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.
Skaife and Richards Bag Another One
What a difference a decade makes. Ten years ago, Mark Skaife and Jim Richards stood atop the podium while the crowd below ridiculed the achievement they had won for Nissan that day. In 2002 the early 90s dominant driving pairing were reunited at Holden and some measure of justice was done for the duo with the victory being received as their last win here should have been. This was Jim Richards seventh victory, a record only bettered by Peter Brock, while the win secured Skaife's fifth championship, equalling the record set by Ian Geoghegan and Dick Johnson.
John Bowe stunned the field in qualifying, recording a 2:08.3 to lead the field into the Superpole shootout session. Skaife got revenge in the shootout though, taking pole position from Bowe, Jason Bright, Steven Richards, Todd Kelly, then younger brother Rick Kelly. Glenn Seton had a heat exchanger blow on his lap, and Steven Ellery clipped the wall. Two teams were merged into one for the race, with Bob McDonald and Ross Halliday unable to start the race, so McDonald's co-driver Peter Doulman stepped into Halliday's car. On race morning though the jinx on both cars continued as two-time victor Allan Grice wasn't going to win a third, with the team buried in the engine bay on the warm-up lap. The car would do one slow lap on seven cylinders once the race started, then with Doulman, Halliday and McDonald looking on, they packed it away.
At the start Skaife dwelt and Jones launched, Steven Richards close behind. Rick Kelly exploded from the third row to be third. Skaife sat in fourth ahead of Greg Murphy, Bright, Craig Lowndes, Marcos Ambrose, Garth Tander and Paul Morris. Skaife dived under Kelly into Forrest's Elbow. Jones had a huge lead across the line the first time, already over a second. Skaife closed in on Richards and had a look into Forrest's, but Richards had the line. Skaife had another look into the Chase and took second. It got tight at Murray's as Kelly descended on Richards but Kelly had to back off and Murphy was through to fourth into Hell. Further back Seton had a dreadful start to be in the low 20s.
The end of lap 13 and into Murray's, Paul Radisich tapped Steve Ellery and spun him around. The officials responded quickly, giving Radisich a drive-through penalty. By lap fifteen Skaife had the lead shut down, but catching as hard a campaigner as Jones is one thing, passing another completely. And with Jones lapping as fast as he was, suddenly the HRT pairing was looking vulnerable - could Jim Richards lap at the speed John Bowe could? Skaife though wasn't thinking of that, and by lap 20 was looking for a way past the OzEmail Falcon. Stone Brothers called their survivng car in early, as they tend to do, short fuelling for Marcos Ambrose's first stint. Lap 16 saw Greg Murphy break the lap record, recording the first ever 2:09 in race conditions.
Suddenly a K-Mart car was in trouble. It was the Europeans, as Yvan Muller had a front right tyre delaminating after contact with John Faulkner in the Elbow. He dived for the pits, but the crew wasn't ready and Muller slammed on the brakes and jumped back onto the racing line. One slow lap and the car pitted, putting Andy Priaulx aboard. Priaulx crossed the pit exit line though and a drive-through penalty was in the Guernsey Islander's future. Greg Ritter was next in, putting 1980 F1 World Champion Alan Jones aboard for possibly his last motor race. Mark Larkham was next in, but there was a problem. Larkham hopped out and the crew attacked a brake pedal that was coming apart. Up front, the lap record was gradually dropping as Murphy, Skaife and Jones exchanged times. Murphy caught the battling leaders and it was a battle in three. Tander pitted with a delaminated front right tyre. Crick too was on trouble, sliding into the wall at Forrest's.
The safety car was back out again on lap 46 as Tomas Mezera spun the second HRT Commodore into the sand trap at Murray's Corner. Jason Bright was about to be interviewed and looked gutted. Ambrose had previously griped over the in-car microphone that the Radisich safety car hit them too early, but this new safety car had fallen perfectly and Ambrose pitted on schedule. Had Ross Stone repeated the blinder he pulled in 1998, pitting their car early, that won them the race? Todd Kelly now led from Russell Ingall, Jim Richards, John Bowe, Paul Dumbrell, Nathan Pretty, Dean Canto in Max Wilson's car and Neil Crompton.
Tim Leahey spun on the descent from Skyline without harm and Jamie Miller did likewise coming out of Forrest's. Then Jason Bargwanna hit the wall in Sulman Park and slid along the wall and across the McPhillamy Park sandtrap into the wall. The safety car was back out again. Jim Richards lost a spot to John Bowe just before and HRT had dropped to fourth. Just after the restart, the OzEmail Falcon was back into the pits on lap 60. It was about time for a routine stop, but the team were looking at the front left suspension, and Ford's leading warrior was sidelined. The problem was a sheared bolt on the control arm. It lost them two laps, and their chances.
