Going into Lowe’s for this week’s race, the question on everyone’s lips had to be: “Could anyone stop the Jimmie Johnson steamroller?” He had dominated qualifying and practice, and the only solace his rivals had was the historical stat that the polesitter had not won here in 27 years. Surely Johnson couldn’t beat the tide of history as well as the rest of the field?
Johnson has a slight stutter at the start of the race when he lost the initiative to his team mate Mark Martin, who got the better run around the outside and led the first lap. A quick yellow for a wild spin by Sam Hornish Jr coming off turn 2 on lap 3 gave Johnson a second chance at Martin and he seized it, racing away with the lead while Martin found himself wheel-to-wheel with Kasey Kahne.
Hornish was also the cause of the second caution on lap 9 when he spun again, this time coming out of lap 4. Clearly there was something horribly wrong with the 77, not helped by the hard hit his right rear had taken in his first spin of the day.
After the Hornish cautions there was a decent stint of some 20 laps of green flag running. Kyle Busch – returning after illness last week – was looking very fast and quickly took up the third spot behind Johnson and Martin as the three of them eased away from the rest of the field. When the caution came out again, on lap 34, it was for weather – sprinkles of rain had hit one end of the track, and NASCAR quite rightly took a safety-first approach.
It was early for pit stops (50-60 lap stints had been anticipated) but no one was passing up the opportunity to come in for a stop under yellow and have some fine tuning on their handling. Matt Kenseth went for a two-tyre gambit and moved up seven positions into the lead as a result; while Joey Logano – who had been working his way up nicely into the top five – overshot his pit box and had to back up, losing him a huge number of positions and dumping him back to 38th. But at least Logano’s race pace was still quick, and he was able to start working his way up through the field again. Having a far less fun time were Tony Stewart (who was dropping back lap after lap), Carl Edwards and Dale Earnhardt Jr., both of whom were having handling problems that had left them way off the pace and right at the back of the running order.
The rain cleared quickly and the track went green again on lap 42 ahead of Johnson, Martin, Busch and Denny Hamlin. Johnson quickly went side-by-side with Hamlin, but it was hard work: Johnson started to get loose, fell back again into the clutches of Martin, and it was not until lap 52 that Johnson was finally able to reclaim the lead. But now Hamlin was coming on strong and charging for the lead, and by lap 71 he was past Johnson, Kenseth and Busch to surge past Johnson for the top spot. With Juan Montoya now consistently the fastest man on track, the 42 also broke through into the top five, ejecting Martin and leaving Hamlin ahead of Kenseth, Montoya, Johnson and Busch as green flag pit stops commenced on lap 89.
Despite still being in the top five, Johnson seemed out of sorts, angry and frustrated, snapping at his pit chief Chad Knaus even before another sluggish pit stop with problems on the left rear tyre enabled Casey Mears to edge him out of the pit lane for position – temporarily. Johnson seemed to like the changes the team made during the stop, though, describing the car as “edgy” and adding “I like it” – clearly the handling was coming back to him. And at least his sluggish pit stop had been better than Ryan Newman’s, which dragged on an agonising 21s and haemorrhaged positions all the while.
The race continued green through to lap 119, and it was Kyle Busch who brought out the caution when the 18 simply snapped sideways out of turn 4 for no discernible reason, leaving Kyle driving at right angles down the straight-away and narrowly avoiding hitting Scott Speed on the inside line as he brought the car back under control. The field duly used the opportunity for some pit stops and much needed adjustments – Montoya in particular was complaining that the 42 was as loose as he would ever want to have to drive it. A few drivers opted for a two tyre strategy, which meant that Jeff Gordon, Greg Biffle and Ryan Newman gained around a dozen spots to leap into the top three positions in front of Hamlin and Kenseth, with Tony Stewart up to 6th ahead of Johnson and Jeff Burton, who was also up twelve spots on tyre strategy.
It was a very different field, then, that came to the green flag, and it was a rough restart for several drivers. Dale Earnhardt Jr was extremely slow and had to pit with transmission issues and unable to stay in fourth gear, finally being redirected into the garage area for lengthy diagnosis and repairs that put him some 29 laps down. Further forward, the field seemed to bunch up and jostle with lots of minor impacts: Vickers ended up with bodywork damage that rubbed his front right tear, forcing him into the pits for some field repairs; and Montoya went into the back of Clint Bowyer without too much harm done, but Mark Martin gave Montoya a more emphatic kick up the backside that damaged the 42’s rear fender and seriously affected Montoya’s handling. After losing a bunch of positions, the handling degenerated to the point where Montoya was drifting alarmingly on almost every corner and he finally lost the car altogether exiting turn 4 on lap 163, putting him two laps down to the leaders after such a promising, strong start and serious affecting his Chase campaign. The crew managed to find a replacement quarter panel, albeit coloured the 42’s usual red instead of this week’s blue livery which made for a rather striking junkyard patchwork effect. Martin also suffered: although his handling wasn’t too bad, the subsequent repairs to his hole in the nose of his race car would put him down to 24th position.
Montoya’s woes at least allowed the rest of the field the relative luxury of a round of pit stops under caution. Hamlin was able to take the lead after the pit stops but Gordon quickly passed him at the restart, with Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle continuing to fill out the rest of the top five as the race passed half distance. Montoya was also the cause of the sixth caution of the day – this time by virtue of his depositing a large, clearly recognisable piece of red metalwork on the track with a conspicuous Target logo on it.
This was on lap 188, and with only 20 laps or so having been run since the last round of pit stops almost everyone opted for the two tyre strategy this time – with Kasey Kahne going even further and opting for fuel only which put him up into 5th spot behind Kenseth, Johnson, Kurt Busch and Gordon at the restart. Unfortunately for Denny Hamlin, who had been strong all evening, his car had developed engine problems: it was audibly misfiring and seemed to have lost a valve, putting him into the garage, his race wrecked. With his second consecutive DNF (after his error last week while among the leaders at Fontana), his Chase campaign has been badly derailed.
It was Kasey Kahne who was flying in the next stint, surging past the top four (including Johnson, who was distracted trying to get some debris off his front grill before it caused his engine to overheat) to take the lead from Kenseth on lap 223. He held on to the lead through to the green flag pit stops that commenced around lap 242, despite a heart-stopping moment for him when his ignition failed as he tried to get back up to speed out of the pit lane and he had to quickly switch to a backup system. Once the stops cycled through, Kahne was nonetheless still back in charge ahead of Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer and Jeff Gordon; Kahne’s lead over Johnson was up to 6.5s and on lap 288 he lapped Mark Martin who had struggled his way back to 18th position after the 5’s earlier handling problems from bodywork damage.
The seventh caution was for the death of Max Papis’ engine on lap 290, and Johnson beat Kahne out of the pits by the narrowest possible margin to assume the lead with Gordon 3rd, Kenseth 4th and Bowyer 5th. The green flag didn’t last long before David Gilliland got loose and hit the wall hard on lap 299, which at least allowed Mark Martin to get the free pass and get back on the lead lap once more.
Once established, the stop-start staccato rhythm became frustratingly embedded in proceedings: the next restart on lap 303 came to a swift yellow when Carl Edwards blew up and left a trail of fluid behind him; the next restart on lap 307 fared little better, coming to the tenth yellow of the afternoon on lap 312 when David Stremme hit the wall, bounced into slight contact with Greg Biffle which in turn caused Biffle to make further light contact with Ryan Newman who was running on the inside which was the last straw, tipping Biffle into a wild spin across the track and the grassy infield, narrowly avoiding collecting Mike Bliss along the way.
But once the race restarted on lap 317, it ran the remaining 17 laps to the end without further interruptions. Johnson led Gordon, Kahne, Kenseth and Mears to the green, and Johnson had a battle royal with his Hendrick Motorsports team mate Jeff Gordon to keep the top spot, but once Johnson got a good run on the low-side to edge Gordon on lap 321, Gordon dropped back to fourth and the 48 was able to build an unassailable lead.
Sure enough, Johnson took the chequered flag. So much for the stats: if anyone can overturn a 27-year precedent then it’s Jimmie Johnson. And with Mark Martin and Juan Montoya having poor weeks, his lead in the Sprint Cup standings was starting to look very, very healthy indeed.
