Bruno Spengler thought that the Norisring was his stomping ground, but Jamie Green was not in a charitable mood today, and the Briton took the DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters) victory by 0.467 seconds over his Mercedes-Benz teammate. The win was his fourth at the track, although Spengler had won the previous two.
Spengler had started from the pole, but Green got a better start, and made it to the first corner before the Canadian. From there to the chequered flag, Spengler was never more than a few seconds adrift, but was not able to make a move stick on Green.
“That was a tough race,” Spengler admitted. “At some points, Bruno came really close. I had some trouble with the balance of my car and made two slight mistakes in the chicane. Probably, that was motivating for Bruno. Two years ago, I already had a chance of winning here, but back then, it didn’t happen. I am proud that I now have the strength to get it all right.”
For a moment it looked like it might all go awry, as the the refueling canister got stuck on Green’s car during his second pit stop, but it ended up falling away harmlessly on Turn One.
“My start wasn’t very good, which allowed Jamie to get through,” Spengler recounted. “Once, I briefly had overtaken Jamie, but then I had to get off the line myself and he was in front again.”
Timo Scheider had to settle for a spectator role in the fight for the victory, but the Audi driver did catch up the the Green-Spengler battle in the closing laps, and crossed the finish line just 2.191 seconds adrift of Green, and 0.345 seconds of his teammate Mattias Ekstrom.
After struggling through most of this season, Kurt Busch feels like he was finally in the right place at the right time.
Busch took advantage of a fuel strategy call in the pits and some help from Mother Nature to win the rain-shortened Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday.
Busch was on a different pit strategy than most of the leaders and was able to stay out on the race track during a caution with 25 laps to go. He paced the next 10 laps before rain hit. NASCAR brought the cars to pit road but after a brief delay called the race.
It was Busch’s first win of the season.
“Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good,” said Busch, who started 26th. “It’s been raining all weekend and we saw the forecast. We were more on a fuel strategy and trying to save some fuel. We might not be the fastest car and maybe we didn’t deserve to win but the record books will show we won.”
Busch was inside the top 20 for most of the day but didn’t challenge for the lead until the late-race caution.
“That’s what racing is all about,” Busch said. “Sometimes it’s strategy instead of speed.”
The late-race caution helped a couple of other drivers that have struggled this season. Michael Waltrip was on the same strategy as Busch and finished second. It was only top 10 finish of the season so far while J.J. Yeley finished third for his only top-10 finish this year.
Martin Truex Jr. finished fourth and Elliott Sadler rounded out the top five with his best finish of the year.
Tony Kanaan led 166 laps, including the final 95, to win tonight’s 300 lap SunTrust Indy Challenge at Richmond International Raceway. For a while, it looked like nobody would win. Almost half the field was gone by the halfway point. There were nine caution periods, matching the race record set in the inaugural race in 2001. 102 laps were run under caution. Eight cars finished on the lead lap, one a lap down, and one two laps down. The rest of the field was more than 60 laps down. The official results showed a mere ten cars eliminated from contact, but at least two more cars classified as finishing laps down did so after their teams got them running after spending time repairing contact damage.
“There was a lot of action,” Kanaan said. “We benefitted from being at the front for sure. It’s a just a typical Richmond race. Very difficult, very long.
“It was a tough race at first but once we got going I knew we could do it with the car. The problem was we had a lot of yellows and people making mistakes. Traffic was really good - everybody did a good job trying to keep away from the leaders. It was a great race apart from all of the yellows.”
Kanaan’s teammate Marco Andretti led 90 laps, and seemed to be the class of the field, when bad luck with pit stop strategy put him a lap down two thirds of the way through the race. He finished a disappointing ninth, still that one lap down. “I am incredibly disappointed,” he said. “The Blockbuster car was the best car on the track today.”
Helio Castroneves, who started 18th, worked every angle he could with his team to finish second. “We tried everything,” Helio said. “Team Penske did a great job on our pit stops. I was driving my wheels off of it. I was trying everything I could to make up spots. The only chance I got was mostly on restarts and the start of the race. Andretti Green seemed to be better than us. They seemed to be more consistent, especially when the tires started dropping a little bit. It’s a shame. I wanted to win so bad.”
Target Chip Ganassi teammates Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon finished third and fourth. Neither was surprised by the nature of tonight’s race.
Jeff Simmons returns to the Indy Racing League’s IndyCar Series on Wednesday (May 14th) when he joins Foyt Racing in the No. 41 car for practice leading up to the 2008 Indianapolis 500.