Skaife and Perkins pitted, leaving Paul Weel in the lead in the Ambrose Falcon. Jamie Whincup was spotted in the second Valvoline Commodore in the wall and when the cameras returned to the race, Ambrose was limping down Conrod Straight with the right side of the car wrecked, and another right front Dunlop flailing away, shredding the fender. As Ambrose stood morose in the pits, Weel told the audience that the tyre had exploded without warning. For all the dramas he had endured during race week, David Besnard now led the race. The safety car was out again while they cleaned up the Whincup/Noske Commodore, and strangely, a corporate tent had been caught by wind gusts and hurled into the sand trap near the pit lane entry. As the field lined up behind the safety queue and a slightly surprised new race leader Besnard, Steven Richards was second ahead of Greg Murphy,
For the Great Race's greatest warrior, the race was not looking good. Brock was in the pits, the engine overheating. It would be the beginning of the end for Brock and Craig Baird. With Seton pitting, the leader was Steven Richards with Mark Skaife sitting in second, steering clear of the dramas envoloping the field. On lap 87 Skaife ducked inside of Richards at Griffin's Bend to take the lead. Moments later at the same corner Tyler Mecklem spun and nosed the car he was sharing with former motorcycle grand prix winner Daryl Beattie into the wall.
Lap 100 and the restart saw Rick Kelly lead Jason Bright with Tony Longhurst in third and Paul Morris in fourth. Suddenly drama befell the squabbling pair of Brad Jones and Marcos Ambrose. Jones lost another right front tyre and Ambrose looked to be in similar problems, as a lap later Ambrose was smoking from the right front. Then came the end of the David Besnard story as Glenn Seton limped the car in with broken gearbox. Ten laps later and the Briggs Falcons had charged up the field. Once Kelly and Bright pitted, Tony Longhurst led, Max Wilson was in fifth and the Caterpillar car of Steve Owen and Dale Brede was just outside the top ten. The CAT Falcon spun cresting Reid Park gently touching the wall. Paul Dumbrell was next car through, with Dean Canto just behind in Wilson's car. When presented with his sideways teammate, Canto hit the wall in avoidance, and another top Ford was gone.
As cars pitted under the safety car, Russell Ingall was restored to the lead ahead of Neil Crompton, Jim Richards, Paul Dumbrell, Alan Jones in his last race, Jason Bright, Wayne Wakefield, Matthew White, Nathan Pretty and Cameron McLean. As the cars screamed towards the last stops we found Crompton gradually closing in on Ingall, who in turn was giving the car everything. Jim Richards was following every move Crompton made. Bright took fifth from Jones with Longhurst and Pretty moving up past Wakefield.
The rain rapidly advanced the conditions to treacherous. Drivers gambled on the conditions, staying out to try and reach the final fuel window. Dumbrell was the first to pit on lap 131 from third place. The rain stopped and the drivers stayed on slicks. Richards swapped to Skaife on lap 134. Ingall finally pitted on lap 137. He might have waited too long. Bright pitted on lap 138, just as Wayne Wakefield blew his motor and understeered into the wall at Griffin's, bringing out the safety car again. With 20 laps to go Skaife was climbing all over Perkins with Rick Kelly keeping a very close watching brief. Up front Steven Richards was skipping away. Skaife outbraked Perkins around the outside into the Chase only for Skaife to go off on the grass. Perkins followed him after a nudge from Kelly. Kelly and Bright then doubled teamed Perkins up the hill as HRT's three cars swamped Perkins and headed after Richards.
Then David Krause in the Imrie Motor Sport Commodore spun at Murray's Corner. They lined up behind the safety car; Steven Richards, Skaife, Bright, Perkins, Kelly. Five Holdens, three from HRT, two from Castrol Perkins. They would fight out the race. Ford held the next four spots in Longhurst, Ritter, McLean and Ellery but they were out of contention. Race Control was directing Bright to back off behind Perkins after Bright took third under yellow flags.
Everyone was watching the back of Skaife's car, and not just because he was leading. Over the last hour Skaife had collected a couple of plastic bags in the front of the car. With three laps to go it looked like the car may have been dropping fluid. Team manager Jeff Grech said the temperature was climbing each lap. Steven Richards was closing now as oil started to mark the rear of car #1 on final laps. The engine kept spinning and Mark Skaife won his fourth, and Jim Richards his seventh Bathurst 1000.
It had been another memorable battle between father and son, although rarely at the wheel at the same time. Steven Richards closed to within a couple of seconds of the ailing HRT Commodore but second would have to do for he and Russell Ingall. Jason Bright and Tomas Mezera were just behind in third, Bright still upset over having been ordered by race control behind Perkins. It slowed them up but it may not have made a difference in the final result. The brilliant Rick Kelly was fourth. He and Nathan Pretty had been at or near the front all day and the race's only teenager had driven well beyond his years. The younger of the Kelly brothers won a heap of new supporters today. Scarcely less impressive was Paul Dumbrell, only a few months older, he did everything demanded of him driving with Larry Perkins, and secured for himself a full-time drive next year in that same car. Probably.