Race result
Pos Driver Car Laps 1. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 334 2. Matt Kenseth Ford 334 3. Kasey Kahne Dodge 334 4. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 334 5. Joey Logano Toyota 334 6. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 334 7. Casey Mears Chevrolet 334 8. Kyle Busch Toyota 334 9. Martin Truex Jr Chevrolet 334 10. Kurt Busch Dodge 334 11. Ryan Newman Chevrolet 334 12. Brad Keselowski Chevrolet 334 13. Tony Stewart Chevrolet 334 14. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 334 15. David Reutimann Toyota 334 16. Greg Biffle Ford 334 17. Mark Martin Chevrolet 334 18. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 334 19. David Stremme Dodge 334 20. David Ragan Ford 334 21. Reed Sorenson Dodge 334 22. Marcos Ambrose Toyota 333 23. AJ Allmendinger Dodge 333 24. Mike Bliss Chevrolet 333 25. David Gilliland Toyota 333 26. Elliott Sadler Dodge 332 27. Paul Menard Ford 332 28. Scott Speed Toyota 332 29. Bill Elliott Ford 332 30. Robby Gordon Toyota 332 31. Bobby Labonte Ford 331 32. Michael Waltrip Toyota 331 33. Jamie McMurray Ford 331 34. Brian Vickers Toyota 330 35. Juan Montoya Chevrolet 330 36. John Andretti Chevrolet 330 37. Terry Labonte Toyota 329 38. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet 304 39. Carl Edwards Ford 299 40. Sam Hornish Jr Dodge 298 41. Max Papis Toyota 286 42. Denny Hamlin Toyota 192 43. Joe Nemechek Toyota 26
Sprint Cup standings
+/- DRIVER PTS BEHIND ST P W T5 T10
1 -- Jimmie Johnson 5923 Leader 31 3 6 13 20
2 -- Mark Martin 5833 -90 31 7 5 12 18
3 +2 Jeff Gordon 5788 -135 31 0 1 15 22
4 -- Tony Stewart 5768 -155 31 0 4 15 21
5 +1 Kurt Busch 5746 -177 31 0 1 8 18
6 -3 Juan Montoya 5728 -195 31 2 0 6 16
7 -- Greg Biffle 5655 -268 31 0 0 9 14
8 +2 Ryan Newman 5635 -288 31 1 0 5 14
9 +2 Kasey Kahne 5592 -331 31 0 2 6 13
10 -2 Carl Edwards 5582 -341 31 0 0 7 13
11 -2 Denny Hamlin 5551 -372 31 1 2 11 16
12 -- Brian Vickers 5438 -485 31 6 1 4 13
======= CHASE FOR THE Sprint CUP - CURRENT CONTENDERS ========
13 +1 Matt Kenseth 3774 -2149 31 1 2 6 11
14 -1 Kyle Busch 3755 -2168 31 1 4 8 11
15 -- Clint Bowyer 3699 -2224 31 0 0 4 14
16 -- David Reutimann 3644 -2279 31 2 1 5 9
17 -- Marcos Ambrose 3371 -2552 31 0 0 4 7
18 +1 Casey Mears 3269 -2654 31 0 0 0 4
19 -1 Jeff Burton 3256 -2667 31 0 0 2 6
20 -- Joey Logano* 3197 -2726 31 0 1 2 6
21 -- Kevin Harvick 3141 -2782 31 0 0 3 6
22 -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2986 -2937 31 0 0 2 5
23 +2 Martin Truex Jr. 2985 -2938 31 2 0 0 4
24 -- A.J. Allmendinger 2959 -2964 31 0 0 1 4
25 -2 Jamie McMurray 2941 -2982 31 0 0 0 3
26 +1 Elliott Sadler 2891 -3032 31 0 0 1 4
27 -1 Sam Hornish Jr. 2850 -3073 31 0 0 2 7
28 -- David Ragan 2776 -3147 31 0 0 0 2
29 -- Reed Sorenson 2758 -3165 31 0 0 0 1
30 -- David Stremme 2753 -3170 31 0 0 0 0
31 -- Bobby Labonte 2684 -3239 31 0 0 1 1
32 -- Paul Menard 2611 -3312 31 0 0 0 0
33 -- Michael Waltrip 2388 -3535 29 0 0 0 1
34 -- Robby Gordon 2350 -3573 30 0 0 1 1
35 -- Scott Speed* 2283 -3640 30 0 0 1 1
36 -- John Andretti 2192 -3731 29 0 0 0 0
37 -- David Gilliland 1649 -4274 27 0 0 0 0
38 -- Regan Smith 1260 -4663 15 0 0 0 0
39 +2 Brad Keselowski 1183 -4740 11 0 1 1 3
40 -1 Joe Nemechek 1179 -4744 26 0 0 0 0
Anyone hoping for a thrilling end to the year’s MotoGP championship and a fight to the finish between Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo will have been dismayed by the start of the Australian MotoGP, where a collision between a Yamaha and a Ducati effectively sealed the 2009 title two races before the end of the season.
Lorenzo had been off-colour and off the pace (by his standards) for much of the weekend and was on the second row of the grid for the first time in his MotoGP career. He is also not the best of starters, and found himself swamped off the line by Nicky Hayden (from 7th) on the outside and Mika Kallio (from 9th) on the inside. But as they headed into the first turn, Lorenzo’s late braking caused him to run up unexpectedly fast into the back of the unusually cautious Nicky Hayden and the two collided.
Lorenzo struggled to keep the Yamaha upright, and appeared to have managed to do so before the bike then gave one last judder and threw itself to the ground. Lorenzo was left skidding after the bike into the gravel track, and as the dust settled he lay motionless for a few seconds – more from shock and the emotional realisation that the championship was now gone for another year, than for any physical damage – he sustained only minor grazes to his right hand and to his face from a helmet full of gravel.
Up front, Dani Pedrosa had got off to a more subdued start than usual but enough to take second from Rossi before the first turn, and then a couple of corners later he was past Stoner as well. But it was quickly clear that Pedrosa didn’t have the pace to stay ahead let alone pull away, and next time around Stoner took advantage of a shaky moment for Dani to retake the lead; Rossi swiftly cut his way past the Honda a few corners later, and the two soon pulled away to leave Dani in a very lonely but completely safe third place for the rest of the afternoon.
With Lorenzo gone, Stoner and Rossi were in a league of their own. Rossi was able to match Stoner every lap and stayed close: the Ducati had the raw pace and pulled away down the start/finish straight, but the Yamaha was more agile and closed up under braking, a familiar story from years past. But now Lorenzo was out, Rossi had no need to risk anything to take the race victory and so he was happy to hang back, put the pressure on Stoner in the vague hope of pressuring the Aussie into a mistake, but otherwise settle for second – which is exactly how it played out.
Back through the field, the riders were unusually stretched out with most of them running isolated by the end of the race. The best battle was an early seven-bike battle for 5th which involved Kallio, Colin Edwards, Andrea Dovizioso, Marco Melandri, Randy de Puniet, Toni Elias and James Toseland, but this was eventually decisively won by Edwards by the midpoint of the race and then even this group was stretched out, with only de Puniet and Melandri left in a fierce and entertaining battle for what ended up being 7th place in the latter stages of the race, from which Marco emerged victorious.
Toseland was eliminated from the fight by a drive-thru penalty for a jump start (after coming perilously close to missing the pit board notice and incurring another black flag as happened in July at Laguna Seca). That put him right at the back of the race, save for Nicky Hayden who had managed to rejoin after his first corner collision with Lorenzo that had seem him ride all the way through and around the gravel trap, and then have to nurse damage to the Ducati that had put him well off the pace for the rest of the afternoon.
As the crowds flooded onto the track to celebrate their local hero’s victory, Casey Stoner bounced up to the top step of the podium looking completely fresh and fit, not a hint of the mystery fatigue-inducing illness that has seen him practically carried off the bike at previous races before this three-race sabbatical. It was good to see him back, and to see him locked in battle with Rossi once more, and it bodes well for a titanic three-way title battle in 2010 – or even four-way if Honda can pull something out of the bag for Dani Pedrosa and give him that last extra bit of speed he needs to be a genuine contender himself.
But as for 2009 – Lorenzo’s altercation into the first turn leaves Rossi a convincing 38pts ahead with only two races (and 50pts) still on offer. Rossi’s made errors this year – throwing away the win at Laguna Seca being the most shocking – but it’s hard to see him failing to decisively win the championship from here. The season is, effectively, done – and indeed should be wrapped up, signed and sealed at next week’s race at the F1 circuit of Sepang in Malaysia.
Race result
Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1. Casey Stoner Ducati 40m56.651s
2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha + 1.935s
3. Dani Pedrosa Honda + 22.618s
4. Alex de Angelis Gresini Honda + 32.702s
5. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha + 35.885s
6. Andrea Dovizioso Honda + 38.482s
7. Marco Melandri Hayate Kawasaki + 44.451s
8. Randy de Puniet LCR Honda + 44.941s
9. Mika Kallio Pramac Ducati + 54.345s
10. Toni Elias Gresini Honda + 1m01.205s
11. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki + 1m05.417s
12. Loris Capirossi Suzuki + 1m05.950s
13. Gabor Talmacsi Scot Honda + 1m17.951s
14. James Toseland Tech 3 Yamaha + 1m17.985s
15. Nicky Hayden Ducati + 1 lap
Retirements:
Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 0 laps
MotoGP championship standings
Pos Driver Points 1 Valentino Rossi 270 2 Jorge Lorenzo 232 3 Casey Stoner 195 4 Daniel Pedrosa 189 5 Andrea Dovizioso 152 6 Colin Edwards 145 7 Alex de Angelis 101 8 Randy de Puniet 101 9 Loris Capirossi 101 10 Marco Melandri 100 11 Toni Elias 96 12 Chris Vermeulen 95 13 James Toseland 87 14 Nicky Hayden 82 15 Mika Kallio 58 16 Niccolo Canepa 38 17 Gabor Talmacsi 17 18 Sete Gibernau 12 19 Yuki Takahashi 9 20 Aleix Espargaro 8 Pos Constructor Points 1 Yamaha 350 2 Honda 252 3 Ducati 236 4 Suzuki 121 5 Kawasaki 100
A quite extraordinary rain-hit qualifying session has well and truly thrown the cat among the pigeons as far as the F1 championship is concerned, with Rubens Barrichello taking a spectacular home pole position – and his title rivals absolutely no where.
With rain the overriding factor of the day, qualifying actually turned into a marathon and was far longer than any Grand Prix at nearly two and three quarter hours. Of course, a considerable amount of that time was spent standing around in the pit lane assessing the weather.
Q1 actually started on time, but Giancarlo Fisichella aquaplaned and spun at turn 1 just 4 minutes in, leaving his Ferrari stranded side-on half on the track in a perilous position that forced the race director to throw a red flag to allow the car to be retrieved. There was then a 10 minute delay before qualifying re-commenced until conditions were judged good enough to resume.
Once qualifying was back underway it was clear that some big names were going to join Fisichella on the sidelines: the McLarens were both handling atrociously in the wet conditions, and championship contender Sebastian Vettel was also showing no signs of being fast enough to get through into the next round. His final attempt was still well off the pace and he pulled into the pits as the chequered flag came out, mired in 16th place. It was the most big name-filled Q1 elimination we’ve seen: Vettel ahead of Heikki Kovalainen, Lewis Hamilton, Nick Heidfeld and the hapless Fisichella; Red Bull, two McLarens, a BMW and a Ferrari made for a very expensive also-ran list.
