MOTORSPORT: Glory on the international horizon

Another podium for Webber, two Aussies qualify in top 10 at Indy 500
It's been an excellent weekend for Australia in international motorsport -- Mark Webber third in the Spanish Grand Prix, his second podium of the season, and Ryan Briscoe qualifying on the front row of the grid for the Indianapolis 500, with Will Power on the third row.

It doesn't pay to get ahead of yourself in motorsport, as the Marcos Ambrose camp found in NASCAR on the weekend, but in a fortnight's time we might just have something better to celebrate -- after Webber races in the Monaco GP and Briscoe and Power in the Indy 500.

On the Ambrose front, having talked up his prospects last week on the basis he was "only" seven places outside the Sprint Cup's top 12 -- who will race off later in the year in The Chase for the title -- the Ambrose camp suddenly finds him one place further back after a disastrous outing at Darlington, South Carolina, where he finished 55 laps down and was classified 33rd.

In rallying, husband-and-wife combination Simon and Sue Evans -- out of a factory drive since Toyota folded its official Australian Rally Championship campaign -- blitzed the Asia-Pacific and ARC fields at Rally Queensland in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo.

The event also saw the continuing emergence of young stars Glen Raymond, in a Toyota, and Brendan Reeves, in a Subaru, and the "arrival" of brother-and-sister crew Ryan and Rebecca Smart, who won an ARC stage in their Mitsubishi.
 
Newey reckons Red Bull car the quickest
The big deal of the weekend was the Spanish GP, in which Jenson Button scored his fourth win from five races this season and his teammate Rubens Barrichello finished second -- although the Brazilian may have been stiffed by the Brawn team on strategy.

Whatever, it was Brawn's second 1-2 of the year.

And Aussie Webber was third for the fourth podium of his career -- on the 50th anniversary of the first GP win by Australia's triple world champion Sir Jack Brabham.

This time Webber had a bit of luck, but he drove a fine race. The daring Fernando Alonso overtook him on the front straight early in the race but Webber then slipped back by the Spaniard and outbraked him into Turn One, proving (to anyone who needed the proof) that he's not afraid of mixing it with the very best.

A change of strategy saw Webber drive an inordinately long second stint -- 31 laps on the one set of tyres -- but that proved decisive in him moving ahead of Ferrari's Felipe Massa and Webber's teammate Sebastian Vettel in the closing stages.

The Barcelona race showed that the season's big improvers, Brawn GP and Red Bull, are still the pacesetters, that Ferrari has made progress but nowhere near enough -- and indeed a disconsolate Massa is already virtually writing off the year -- but that McLaren and BMW-Sauber are still a long way off the pace. McLaren's world champion Lewis Hamilton and BMW's Robert Kubica, a contender for the title last year almost to the end, were lapped in Spain.

Red Bull technical chief Adrian Newey reckoned one of the Red Bull drivers, presumably Vettel, could have won except for the KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System)-aided start by Massa's Ferrari.

"From what we can see our pace in the race was probably actually quicker than Brawn," Newey said.

"It's been slightly frustrating that in the last two races we've had a car that's probably been the quickest car in the race, but we haven't had a win out of either of them.

"So we've obviously got to learn from that."

Red Bull plans to have another upgrade of the RB5 for Monaco, although Newey admits that fitting a "double-decker" rear diffuser, thought to be Brawn's big advantage, is not easy.

"Our car's not designed for that in the first place, with the pull-rod rear suspension and some of the aerodynamics of the car, so we've been trying to work out how to do that.

"We have a solution which we believe may be able for Monaco."

Webber's new mentality: podiums every race
Here's what Mark Webber had to say after the Barcelona race:
"It's good to be back on the podium. It's interesting how the team's mentality has changed -- last year we would have been happy to score points and now we want podiums at every race!

"We're working incredibly hard and the guys' eyes are falling out of their heads with all the late nights and long hours.

"Sebastian (Vettel) had more trouble with traffic today, but the team got us both home with a lot of points, which is fantastic.

"I had a very long second stint and was much happier with the car than in the first, although the tyres had nothing left for the last 10 laps.

"We planned to be long in the second, as we knew Felipe (Massa) would be one lap longer and his drive would be the key to my race.

"We had to unlock ourselves from him and that second stint was the key.

"I was very happy with the way I drove and the car was fantastic.

"I expect Monaco will be closer than this, but the way the car performed here, on a circuit that is a tough test on a car, is a good sign for places like Turkey and Silverstone.