Result of V8 Supercar Championship Series, Round 10 of 13, Bathurst 1000, Mount Panorama, Australia:
Standings: Mark Skaife 1975, Jason Bright 1224, Steven Richards 1111, Greg Murphy 1102, Marcos Ambrose 1053, Todd Kelly 1046, Russell Ingall 876, David Besnard 819, Craig Lowndes 802, Garth Tander 771 etc.
V8 Supercar points distribution
Kristensen Crowned
With his fourth victory for the year, Dane Tom Kristensen has claimed the 2002 American Le Mans Series by winning the Petit Le Mans with co-driver Rinaldo Capello in the Joest Audi R8. Using the classic endruance race strategy, they kept on the lead alp then pushed hard in the final laps to pull a minute clear of the Champion Racing Audi R8 of Johnny Herbert and Stefan Johansson.
At the start of the race, Emanuele Pirro led the field in the #1 Audi from teammate Kristensen, with the MG-Lola of James Weaver pushing hard in third. Weaver wanted to make an impression early and took second inside the first ten minutes. Two crashes quickly brought out the Safety Car though, after Piers Masarati (Porsche 996) hit the wall and Marc Bunting (Chrysler Viper) and Pierre Ehret (Pilbeam-Nissan) clashed and hit the wall in turn seven. Marc Goosens was now up to third in the Riley & Scott with Jan Magnussen in the Panoz in close company. At 30 minutes into the race, practically the entire field took advantage and headed in for their first pitstop.
By the end of the first hour, the three Audis had worked their way to the front. The others kept in touch though, with David Brabham pushing up into the lead again during the second round of pitstops. After Brabham stopped Biela regained the lead but lost it shortly afterwards after being handed a stop-go penalty for spinning Grady Willmington (Porsche 996). This brought Rinaldo Capello to the lead in the #2 car with Biela keeping ahead of Herbert in the Champion Audi. Biela regained the lead when Capello pitted at about the two and a half hour mark. Biela pitted a few laps later. It was a slow stop, dropping the #1 car down the field, a problem exacerbated when after restarting Pirro pitted for a cracked windscreen. This left Stefan Johansson leading in the Champion Audi ahead of Capello and Max Angelelli in the first of the Cadillacs. Gradually the Cadillac had worn down the Panoz assualt to have the #8 and #7 cars next behind the three Audis.
Just before three o'clock, Johansson pitted to give Kristensen the lead. Out on the circuit the pace setting LMP675 Dyson Racing MG-Lola of Andy Wallace caught fire and slowed dramatically. Almost unsighted the slowing MG caught Pirro by surprise and the Audi struck the rear of MG. Wallace was out while Pirro limped to the pits.
Because of damage to the barriers, it was well over half an hour before the race went green again. Not long after going green, another MG-Lola caught fire, this time Andy Lally in the KnightHawk car. They had been second in class behind the Intersport MG-Lola. In GTS the Prodrive Ferrari was leading the field while the lead Alex Job Porsche had a two lap lead over the Petersen Motorsports Porsche. The yellows came out again at 5:30 after the valiant drive of the Riley & Scott came to an end with Tony Ave spinning off into the barriers.
After having to replace bodywork on the Champion car at the last pitstop, Kristensen was able to pit and maintain track position over the privateer Audi. Georges Forgeois spun the Archangel Lola-Ford into the barriers trying to catch the safety car queue. After the restart Herbert caught and pushed Kristensen. After several laps Herbert took the lead. Ten minutes later both cars pitted, Herbert remaining in the lead but with Rinaldo Capello rejoining in second.
By this time the sun had set and the cars were racing under lights. Jan Magnussen brought the #50 Panoz into the pits for a long stop. Mike Hezemans, visiting from the FIA GT series in the America ViperRacing Chrysler crashed at turn six. Herbert pits for Johansson and Capello regains the lead. The stop was long and Johansson almost lost a lap. This was gap enough for Capello who ran down the remaining laps to the chequered flag, handing the championship to his co-driver.
Duncan Dayton brought the Intersport MG-Lola home in seventh place, fifteen laps ahead of the rest of the LMP675 class, giving Clint Field the championship. Devlin, Workman and Forgeois were second in class (12th outright) in the Lola-Billington with Melanie Paterson, Pierre Ehret and Olsen in the second of the Team Bucknum Pilbeam-Nissans the only other car in class still circulating in 29th.
GTS saw a desperate battle in the final hour between Tomas Enge in the Prodrive Ferrari and Ron Fellows in the Pratt & Miller Chevrolet. The battle would end with two laps to go when Enge, while leading, punctured the left front tyre. Fellows swept by taking the class win for himself, Johnny O'Connell and Oliver Gavin and claiming the GTS Championship. Enge, Peter Kox and Alain Menu would be second with the second of the Corvettes of Kelly Collins, Andy Pilgrim and Franck Freon in third, eleventh outright.
