MOTORSPORT: Atkinson awesome in Mexico

It is 28-year-old Subaru factory team driver Atkinson's second podium this season -- the first was his third place in the Monte Carlo Rally -- and moves him up to fourth in the drivers' championship.

He is seven points behind the Finnish leader Mikko Hirvonen, in a Ford Focus, and five ahead of his Subaru teammate, Norwegian former world champion Petter Solberg, whose Impreza broke a front left driveshaft in Mexico.

"It's an awesome result!" said Atkinson, whose Impreza WRX finished one minute 6.1 seconds behind Citroen superstar Loeb. It's a great start to the year for me and also for the team, and I hope we can keep building on this.

"We're taking good steps forward and the car felt really good this weekend. We did some work on the dampers after Sweden and that was a big help - they were good here in the heat, which is always a tough test.

"Now we look forward to Argentina and to keep this performance going. The sooner I can win a rally the better."

Early in the Mexican event Atkinson struggled with an intercom problem that prevented him hearing much of his Belgian co-driver Stephane Prevot's pace notes.

He also hit a large rock flat out on stage five but escaped serious damage.

In his previous three years in the WRC Atkinson's best finish was third at Rally Japan in 2005.

Loeb's 38th WRC victory has taken him to within a point of leader Hirvonen, who finished fourth in Mexico.

Ford's other Finn, 22-year-old Jari-Matti Latvala, held off Hirvonen for third place.

Hirvonen lost three minutes on Saturday when his Focus struck a rock and suffered two tyre punctures.

Latvala, who at the previous round in Sweden became the WRC's youngest winner, had led on the first day in Mexico but had problems with the turbo on his engine.

After three rounds, Hirvonen has 21 points, Loeb 20, Latvala 16 and Atkinson 14.

Loeb has now won three years in a row in Mexico.

He won this year's opener in Monte Carlo but crashed out in Sweden.

"This rally has not been so easy and I had a big battle with Jari-Matti, but we got the result we came for finally, so I'm happy about that," Loeb said after his latest Mexican triumph.

"Latvala and the Ford have been very strong though. I remember last year we were a bit faster here than the Ford, but now we are very similar, so I hope we will not be behind on the future gravel rallies."

WRC Driver Standings after three rounds - M Hirvonen 21 points, S Loeb 20, J-M Latvala 16, C Atkinson 14, G Galli 9, P Solberg 9, F Duval 5, H Solberg 4.

WRC manufacturer standings - BP Ford 37 points, Citroen 25, Subaru 25, Stobart VK M-Sport Ford 19, Munchi's Ford 6, Suzuki 5.

However, a brief item yesterday in a Melbourne newspaper, The Sunday Age, described the event as "a complete disaster" for telecaster Channel 7.

"The Clipsal 500 -- the second-most popular meeting of the year behind Bathurst -- was trounced in the ratings, with the network recording a 20 per cent reduction in viewers from the same event last year," wrote Sunday Age columnist Craig Hutchison.

"Admittedly, the race clashed with the Australia v India cricket match at the Sydney Cricket Ground -- but it's a reality check for the V8s."

Now it should be pointed out that Hutchison is a former 7 reporter who is now a reporter/presenter on 9, so there may have been a bit of network politics in his item.

We have taken a quick look ourselves at 7's weekly ratings reports, which certainly have not been crowing about the Clipsal 500 figures.

There is mention of 497,000 viewers for the V8s on Saturday, February 23, which 7 said "more than matches the combined audiences of 9 and 10 across its broadcast timeslot (56% audience share) and ranks in the top 10 programs for 16-39s, 18-49s, and 25-54s."

It appears the Supercars were the number 9 program for that day among viewers 16-39 and 29-54 and number 10 among those 18-49.

From our cursory look at the 7 ratings reports, we could not find any mention of how the V8s did on Sunday, February 24 -- which we take it meant they did not rank among the top 10 programs for any age group.

