Colin Edwards 75, Nicky Hayden 70, Carlos Checa 62, Marco Melandri 57, Loris Capirossi 55, Makoto Tamada 54 etc.
Dale Earnhardt Jr Suffers Burns In Crash
Officials at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma said Earnhardt, whose father Dale Earnhardt was killed in a race car in 2001, was taken to a hospital for observation and will likely stay the night, but his condition was not a cause for concern.
"He is okay. He had minor facial burns and burns on his lower extremity," a raceway official said.
The accident happened during Sunday morning practice when Earnhardt's Chevrolet Corvette spun out and hit a concrete barrier. The car burst into flames but Earnhardt quickly climbed out on his own, officials said. The car was destroyed and Earnhardt's team had to withdraw from Sunday's race.
The popular Dale Earnhardt Sr - a seven-times NASCAR series champion - was killed in 2001 on the last turn of the final lap of the Daytona 500 in Florida.
Report provided by Reuters
IRL/CART Merger Talks Break Down
Talks to merge the U.S. Indy Racing League (IRL) with its Champ Car (CART) rival series have broken down, both parties said in a statement on Friday.
"While ownership representatives from both series agree that one Open Wheel series is the optimal situation, it is the belief of all involved that the time is not right for further discussion of unification," they said.
Roger Penske, an IRL car owner and former founder of the bankrupt CART series, whose assets were awarded to the Open Wheel Racing Series (OWRS), said in May it was time for the two series to become one. He has held talks with the three principals of OWRS and IRL founder Tony George.
"Both parties appreciate the efforts of Mr. Penske, and both parties believe that each has a better understanding of where common ground exists," the statement said.
"No more meetings are planned and both series are moving forward with their future plans."
CART went bankrupt at the end of last year after the company's shares plummeted.
Report provided by Reuters
MotoGP
Consistent point scoring has been Max Biaggi's forte this season, but despite five podium finishes he hadn't scored a win, teammate Makoto Tamada denying him at the most recent race. Biaggi finally broke through at the Sachsenring, taking the win after retaking the lead from Valentino Rossi who had trailed Biaggi for half the race before trying to make a winning break. Biaggi's win, Rossi's late race fade and Sete Gibernau's fall has shaken up the title chase, Rossi now one point ahead of Biaggi with Gibernau a further twelve points back.
By lap sixteen it was back to a leading trio, Biaggi leading Rossi and Barros, with Hayden not too far behind. Barros's arrival was Rossi's signal to make a run for it,
taking the lead at turn one on lap seventeen. Rossi immediately opened a gap of under a second over Biaggi and Barros but the gap then stabilised, despite Barros's strong attentions on Biaggi for second, though Hayden was closing in on the battle for second.
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Max Biaggi Honda RC211V
2. Alex Barros Honda RC211V
3. Nicky Hayden Honda RC211V
4. Valentino Rossi Yamaha M1
5. Colin Edwards Honda RC211V
6. Makoto Tamada Honda RC211V
7. Shinya Nakano Kawasaki ZX-RR
8. Kenny Roberts Suzuki GSV-R
9. John Hopkins Suzuki GSV-R
10. Alex Hofmann Kawasaki ZX-RR
ALMS
NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr suffered minor burns to his face and legs on Sunday when his car spun out of control and caught fire during a practice run for the American Le Mans Series race in California.
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Volume 10, Issue 29
Articles
Forte e Gentile: Analysing Trulli
Every Other Sunday
2004 German GP Preview
2004 German GP Preview
German GP Facts & Stats
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