GT was again the domain of the Alex Job Racing Porsche of Sascha Maassen and Lucas Luhr. Maassen collected the bonus point for their class win in 14th, tying the championship between Maassen and Luhr. The Petersens Porsche was second, two laps down for Michael Petersen, Randy Pobst and Johnny Mowlem. Anthony Lazzaro and Ralf Kelleners brought the Risi Competizione Ferrari Modena home third in class.
Result of American Le Mans Series, Round 10 of 10; Petit Le Mans, Road Atlanta, United States:
Final Standings, LMP900: Tom Kristensen 232, Rinaldo Capello 230, Frank Biela 209, Emanuele Pirro and Johnny Herbert 206, David Brabham 177, Stefan Johansson 175, Jan Magnussen 171, Bill Auberlen 161, Bryan Herta 153, Max Angelelli 118, JJ Lehto 101 etc
LMP675: Jon Field 214, Ben Devlin 199, Jeff Bucknum 168, Chris McMurry 164, Bryan Willman 162, Chad Block 134, Steve Knight 124, Michael Durand 92, James Weaver 80, Claudia Heurtgen 69 etc
GTS: Ron Fellows 254, Johnny O'Connell 231, Kelly Collins and Andy Pilgrim 225, Terry Borcheller 174, Marc Bunting 154, Emanuelle Naspetti 147, Franz Konrad 139, Domenico Schiattarella 125, Marino Franchitti 102 etc
GT: Lucas Luhr and Sascha Maassen 245, Kevin Buckler 193, Timo Bernhard 186, Jorg Bergmeister 185, Peter Baron 167, Leo Hindery 159, Brian Cunningham 126, Michael Schrom 121, Tony Kester 108 etc
Biaggi Beats Honda's Heroes
The fleet of four-strokes gets bigger, making Valentino Rossi's job harder and harder. Too hard at Sepang, where Max Biaggi took his second win of the year, holding off a fleet of Honda four-strokes to take the win, while Rossi rode an erratic race but eventually recovered to take second place. Biaggi's win moves him up to second in the standings, ahead of Honda's Tohru Ukawa.
Rossi hadn't given up on the idea and once again passed Checa, this time into the final hairpin on lap three, only to run wide in the middle of the corner, Checa driving up the inside to take the place back again. Down the straight Rossi accelerated alongside, and made the move stick into turn one, taking the place for good. Up front the gap the leading duo had over the rest of the top five had vanished, as Kato and Ukawa closed in and Checa dropped back. As they completed lap four Kato went too deep under brakes into the final hairpin, running wide. Just as he was about to turn back into the hairpin he had to sit up as Ukawa had snuck down the inside of him but had run out just as wide, Ukawa taking third from Kato, Rossi taking fourth from Kato as they ran down the pit straight, Rossi moving on to Ukawa's tail immediately.
The hairpin halfway through lap five saw Rossi pass Ukawa, Rossi almost giving the place back as he ran wide at the hairpin at the end of the lap, as Kato began to fade. This dicing had allowed the leading duo to skip away again. Despite passing his teammate Ukawa, Rossi was unable to pull away. With 10 laps down, the gap between the two leaders and the two Repsol Honda riders closed slightly. Biaggi sensed this and closed right in on Barros, diving to the inside of turn one as they started lap 12, and holding on to take the lead, though Barros was hanging on as Rossi and Ukawa closed right in, making it a four rider battle as they began lap 14.
Rossi was looking for a way past Barros but Barros closed the door anytime Rossi looked serious. As they completed lap 14 and entered the final hairpin, Rossi went deep under brakes, getting alongside Barros. Too deep in fact, as he forced Barros to sit up as Rossi nearly rode both of them off the track, allowing Ukawa to jump ahead of both of them into second place. An understandably unhappy Barros tried to repay the favour into turn one at the start of lap 15, but after taking the place back he ran wide, Rossi taking third place once again. Once again Rossi was behind Ukawa and looking for a way past.
As they took turn one on lap 16 Rossi dived to the inside of Ukawa to take second, but once again Rossi ran wide and Ukawa was back in second. Into the ninety degree right early in the lap and Rossi made the move stick, only for Ukawa to get back alongside as Rossi ran wide at the hairpin halfway around the circuit, Rossi eventually losing second after three corners side by side with Ukawa. Rossi was immediately back on the case, making two more attempts to take the place back before the lap was over. Biaggi was the biggest beneficiary of this, edging further away, as Barros slowly caught back up to them.
Rossi was again looking left and right but wasn't finding it easy to get past his teammate, having several big looks but not making it through. Into the ninety degree right early in the lap on lap 19 and Rossi again took second, but Ukawa hung close by and snatched the place back through the right hander of the following esses, Barros right on both of their tails. Into the hairpin halfway around the circuit Rossi took second back again, and this time it was for good, Ukawa fighting hard but unable to do enough to grab the place back, losing third to Barros when the bike twitched going through the esses with less than two laps remaining. Rossi was now free and began to hunt Biaggi down. Rossi closed the gap but was unable to get really close, Biaggi going on to take his second win of the year in his third to last ride for the team, Rossi finishing second ahead of Barros and Ukawa. In his first ride on the M1 Yamaha, Shinya Nakano beat home factory rider Carlos Checa.