“Wow! Our car was so bad. You couldn’t go flat-out down the straight,” Hamilton told the BBC afterwards. “I went to 70 percent throttle and the car let loose on me. Our downforce level compared to some of the others really shows in these conditions.”
“I think I went to the pool not to the race track today,” Vettel said. “Obviously it’s extremely disappointing, we were targeting to qualify much higher. That’s life. There was a window where the circuit was quickest but we couldn’t use it. We struggled a bit with traffic here and there, and then after when we had clean air it started to rain more heavily and that’s it.”
Q2 started five minutes later, but before anyone could put in a flying lap it was red flagged for a big crash involving Tonio Liuzzi, who aquaplaned on the start/finish straight, veered into a heavy impact against the pit wall that startled all the teams in their booths: they had been unsighted by all the spray in the air and hadn’t seen the impact coming, but all of them felt the reverberations when it happened. Liuzzi’s car ran down the pit wall and then across the track narrowly avoiding Kimi Raikkonen, to a final impact against the turn 1 tyre wall, coming to rest without any tyres of its own attached and leaving shards of bodywork strewn in its wake. A red flag was inevitable as the debris had to be cleaned up, and also as conditions closed in once again.
“I wasn’t expecting something like that because I was just being calm, following Kimi on the track so I could see his lines and if there were any puddles,” Liuzzi said. “Then I just lost the car in a big puddle in the middle of the straight. I didn’t touch the brake at all. I’d just backed off on the straight. It’s just part of the game unfortunately.
“The problem here is that [there is so much rain falling that] you get a lot of rivers, and it was pretty dangerous to go out,” he added. “Yes, it was risky, but it was okay. The problem is that because it’s qualifying, you can’t wait [for conditions to improve] to come onto the track because that wastes time. It happens.”
In fact it rapidly became clear that there would be no quick resumption as the rain came down even heavier. The subsequent stoppage lasted nearly an hour and a half as track inspection after track inspection reported no improvement in the circuit’s condition, and it looked as though qualifying might have to be abandoned altogether and the positions from Q1 alone might be used to set the grid – which would have suited Jenson Button just fine as that would have put him in 6th right behind his team mate and chief rival Barrichello in 5th.
But finally the skies cleared two hours after the session began, and Q2 was able to proceed. The sun started to come out and the track started to dry, so that every run through was faster than the last. It now became a matter of timing as to who would go through at the right time, without making a mistake or meeting traffic at a critical moment.
The one person for whom things were now going badly wrong was Jenson Button: he was the slowest person on the track, missing the critical moment to try switching from full wets to intermediates, and whose lap times did not improve no matter how many times he circulated. In the end he finished dead last (save for the already-eliminated Liuzzi) and only just in front of Vettel on the grid after having thought that at least the Red Bull driver was out of the picture.
“At the start of the session I had way too much understeer in the car on that run, when the circuit wasn’t wet like it was in the first session,” Button told the BBC. “I couldn’t do anything with the car and on lap three the rears started going away so that was it,” he added before admitting “We made a mistake not putting the inters on at the end of the session.”
The only way it could get any worse for Button would be for Barrichello to go on and claim pole position in a remarkably incident-free and efficient Q3. And that’s exactly what Rubens went on to do, putting in improved lap after improved lap as the track started to dry out and he, Mark Webber, Jarno Trulli, Adrian Sutil and Nico Rosberg vied for the top time. In the end it came down to a case of who put in the time at the right moment before the chequered flag came out, and the winner of the slot machine lottery was indeed home favourite and title contender Rubens Barrichello.
It was a moment that would have hit the Button camp like a sucker punch to the stomach at exactly the worst moment. With Vettel eliminated they must have thought they had it made: all they had to do was cover Rubens and get somewhere close to him on the grid and they were set. So they played it safe, and timid, while Rubens went out and took a gamble by going for broke.
Button’s timidity, and Barrichello’s heroic gamble, may end up defining the 2009 Formula 1 champion.
Qualification results
Pos Driver Team Q1 times Q2 times Q3 times 1. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 1:24.100 1:21.659 1:19.576 2. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:24.722 1:20.803 1:19.668 3. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:24.447 1:20.753 1:19.912 4. Trulli Toyota 1:24.621 1:20.635 1:20.097 5. Raikkonen Ferrari 1:23.047 1:21.378 1:20.168 6. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:24.591 1:20.701 1:20.250 7. Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:22.828 1:20.368 1:20.326 8. Kubica BMW-Sauber 1:23.072 1:21.147 1:20.631 9. Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:23.161 1:20.427 1:20.674 10. Alonso Renault 1:24.842 1:21.657 1:21.422 11. Kobayashi Toyota 1:24.335 1:21.960 12. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:24.773 1:22.231 13. Grosjean Renault 1:24.394 1:22.477 14. Button Brawn-Mercedes 1:24.297 1:22.504 15. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:24.645 16. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:25.009 17. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:25.052 18. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:25.192 19. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber 1:25.515 20. Fisichella Ferrari 1:40.703
Car weights
Rubens Barrichello did short fuel slightly to claim pole, and Kimi Raikkonen’s pace was boosted by going light as well, but neither seem to have gone too light just to claim glory and all are in good shape. However it’s looking particularly good for Mark Webber and Adrian Sutil, especially if they can get the better of Rubens off the start line as well …
Pos Driver Weight (kg) 1. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 650.5 2. Webber Red Bull-Renault 656.0 3. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 656.5 4. Trulli Toyota 658.5 5. Raikkonen Ferrari 651.5 6. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 659.0 7. Rosberg Williams-Toyota 657.0 8. Kubica BMW-Sauber 656.0 9. Nakajima Williams-Toyota 664.0 10. Alonso Renault 652.0 11. Kobayashi Toyota 671.5* 12. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 671.5* 13. Grosjean Renault 677.2* 14. Button Brawn-Mercedes 672.0* 15. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 680.0* 16. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 683.5* 17. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 656.5* 18. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 661.0* 19. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber 650.5* 20. Fisichella Ferrari 683.5*
A1GP has called off next week’s planned opening rounds in Surfers Paradise, plunging the series as a whole into renewed doubt.
Replacing the IndyCar Series – which could not agree on a date with the Surfers authorities – at the famous Australian street race had been a massive coup for A1GP, but a statement from the series said that the knock-on effect of the close season problems (which included the championship’s operating arm A1GP Operations Ltd going into liquidation and Ferrari rumoured to be demanding the return of its supply of engines in a row over non-payment) meant it had been impossible to prepare the cars in time for Surfers.
Series boss Tony Teixeira insisted that the championship is not now effectively dead. “The series found itself in a race against time to make the deadline for when its cars would have to leave the UK to be on track in Surfers Paradise next Thursday,” said the statement. “The series organisers never doubted this was possible, but today have been forced to accept this now cannot happen.
“One effect of the UK operating arm of the series going into liquidation in June was that access to the cars and the ability to pay its suppliers has been impeded,” he said. “What should have been a summer upgrading the machinery in time for the first race of the 2009/10 season has turned into a frustrating time for achieving this.”
Teixeira remains adamant that the cancellation of Surfers does not mean the end of A1GP: “A1GP may be down, but I do not accept we are out. We have had four exciting seasons that have proved we are a force in the sport and now we shall consolidate on what we have achieved to date.” He added, “My efforts will be on finding a way forward with the support of some very loyal people.”
The 2008/9 season opener for A1GP is now scheduled to be at Zhuhai, China on the 15th of November. If it happens.
The California sun was notably absent for the start of the fourth Sprint Cup Chase race, but it came out midrace in time to shine on the winner – who was never really in doubt, barring accidents.
Denny Hamlin led the field at the start, with Jimmie Johnson quickly slotting into second and looking strong from the start ahead of Greg Biffle and Juan Montoya. Sure enough, ten laps later Johnson powered past Hamlin for the lead, with Montoya following through to take up second place about a second behind. As the stint wore on, however, Montoya seemed to get the edge, cut the gap and finally took the lead for himself on lap 25 by dropping down to the inside line into turn 1.
No cautions arose before the field came in for green flag pit stops around lap 40 which returned Johnson to the front once more, but Montoya didn’t take so long to get past him this time and on lap 45 he eased past Johnson after some side-by-side running to resume the lead.
The first caution of the afternoon came on lap 60 when Jamie McMurray scraped the wall. That meant the first yellow flag pit stops, and at this point Kyle Busch exited the race – hauled from the cockpit of the number 18, dehydrated and clearly ill with the after effects of strep throat, bronchitis and influenza: “I’m going to go lay down for a little bit and see if I can’t get some fluids or something in me at the infield care center,” Busch said. ” I’m sorry I had to get out. I’m not feeling well. I was coughing read bad out there. Maybe now I’ll go lay down and get some fluids or something and try to get better. We’ve been fighting it for several days.” David Gilliland was installed in his place, having parked up his own car as long ago as lap 15 in preparation or the switch, and managed to just sneak out on track by the narrowest of margins before the pace car came round and put him a lap down.
At the restart, Juan Montoya, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon topped the leaderboard, with Jimmie Johnson having slipped six positions after his pit crew fumbled the front right lug nuts. Montoya struggled with the green flag, outrun by Hamlin and Harvick before Harvick started to fall back and Montoya was then passed by a storming Mark Martin who muscled past Hamlin for the lead itself on lap 69 after a lap running side-by-side. But Montoya’s troubles were fleeting, and on lap 74 he was back in command and cruising back into the front, demoting Martin back to second spot.
