MOTORSPORT: A high and a low for Aussie stars

Monday motorsport report
September 21, 2009

A battle for Briscoe
Contrasting fortunes for two leading Australian race drivers, Ryan Briscoe and Daniel Ricciardo, at the weekend.

We concentrate on this pair in an abbreviated report today (ahead of the Renault Formula One controversy hearing in Paris tonight, on which we will report tomorrow) in the context that one came tantalisingly close to becoming a Grand Prix driver while the other now is headed in that direction.

Since his F1 hopes evaporated in early 2005, courtesy of the politics and mismanagement in Toyota's F1 team after he had been its test and reserve driver, Briscoe has raced in America. He survived a massive crash in Chicago at the end of his first IndyCar season, weathered the tough times when it seemed he may not score another full-time drive and earned a chance with the mighty Team Penske -- initially in sportscars and the past two years back in IndyCar. Among Briscoe's achievements with that revered outfit has been winning the final Indy race on the Gold Coast late last year.

This year Briscoe has been a contender for the IndyCar title all season, and there was even a chance he might wrap it up at Japan's Motegi oval at the weekend. But it all went horribly wrong there for the Sydneysider.

Exiting the pits after a stop, Briscoe somehow skewed into a cone and hit the wall and had to pit again for extensive repairs that cost him 12 laps, any chance of victory and the series lead.

But it's not all over yet, with Briscoe now going to the final round at Homestead-Miami on October 10 eight points behind Motegi winner Scott Dixon, the Brisbane-born New Zealander who is the reigning IndyCar champion.

Sandwiched between the pair is Dario Franchitti, the Ganassi teammate of Dixon and who is three points ahead of Briscoe.

It's an uphill battle again for Briscoe, but an enthralling finish to what has been an enthralling season, despite a couple of dud races that prompted quick changes to enliven the competition.

Two great teams, Ganassi and Penske, and three terrific drivers (Dixon, Franchitti and Briscoe) are fighting out a title, on the other side of the world and largely out of view to Australians.

A breeze for Ricciardo
While it was hard luck for Briscoe in Japan at the weekend, 20-year-old Daniel Ricciardo from Perth, having already clinched the British Formula Three Championship in Portugal the previous weekend, confirmed his credentials for an F1 opportunity with his seventh win of the year at Brands Hatch in the UK.

Ricciardo took pole position for both races at Brands and blitzed the opposition in the first of those races.

He raced away from his rivals at up to a second a lap in his Volkswagen-powered Dallara car, taking the chequered flag more than 15.5 seconds ahead of his Carlin Motorsport teammate, Max Chilton.

The Australian shattered the lap record by 0.6seconds as he romped to the biggest victory seen in the British F3 series this season. UK website Autosport reported the young Aussie: "crushed the opposition with blistering speed".

Ricciardo ended the championship with 275 points to the 188 of series runner-up, Austrian Walter Grubmuller, and the 178 of Dutchman Renger van der Zande, who skipped the final round after Ricciardo sealed the title in Portugal.

News on Ricciardo's next step towards F1 could come within weeks, with the options appearing to be GP2 (the support categories at European rounds of the F1 world championship); World Series by Renault, of which he has already had one taste with another to come in the next few weeks; or perhaps another year of F3 in the Euroseries.

Ricciardo is one of eight youngsters in Red Bull's development program to discover new F1 talent -- and which has already produced three-times GP winner Sebastian Vettel, Sebastien Buemi and most recently Jaime Alguersuari, last year's British F3 champion.

Now among the illustrious list of British F3 champions that includes Ayrton Senna, Rubens Barrichello, Mika Hakkinen, Emerson Fittipaldi, Nelson Piquet Senior, Jackie Stewart and Jim Clark, Ricciardo is eyeing an F1 opportunity. He is likely get an F1 test later this year, but a GP start may still be a year or two away.

The Perth star's seven wins this season are two more than Alguersuari claimed on the way to last year's British F3 title. Three other Australians have won that title -- Tim Schenken in 1968, Dave Walker in 1970 and '71, and David Brabham in 1989.

Brabham, winner of this year's Le Mans 24-hour sportscar classic and youngest son of Australia's triple F1 world champion Sir Jack Brabham, dropped in at Brands Hatch to congratulate Ricciardo on his success.

"David Brabham wished me all the best and congratulated me on the title win. It's great to see him here supporting us young kids," Ricciardo said.

Of his seventh win of the year, Ricciardo said: "From the start I just got away and focused on my job and didn't have to worry once about what was going on behind me."

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