Result of World Motorcycle Championship, Round 14 of 16, Sepang, Malaysia:
Standings: Valentino Rossi 310, Max Biaggi 189, Tohru Ukawa 182, Alex Barros 159, Carlos Checa 136, Norick Abe 123, Loris Capirossi 109, Kenny Roberts 92, Daijiro Kato 91, Olivier Jacque 66 etc.
Superbike Champion Edwards Set To Join MotoGP
World superbike champion Colin Edwards has confirmed he is to make a switch to the rival MotoGP championship next season, probably with Italian team Aprilia. "I am 99 percent sure I will be riding for Aprilia in MotoGP next year," Edwards told the official MotoGP website.
"I'm just sat here waiting to get the okay from Michelin and then the contract will be signed," the 28-year-old said. "I had a letter of intent with Ducati to stay in (superbikes) but that got blown out of the water and Honda came in with an offer to ride on Bridgestones in MotoGP.
"Then I thought I might as well talk to everyone else and it just escalated. This was the most interesting offer - Aprilia need some help with development and I think I am the man to do it."
Edwards, who has been racing in superbikes since 1995 and was champion in 2000, had also spoken to Yamaha about a MotoGP ride for next season. Australian Bayliss has also joined the exodus from superbikes to MotoGP, which did away with the old 500cc restriction to the top category of grand prix motorcycling before the start of last season.
That paved the way for the bigger four-stroke bikes, which in turn has attracted manufacturers Aprilia, Kawasaki and Ducati, for whom Bayliss will ride. Aprilia have run one bike - the Cube - in MotoGP this season ridden by Frenchman Regis Laconi, who is currently 19th in the standings.
Edwards said on his website that although he had been unhappy with the way Honda had conducted their negotiations with him, he had no hard feelings towards his former team.
"These are the hardest and best working group of folks I've had the pleasure to be around and I'm going to miss them," he said. "Now a new chapter has begun and I am excited to bring my knowledge, work skills, and Michelin to Aprilia."
Report provided by Reuters
Magnificent McMurray
A few weeks ago, when it was announced Jamie McMurray was going to drive for Chip Ganassi in NASCAR next year, people were wondering who he was, and why Chip had chosen him. After the weekend's race at Charlotte, those people got their answer. In just his second ever Winston Cup start, Jamie Murray took his first win thanks to a combination of good strategy and great driving, having to survive lap after lap of pressure from 2000 series champion Bobby Labonte over the closing stages of the race. Meanwhile, as the car of the former points leader Sterling Marlin won the race, the battle for the title moved further into Tony Stewart's favour, as the day's results saw him extend his lead slightly over his contenders for the title, with a 97 point lead over his closest contender Jimmie Johnson, with just five races remaining.
The green flag stops began on lap 60 and continued for the next few laps, Johnson holding onto the lead as most positions remained unchanged. However, Kurt Busch was on a charge, passing Gordon for third, then Wallace for second on lap 81, moving on to Johnson's tail by lap 86 and passing him later that same lap. A little further back, Busch's teammate Matt Kenseth passed Gordon for fourth on lap 94, and Wallace for third ten laps later, while on lap 110 Gordon took fourth from Wallace. Lap 119 saw the second round of green flag stops begin, continuing on for about fifteen laps.
Just as the stops were completed the caution came out on lap 138 after the right rear tyre of Bill Elliott's car blew, leaving debris including parts torn from the right rear fender on the track as well as the right rear side window on the track. Some cars pitted, while others stayed out. Of those that pitted, some took no tyres, while others took four. Kenseth, Bobby Labonte, Mark Martin, Michael Waltrip and Jeff Burton were the lead lap runners to stay out, and they now filled the top five placings. Lap 144 and the race restarted, Kurt Busch making an amazing restart and jumping from sixth to second, but Bobby Labonte wasn't giving in so easily and took the place back on lap 149.
The caution lights were soon flashing again on lap 152 after Hermie Sadler's engine blew up. A handful of cars took the opportunity to make another pit stop. The race was soon back underway on lap 156. Labonte stayed low and took the lead from Kenseth on lap 158 with Busch going high and passing Kenseth a lap later for second, though Kenseth passed Busch back on lap 164. Things remained fairly static, the only points of interest being when Kenseth and Johnson both pitted early after a tyre problem and a vibration respectively, and whether a caution would come out too soon and catch them a lap down.
