Russ Bond Motorsport Report: Ferrari Back on Top Down Under
Corvette Photos
This past weekend was the holy grail of motorsports to any racing fan. You basically could prop yourself up on the sofa, have one fuel line running the fridge to your mouth, and another one running to the bathr… (well, never mind about that one – that’s what commercials are for) and you wouldn’t have to move all weekend.
The plethora of motorsports was upon us. Friday, it got off to goodbeginnings with a 3:00 pm start to the Star Mazda race, which was won by Marco Di Leo, and the runner up was his brother Dan Di Leo – a Star Mazda first. Friday night the Craftsman Trucks were in action and the opening round of Formula 1 qualifying, then a quick nap, up for the start of the 12 Hours of Sebring, with a break for the Busch race from Atlanta. Saturday night had the end of Sebring, followed nicely by F1, the race this time (not to mention NHL: Toronto vs Ottawa and then Vancouver against Detroit - Ed).
A more extended nap, then up in time to see the Nextel Cup race from Atlanta… and they wonder why you are sleepy at work today…
Kimi Raikkonen Dominates Opener Down Under!
Kimi Raikkonen proved most of us – including me – wrong when he walked on the field at the opening round of the 2007 Formula 1 season. This one was over by turn one. Raikkonen, from the pole, looked very “Schumacher” like (not Ralf, the real one) as he sauntered off into the distance and that was pretty much that.
Raikkonen was never seriously challenged, and he even at one point had his teammate Felipe Massa (who had trouble with the electronics of his Ferrari during qualifying and therefore had to drop out) down a lap. For those that were thinking that the Ferrari strong hold maybe getting weakened, bad news… nope.
Other than Raikkonen’s walk in the park, most of the news was centered around Super Aguri, who figured out how to make a terriblyuncompetitive team into a top 10 runner in one easy move – use last year’s Hondas.
This has drawn a huge uproar from Spyker and Williams who still actually build their own cars (according to the rules, teams actually have to build their own cars). Oh, did I mention that last year’s Hondas were better than this years’s Hondas. Both Super Aguris out-qualified the new Hondas of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. Barrichello just saved face for Honda by beating Takuma Sato, so at least the top finishing Honda was actually a current one.
The two highly touted newcomers, Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen had vastly different fortunes on the weekend. Hamilton only took 19 laps to lead his first Grand Prix, after he stayed out longer than Raikkonen on the first stop. Hamilton, like Jacques Villeneuve in 1996, finished his first F1 race on the podium. Hamilton was third, behind defending champion, and his McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso.
Kovalainen, driving Alonso’s old Renault on the other hand, started mid-field, and never could make his way forward. When he had a gap in traffic, he had the pace to run in the top 4, but could never get there. Then towards the end of the race, he threw his Renault off the road several times, but still, and I’ll stick with my original prediction, he’ll be a threat to win the World Championship this year… he just didn’t look like it last weekend.
2007 Australian Grand Prix
Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 6 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 58 1:25:28.770 1 10
2 1 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Mercedes 58 +7.2 secs 2 8
3 2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 58 +18.5 secs 4 6
4 9 Nick Heidfeld BMW 58 +38.7 secs 3 5
5 3 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 58 +66.4 secs 6 4
6 5 Felipe Massa Ferrari 58 +66.8 secs 22 3
7 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 57 +1 Lap 12 2
8 11 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 57 +1 Lap 9 1
9 12 Jarno Trulli Toyota 57 +1 Lap 8
10 4 Heikki Kovalainen Renault 57 +1 Lap 13
11 8 Rubens Barrichello Honda 57 +1 Lap 16
12 22 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 57 +1 Lap 10
13 15 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 57 +1 Lap 7
14 18 Vitantonio Liuzzi STR-Ferrari 57 +1 Lap 19
15 7 Jenson Button Honda 57 +1 Lap 14
16 23 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 56 +2 Laps 11
17 20 Adrian Sutil Spyker-Ferrari 56 +2 Laps 20
Ret 17 Alexander Wurz Williams-Toyota 48 Accident 15
Ret 14 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 48 Accident 18
Ret 10 Robert Kubica BMW 36 Gearbox 5
Ret 19 Scott Speed STR-Ferrari 28 Wheel 17
Ret 21 Christijan Albers Spyker-Ferrari 10 Accident 21
Fastest Lap: Kimi Räikkönen 1:25.235
Audi R10 TDI Still Undefeated!
The steamroller that is the Audi R10 TDI took yet another win, its 8th in a row, and still remains undefeated in ALMS competition. This time it was Marco Werner, Emanuele Pirro and Frank Biela who drove to victory at the 55th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
Behind them a Ferrari in the hands of Risi Competizione’s Jaime Melo and Jorg Bergmeister of Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche put on a show that any Nextel Cup stars would be proud of. After 11 hours and 59 minutes the front bumper of the Porsche and the rear bumper of the Ferrari were as close as can be.