The second yellow came out at the same time as the sunshine, on lap 81 after Ryan Newman blew his right front tyre. Everyone duly came in for their next pit stop, but Martin Truex Jr. threw the dice and took only two tyres, a gambit that saw him out in front for the restart. Johnson again had a sluggish stop, this time struggling with wheel spin exiting the pit box. But up front, Montoya was quick to power straight past Hamlin for the lead at the restart and a couple of laps later the top four had a familiar feel, with Montoya, Hamlin, Martin and Johnson all now ahead of Truex who held 5th.
As this stint wore on and the cars neared a possible green flag round of pit stops, Montoya started to flag and Johnson passed him for the lead on lap 115; a couple of laps later and the yellow came out for debris in a very nicely timed opportunity for pit stops. This time it was Denny Hamlin who made the best of the pit stops and emerged in front, ahead of Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson; Gordon made a determined bid on the low side for the lead at the restart, but wasn’t able to pull it off past the next start/finish line; Johnson however had better luck a couple of laps later when he took the lead from Hamlin on lap 125, the midpoint of the race.
Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon, Juan Montoya and Mark Martin now continued to make up the top five as the race entered a remarkably settled period. Johnson quickly stretched out a 7s lead, and Montoya moved up into second spot by the time they reached green flag pit stops on lap 160 that did little to upset the lead running order, but was a costly stop for Tony Stewart who received a drive-thru for speeding on the exit.
The race continued under green until lap 185 (another caution for debris) and things were starting to get a little more edgy and combative as the end of the race started to loom into view. Johnson again lost positions on pit road, ceding the lead to Hamlin and Montoya. Johnson slotted into third ahead of Mark Martin and Kevin Harvick.
But the restart proved a disaster for Hamlin, who tried to veer down the track and cut off Montoya but ended up getting clipped on the left rear by the 42 who had no where to go. That sent him spinning across the infield grass, and he just heavily clipped the very end of the pit lane wall – the damage was enough to force him to check straight into the garage for repairs, his race day ruined after such a strong showing for three quarters of the afternoon. He would return to the track on lap 214, listed in 36th place but soon deemed too slow to continue and recalled to the garage by order of NASCAR. “Rookie mistake” conceded Hamlin, blaming himself.
Seemingly undamaged, Montoya led the field at the next restart on lap 195, but Johnson swooped past him on the outside right up against the wall within a lap to take up the lead once again, a lead he held convincingly through to the last round of pit stops around lap 225 held under green flag conditions. Pit stops had mainly finished by lap 235 when the sixth caution came out, once again for debris, but Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards were able to come in for additional top-up pit stops before the track went green again on lap 239, with the field headed up by Johnson and Gordon with just 11 laps to go.
The restart didn’t last long – not even a lap – before Kurt Busch got loose scraped the wall. He ended up coming down the track into Kasey Kahne who in turn pulled down into Biffle; Busch carried on unaffected, but Kahne and Biffle went skidding across the infield grass, Kane in particular beaten up on both the left and right bodywork but able to continue.
The brief stint of green flag racing had allowed Gordon to sneak the lead from Johnson, but the 48 quickly rectified the situation at the restart on lap 244; however this green flag period scarcely lasted any longer before disaster struck the field outside the top ten. Seemingly triggered by Elliot Sadler and Dale Earnhardt Jr. making contact and spinning, collecting others in the process, the wreck involved all four Richard Petty Motorports runners (Kahne again, Sadler, Reed Sorenson and AJ Allmendinger) as well as Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Burton, Brian Vickers and Marcos Ambrose among others. The number of cars involved and ensuing wreckage forced NASCAR to throw a red flag to allow the clean-up.
That left just two laps for a green-and-white-chequered shootout upon resumption; Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Juan Montoya and David Ragan lead the field to green. Montoya beat out Martin for 3rd but wasn’t able to best Gordon before the finish line came into sight, while Ragan was rushed by both Stewart and Edwards who ejected him from the top six.
But really, it was all too easy for Johnson, who won by 1.6s and never looked like he didn’t have this race for the taking. Not the most thrilling of races as a result of Johnson’s dominance, but a key moment in the Chase as for the first time Martin is deposed at the top of the points standings.
Can anyone stop Johnson now, or is the writing already on the wall – and the engraving on the trophy?
Race result
FIN ST CAR DRIVER MAKE PTS/BNS LAPS STATUS 1 3 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 195/10 250 Running 2 10 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 175/5 250 Running 3 4 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 170/5 250 Running 4 9 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 165/5 250 Running 5 20 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 160/5 250 Running 6 11 99 Carl Edwards Ford 150/0 250 Running 7 31 6 David Ragan Ford 146/0 250 Running 8 24 2 Kurt Busch Dodge 147/5 250 Running 9 8 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 138/0 250 Running 10 7 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 134/0 250 Running 11 16 07 Casey Mears Chevrolet 130/0 250 Running 12 22 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 127/0 250 Running 13 17 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 124/0 250 Running 14 6 20 Joey Logano * Toyota 121/0 250 Running 15 36 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 118/0 250 Running 16 14 12 David Stremme Dodge 115/0 250 Running 17 34 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota 112/0 250 Running 18 42 00 David Reutimann Toyota 109/0 250 Running 19 40 34 John Andretti Chevrolet 111/5 250 Running 20 2 16 Greg Biffle Ford 103/0 250 Running 21 21 82 Scott Speed * Toyota 100/0 250 Running 22 5 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet 102/5 250 Running 23 27 47 Marcos Ambrose Toyota 94/0 250 Running 24 19 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 91/0 248 Running 25 37 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 88/0 248 Running 26 35 96 Bobby Labonte Ford 85/0 247 Running 27 41 98 Paul Menard Ford 82/0 247 Running 28 26 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 79/0 247 Running 29 32 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 76/0 246 Running 30 18 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 73/0 245 Running 31 28 43 Reed Sorenson Dodge 70/0 244 Running 32 39 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge 67/0 244 In Pit 33 12 44 A.J. Allmendinger Dodge 64/0 244 Running 34 25 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge 61/0 244 In Pit 35 15 113 Max Papis * Toyota 58/0 244 Running 36 29 26 Jamie McMurray Ford 55/0 209 Running 37 1 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 57/5 195 In Pit 38 38 7 Robby Gordon Toyota 49/0 121 In Pit 39 13 187 Joe Nemechek Toyota 46/0 29 Out 40 43 36 Michael McDowell Toyota 43/0 25 In Pit 41 33 66 Dave Blaney Toyota 40/0 22 In Pit 42 30 171 David Gilliland Chevrolet 37/0 13 In Pit 43 23 09 Mike Bliss Dodge 34/0 11 Out
Sprint Cup Standings
Jimmie Johnson now leads the standings (by 12 points) from Mark Martin and is beginning to gather that all-too-familiar momentum that’s taken him to his titles in years past. The 48 is definitely the car to beat, and strong as Montoya and Martin are they just can’t seem to match Johnson for consistency and form on a day like this.
+/- DRIVER PTS BEHIND ST P W T5 T10
1 +1 Jimmie Johnson 5728 Leader 30 2 5 12 19
2 -1 Mark Martin 5716 -12 30 7 5 12 18
3 -- Juan Montoya 5670 -58 30 2 0 6 16
4 -- Tony Stewart 5644 -84 30 0 4 15 21
5 +2 Jeff Gordon 5623 -105 30 0 1 14 21
6 -1 Kurt Busch 5607 -121 30 0 1 8 17
7 +1 Greg Biffle 5540 -188 30 0 0 9 14
8 +2 Carl Edwards 5536 -192 30 0 0 7 13
9 -3 Denny Hamlin 5509 -219 30 1 2 11 16
10 -1 Ryan Newman 5505 -223 30 1 0 5 14
11 -- Kasey Kahne 5422 -306 30 0 2 5 12
12 -- Brian Vickers 5377 -351 30 6 1 4 13
======= CHASE FOR THE Sprint CUP - CURRENT CONTENDERS ========
13 -- Kyle Busch 3613 -2115 30 1 4 8 10
14 -- Matt Kenseth 3599 -2129 30 1 2 5 10
15 +1 Clint Bowyer 3549 -2179 30 0 0 4 13
16 -1 David Reutimann 3526 -2202 30 2 1 5 9
17 -- Marcos Ambrose 3274 -2454 30 0 0 4 7
18 -- Jeff Burton 3135 -2593 30 0 0 2 6
19 -- Casey Mears 3123 -2605 30 0 0 0 3
20 -- Joey Logano* 3042 -2686 30 0 1 1 5
21 -- Kevin Harvick 3032 -2696 30 0 0 3 6
22 -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2937 -2791 30 0 0 2 5
23 -- Jamie McMurray 2877 -2851 30 0 0 0 3
24 -- A.J. Allmendinger 2865 -2863 30 0 0 1 4
25 -- Martin Truex Jr. 2847 -2881 30 2 0 0 3
26 +1 Sam Hornish Jr. 2807 -2921 30 0 0 2 7
27 -1 Elliott Sadler 2806 -2922 30 0 0 1 4
28 +3 David Ragan 2673 -3055 30 0 0 0 2
29 -1 Reed Sorenson 2658 -3070 30 0 0 0 1
30 -1 David Stremme 2647 -3081 30 0 0 0 0
31 -1 Bobby Labonte 2614 -3114 30 0 0 1 1
32 -- Paul Menard 2529 -3199 30 0 0 0 0
33 +1 Michael Waltrip 2316 -3412 28 0 0 0 1
34 -1 Robby Gordon 2277 -3451 29 0 0 1 1
35 -- Scott Speed* 2204 -3524 29 0 0 1 1
36 -- John Andretti 2137 -3591 28 0 0 0 0
37 -- David Gilliland 1561 -4167 26 0 0 0 0
38 -- Regan Smith 1260 -4468 15 0 0 0 0
39 -- Joe Nemechek 1145 -4583 25 0 0 0 0
40 +1 Dave Blaney 1084 -4644 27 0 0 0 0
41 -1 Brad Keselowski 1056 -4672 10 0 1 1 3
And so the IndyCar season reaches its climax, with three drivers going in neck-and-neck for the championship, and it all hinging on this one final event at Homestead, Miami. Two of them would go for a sheer speed approach, while the third would go for high strategy. Only 200 laps would prove who had the best pace and approach to take the race and the title.
