Ferrari sinks at Monaco
Schumacher forced to rear-of-grid start for qualifying spoilMotor racing round-up...
F1
Renault's Fernando Alonso strengthened his grip on the 2006 Formula One World Drivers' Championship after winning his first-ever Monaco Grand Prix. Despite early pressure from McLaren driver Kimi Raikkonen and Mark Webber in the Williams, the Spaniard always seemed in control.
The race begun under a cloud of controversy after stewards relegated polesitter Michael Schumacher to the rear of the grid claiming that the seven-time world champion had deliberately stopped on the track after running wide, to prevent rivals from setting a faster time.
Both Schumacher and his Ferrari team vehemently denied the charges. "Whatever you do in certain moments, your enemies believe one thing and the people who support you believe another," said Schumacher in the post-qualifying media conference.
With Alonso on pole it was left to Raikkonen and Webber to provide the only challenge and both kept well in touch with the Renault until engine failures put them both out of the race. This left Alonso well in front to take a comfortable win from McLaren Mercedes driver Juan Pablo Montoya and David Coulthard who gave the new Red Bull team its first podium.
Schumacher who had started the race from pitlane recovered to finish in fifth, just behind the Honda of former teammate Rubens Barrichello.
IRL
In the second-closest finish in the 90-year history of the event, Sam Hornish Jr won his first Indianapolis 500 with a dramatic last lap move on rookie sensation and crowd favourite Marco Andretti. Andretti's father Michael, who came out of retirement to race with his son, finished a close third.
After the race Hornish, whose previous best finish at the Brickyard was 14th, thanked God for the victory. "I have to thank God for giving me this talent," he said. "It's not just that I can drive fast, but I stayed with it and never gave up. It's a great feeling."
Macrow driving the Betta Electrical/Howard Racing Falcon BA won two of the three races to edge out fellow Falcon driver Luke Youlden and Nathan Pretty in a Commodore. Australian Motor Racing Series regular Terry Whyhoon made the most of his first V8 Supercar appearance of the year by winning the day's second race.
Part-time drivers did well over the weekend, Youlden, who has been mainly racing in New Zealand returned to the series to replace regular Dick Johnson Racing driver Grant Denyer who was in Melbourne to host his new Sunday night variety series, "It Takes Two" on the Seven Network.
Holt scored the maximum 93 points ahead of teammate Barry Morcom who was runner-up in both races. Peter Floyd in a Holden HSV GTS was third.
Lake Mountain Sprint
Tasmanian duo, Jason and John White in a Lamborghini Gallardo won last Sunday's inaugural Lake Mountain Sprint.
Second outright was touring car legend, Peter Brock, alongside Mick Hone in a Daytona Coupe ahead of Paul Blackie and Mike Stoneman in a Porsche 911 Turbo.
The classic category for pre-1981 machines was won by Mark Bryant and Michael Pinder in a 1969 Chev Camaro. Second outright went to Michael Arundel and David Connolly in a 1963 Ford Cortina while John Keating and Joanna Price were third in their 1975 Alfa Romeo Spider.
The Team MINI 2006 MINI Cooper JCW driven by Tim Leahey and Paul Flintoft finished sixth outright with a total time of 40:52.08. The Spencer Lowndes and Chris Randall Team MINI Cooper finished 12th while the CarPoint Cooper driven by Mike Sinclair and navigator Justin Hunt finished 16th outright.
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