On the final back straight, Melo took Bergmeister to the wall, only to be out braked going into the final turn. Melo executed the inside out move and then for good measure tried to ‘turn’ the Porsche. A few thumps later and it was all over with Melo taking the win by 0.20 seconds. After the finish line, the Ferrari received a set of “courtesy donuts” down the driver’s door thanks to the Porsche… now that’s racing!
“It was a fantastic last lap,” Melo said. “I’ve never had a finish like that. I had brake problems late and tried to keep it steady. He (Bergmeister) overtook me on the backstraight and I braked a little early. Out of Turn 17 I put in a little more and opened the throttle as soon as possible.”
In LMP2 it was all the new Acura ARX that won in the hands of Bryan Herta in the Andretti Green Racing Acura ARX LMP2 entry that he shared with Dario Franchitti and Tony Kanaan. The class win for Andretti Green Racing came less than a year after Acura publicly announced its entry into the American Le Mans Series.
Herta, Franchitti and Kanaan led overall three different times and finished two laps ahead of the Lowe’s Fernandez Racing Lola of Adrian Fernandez, Luis Diaz and David Martinez.
Sadly, in GT1, the Corvettes had basically a 12 hour squabble amongst themselves as the Aston threat has all but vanished (Prodrive’s David Richards must be too busy buying Aston Martin from Ford, and not running his team). There was one Aston bringing the total cars in the class to three. Corvette Racing won its class for the fifth time in six years as Oliver Gavin, Olivier Beretta and Max Papis took a 17-second victory over their sister car in a race that saw the two Corvettes on the same lap the entire way. Beretta and Gavin won last year with Jan Magnussen, who teamed this year with Ron Fellows and Johnny O’Connell.
Fellows All ‘White’ at Sebring
Ron Fellows got a big surprise when he showed up at the Compuware Corvette Racing hauler on Saturday morning for the start of the 12-hours of Sebring. His #3 entry had been transformed overnight into a racing version of the Ron Fellows Limited edition Z06. The car he left there on Friday night was yellow, and when he arrived on Saturday morning it was Arctic White, identical in paint scheme to the limited edition version that bears his name.
A very emotional Fellows sat in the car on the grid waiting for his first stint. “This is something very special,” Fellows said. “Thanks to all the Corvette guys, this means a lot.”
Fellows then promptly motored off and led the GT1 class through his first stint.
55th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring
Sebring International Raceway, Sebring, Fla.
Saturday’s Results
1. (1) Frank Biela, Germany; Emanuele Pirro, Italy; Marco Werner, Germany; Audi AG/R10/TDI (1, P1), 364.
2. (6) Dario Franchitti, Scotland; Tony Kanaan, Brazil; Bryan Herta, Valencia, CA; Acura/ARX-01a (2, P2), 358.
3. (8) Luis Diaz, Mexico; David Martinez, Mexico; Adrian Fernandez, Mexico; Lola/B06-43/Acura (3, P2), 356.
4. (2) Rinaldo Capello, Italy; Allan McNish, Scotland; Tom Kristensen, Denmark; Audi AG/R10/TDI (4, P1), 353.
5. (3) Timo Bernhard, Germany; Helio Castroneves, Brazil; Romain Dumas, France; Porsche RS Spyder (5, P2), 351.
6. (4) David Brabham, Australia; Stefan Johansson, Sweden; Duncan Dayton, North Salem, NY; Acura/ARX-01a (6, P2), 346.
7. (14) Oliver Gavin, England; Max Papis, Italy; Olivier Beretta, Monaco; Corvette C6.R (7, GT1), 341.
8. (13) Ron Fellows, Canada;Johnny O’Connell, Flowery Branch, GA; Jan Magnussen, Denmark; Corvette C6.R (8, GT1), 341.
9. (5) Andy Wallace, England; Butch Leitzinger, State College, PA; Andy Lally, New York, NY; Porsche RS Spyder (9, P2), 340.
10. (7) Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Guy Smith, England; Porsche RS Spyder (10, P2), 333.
11. (15) Antonio Garcia, Spain; Liz Halliday, Rancho Santa Fe, CA; Darren Turner, England; Aston Martin DBR9 (11, GT1), 331.
12. (16) Jaime Melo, Brazil; Johnny Mowlem, England; Mika Salo, Finland; Ferrari 430GT Berlinetta (12, GT2), 330.
13. (18) Jorg Bergmeister, Germany; Marc Lieb, Germany; Johannes van Overbeek, San Francisco, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (13, GT2), 330.
14. (33) Richard Berry, Evergreen, CO; Jon Field, Dublin, OH; Clint Field, Dublin, OH; Creation/CA06H/Judd (14, P1), 325.