Simmons drove for Foyt in the Firestone Indy Lights Series in 2004, taking a second-place finish over the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s 2.5 mile oval in the Freedom 100.
More recently Simmons has contested the ovals at Kansas Speedway and the street course in St. Petersburg, Florida, as a driver for Team Moore in the current Indy Lights season.
Simmons will join Englishman Darren Manning in the Foyt garages, while Pablo Donoso takes over Simmons’ seat at Team Moore in the Indy Lights for this year’s Indy Lights race at the Brickyard May 23rd, allowing Simmons to fully concentrate on making it into the 33 car field.
“It’s great to be back with A.J.’s team,” said Simmons. “I’m looking forward to working with A.J. and Darren and the whole Foyt team. Darren can help me get up to speed quickly and hopefully I can contribute something to the team as we get ready for qualifying next weekend.
“A.J. is taking it on himself to put me in this car so I just want to do the best job I can for his team.”
Simmons has started the Memorial Day race on three occasions, finishing eleventh in 2007.
Pole. Victory. Pole. Victory. Pole. Victory. Felipe Massa has this Turkish Grand Prix thing down.
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Podium: race winner Felipe Massa celebrates. Photo by xpb.cc. |
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Although his Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen bagged fastest lap, Massa drove to his third consecutive victory from pole position in today’s Formula One race at Istanbul Park. The Brazilian put his stamp on an event in a manner not seen since the days of his Ferrari mentor and seven-time world driving champ Michael Schumacher.
“I think I can get a passport here already,” a tickled Massa laughed.
Runner-up Lewis Hamilton pushed McLaren Mercedes back to its expected place as co-juggernaut with the Italian team. Raikkonen finished third. The BMW Saubers of Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld finished fourth and fifth, respectively, ahead of Fernando Alonso for Renault, Mark Webber for Red Bull, and Nico Rosberg for Williams in the points. Heidfeld improved from ninth on the grid.
“It’s just fantastic,” Massa said. “Today was a difficult race, actually. Lewis was pushing me hard, a lot. For the whole race.”
Once the safety car cleared off after a jostling start that took full ten seconds for the lights to go out and prompted Force India’s Giancarlo Fisichella to rabbit over the back of Kazuki Nakajima’s Williams, Hamilton sped away behind Massa, determined not to let the Ferrari out of his (gun)sights. They pulled slightly ahead of Kubica, leading Alonso after the Spaniard passed Raikkonen, who had tangled with countryman Heikki Kovalainen at the start. Raikkonen recovered to pass Alonso on lap 4.
Massa attributed Hamilton’s pesky pushing to a light fuel load.
“Then my team told me straightaway he was on three stops,” the Brazilian said. “That for sure was a little bit of help because he was very strong. I couldn’t hold him in the track so he passed me. But then I knew I still had a big chance to win the race.”
Timo Scheider came to Mugello at the head of the DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters) championship standings, and started today’s race from the pole position, but Audi’s touring car ace was just a little too anxious to get to the chequered flag first. As it happened, Scheider jumped the start, incurring a drive-through penalty for his infraction, and opening the door to the Mercedes-Benz squadron.
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Jamie Green, Team HWA AMG Mercedes, AMG Mercedes C-Klasse, Maro Engel, Mücke Motorsport AMG Mercedes, AMG Mercedes C-Klasse, Paul di Resta, Team HWA AMG Mercedes, AMG Mercedes C-Klasse. Photo by xpb.cc. |
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That was all the opening that Jamie Green needed. The young Briton had taken the start from the front row, alongside Scheider, and beat the Audi pilot into the first turn. And after he saw Scheider’s Audi pull into pit lane for the drive-through penalty, he never looked back. Green took the victory by a margin of over three seconds over his Scottish teammate, Paul di Resta.
“The start was the key for my win today,” Green explained. “The car was perfect and with the pit stops and the strategy our team didn’t put a foot wrong. I am happy with this victory, especially after the start of the season that has been particularly difficult for all of us.”
Di Resta, who made a lightning start from fifth on the gird to challenge Scheider for second into the first corner, stayed in Green’s tow throughout the race, with the team executing quick and clean pit stops.
“At the start I saw a chance to move up and I did it. Yesterday in qualifying I made a few mistakes, but today everything went well and I am happy about my second place,” said di Resta. “I thank my team for a great car and perfect pit stops.”
Audi’s Le Mans legend, Tom Kristensen challenged di Resta throughout much of the race, but fell back in late laps to finish 2.1 seconds adrift of di Resta’s Mercedes.