If the 497,000 from the Saturday is the average audience for the five mainland capitals that day, by our reckoning that is 43,000 down on the first day of the previous Clipsal 500 (Saturday, March 3, 2007) -- for which we have a record of 7 having claimed an average audience in those five cities of 540,000, which it said at the time was 34 per cent better than the 10 network's 2006 figure.

Our files also show that 7 claimed an average audience for those five capitals of 710,000 for Sunday, March 4, 2007, so we'd be interested to see the 2008 figure.

Dennis has had more than his share of headaches in recent times -- the $100 million fine on McLaren and loss of a constructors' world title in the Spygate scandal, recent searches of the McLaren factory and the homes of five executives, including Dennis, and a split from his wife that London newspapers speculate could cost him more than ex-Beatle Sir Paul McCartney faces in his divorce.

On top of all of that, speculation is at fever pitch in Britain that Dennis will be forced to stand aside as the boss of the McLaren F1 operation.

While that is clearly not his preferred course, and engine partner and major shareholder Mercedes-Benz, billionaire Mansour Ojjeh and Bahrain investors as well as major sponsor Vodafone are all supposedly still supportive of him, the talk just won't go away.

There is a sense that, while Dennis would clearly want to depart on his own terms, what is perceived as Federation Internationale de l'Automobile president Max Mosley's campaign to destroy Dennis will untimately claim him in the most humiliating way and that he will be left with little option but to accept that only his exit will ease the pressures on McLaren.

While Dennis has made many enemies in F1, it would be a travesty to see someone who has contributed so much to the sport, and made the team that carries the name of an Antipodean legend, Bruce McLaren, such a powerhouse and benchmark in the sport for so long, forced into exile in that manner.

Meanwhile, Super Aguri is still fighting for its survival, which appears to hinge very much on Honda support or approval of any white-knight investors.

"The cancellation (from the final F1 tests) was because some parts hadn't arrived in time," Super Aguri's co-owner Fumio Akita said.

"We are usually scrambling to be ready for the start of the season.
"It was very tight last year and this year is following the same pattern. But we will be on the grid for Melbourne. We're not worried at all about missing out."

Prost is highly critical of modern F1, and even the banning of traction control this year is not enough for the man known as The Professor.

"There are a lot of things I do not like in modern F1," Prost told London's Daily Mail newspaper.

"We're talking too much about money, politics and technology. It could be so much better."

Prost is particularly saddened that the role of the driver has been so much diminished in F1 over the years.

He said science had made it too comfortable for anyone behind the wheel of a GP car now.

"Drivers were more important in my time because you had less technology to help you drive the car," he said.

"Now drivers drive as fast as possible from the first lap to the end. It's more speed, less brains, less tactics, less strategy and much less work together between a driver and the engineers -- and that is not the F1 I like.

"The car and the team were always more important than the driver, but at least one thing was sure when I was racing -- you knew who the best drivers were. Now that is not so clear.

"You might pull anyone from the top two-thirds of the grid and they could win if they were in the right car. That wasn't how it was.

"This is why a new driver with very little experience can come in to F1 and drive very quickly. It's just like a PlayStation.

"Look at Lewis Hamilton. Is he super guy? Is he average? It's difficult to judge because it's easy to drive these cars."

However, Prost saw Hamilton as potentially F1's saviour and thought the youngster could win the world title in his second season after coming so close in his debut year.

"I think Lewis will be the top guy," Prost said.

"It would have been fantastic to win in his first year, but if he has a good car I don't think it should be a problem. We'll have to see how he handles the extra pressure, but he's more experienced now.

"His best chance hasn't gone. I lost the championship in 1981, '82, '83 by three points, two points and half a point - and I said to myself I might never win. But then I won four titles. He has plenty of time."

Prost was scathing about the Spygate scandal that has involved two of his old teams, McLaren and Ferrari.

"‘When you are on the outside as a fan and you hear there is $100 million penalty on an F1 team, it just isn't decent," he said.

"Sometimes people cannot understand why interest in F1 is going down in Europe -- well, this decision is why. It isn't good for the sport."