"Red Bull has done a great job and so have (engine supplier) Renault."
 
Ferrari: some plusses, lots of minuses
Here is what Chris Dyer, engineering co-ordinator at Ferrari, had to say:
"The most important thing this weekend is that the car performance is much improved compared to the previous races.

"Today we were capable of fighting with the best and we had a great chance of finishing on the podium.

"On the downside, we can only be disappointed about our reliability and the running of our on-track operation.

"After what happened in qualifying, Kimi (Raikkonen, 2007 world champion) had to retire because of a problem with the hydraulics used to control the accelerator.

"On Felipe's car, the front left wheel fairing broke and at both pit stops we had a refueling problem, the cause of which we have yet to find out.

"Obviously, we have a lot of work to do. We are all very unhappy for what happened and lament the fact that so much work from the team to improve car performance was not adequately rewarded in the final result."
 
A blunter view of things in red
Massa's eventual sixth place gave him his first points (three) of the season, after having finished just one point behind Lewis Hamilton in last year's championship.

Raikkonen also has just three points, and Ferrari is only seventh in the constructors' championship -- 62 points behind Brawn GP.

Massa feels that, with Button having 41 points already, he is out of contention for the title this season -- not a pleasant prospect for someone driving for the team that has won eight of the past 10 constructors' titles.

"I don't think this year. Maybe next year," Massa said. "We have so many problems to solve. First of all improve the car, second all the problems we had today in the race, all the problems we had during the season.

"Brawn have won four times in five races. I mean, how can you fight? Even if we improve the car massively, it doesn't mean they will not score points."

Asked by Reuters whether the season was as good as over for him, Massa said: "I think yes. I think so.

"But it doesn't mean that we will not fight for victory. I think if we carry on like that (Barcelona), we can fight for victories."

Ferrari team chief Stefano Domenicali said the sport's most famous team was suffering "a lot of pain".

He raised the possibility that Massa's driving style may have been a factor in him running out of fuel.

That, though, may be more a sign of Ferrari disintegrating to its ways of yesteryear -- quick to apportion blame -- than a genuine reason.

F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone made the point earlier over the weekend that Ferrari was struggling to overcome the departure of the man who was team chief throughout the Michael Schumacher era -- Frenchman Jean Todt.

He could also have thrown in the names of Ross Brawn, now heading the championship-leading team that was previously Honda (and is apparently still largely funded by the Japanese manufacturer this season) and even Nigel Stepney, the former chief mechanic run out of F1 (perhaps unfairly) in the Spygate affair of 2007.
 
Reading material on politics of F1
Several teams are threatening to quit F1 in the row with the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) over next year's proposed budget cap and FIA president Max Mosley's stated plan to allow greater technical freedoms  to teams willing to comply with it. One surprise in the debate has come from Red Bull tycoon Dietrich Mateschitz, see here.

Ferrari is among those threatening to withdraw, see Sunday Times article here. The master impresario, Bernie Ecclestone, is making soothing noises about the Scuderia and how it and F1 are "perfect partners", see here.

And Jenson Button has shown himself to be a man after our own heart, wanting the F1 points system to revert to what it was. An article about that, written before Sunday's GP, is here.

Formula 1 drivers' world championship after 5 of 17 rounds -- Jenson Button (Great Britain, Brawn-Mercedes) 41 points, Rubens Barrichello (Brazil, Brawn-Mercedes) 27, Sebastian Vettel (Germany, Red Bull-Renault) 23, Mark Webber (Australia, Red Bull-Renault) 15.5, Jarno Trulli (Italy, Toyota) 14.5, Timo Glock (Germany, Toyota) 12, Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain, McLaren-Mercedes) 9, Fernando Alonso (Spain, Renault 9), Nick Heidfeld (Germany. BMW-Sauber) 6, Nico Rosberg (Germany, Williams-Toyota) 4.5, Heikki Kovalainen (Finland, McLaren-Mercedes) 4, Felipe Massa (Brazil, Ferrari) 3, Kimi Raikkonen (Finland, Ferrari) 3, Sebastien Buemi (Switzerland, Toro Rosso-Ferrari) 3, Sebastien Bourdais (France, Toro Rosso-Ferrari) 1.
 
F1 constructors' world championship standings -- Brawn-Mercedes 68 points, Red Bull-Renault 38.5, Toyota 26.5, McLaren-Mercedes 13, Renault 9, Ferrari 6, BMW-Sauber 6, Williams-Toyota 4.5, Toro Rosso-Ferrari 4.
 