“The start was okay,” Kristensen recounted. “We went into the (first few) corners side-by-side, and I was in third position. Up to the first pit stop, I was quicker than Paul (di Resta). My pit stop was good, but so was Paul’s. After leaving the pit lane I kept trailing him closely. Then, unfortunately, we caught a white Mercedes, which let di Resta pass but slowed me for a whole lap. I lost a little more than four seconds in the process. On this circuit that means the race is over.”
Scott Pruett held off a hard-charging Ryan Dalziel in the closing laps of Sunday’s Rolex Sports Car Series Bosch Engineering 250 at the Virginia International Raceway to hand Ganassi Racing its third win in four races this season. Pruett, driving a Lexus Riley he shared with Memo Rojas, finished 8.55 seconds ahead of Dalziel’s SAMAX BMW Riley.
With one lap remaining it looked as if Dalziel might be able to sneak by Pruett to win his first Rolex Series race. But, in the end, the Scot did not have enough to catch Pruett, whose team opted to start its car from the pit lane after its qualifying time was disallowed due a rear wing infraction.
“Ryan had a great car and he had me on my toes the last 20,” said Pruett, referring to this dice with Dalziel. “We were racing hard. Sometimes I got the break in traffic and sometimes (Dalziel) got the break in traffic. But we always ended up right back together. He had a little more downforce than I did and he could carry a little bit more speed in some areas on the race track and get right up underneath me and start taking a look. But as soon as we got up on the straights we had more legs.”
Dalziel admitted that he could not match Pruett’s speed on the straights. “I think realistically we had the legs on them as far as lap times went,” said Dalziel, who co-drove with Henry Zogaib. “But we just didn’t really have the straight line speed because we were running more downforce.”
Last week’s victors, Jim Mathews and Marc Goossens, finished third in a Pontiac Riley. And the Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley and the Rum Bum Racing BMW Riley rounded out the top-five. “The car worked really well and I can’t be more proud with back to back podiums,” said Mathews.
Early in the race, the Gainsco Pontiac Riley, which started last in the 19- car Daytona Prototype field due to a wing infraction discovered after qualifying, appeared to have the field covered, opening up a sizable gap over the second place SunTrust Racing Pontiac Dallara driven by Michael Valiante. But on Lap 30, Jon Fogarty, who started the race behind the wheel of Gainsco car, was hit from behind by JC France in the No. 59 Brumos Racing Porsche Riley. The crash damaged the rear bodywork and rear suspension on Fogarty’s car and probably cost him the race win. “It’s a joke really,” said Fogarty. “I’m really sick to my stomach. We were going to win and just got nailed from behind.” Fogarty’s teammate, Alex Gurney, ended up 14th, one lap down to the winners.
Just as the past seven winners before him, Kimi Raikkonen rolled from pole to checkered flag to claim the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday in Barcelona. The Finn’s Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa followed him after the Brazilian dispatched front-row qualifier Spaniard Fernando Alonso off the starting line. Alonso’s later engine blow-up disappointed a crowd of 132,600 at the 2.889-mile Circuit de Catalunya.
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Race winner Kimi Raikkonen. Photo by xpb.cc. |
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McLaren rookie Heikki Kovalainen crashed heavily, but without apparent injury; he waved to the crowd as he was stretchered away. Safety crew members needed ten minutes to extract him from the car, which the force of impact lodged in a tire barrier.
Raikkonen became the season’s first repeat winner in a second successive Ferrari sweep. Defending world champion Raikkonen banged out fast lap as well. He looked relaxed and happy as he joked with Massa during the official postrace interview.
“I didn’t get the perfect start but anyhow it was good enough to stay in front,” Raikkonen said. “For sure, if we wanted, we could have gone a bit faster, but there’s no point to push it when you don’t need. I think so it was more close than we expected, but saying that there was many safety cars so without them maybe it would have been a little bit different. But it was a good day. Everything worked well.”
Victory solidified Raikkonen’s lead atop the drivers’ standings. His 29 points gap the 20 amassed by McLaren Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, 19 for Massa and 18 for BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica. Ferrari surges past BMW Sauber for the constructors’ title lead, 47-35. McLaren follow at 34 points before a drop-off to Williams on 12 points.
The first Rally Jordan wrapped up today for the World Rally Championship. After this weekend the WRC can fully brag that their series has an event in every region of the world. In the final leg the teams wound their way around the Jordan River, following paths that have been used by men since before the biblical times.