Lap 228 and it was green flag time again, with Bobby Labonte retaking the lead as they completed the first lap back under green. McMurray was not having it though, and immediately took the lead back through turns one and two. As the midfield completed the second lap after the restart there was mayhem at the start-finish line. After the cars in front were slow off the corner, Todd Bodine went to pass them down the inside of the front stretch. Unfortunately Bodine got a wheel in the very damp grass, which sent his car fishtailing into Ward Burton, the contact going on to cause mayhem, the incident finishing with ten damaged race cars. Some cars at the tail of the field pitted but most stayed out.
The race restarted on lap 244, with the top five being McMurray, Labonte, Kenseth, Stewart and Wallace. McMurray and Labonte were close but McMurray held on to the lead. Lap 254 and the order changed as Kenseth retired with engine problems. Lap 275 saw Bobby Labonte pit early after feeling a tyre going down. Around this point in the race both Mark Martin and teammate Kurt Busch reported problems with their engines. Lap 284, 50 to go, leader McMurray pitted, most cars pitting in the next five to ten laps. McMurray resumed ahead of Labonte but Labonte soon closed the gap between them, as the duo moved closer and closer to the front again as the field made their final pit stops.
With just 10 laps remaining McMurray moved further away, while Stewart's charge had hit a brick wall. But with just four laps remaining Labonte was right on McMurray's tail as the leaders came across the cars at the end of the lead lap, not as easy to lap as those several laps down. Labonte got close but McMurray responded to each challenge, holding on to take his first win in just his second start, a feat not seen in the series for over 40 years. Labonte was a close second, followed by teammate Tony Stewart, with Jeff Gordon and Rusty Wallace completing the top five.
Result of NASCAR Winston Cup, Round 31 of 36, Lowe's Motor Speedway, Charlotte, United States
Standings: Tony Stewart 4128, Jimmie Johnson 4031, Mark Martin 4006, Ryan Newman 3963, Rusty Wallace 3946, Jeff Gordon 3917, Matt Kenseth 3823, Bill Elliott 3787, Kurt Busch 3766, Ricky Rudd 3758
V8 Supercar
Qualifying was a fascinating affair even by Bathurst's standards. You couldn't get enough money down on Mark Skaife for pole position, and on Thursday during practice they still looked good, fastest. Last start winner, the Caltex Falcon team, was in trouble though. Former 500cc world champion Wayne Gardner had a monumental accident after brake failure at Griffin's Bend, destroying the car and giving himself concussion to boot. A shattered David Besnard was out of the race as of Friday. On Saturday he was back in. Glenn Seton's co-driver Owen Kelly was ill. Too ill to race. Seton got approval from all concerned, and Besnard was back in the race.
Lap three and Murphy picked up another spot, diving under Richards into the Chase. Richards got a bad exit from Murray's and Rick Kelly followed his arm's length teammate past Richards. Further back Seton was flying, recovering to fifteenth into the fourth lap. Skaife ducked into the 2:10 lap times quickly, looking to close down Jones' lead, but Jones was into the 'tens' next time around. Perkins passed Morris to dive into the top ten for the first time on lap 9, and immediately behind were the two Shell Falcons of Ritter and Radisich, overcoming a dreadful qualifying for the team. Further back though Brock was sliding down field as the Team Brock car was understeering. Greg Crick spun the Cooper's Falcon in the Chase.
Lap 31 and Brad Jones dived for the pits for his first scheduled stop. As he was pitting Paul Radisich had a huge lock up over Skyline and crashed into the wall in the Esses, bringing the safety car out. Damage to the front of the Shell Falcon was enough to put them out of the race. Suddenly the pits were full of cars, led by Skaife and Murphy. It was one lap too late for Jones, but the damage was minimised. Steven Richards sat in the lead ahead of Todd Kelly, Jim Richards, John Bowe, Nathan Pretty and Marcos Ambrose. Kelly was in no mood to wait and was quickly through to the lead at the restart. The Orrcon Falcon was soon back into the pits with a blown front right tyre. Will Power was soon back in the race, but it was going to be one of those days for the Larkham crew. Another desperately disappointed crew was the Valvoline crew, as after their pitstop for a blown tyre, Kelly was moving up to lap Bargwanna.
There was a change up front. Russell Ingall had steadily hunted down the leader and took Todd Kelly to take the lead. A few laps later Todd Kelly was in for his second stop. Four tyres and Greg Murphy were bolted on to the car and the jacks were dropped and Murphy launched. But the fuel hoses were still connected. The accelerating Murphy ripped the fuel hoses from their sockets, the end of the hose snapping back towards but missing the pit crew, but gushing fuel all over the pit bay. There was no ignition, but later in an unprecedented but legal decision, the officials ordered the car into the pits to sit in their pit bay for five minutes. It would drop them two laps and a furious Greg Murphy jumped out of the car looking for someone to vent his frustration on.