15. (19) Wolf Henzler, Germany; Robin Liddell, Scotland; Patrick Long, Oak Park, CA; àø Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (15, GT2), 322.
16. (24) Dirk Werner, Germany; Pierre Ehret, Santa Rosa, CA; Lars Nielsen, Denmark; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (16, GT2), 316.
17. (20) Dominik Farnbacher, Germany; Ian James, England; Jim Tafel, Alpharetta, GA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (17, GT2), 314.
18. (23) Ralf Kelleners, Germany; Tom Milner, Leesburg, VA; Graham Rahal, New Albany, OH; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (18, GT2), 313.
19. (12) Didier Theys, Belgium; Eric van de Poele, Belgium; Fredy Lienhard, Switzerland; Lola/Bo5-40/Judd (19, P2), 307, Mechanical.
20. (29) Joe Macari, UK; Rob Wilson, England; Ben Aucott, United Kingdom; Ferrari F430 GT (20, GT2), 305.
21. (11) Chris McMurry, Phoenix, AZ; Bryan Willman, Kirkland, WA; Michael Lewis,San Diego, CA; Lola/EX257 AER (21, P1), 303, Suspension.
22. (17) Tomas Enge, Czech Republic; Memo Gidley, San Rafael, CA; Tim Bergmeister, Germany; Ferrari 430GT (22, GT2), 300, Engine Fire.
23. (9) Sascha Maassen, Germany; Ryan Briscoe, Australia; Emmanuel Collard, France; Porsche RS Spyder (23, P2), 297.
24. (21) Nic Jonsson, Sweden; Colin Braun, Ovalo, TX; Tracy Krohn, Houston, TX; Ferrari 430GT Berlinetta (24, GT2), 290.
25. (26) Peter Kox, The Netherlands; Jarek Janis, Monaco; Spyker C8 Audi (25, GT2), 286.
26. (22) Joey Hand, Sacramento, CA; Tom Kimber-Smith, England; Bill Auberlen, Hermosa Beach, CA; Panoz Esperante GTLM (26, GT2), 275, Oil Leak.
27. (25) Scott Maxwell, Canada; Bryan Sellers, Centerville, OH; Ross Smith, Plano, TX; Panoz Esperante GTLM (27, GT2), 270.
28. (27) Darren Law, Phoenix, AZ; Seth Neiman, Burlingame, CA; Lonnie Pechnik, Pacific Grove, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (28, GT2), 268.
29. (31) Luchiano DaSilva, Italy; Philip Collin, Park Ridge, IL; Antonio Hermann, Brazil; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (29, GT2), 252, Clutch.
30. (28) Terry Borcheller, Gainesville, GA; Marc Basseng, Germany; Tim Pappas, Boston, MA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (30, GT2), 235, Suspension.
31. (10) Ben Devlin, England; Raphael Matos, Brazil; Jamie Bach, West Palm Beach, FLàø ; Lola/B07-40/Mazda (31, P2), 224.
32. (34) Maurizio Mediani, Italy; Rui Aguas, Portugal; Jose Maria Lopez, Argentina; Ferrari 430GT (32, GT2), 206, Fire.
33. (32) Miroslav Konopka, Slovakia; Bo McCormick, England; Mauro Casadei, Italy; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (33, GT2), 129, Engine.
34. (30) Arie Luyendyk Jr, Phoenix, AZ; David Robertson, Ray, MI; Andrea Robertson, Ray, MI; Panoz Esperante GTLM (34, GT2), 64, Engine.
Jimmie Does it Again
By the time the Nextel Cup series gets to the Chase, Jimmie Johnsonwill have at least 20 extra points as he picked up a win at Atlanta, the fourth race of the season, and Johnson’s second win in a row.
The problem Nascar is about to run into is the phantom yellows late in the race. This is really starting to piss fans off, as was evidenced by the flood of emails to Speedtv’s Wind Tunnel on Sunday night. This week, as soon as Nascar got wind that Johnson, Tony Stewart and a few others wouldn’t make it on fuel, the ‘debris’ caution came out, yet no debris was shown on television.
Everyone got tires and fuel, but still Nascar didn’t get the side by side ‘highlight’ reel finish they were looking for. Johnson passed Stewart with no problem and motored off into the distance. Stewart was second, his first top 5 of the year.
Juan Pablo Montoya finished a solid fifth, after finishing 8th in the Busch race on Saturday. Montoya is looking like he maybe the real deal, and one of the few to make a successful transition from open wheel to stock cars.
The next race for the Cup series is Bristol, where the debut of the Car of Tomorrow will probably be the big story – that and all the wrecks. Hopefully Nascar got enough of an earful this weekover the phantom caution that they will now only use that yellow flag when there actually is debris.
Oh, just for the record, Michael Waltrip went home again early, didn’t qualify, and Dale Jarrett was 36th, five laps down… nice!
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