Once Sebastien Loeb retired after a head-on collision with another competitor on an access road yesterday, the race came down to Dani Sordo’s Citroen and the Fords of Jari-Matti Latvala and Mikko Hirvonen. Sordo did his best first on the road but couldn’t hold off Hirvonen from taking the overall lead by today’s second stage. Latvala lost time with a broken suspension on this test and fell out of contention. Hirvonen didn’t look back and will enter the record books as the first winner of the newest WRC event.
Yesterday’s strategy for the Ford team was to allow Sordo the overnight lead so their drivers could follow the Citroen out on the morning loop. The tactic paid off for Hirvonen as he was the fastest man of the top three in all three stages. By midday he had a narrow amount of time over Sordo but it was stretched out to over a minute when the Citroen driver backed off to insure the second place finish. To cap off a smartly played weekend Hirvonen claimed the final stage win, showing his Ford had the speed all weekend but chose to let strategy win the race instead of a risky pace. Hirvonen retakes the title lead with five precious points over Loeb.
“My strategy paid off but I was nervous in the final stage,” said Hirvonen. “No split times were available for Sordo and I didn’t know how hard he was pushing. I really needed these 10 points and this is a great result for my championship challenge. I need to keep my feet on the ground and continue trying to find more speed and more wins. I’ve learned how important it is to consistently score points on every rally but 10 is perfect. It was a tough rally but it’s good to lead the series again.
Just days after the farewell Champ Car race, Pacific Coast Motorsports and driver Mario Dominguez have confirmed their transition to take on the challenge in the IndyCar Series. Their first race will be the 92nd running of the Indianapolis 500 in May. Leaving little time to prepare for the biggest and most famous race on the 2008 Indy Racing League IndyCar schedule.
Team owner Tyler Tadevic confirmed that the team already has received two Dallara chassis. The entry number for Dominguez will be 96 and will start rookie orientation for the famed race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 4th.
“This program is an extension of our belief in the Hispanic market and of our belief the Hispanic fans have for Open-Wheel racing and Mario in-particular,” said Tadevic. “This Hispanic demographic is the fastest growing market in the United States and a very important fan-base for the IndyCar Series.”
Their Hispanic racer ended his Champ Car career, run under the IRL for the finale on the streets of Long Beach, handing the team their first Champ Car podium. Dominguez will be sponsored by the Mexico City Tourism Board. The city currently hosts the NASCAR Nationwide Series and the Grand-Am Rolex Series who held their races at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, which was ran this past weekend. The city hosted six Champ Car races there with Dominguez competing in all of them. His best finish at his home track was third in 2003 with the Herdez team.
Now at 32, the native of Mexico City looks forward to his new adventure: “I am very excited about this new project. Racing in the Indy 500 is a childhood dream of mine. I understand I have a big responsibility since I will be driving the Mexico City car. I will be representing the colors of my city and my country in the most important racing series in North America.”
- Green edges Spengler at Norisring
- Kurt Busch grabs rain-ending Loudon victory
- Kanaan conquers wreck-strewn Richmond
- Jeff Simmons onboard at Foyt Racing for Indy 500
- Massa wins third Turkish Grand Prix in a row
- Green takes Mugello as Scheider stumbles
- Pruett, Rojas win at VIR
- Raikkonen stamps his seal on Spanish GP and season
- Hirvonen takes inaugural Jordan victory, title lead
- PCM and Dominguez to make the transition
- De Villiers closes on Peterhansel in Hungary
- Barrichello talk surprises AGR
- Patrick makes history with Motegi victory
- Will Power wins final Champ Car race
- Kanaan quickest in Motegi practice
- Webber quickest in Barcelona rain
- Swiss and USA teams claim China victories
- Super Aguri buyout falls through
- Luis Diaz - A lap of Long Beach’s legendary circuit
- Ace rookie Lorenzo recovering from surgery
- Bourdais test ends in Barcelona wall
- Grosjean takes Asian feature race win in Dubai
- Honda signs teenage karter to development deal
- Ryan Newman to start first at Phoenix
- The F1 Connection
- Mosley future hinges on key vote
- DC - “Tangentially Yours”
- Rahal holds Castroneves at bay for St. Pete win
- Technical hitches hamper McNish
- Renault promise Alonso better car
- I’ve let down the team - Hamilton
- Mayfield released by Haas CNC Racing
- Werner, Luhr win shootout at St. Petersburg
- Mistake-free Massa claims Bahrain
- Werner, Luhr win shootout at St. Petersburg
- 100th premier class podium for Rossi in Jerez
- Fiat Yamaha Team riders fastest at Jerez test
- Spanish GP: Fiat Yamaha Jerez test summary
- Werner storms to pole at St. Petersburg
- Kubica bags Bahrain pole for BMW Sauber
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