MOTORSPORT: Aussies double in USA

Meantime, Ryan Briscoe had to settle for second place -- for the sixth time this season -- as New Zealander Scott Dixon won the IndyCar round at Mid-Ohio and retook the series lead from the Sydneysider. And David Brabham and his American teammate Scott Sharp were second in the American Le Mans Series at Mid-Ohio, but retain a narrow lead in that championship.

Ambrose's victory at the weekend was his first outing this year in NASCAR's second-tier Nationwide series, at the famous Watkins Glen road course in upstate New York. The premier series Sprint Cup round that was to have been held there this morning (Monday), Australian time (and for which Ambrose qualified fourth), was postponed because of rain until Tuesday morning our time.

Aussie wins in Indy Lights
Particularly meritorious was the victory of Davison in the Indy Lights round at Mid-Ohio. There the cousin of V8 Supercar stars Will and Alex led all 40 laps after having qualified on pole position and been quickest throughout practice.

Last year Davison scored a shock win at Mid-Ohio as New Zealander Jonny Reid darted into the pits on the back straight on the last year.

This time Davison won fair and square by 4.04 seconds from Canadian James Hinchcliffe and American J R Hildebrand, who have each represented their countries in the A1 GP series (Hildebrand has also been touted as a driver for the new US F1 team).

Driving for Vision Racing -- founded by former Indianapolis Motor Speedway chief Tony George, and whose Indy Lights operation is run by George's stepdaughter and Davison's girlfriend, Lauren -- the Aussie  now has four top-five finishes in the past five races.

He has jumped three places to be third in the championship, behind Hildebrand and Colombian Sebastian Saavedra. Hildebrand has 420 points, Saavedra 357, Davison 341, New Zealander Wade Cunningham 336, and Hinchcliffe 333.

Meanwhile, Ambrose's Nationwide victory came after he outsmarted NASCAR superstar (and Nationwide series leader), Kyle Busch.

It was brilliant work by Ambrose as he muscled past Busch, forcing the American to run wide and briefly drop a place before recovering to finish second.

"Last year we won on fuel mileage, this one we eared," said Ambrose, who led 26 of the 82 laps.

The report on Ambrose's Ambrose's own website doesn't tell the full story. Indeed, an Associated Press report states Busch believed Ambrose's move unfair and that he was "cheap-shotted". As Busch ought to know as well as anyone in NASCAR, winners are grinners and losers can please themselves.

On top of his full Sprint Cup schedule, Ambrose is also set to contest the Nationwide round at the end of the month in Montreal, where he has famously clashed with Robby Gordon in the past.

Ambrose's JTG Daugherty Racing team says it is close to renewing its technical alliance with Michael Waltrip Racing.

"We will have the whole technical alliance," JTG Daugherty co-owner Tad Geschickter says. "We will add three new sponsors over the next four weeks... We've pulled all the (money) together and will try to go for The Chase (the top 12 title contenders in The Sprint Cup) next year."

More happy hunting at Mid-Ohio
In other US racing news, the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) round at Mid-Ohio saw French-born Brazilian Gil de Ferran (one of the most delightful characters this author has met in motorsport and who will quit driving at the end of this season, but not team ownership) won his fourth straight event with French teammate, Simon Pagenaud, dragging them up to within nine points of David Brabham and Scott Sharp in the season standings. Both pairings are racing (Honda) Acuras.

New Zealander Scott Dixon became the most successful driver in Indy Racing League history with his 20th victory in the major open-wheeler race of the Mid-Ohio double-header meeting. It was a commanding victory, by more than half a minute, after Briton Justin Wilson lost ground in the pits.

Aussie Ryan Briscoe collected another second place for Team Penske ahead of Dixon's Ganassi teammate, Dario Franchitti, in third. Dixon now leads the series with 460 points, three clear of Briscoe with Franchitti another 17 points back.

Mid-Ohio was Dixon's fourth win this season and, amazingly for someone from road racing origins, just the second time he has taken the chequered flag on a road course - and his first since the race at Edmonton, Canada, last season.