Dario Franchitti had drawn early blood by taking a strong pole in the searingly hot conditions of Friday, but come race day and it was clearly Scott Dixon and Ryan Briscoe with much better pace and they dropped Franchitti in the opening laps of the race after overtaking him on lap 10. Gradually Dixon put his foot down and broke Briscoe as well – early signs were pointing to a second consecutive title for Dixon and celebrations down under in New Zealand.
The leaders were all in ahead of the rest of the runners: Briscoe was the first to come in for his pit stop on lap 45, coming in early to take care of some lose handling issues, while Dixon stayed out till lap 48 and Franchitti longer still, not pitting until lap 50. While staying out longer is a nominal advantage, all the pit stops were so fast and flawless that it made little difference to the on-track running order, but Briscoe’s form was now significantly better, with a blistering outlap, and by lap 54 he was all over the back of Dixon for the lead, with Franchitti over 4s adrift of them both.
He took the lead by running side-by-side with Dixon on lap 62, finally getting a slingshot out of turn 4 to take the lead in full the next time around. Dixon attempted to counter attack on lap 65, only to suddenly find that they were coming up fast on slow traffic and he had to pull out of the move in a hurry to stop himself sliding up the track and colliding with Briscoe on the high side, inadvertently giving Briscoe a full second as a result. And with the points so tight, the bonus points for most laps lead were seriously on everyone’s minds at this point, particularly for Briscoe to be able to beat Dixon should they finish 1-2.
Wth no yellows and the leaders setting such a blistering prace, by lap 80 only the three rivals were on the lead lap, with Danica Patrick and her Andretti-Green team mate Tony Kanaan in 4th and 5th a lap off the pace, ahead of Briscoe’s own team mate Helio Castroneves in 6th.
Briscoe and Dixon pitted together on lap 95, Briscoe getting the better stop of the two but Dixon compensating with the better outlap; and with still no yellows on the horizon the question started to loom whether both of them would require a late race splash-and-dash if they kept up that pace? Whereas Franchitti, getting better mileage and coming in on the nose on lap 100, might well be able to beat them by stretching the fuel to the chequered flag, to steal the win even if he was a good 7s behind them at mid distance.
The latest pit stops had enabled Dixon to fine tune the handling of the Ganassi to his liking and on lap 106 he took the lead through the inside line out of turn 4, and the two cars went wheel-to-wheel before Dixon broke away and quickly stretched out a big lead over the Penske car. But then, as the tyres started to wear, the pendulum once again swung back in Briscoe’s favour and he started to visible close the gap to Dixon at an impressive rate and on lap 125 he again reclaimed the lead, easing past Dixon on the high side and pulling out a big lead of his own.
Now we were hitting the critical point of the race: the final pit stop. Dixon had backed off his pace, leaning off the fuel to adopt Franchitti’s cautious fuel-aware strategy, leaving Briscoe ahead; but despite this, the two leaders were together coming into the pits on lap 144, once again neither car making 50 laps but now facing a 54 lap distance to the chequered flag – a 6-8 lap shortfall at the current pace if there was no caution. Franchitti took up the lead until his own stop – clearly the final one for him of the day – right on schedule on lap 150. No fuel problems for Dario, but would the strategy give him the race win – let alone the title?
Ironically the first (and ultimately only) collision of the day didn’t bring out a yellow flag at all – as it happened on pit lane on lap 153. Dan Wheldon was released right into the path of Danica Patrick who was turning into her own pit box right in front. The impact turned her around a hundred and eighty degrees and gave her car suspension damage, and Wheldon had also collected suspension damage and was out of the race, joining Marco Andretti (brake issues) and Jaques Lazier in the garage. That put Kanaan up to 4th ahead of Castroneves and Graham Rahal who was now 6th.
By lap 160, Franchitti’s fuel strategy had left him 16s adrift of the leader Ryan Briscoe, who had now passed Dixon’s total of laps thus far today to go on to claim those all-important bonus points for most laps led. Things were getting very, very tight for all three with no one in a position to know if they were on track to win the race and title or about to crash and burn at the last. By lap 170 there still no caution, and no sign that either Briscoe or Dixon were slacking off and trying to stretch their fuel – that point of no return had long since been passed. Instead they were trying to catch up to and lap Franchitti to minimise the damage the extra fuel stop would inflict, but if the whole race was run caution-free then it was looking like Franchitti would almost certainly be the champion – but it was one helluva ‘if’. No IRL race in its 14 season history had ever gone caution-free before, and that’s precisely what Dario was banking on now. Some odds!
Time and laps were running out for the trio: and on lap 191 with nine to go, the storm broke: Dixon dipped below the white line to come in for his splash-and-dash, his title hopes effectively blown – you could tell from the body language of the pit crew that they knew their campaign was over.
And two laps later … Briscoe followed suit. Franchitti took the lead, but such had been the gap that Briscoe and Dixon had pulled out over him in that final stint that Dario was still only 6s ahead of Ryan and 7s ahead of Scott once they were both back on track with 6 laps to go. And it wasn’t plain sailing just yet – Dario was told to go “full bore on mix four” which meant “as fast as you can in fuel saving mode”. Would that prove too slow and leave him open to attack? Or would the fuel not stretch?
The white came out and Dario was still ahead; and the yards ticked down. Briscoe and Dixon didn’t have enough speed to catch Franchitti; and the car just had the fuel to cough its way over the finish line, even if it gasped its last seconds later. Dario Franchitti had made it, his 5th victory of the season: he’d celebrated his return from the ill-starred NASCAR efforts in the best possible style, joining Dixon and Sam Hornish Jr as IRL’s only multiple-time champions.
It might have lacked any eye-catching on-track accidents, but this had been a breathless, thrilling shoot-out between three of the best drivers in the world in any motorsport series, and they had all acquitted themselves in fine style. And in beating the others, Dario Franchitti had just made himself the best of the best once again.
And that wraps up the 2009 season for IRL!
Race result
Pos Driver Team Gap
1. Dario Franchitti Ganassi 200 laps
2. Ryan Briscoe Penske + 4.7888s
3. Scott Dixon Ganassi + 6.0206s
4. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green + 1 lap
5. Helio Castroneves Penske + 1 lap
6. Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green + 2 laps
7. Mario Moraes KV + 2 laps
8. Alex Lloyd Newman/Haas/Lanigan + 2 laps
9. Tomas Scheckter Dreyer & Reinbold + 3 laps
10. Justin Wilson Coyne + 3 laps
11. Graham Rahal Newman/Haas/Lanigan + 3 laps
12. Ed Carpenter Vision + 3 laps
13. Ryan Hunter-Reay Foyt + 4 laps
14. Raphael Matos Luczo Dragon + 4 laps
15. Mike Conway Dreyer & Reinbold + 5 laps
16. EJ Viso HVM + 6 laps
17. Milka Duno Dreyer & Reinbold + 6 laps
18. Sarah Fisher Fisher + 13 laps
19. Danica Patrick Andretti Green + 15 laps
Retirements:
Robert Doornbos HVM 166 laps
Dan Wheldon Panther 150 laps
Marco Andretti Andretti Green 58 laps
Jaques Lazier 3G 23 laps
IndyCar Championship
Dario’s win means he finishes just 11pts ahead of his team mate and previous champion Scott Dixon, who edges Ryan Briscoe to 2nd place by just a solitary point.
In other business, Raphael Matos clinched the rookie of the year title as expected, despite only finishing 13th; his rival Robert Doornbos retired in the closing stages with mehcanical problems having run near the tail of the field.
Pos Driver Points 1 Dario Franchitti 616 2 Scott Dixon 605 -11 3 Ryan Briscoe 604 -12 4 Helio Castroneves 433 -183 5 Danica Patrick 393 -223 6 Tony Kanaan 386 -230 7 Graham Rahal 385 -231 8 Marco Andretti 380 -236 9 Justin Wilson 354 -262 10 Dan Wheldon 354 -262 11 Hideki Mutoh 353 -263 12 Ed Carpenter 321 -295 13 Raphael Matos 312 -304 15 Mario Moraes 304 -312 14 Ryan Hunter-Reay 298 -318 16 Robert Doornbos 283 -333 17 Mike Conway 261 -355 18 Ernesto Viso 248 -368 19 Will Power 215 -401 20 Tomas Scheckter 195 -421 21 Oriol Servia 115 -501 22 Alex Tagliani 114 -502 23 Paul Tracy 113 -503 24 Milka Duno 113 -503 25 Sarah Fisher 89 -527
Mark Martin was once again at the head of the field for this, the third of the Sprint Cup Chase races, joined on the front row by an unusually strong Dale Earnhardt Jr. – but neither driver would ever look like a strong contender for the race victory itself.
The first yellow made an early appearance on lap 2 for a spin by Joey Logano who went sideways for an extended run down the straight before quickly pulling it all back together without hitting anything and thus able to continue, and the green was out again four laps later – only to go yellow once more almost immediately for a spin by Paul Menard that collected David Ragan, Bobby Labonte and Michael Waltrip; Labonte and Waltrip headed for the garage. As the race got underway again on lap 12, it looked as though it could be a long day at the race track but fortunately we were about to get 57 laps of green flag running.