Behind the safety car Skaife led Steven Richards, Rick Kelly, Jason Bright, Larry Perkins, Craig Lowndes and Cameron McConville in the Lansvale Commodore. The leading cars were all within sight of each other. The safety car was quickly back again as John Cleland tapped Mark Porter into the wall going down the Mountain. Skaife and Richards pitted together, but Skaife stalled, letting Richards and Lowndes through in pit lane. Perkins pitted a lap later. This all left Rick Kelly leading from Jason Bright. Brighty clawed up the field as the race wore on, recovering from Mezera's mishap in the kitty litter.
Crompton pitted with 36 laps to go. 36 laps was going to push it, but a plastic bag had found its way into the radiator intake and temperatures were climbing. Craig Lowndes was put in the car and sent on his way. Ingall was flinging the car around the track with no thought for personal safety. Jim Richards was closing at a dramatic rate. Rain started at the top of the Mountain and Ingall skipped away from Richards, just as Lowndes pitted. The plastic bag had unfortunately done its work, the engine cooked.
On the restart Skaife dived under Richards at Hell Corner and took the lead heading up the hill. It took Bright a couple of laps, but Bright got third place. Kelly got Perkins a lap later, then Ritter in the best of the Fords started hunting him down. Ritter slid off at Murray's, dropping behind Longhurst. Bright was all over the back of Richards. Lap 153 and Ritter was off again. Skaife skipped out to a five second lead while Richards, Bright and Kelly ran line astern.
Consistency has been a Longhurst hallmark of recent Bathursts, even though it clashes with his early reputation, and he and White were there at the end, but just lacked the pace of the Holdens, a year-long Ford complaint. But some Fords had been quick enough. Greg Ritter drove with speed beyond himself, twice leaving the track in the final laps, but he too was another young driver looking to drive his way into a full-time future. It wasn't quite the result Alan Jones was hoping for in his last race, but without a Holden, seventh would have to do. Eighth and last car on the lead lap was Cameron McLean and Tony Scott, the VIP Pet Foods Falcon gradually coming through the field as the day wore on. One wonders what might have happenned had the race been any longer. Steven Ellery and Luke Youlden were ninth with John Faulkner and Rick Bates taking the Team Kiwi Commodore of Jason Richards and Simon Wills for tenth in the final few laps.
Pos Drivers Car
1. Mark Skaife/Jim Richards Holden Commodore VX
2. Steven Richards/Russell Ingall Holden Commodore VX
3. Jason Bright/Tomas Mezera Holden Commodore VX
4. Rick Kelly/Nathan Pretty Holden Commodore VX
5. Larry Perkins/Paul Dumbrell Holden Commodore VX
6. Tony Longhurst/Matthew White Ford Falcon AU
7. Greg Ritter/Alan Jones Ford Falcon AU
8. Cameron McLean/Tony Scott Ford Falcon AU
9. Steve Ellery/Luke Youlden Ford Falcon AU
10. John Faulkner/Rick Bates Holden Commodore VX
ALMS
"I'm so happy about my title, but it belongs as much to Dindo (Capello) as it belongs to me. Once again, he made our victory possible with his fantastic speed. I want to thank everybody at Audi and the team for giving me the chance to win the Le Mans 24 Hour race and the ALMS Championship in this tremendous car."
Bryan Herta was the next leader to strike trouble in the Panoz, hitting the Pilbeam-Nissan of Chris McMurry and getting a puncture for his troubles. The Panoz cars had lost touch with the Cadillacs as Emmanuel Collard led the rest of the field chasing Kristensen and Herbert. The yellows returned again when Craig Stanton crashed the XL Racing Ferrari Maranello coming onto the start/finish straight. With the field making pitstops, the race bunched up again. Kristensen and Herbert had a two lap lead over the two Cadillacs with JJ Lehto now in third.
The two Cadillacs were four and five laps down on the leaders, running consistently and outpacing all bar the Audis. A fitting swansong as Cadillac pulls out of racing, but halfway through the season the Caddys turned the corner and you can't help but wonder what they could have done in 2003. Gunnar Jeannette brought the #51 Panoz home in fifth, 14 laps down. The #1 Audi lost 18 laps over the course of the race, giving them sixth, four laps ahead of Brabham and Magnussen.