The most successful driver in F1 history does not make Henry's top 10.

Indeed, that man, seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, comes in behind his greatest rival, Mika Hakkinen, who won just two world titles.

One driver in the top 20 never won a GP, New Zealander Chris Amon, yet ranks ahead of Australia's two world champions, Sir Jack Brabham and Alan Jones, as well as his countrymen Denny Hulme, a world champion, and Bruce McLaren, a four-time GP winner.

Henry's No. 1 never won the world title.

Indeed, his top two are British.

Yet just the other day we came across a quote from Henry in a book, Grand Prix People, in which he said: "We're all biased in our own ways, but I think the British press are more objective than the Italians and the French. The Germans are alright, but the Italians and the French, in my view, are so prejudiced towards French and Italian drivers that it is a joke."

Oh, and for the record, the top three drivers in last year's world championship rank 29, 30 and 32 with Henry.

Here's his list of the top 100 F1 drivers of all time:

100. Brian Redman; 99. Jochen Mass; 98. Stefan Johansson; 97 Piers Courage; 96. Trevor Taylor; 95. Eugenio Castellotti; 94. Jacques Laffite; 93. Stuart Lewis-Evans; 92. Wolfgang Von Trips; 91. Ralf Schumacher.

90. Roy Salvadori; 89. Mike Hailwood; 88. Raymond Sommer; 87. Luigi Musso; 86. John Watson; 85. Jarno Trulli; 84. Innes Ireland; 83. Tom Pryce; 82. Tony Brise; 81 René Arnoux.

80. Thierry Boutsen; 79. Johnny Servoz-Gavin; 78. Jean-Pierre Beltoise; 77. Richie Ginther; 76. Eddie Irvine; 75. Michele Alboreto; 74. Bruce McLaren; 73. Peter Collins; 72. Patrick Depailler; 71. Dick Seaman.

70. Derek Warwick; 69. Martin Brundle; 68. Rubens Barrichello; 67. Jenson Button; 66. Patrick Tambay; 65. Riccardo Patrese; 64. Lorenzo Bandini; 63. Elio de Angelis; 62. Stefan Bellof; 61. Froilan Gonzalez.

60. Felipe Massa; 59. David Coulthard; 58. Jo Siffert; 57. Peter Revson; 56. Louis Chiron; 55. Carlos Pace; 54. Juan-Pablo Montoya; 53. Jean Alesi; 52. Denny Hulme; 51. Clay Regazzoni.

50. Ricardo Rodriguez; 49. Jacques Villeneuve; 48. Jean Behra; 47. Pedro Rodriguez; 46. Gerhard Berger; 45. François Cevert; 44. Graham Hill; 43. Jean-Pierre Wimille; 42. Jody Scheckter; 41. Giuseppe Farina.

40. Mike Hawthorn; 39. Damon Hill; 38. Phil Hill; 37. James Hunt; 36. Alan Jones; 35. Jacky Ickx; 34. Didier Pironi; 33. Rudolf Caracciola; 32. Fernando Alonso; 31. Nigel Mansell.

30. Lewis Hamilton; 29. Kimi Raikkonen; 28. Keke Rosberg; 27. Dan Gurney; 26. Hermann Lang; 25. Ronnie Peterson; 24. John Surtees; 23. Guy Moll; 22. Nelson Piquet; 21. Jochen Rindt.

20. Niki Lauda; 19. Mario Andretti; 18. Jack Brabham; 17. Emerson Fittipaldi; 16. Achille Varzi; 15. Carlos Reutemann; 14. Tony Brooks; 13. Chris Amon; 12. Gilles Villeneuve; 11. Michael Schumacher.

10. Mika Hakkinen; 9. Tazio Nuvolari; 8. Jackie Stewart; 7. Bernd Rosemeyer; 6. Juan-Manuel Fangio; 5. Alberto Ascari; 4. Alain Prost; 3. Ayrton Senna; 2. Jim Clark; 1. Stirling Moss.

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