The restart certainly didn’t go all that well for Martin, who dropped behind Earnhardt, Brad Keselowski and Jamie McMurray, while further back Jimmie Johnson and Juan Montoya were on a charge and heading for the front, with Johnson finally reaching and passing Martin on lap 35.
With the green flag running continuing, the drivers were forced into pit stops – and it was a costly stop indeed for Dale Earnhardt Jr whose team lost a lug nut, causing the 88 to get black flagged back into the pits for a replacement, costing him a lap and the lead in what had seemed the best chance for a win all season.
After the pit stops, Jimmie Johnson popped up into the lead ahead of Keselowski, Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne and Mark Martin in 5th. But the third yellow of the day was quick in coming out after Reed Sorenson got high and scraped a long way along the wall in turn 2. Even though the cars had only been on pit road a dozen laps before, the drivers didn’t hesitate in coming in under the more forgiving conditions of a yellow flag to make those critical little adjustments.
With so little running since the last pit stop, however, many drivers opted to change only two tyres – a strategy that saw a big shake-up in the running order, with Greg Biffle (who had started way back in 31st) emerging as the leader at the restart on lap 74 ahead of Martin Truex Jr., Kurt Busch, Keselowski and Stewart. But none of these cars could hold back the storming 48, with Jimmie Johnson cutting a swathe through the field until he took the lead from Biffle in a multi-lap battle that started on lap 91 and was finally accomplished on lap 102 when Biffle got held up behind Max Papis – Johnson was looking in deadly form today.
Johnson set about putting some big names a lap down – Robby Gordon and Scott Speed on lap 112, Joey Logano on lap 118, Kevin Harvick on lap 120. With the cars that had opted for two tyres now really starting to struggle, the next cycle of pit stops began with Brad Keselowski coming in for four tires and an air pressure adjustment on lap 123; more cars followed, including Biffle, when suddenly they were joined on pit road by Brian Vickers in highly irregular fashion on lap 126: Vickers got high up near the wall, tried to turn but found the track that high up to be deadly. He spun around, coming down the track and onto the grass infield before finally managing to correct himself and get the car under control – at which point he found himself on pit road.
The yellow was much appreciated by the rest of the field who were able to come in under the caution, but the happiest of all was Biffle who had been on pit road when the yellow had come out, and who took the lead at the restart on lap 130 as a result. Now Biffle led Johnson, Montoya, Jeff Gordon and Stewart. Of course, Johnson – in the kind of form he was on tonight – wasted no time in snatching the lead straight back again.
Matt Kenseth exited to the garage with engine problems on lap 136, while back on track Mark Martin was struggling and had fallen to 10th place. But another yellow was forthcoming on lap 147 when Elliott Sadler, like Vickers before him, strayed too high up the track and found the point where traction ends and spins begin. It was harmless enough, and the drivers had the chance to pit under yellow again despite only 17 laps of running; as a result it wasn’t too surprising that most opted for the two tyre strategy, but both Johnson and Montoya decided to go for four and make up the difference with faster on-track performances, putting them back out in 9th and 10th and giving Biffle the lead back.
With Carl Edwards getting the free pass (after having gone a lap down earlier in proceedings as a result of a pit lane speeding penalty), there were 24 cars on the lead lap as Biffle led Stewart, Martin, Denny Hamlin and Jeff Gordon on lap 151. Stewart made a strong challenge for the lead and briefly took it by getting a nose ahead for lap 159 but then slid down the track allowing Biffle to retake the position for the next time around. Meanwhile, Jimmie Johnson was still mired back in 10th spot and Montoya was getting caught up in a tangle between Casey Mears and David Reutimann as he tried to climb up to 6th place, but finding harder work than perhaps expected when he’d opted for the four tyres.
As the race passed a hundred to go, it was significant to note that the top eight were all Chase contenders, with Kurt Busch in tenth place and the only Chase drivers outside the top ten were Edwards (17th, still recovering from his earlier penalty), Ryan Newman (27th) and Vickers (35th and on the radio declaring the engine problem that would put him out of the race.)
Now the drivers were approaching the 200 mile mark: another green flag pit stop was looming, and it was looking too early for anyone to even think about stretching the fuel for the remaining distance (no one had made better than 55 laps or so in a single stint thus far.) Stretching the fuel was certainly not an option for Greg Biffle, who gave up an impressive 3.5s lead over Stewart to come in on lap 202. Stewart himself didn’t come in for another 4 laps, and Denny Hamlin lasted a lap longer still, but even so this left them with 60 laps to run – surely too far? Kurt Busch lasted until lap 208 and seemed to be leaning off off the fuel as much as possible, so at least the blue deuce was giving the fuel gambit a go.
After the green flags had cycled through, Biffle was back in front by a long margin – almost 8s – followed by Stewart, Kahne, Gordon and Hamlin. Former threats Johnson and Montoya were still stuck a ways back but were soon competing with side-by-side with Jeff Gordon for 5th on lap 223. Montoya’s pace was still strong but he seemed deeply unhappy with the car’s handling, haranging his pit chief over the radio – who in turn yelled at him that he was still P6 and things couldn’t be all that bad!
As Biffle deservedly clinched the five bonus points for leading rhe most laps, an early leader of the race – Dale Earnhardt Jr. – was experiencing a technical emergency. The car lost power on lap 234 and crawled into the pits to retire, but not before the engine left fluid on the track and forced the sixth and final yellow of the afternoon. Suddenly, all those plans about fuel conservation went out the window – everyone was going to come in and the question was how little fuel to take and whether to go for two tyres or four.
Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne and – for the first time all day – Jimmie Johnson all opted for two tyres, putting them back out on track at the head of the field. Greg Biffle also broke with his habit of the day by going for four tyres over track position, falling back to 4th place just ahad of Hamlin who also went for four tyres.
At the restart it was a mixed result as to which tyre strategy had been the right call. Biffle used his new rubber to vault past both Kahne and Johnson; Johnson in particular was in trouble, finding the car edgy and difficult to handle as the 48 started to haemorrhage positions. But Stewart, on just two new tyres, was showing no signs of any problems at all and swiftly built up a huge lead having opted – unusually – for the outside line at the retsrat and using it to perfection.
But the fastest man on track all of a sudden was Jeff Gordon, and he was charging for the front. He passed Biffle for second on lap 254, giving him just 13 laps to eat into Stewart’s lead before the chequered flag. He kept on closing, but he wasn’t able to cut the lead fast enough and as the white flag came out it was clear that Tony Stewart had the race locked up, duly going on to take his first win of the Chase to finally get his Sprint Cup campaign up and running after a sluggish start.
Race results
FIN ST CAR DRIVER MAKE PTS/BNS LAPS STATUS 1 5 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 190/5 267 Running 2 9 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 170/0 267 Running 3 31 16 Greg Biffle Ford 175/10 267 Running 4 14 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 165/5 267 Running 5 22 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 160/5 267 Running 6 6 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge 150/0 267 Running 7 1 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 151/5 267 Running 8 13 00 David Reutimann Toyota 142/0 267 Running 9 11 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 143/5 267 Running 10 17 99 Carl Edwards Ford 139/5 267 Running 11 39 2 Kurt Busch Dodge 135/5 267 Running 12 34 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 127/0 267 Running 13 3 25 Brad Keselowski Chevrolet 129/5 267 Running 14 27 47 Marcos Ambrose Toyota 121/0 267 Running 15 36 07 Casey Mears Chevrolet 118/0 267 Running 16 21 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet 120/5 267 Running 17 15 44 A.J. Allmendinger Dodge 117/5 267 Running 18 33 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 109/0 267 Running 19 16 21 Bill Elliott Ford 106/0 267 Running 20 42 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge 108/5 267 Running 21 8 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 100/0 267 Running 22 30 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 97/0 267 Running 23 35 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 94/0 267 Running 24 38 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 91/0 267 Running 25 32 12 David Stremme Dodge 88/0 267 Running 26 28 43 Reed Sorenson Dodge 85/0 267 Running 27 10 82 Scott Speed * Toyota 82/0 267 Running 28 18 20 Joey Logano * Toyota 79/0 267 Running 29 41 96 Erik Darnell Ford 76/0 265 Running 30 20 98 Paul Menard Ford 73/0 265 Running 31 4 26 Jamie McMurray Ford 70/0 264 Running 32 43 113 Max Papis * Toyota 67/0 263 Running 33 40 34 John Andretti Chevrolet 69/5 263 Running 34 37 7 Robby Gordon Toyota 61/0 263 Running 35 25 6 David Ragan Ford 58/0 256 Running 36 2 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 60/5 232 Out of Race 37 12 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 52/0 208 Out of Race 38 29 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota 49/0 141 In Pit 39 23 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 51/5 134 Out of Race 40 24 66 Dave Blaney Toyota 43/0 28 Out of Race 41 19 09 Mike Bliss Dodge 40/0 26 In Pit 42 7 187 Joe Nemechek Toyota 37/0 25 In Pit 43 26 171 Bobby Labonte Chevrolet 34/0 6 In Pit
Sprint Cup standings
Despite what for him is a lacklustre outing, Mark Martin atctually increased his points lead from 10pts to 18pts over Jimmie Johnson. Juan Montoyaalso closed up on the lead by 14pts, and unsurprisingly Tony Stewart mades a big step forward, cutting his deficit from 106pts to just 67pts.