While Aussie Ryan Briscoe started from pole position at Mid-Ohio and led twice for a total of six laps, he couldn't threaten Dixon in the second half of the race. However, he still fancies his championship chances because of Team Penske's strong history in the final four races of the season: Infineon Raceway in California on August 23; Chicagoland Speedway on August 29; Japan's Twin-Ring Motegi on September 19; and the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida on October 10.

The mechanics of a Ferrari-Alonso deal
Two weeks now until Michael Schumacher makes his Formula 1 return with Ferrari at the European Grand Prix, but speculation will not go away that Fernando Alonso is in line to join the Scuderia.

A report on Joe Saward's grandprix.com explains how it is all tied in with sponsorship from Spanish bank Grupo Santander, which seemingly will have to buy space on the car from Marlboro parent Philip Morris International -- which apparently (still) owns the entire advertising space on the Ferraris.

As we've mentioned here previously, Saward says an official announcement of a deal is expected at next month's Italian Grand Prix.

Meanwhile, Schumacher will wear a revised Schuberth helmet at Valencia in the wake of Felipe Massa's horrible accident at the Hungarian GP. Schuberth reportedly has added a titanium disc to the visor mounting points -- said to be twice as strong as the plastic there previously.

RSVP Max
Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) president Max Mosley is understood to have written to the seven prospective F1 teams on its "reserve list" effectively inviting them to apply for the 13th "franchise" next season.

BMW, which announced on July 29 it will pull out of F1 at the end of this year, did not find a buyer for its 80 per cent stake in the BMW-Sauber team by last week's deadline and has not signed the sport's new Concorde Agreement. Thus Swiss entrepreneur Peter Sauber, who created the team in 1993 and retained 20 per cent when BMW imade its takeover n 2005, is devastated by the turn of events -- and rightfully so.

Sauber said he had tried to rescue the team to keep it viable for next year, "however the negotiations with BMW have failed because the demands were simply far too high for me.

"Consequently, I have been unable to sign the Concorde Agreement, which guarantees payments worth millions and would have secured the future of the team," Sauber said.

"I am incredibly disappointed and disconsolate. For me this is the bitterest day in my 40-year career in motorsport. It is also a devastating setback for the team.

"Other solutions must now be sought. The responsibility for that lies in the hands of BMW. Needless to say, I am willing to help, as before."

Sauber is a gentleman among the piranhas.

Three new teams had already been accepted for next season -- US F1, Manor and Campos -- while Spanish-based Epsilon Euskadi, headed by former Benetton/Renault engineer Joan Vildeprat, has signaled its intention to reapply.

David Richards' Prodrive outfit is believed to still be interested if it finds the conditions be right to enter F1. Others on the "reserve list" are Lola, March, a syndicate trying to use the Brabham name, Lotus and Team Superfund.

Vote #1 Jean
October's FIA presidential election is drawing nearer and Mosley's preferred successor, Jean Todt, has unveiled his manifesto -- which includes a commissioner for each of the major forms of motorsport.

Todt's platform is outlined in an

Motorsport snippets
F1 can be very lucrative even for the most pedestrian drivers. Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais, tipped out by Toro Rosso after 18 months, is believed to be getting paid until the end of this season with US$2.1 million damages on top, according to grandprix.com

Zytek Automotive has been revealed as the company behind the Kinetic Energy Recovery System on the McLaren-Mercedes in which Lewis Hamilton scored the first GP victory, in Hungary, by a KERS-equipped car. Zytek supplied the first fully electronic engine control system in F1 in the 1980s.

With the revived Rally Australia now less than a month away, the event's chairman, Alan Evans, has given a clue to how Australia's out-of-work WRC driver Chris Atkinson may get a start in the September 3-6 event.

Evans has been quoted in the Northern NSW media saying that multiple Australian champion Neal Bates may allow Atkinson to drive one of his Toyotas.

"We'll know for sure in a week or two, but I understand the cars have met all the technical standards," Evans said.

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