Pos Drivers Car
1. Tom Kristensen/Rinaldo Capello Audi R8
2. Johnny Herbert/Stefan Johansson Audi R8
3. Max Angelelli/JJ Lehto/ Cadillac Northstar LMP02
Christophe Tinseau
4. Emmanuel Collard/Eric Bernard/ Cadillac Northstar LMP02
Wayne Taylor
5. Bryan Herta/Bill Auberlen/ Panoz LMP01 Elan
Gunnar Jeannette
6. Emanuele Pirro/Frank Biela Audi R8
7. David Brabham/Jan Magnussen/ Panoz LMP01 Elan
David Donohue
8. Jon Field/Duncan Dayton/ MG Lola EX257 (LMP675)
Michael Durand
9. Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell/ Chevrolet Corvette C5-R (GTS)
Oliver Gavin
10. Tomas Enge/Peter Kox/Alain Menu Ferrari 550 Maranello (GTS)
MotoGP
The two Gauloises Yamaha riders of Olivier Jacque and Shinya Nakano moved onto four-stroke Yamaha M1s. Alex Barros was on pole, while 2002 champion Valentino Rossi was back in eighth. At the start, Barros held on to the lead, with Max Biaggi in second, Daijiro Kato up to third followed by Tohru Ukawa, Carlos Checa and Rossi. Into the hairpin halfway through lap one Rossi moved up to fifth place as the leading duo of Barros and Biaggi moved away. As they ran lap two Rossi began looking for a way past his teammate Ukawa, taking him at the hairpin where a lap earlier he passed Checa. Going through the hairpin at the end of lap two Rossi ran wide, allowing Ukawa back through to fourth place. An impatient Rossi immediately dived down the inside of turn one on lap three, taking the place back for a split second before running wide and dropping back to sixth behind Checa.
Pos Rider Motorcycle
1. Max Biaggi Yamaha YZR M1
2. Valentino Rossi Honda RC211V
3. Alex Barros Honda RC211V
4. Tohru Ukawa Honda RC211V
5. Daijiro Kato Honda RC211V
6. Shinya Nakano Yamaha YZR M1
7. Carlos Checa Yamaha YZR M1
8. Kenny Roberts Suzuki GSVR
9. Loris Capirossi Honda NSR500
10. Norick Abe Yamaha YZR500
The Texan won his second superbike title with Honda in the last round of the series at Imola last month after winning the last nine races of the season to overhaul defending champion Troy Bayliss. With tyre selection having such an important role in motorcycling, Edwards is keen to retain the services of French manufacturer Michelin.
NASCAR
With qualifying rained out again, the starting positions for the race were determined by owner points, Tony Stewart taking the 'pole', with Mark Martin alongside. The field got the green to start the race but the first five laps were run under the yellow, as the track continued to be dried out. Lap six saw the race begin, Stewart taking the lead, with Jimmie Johnson and Rusty Wallace in second and third places. Stewart was soon under pressure, with Johnson on his tail by lap 15, Johnson taking the lead two laps later, Wallace doing the same on lap 28 with Jeff Gordon passing Stewart a few laps later as Stewart faded back through the field.
Lap 203 and the real green flag stops began, continuing on for about the next ten laps. After the stops Labonte was still in the lead, Kenseth remaining second after his early stop, while teammate Busch dropped from third to seventh. Lap 223 saw the end of Ricky Rudd's day after a right front tyre failure saw him crash hard into the turn one and two wall, littering debris over the track. This saw the field dive for the pits once again, and with just over 110 laps remaining, everyone could make it to the end with just one more pit stop. Rookie Jamie McMurray, in only his second Winston Cup race as substitute for Sterling Marlin, was the only car not to pit as he had pitted just a few laps before the caution and was now the new leader.
Labonte was looking for a way past, but couldn't find one, despite several attempts. Labonte was able to get alongside but couldn't make the move stick. Meanwhile Jarrett pitted with 35 to go and took just two tyres and one can of fuel to gain some ground as he and his crew used their heads. McMurray retook the lead from the ailing Martin who was still yet to stop.
With 20 laps to go McMurray managed to edge slightly away from the relentless Labonte, while Tony Stewart in third was starting to close in.
Pos Driver Car
1. Jamie McMurray Dodge Intrepid
2. Bobby Labonte Pontiac Grand Prix
3. Tony Stewart Pontiac Grand Prix
4. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Monte Carlo
5. Rusty Wallace Ford Taurus
6. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Monte Carlo
7. Jeff Burton Ford Taurus
8. Ryan Newman Ford Taurus
9. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet Monte Carlo
10. Dave Blaney Ford Taurus
Briefs
Date Circuit
March 15 Sebring 12 Hour, Florida, United States
April 6 Hermanos Rodriguez, Mexico
May (TBA), Europe
June 29 RFK Stadium Circuit, Washington DC, United States
July 27 Sonoma, California, United States
August 3 Trois-Rivieres, Canada
August 17 Mosport, Canada
August 24 Road America, Wisconsin, United States
September 7 Laguna Seca, California, United States
September 27 Miami Street Circuit, Florida, United States
October 18 Petit Le Mans, Road Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Upcoming Events Calendar
Please Contact Us for permission to republish this or any other material from Atlas F1.
 Email to Friend
Volume 8, Issue 42
Atlas F1 Exclusive
Exclusive Interview with Rory Byrne
Ann Bradshaw: View from the Paddock
Japanese GP Review
2002 Japanese GP Review
Japanese GP Technical Review
Bridgestone: The Shining Quarter
The Human Touch
Stats Center
Qualifying Differentials
SuperStats
Charts Center
Columns
Season Strokes
Elsewhere in Racing
The Grapevine
> Homepage |