+/- DRIVER PTS GAP ST P W T5 T10
1 -- Mark Martin 5551 29 7 5 11 17
2 -- Jimmie Johnson 5533 -18 29 2 4 11 18
3 -- Juan Montoya 5500 -51 29 2 0 5 15
4 +1 Tony Stewart 5484 -67 29 0 4 14 20
5 -1 Kurt Busch 5460 -91 29 0 1 8 16
6 -- Denny Hamlin 5452 -99 29 0 2 11 16
7 +1 Jeff Gordon 5448 -103 29 0 1 13 20
8 +1 Greg Biffle 5437 -114 29 0 0 9 14
9 -2 Ryan Newman 5387 -164 29 1 0 5 14
10 +1 Carl Edwards 5386 -165 29 0 0 7 12
11 +1 Kasey Kahne 5361 -190 29 0 2 5 12
12 -2 Brian Vickers 5301 -250 29 6 1 4 13
======= CHASE FOR THE Sprint CUP - CURRENT CONTENDERS ========
13 +1 Kyle Busch 3522 -2029 29 1 4 8 10
14 -1 Matt Kenseth 3475 -2076 29 1 2 5 10
15 +1 David Reutimann 3417 -2134 29 2 1 5 9
16 -1 Clint Bowyer 3411 -2140 29 0 0 4 12
17 -- Marcos Ambrose 3180 -2371 29 0 0 4 7
18 -- Jeff Burton 3062 -2489 29 0 0 2 6
19 -- Casey Mears 2993 -2558 29 0 0 0 3
20 -- Joey Logano* 2921 -2630 29 0 1 1 5
21 -- Kevin Harvick 2898 -2653 29 0 0 3 5
22 -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2849 -2702 29 0 0 2 5
23 -- Jamie McMurray 2822 -2729 29 0 0 0 3
24 -- A.J. Allmendinger 2806 -2745 29 0 0 1 4
25 +1 Martin Truex Jr. 2745 -2806 29 2 0 0 3
26 -1 Elliott Sadler 2739 -2812 29 0 0 1 4
27 -- Sam Hornish Jr. 2680 -2871 29 0 0 2 7
28 -- Reed Sorenson 2588 -2963 29 0 0 0 1
29 +2 David Stremme 2532 -3019 29 0 0 0 0
30 -1 Bobby Labonte 2529 -3022 29 0 0 1 1
31 -1 David Ragan 2527 -3024 29 0 0 0 1
32 -- Paul Menard 2447 -3104 29 0 0 0 0
33 -- Robby Gordon 2228 -3323 28 0 0 1 1
34 -- Michael Waltrip 2204 -3347 27 0 0 0 1
35 -- Scott Speed* 2104 -3447 28 0 0 1 1
36 -- John Andretti 2026 -3525 27 0 0 0 0
37 -- David Gilliland 1524 -4027 25 0 0 0 0
38 -- Regan Smith 1181 -4370 14 0 0 0 0
39 -- Joe Nemechek 1099 -4452 24 0 0 0 0
40 +1 Brad Keselowski 1056 -4495 10 0 1 1 3
Jorge Lorenzo blew the MotoGP battle wide open with a triumphant, peerless win in Portugal today. And Casey Stoner celebrated his return to active duty with a strong second place firmly putting the sceptics in their place.
All of the front row – Lorenzo, Valentino Rossi and Stoner – got good starts, but as usual it was the diminutive Spaniard Dani Pedrosa starting from 4th who blitzed them all and rocketed past into the lead for the first corner, while Rossi and Stoner had to resist an early lunge from Colin Edwards from 5th.
Lorenzo was not impressed at losing the lead and immediately started to fight back, and a few corners later he negated his compatriot’s initial advantage and muscled his way past to reclaim the lead. And no wonder he was in a hurry to get it done: once past, he was clearly faster and easily pulled away from Pedrosa.
Rossi meanwhile found himself under attack from a revitalised Stoner, and predictably the Ducati was faster down the long start-finish straight at the end of lap 1. Stoner couldn’t quite pull off the overtaking move there, but he kept up the pressure through the subsequent corners and Rossi was finally forced to concede the third position.
That freed up Stoner to go after Pedrosa, who faded a little in the early laps and quickly surrendered the second position to the Aussie. Stoner was then able to pull away and make minor in-roads into Lorenzo’s lead, but by the halfway point it was clear that Lorenzo was utterly in another class and Stoner – struggling with a damaged foot rest after going over the kerbs while overtaking Pedrosa – accepted that second was as good as it was going to get. He had to keep a watchful eye on Pedrosa, who picked up form again as the race went on, but in the end it was a comfortable ride to the line for him with no sign of the extreme fatigue that has seen him sidelined for the last two months. All in all, a very successful and popular return to form for Ducati’s number one driver.
But what about Valentino Rossi? Although he dropped to fourth early on, surely this was just the usual Rossi strategy of looking after the bike and the tyres to stage a charging run through the placings as the race wore on? Umm – no. He showed no signs of the pace of the leaders, and toward the end was lapping more than 1s slower than his own team mate up front. The team could only speak vaguely of ‘handling problems’, but it was a very lacklustre and underpowered display from the championship leader by how own high standards.
Further back, Colin Edwards held on to 5th place throughout but came under pressure toward the end from Tony Elias who had a stellar race to climb from 13th on the grid to finish 6th after he out-powered Andrea Dovizioso through the final corner to nick the position on the finish line by a slender few inches.
Nicky Hayden had a frustrating race, battling and mainly losing places during the afternoon and coming to terms with the fact that Casey’s return demoted him into the Ducati second-string also-rans once again. Chris Vermeulen won a race-long duel with Randy de Puniet who had dropped like a stone from 6th on the grid, but their incredibly hard and close fight provided most of the racing entertainment in an afternoon which saw the leaders well spread out and static from quite early on.
Marco Melandri and Niccolo Canepa also had a good scrap, but that was for the last-but-one position with only Gabor Talmacsi behind them, far in the distance. Mika Kallio – back in the Pramac team after subbing for Casey in the works team – returned to reality with a literal dump when he washed out on lap 6, the weekend’s only MotoGP crash; and Alex de Angelis and Loris Capirossi also retired during the race, crawling back to the pits with electrical and engine problems respectively. Loris had been competing for 9th with James Toseland at the time, giving the departing British rider a top ten finish on a plate.
But really, it was all about Jorge Lorenzo today – which is just how Jorge likes it of course. Looking very chic in his spaceman-themed livery (a combination of a Fiat-sponsored advertising campaign combined with Lorenzo’s own idea to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo moon landings) and wasting no opportunity to “moonwalk” his way to planting his traditional Lorenzoland flag in a gravel trap on the warm-down lap, he savoured every minute of it.
In a series which can boast the top four motorcycle riders in the world at the moment, Lorenzo had just made everyone else look very, very slow.
Race results
Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 45m35.522s
2. Casey Stoner Ducati + 6.294s
3. Dani Pedrosa Honda + 9.889s
4. Valentino Rossi Yamaha + 23.428s
5. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha + 32.652s
6. Toni Elias Gresini Honda + 35.709s
7. Andrea Dovizioso Honda + 35.723s
8. Nicky Hayden Ducati + 38.830s
9. James Toseland Tech 3 Yamaha + 44.093s
10. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki + 52.863s
11. Randy de Puniet LCR Honda + 55.698s
12. Marco Melandri Hayate Kawasaki + 1m04.515s
13. Niccolo Canepa Pramac Ducati + 1m04.538s
14. Gabor Talmacsi Scot Honda + 1m27.299s
Retirements:
Loris Capirossi Suzuki 22 laps
Alex de Angelis Gresini Honda 9 laps
Mika Kallio Pramac Ducati 6 laps
MotoGP championship standings
Jorge Lorenzo’s emphatic victory – and Valentino Rossi’s odd slump in pace – means that Valentino’s previous 30pt is slashed back to 18pts with three races remaining. What had looked like a comfortable cruise to the title for Rossi is now looking alarmingly tight.
Moreover, the manner of Lorenzo’s victory this week gives him the psychological advantage and momentum going into the final races. That’s presumably why Lorenzo pushed so hard to chalk up such a massive win – to really lay down a marker and put Rossi in his place.
Of course, Rossi can still win the title just by coming second in the three remaining races even if Lorenzo won every time. But that would hardly be Rossi’s style, and with the likes of Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa around it’s clear that even 4th is a “good” result these days.
And Stoner is back at just the right time to spark the battle for 3rd place into life – only 3pts divide him from Pedrosa despite Stoner’s three-race sabbatical. It should make for a very entertaining and hard-fought secondary battle in Australia, Malaysia and Valencia as the season reaches its climax.
Pos Driver Points 1 Valentino Rossi 250 2 Jorge Lorenzo 232 3 Daniel Pedrosa 173 4 Casey Stoner 170 5 Andrea Dovizioso 142 6 Colin Edwards 134 7 Loris Capirossi 97 8 Randy de Puniet 93 9 Marco Melandri 91 10 Toni Elias 90 11 Chris Vermeulen 90 12 Alex de Angelis 88 13 James Toseland 85 14 Nicky Hayden 81 15 Mika Kallio 51 16 Niccolo Canepa 38 17 Gabor Talmacsi 14 18 Sete Gibernau 12 19 Yuki Takahashi 9 20 Aleix Espargaro 8 Pos Constructor Points 1 Yamaha 330 2 Honda 236 3 Ducati 211 4 Suzuki 126 5 Kawasaki 91
A dramatic and incident-packed qualifying saw more crashes and red flags in a single session than we’ve seen in qualifying in the entire season to date – and more post-session readjustments of the starting grid than ever before, too.
Sebastien Buemi started the proceedings off with a bang, running off into the gravel at second Degner (the same place that claimed Mark Webber in free practice) and ending up going backwards into the tyre wall. Despite that, Buemi bounced back and was not only able to get another run but actually put himself up into 5th place by the end of Q1.
It was a good session for his two surviving team mates as well – Sebastian Vettel obliterated the competition and took an easy top place ahead of an impressive Lewis Hamilton (competing for the first time at Suzuka), and Jaime Alguersuari got through to Q2 by a tenth of a second for the first time in his still-new F1 career.
Alguersuari featured in the next big incident, in Q2: he too ran wide in Degner 2, mirroring Webber’s accident by running onto the gravel and then losing all hope of handling, ploughing head-on into the tyre wall as a result as the gravel trap did little to slow him. The car was badly damaged, sufficient to bring out a red flag straight away while Alguersuari was removed from the car and the mess cleared up and the tyre wall repaired. Alguersuari was ushered away but soon popped up in the paddock to show he was unhurt.
The delay was only brief – 6 minutes – before the cars were racing again, but within three minutes the red flag was out again. This time it was Toyota not Toro Rosso, and the scene of the crime was the final corner rather than Degner: coming out of the turn onto the pit lane, Glock seemed to understeer badly, lost handling and went straight on into the tyre wall at an angle at near-full speed, burying the nose of the Toyota deep into the tyres. Although Glock quickly removed his steering wheel and threw it away angrily, it was clear that something more was amiss and the medical crews needed an extended period to remove him, with the team told he had sustained a “left leg wound” or cut from some wreckage puncturing the driver’s safety cell plus some lower back pain. Glock was duly stretched away to the medical facility and then to hospital by helicopter, but fortunately the cut – while bloody, and serious enough to rule him out of the race – was minor and Glock was back limping around the paddock on race day.
By this point, half the session had gone and only two cars of 15 had set times, with several drivers caught out twice by having the red flag abort the session while they were on flying laps. No wonder hat everyone was in a hurry to get back on track once the track went green again after a 12 minute hiatus, with both Brawns risking a single flying lap as the time ticked out – a risky strategy if there was another late-session incident.
And there was: after setting another excellent time, Buemi overcooked it on his final flying lap and ran wide out of Spoon, skating over another ineffectual gravel trap to broadside the arnco barrier with considerable force, running along the barrier making repeated barriers for an extended distance. The impact wrecked his tyres and suspension and knocked his front wing off which came to rest in the middle of the track. As Buemi limped back to the pits the yellow flags came out – as multiple cars were on their final (and in most cases only) flying lap of the day and the Q2 session clocked showed 0:00.
The Brawns came through the scene of Buemi’s crash and frankly continued at full speed without regard for the yellows – they had to, or else sacrifice any hope of getting through to Q1. But it was very much against the yellow flag rules which state that no driver should set a fastest lap in a section of the track under yellow. Still, the stewards made no immediate ruling on the situation and Nico Rosberg, Fernando Alonso and Robert Kubica were all eliminated (alongside the obviously-out Glock and Alguersuari.)
After all this drama, everyone was hoping for a return-to-normal Q3 session – but Heikki Kovalainen put paid to those hopes three minutes into the session, again hitting problems at second Degna, running into the gravel and then unable to turn into the next corner, skating off sideways to hit the tyre wall at relatively low speed. Kovalainen had been looking on or over the edge from quite early on – only getting through Q3 with a remarkably ragged flying lap – but this had been pushing it too far. Damage to car and driver appeared minimal – Kovalainen was quickly out and about – but with it happening at such as high-incident corner the marshals were in no mood to take chances.
And now back to racing, with no one having put in a flying lap with four minutes to go and only four cars involved now that Kovalainen had joined Buemi on the sidelines. Kimi Raikkonen was quickly out, but he was disadvantaged by having run out of soft tyres and needing to stage his final Q3 run on the harder compound.
Sebastian Vettel easily put in a crushing time to claim pole position, ahead of Jarno Trulli who had been flying for most of Saturday, presumably on a light fuel lap. Lewis Hamilton slotted into third place, but both Brawns – gambling on a single flying lap right at the end of the Q3 – were underwhelming, Rubens Barrichello managing fifth with his team mate and championship rival Jenson Button starting right behind him on the grid in seventh. If the race finished in that order, then not only would Barrichello cut into Button’s lead by 2pts (not nearly enough) but Vettel would remain in the title chase – mathematically, at least.
But of course, the drama wasn’t quite over yet: there was the small matter of Buemi getting penalised for dangerously limping back to the pits in a broken car, and the cars out there who set their fastest times through a yelow flag sector: Button, Barrichello, Renault driver Fernando Alonso, Force India’s Adrian Sutil all got five-place grid penalties for the transgression, as did Buemi. And just to round off the biggest-ever post-qualifying readjustment of the starting grid, we also saw Glock (if he’d been fit to race) relegated to starting from the pit lane alongside Mark Webber because of the need to use a new chassis; and Kovalainen needing a new gearbox, meaning a five-place grid drop for him, too. There was a lot of head scratching as everyone tried to figure out the order in which the penalties were applied – and the FIA itself couldn’t publish a definitive answer until Sunday, when the outcome that Barrichello ended up down only one place while Button dropped three spots raised more than a few eyebrows.
Phew. Exciting times indeed for F1’s return to a classic Grand Prix venue.
Why so many crashes? Well, the almost total loss of practice on Friday, together with the track been washed of any grip by the rain and the fact that this is an old style track with tricky corners and less generous run off areas (and some seriously ineffective gravel traps) seemed to blame.
Whatever, this was certainly a qualifying session worth getting up early for, and more than made up for the dull, event-less Friday running!
Qualifying positions (revised)
Pos Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:30.883 1:30.341 1:32.160 2. Trulli Toyota 1:31.063 1:30.737 1:32.220 3. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:30.917 1:30.627 1:32.395 4. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber 1:31.501 1:31.260 1:32.945 5. Raikkonen Ferrari 1:31.228 1:31.052 1:32.980 6. Barrichello * Brawn-Mercedes 1:31.272 1:31.055 1:32.660 7. Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:31.286 1:31.482 8. Sutil * Force India-Mercedes 1:31.386 1:31.222 1:32.466 9. Kubica BMW-Sauber 1:31.417 1:32.341 10. Button * Brawn-Mercedes 1:31.041 1:30.880 1:32.962 11. Kovalainen ** McLaren-Mercedes 1:31.499 1:31.223 12. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:31.571 13. Buemi * Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:31.196 1:31.103 14. Fisichella Ferrari 1:31.704 15. Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:31.718 16. Alonso * Renault 1:31.401 1:31.638 17. Grosjean Renault 1:32.073 18. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:32.087 19. Webber *** Red Bull-Renault 20. Glock *** Toyota 1:31.550 * Five-place grid penalty ** Five-place grid penalty for changing gearbox *** Will use new chassis so will start from the pitlane
Post-qualifying car weights
Pos Driver Weight (kg) 1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 658.5 2. Trulli Toyota 655.5 3. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 656.0 4. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 650.0 5. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 660.5 6. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber 660.0 7. Button Brawn-Mercedes 658.5 8. Raikkonen Ferrari 661.0 9. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 675.0 10. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 665.4* 11. Rosberg Williams-Toyota 684.5* 12. Alonso Renault 689.5* 13. Kubica BMW-Sauber 686.0* 14. Glock Toyota - 15. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 682.5* 16. Fisichella Ferrari 661.5* 17. Nakajima Williams-Toyota 695.7* 18. Grosjean Renault 691.8* 19. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 682.5* 20. Webber Red Bull-Renault - * declared weight
Formula 1- Baguette to test for Renault at Jerez
- N.Technology verdict not yet official
- Senna aims to make own name in F1
- Bortolotti to test for Toro Rosso
- Court rejects N.Technology's claims
- Cosworth confident on new teams
- Red Bull 'can take fight' to big teams
- Brawn: Car makers will return to F1
- Q and A with Bridgestone's Yasukawa
- Michael: Blame tracks for lack of passing
- NASCAR
- Waltrip serious about Trulli test
- Montoya: Continuity key to future
- Gordon laments Texas problems
- Martin: I can challenge Johnson
- Johnson: Points lead is still healthy
- Kurt Busch wins at Texas
- Johnson suffers early crash at Texas
- Toyota: Ganassi switch possible
- Kyle Busch wins Texas Nationwide
- Toyota still committed to NASCAR
- Indy Racing League
- Analysis: Izod deal boosts IndyCar
- Izod becomes IndyCar title sponsor
- Wheldon to stay at Panther for 2010
- Franchitti surprised to win 2009 title
- Ganassi lauds 'mature' Franchitti
- Franchitti clinches IndyCar title
- Heatwave hampers IndyCar title fight
- Franchitti beats Dixon to Miami pole
- Howard to return with Fisher's team
- Dixon stays on top in practice two
- MotoGP
- Stoner ends Valencia test on top
- Scot Racing withdraws from MotoGP
- Lorenzo tops day two at Valencia
- Rossi backs down from Ducati comments
- 2010 calendar unveiled
- Stoner tops first day of Valencia test
- Rossi threatens 2011 Ducati switch
- Elias wants quick return
- Rossi: Engine rules affected Yamaha
- Ducati: Cold tyres caused Stoner crash
- GP2
- Jakes tops the times at Ricard
- Herck sets testing pace at Paul Ricard
- Arden to test quintet in France
- Vietoris takes maiden GP2 victory
- Valsecchi wins GP2 Asia opener
- Valsecchi thrilled with maiden pole
- Valsecchi on pole in Abu Dhabi
- Valsecchi leads Abu Dhabi practice
- Arden signs duo for Abu Dhabi
- Filippi fastest again at Yas Marina
- A1GP
- A1GP cancels China and Malaysia
- A1GP cancels Surfers opener
- A1GP expects 19 cars for Surfers
- A1GP completes crucial funding deal
- A1GP confident over season five
- Doubts cast over A1GP future
- Jani injured in mountain bike accident
- A1GP season to open at Surfers
- A1GP swaps Zandvoort for Assen
- Jani gallant after losing A1GP title