Castroneves, the US Dancing with the Stars winner last year, nudged out his Team Penske teammate, Aussie Ryan Briscoe, in Saturday's pole day qualifying at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

It was Castroneves' third pole (after 2003 and '07) at The Brickyard and he has won the race twice (in 2001 and '02).

It was the 15th pole there for team owner Roger "The Captain" Penske, who is also chasing a record 15th victory in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

Briscoe described his four-lap, 16km qualifying run as "pretty hairy" and "pretty hard work".

Another Aussie, Will Power, also driving for Team Penske, qualified ninth.

There is no American on the front row, with Scotsman Dario Franchitti -- the Indy 500 winner in 2007 -- taking third place for Team Ganassi on the outside of Briscoe.

The 20-year-old Graham Rahal was the top American qualifier, in fourth for Newman-Haas-Lanigan, while last year's winner, New Zealander Scott Dixon, was fifth for Ganassi.

Andretti Green Racing has three qualifiers in the top 10 -- Brazilian Tony Kanaan in sixth, American Marco Andretti eighth and the sport's top woman racer, Danica Patrick, 10th.

After the first 11 spots were filled on Saturday another 11 qualified for the midfield on Sunday -- including Canadian wildboy Paul Tracy, back at The Brickyard for the first time in seven years, in 13th and lanky Englishman Justin Wilson in 15th.

The remaining 11 places in the field for the May 25 race (Australian time) will be filled next weekend and there is talk of a late entry -- as a team owner only -- by Bobby Rahal, a former winner of the classic and father of young Graham.

Indianapolis 500 grid (two-third complete)
Pos.  Driver                 Team      Speed
1.  Helio Castroneves - Penske - 224.864mph
2.  Ryan Briscoe - Penske - 224.083mph
3.  Dario Franchitti - Ganassi - 224.010mph
4.  Graham Rahal - Newman/Haas/Lanigan  223.954mph
5.  Scott Dixon - Ganassi - 223.867mph
6.  Tony Kanaan - Andretti Green - 223.612mph
7.  Mario Moraes - KV - 223.331mph
8.  Marco Andretti - Andretti Green - 223.114mph
9.  Will Power - Penske - 223.028mph
10.  Danica Patrick - Andretti Green - 222.882mph
11.  Alex Lloyd - Schmidt/Ganassi - 222.622mph
12.  Raphael Matos - Luczo Dragon - 223.429mph
13.  Paul Tracy -  KV - 223.111mph
14.  Vitor Meira - Foyt - 223.054mph
15.  Justin Wilson - Coyne - 222.903mph
16.  Hideki Mutoh - Andretti Green - 222.805mph
17.  Ed Carpenter - Vision - 222.780mph
18.  Dan Wheldon -  Panther - 222.777mph
19.  AJ Foyt IV -  Foyt - 222.586mph
20.  Scott Sharp -  Panther - 222.162mph
21.  Sarah Fisher - Fisher - 222.082mph
22.  Davey Hamilton - Dreyer & Reinbold - 221.956mph 
 
Australians have good reason to be interested in this year's Indy 500 because of Briscoe and Power. That pair, as well as Castroneves and the Penske team chiefs, took part in a major interview at Indianapolis just before qualifying. A report on that interview is here.

We particularly liked the mention at the end that Roger Penske's number plate reads "Won Indy 14" and how he wants to make that "Won Indy 15" -- and that might just be with one of "our" boys!

A fuller version of the Penske interview at The Brickyard is here.

Ambrose tamed by Darlington Raceway
After contemplating The Chase last week, and no doubt again after Marcos Ambrose qualified 10th for the Southern 500 at the "Too tough to tame" Darlington Raceway, a reality check for that camp arrived there on race day.

"This track has bitten a lot of people and tonight was my turn, I guess," Ambrose said after he was classified 33rd -- 55 laps down.

He had hit the wall on lap 20, damaged the right side of his Toyota, pitted for repairs, and pulled into his garage for more repairs on lap 72. His crew got him back on the track 16 laps later so that he could salvage something from the race, won by veteran Mark Martin -- a long-time Ford driver now in a Chevrolet and having just announced he intends to return to full-time racing next season -- ahead of Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart, also in Chevrolets.

The next two Sprint Cup rounds are at Charlotte, North Carolina -- Ambrose's home town and base of most of the Sprint Cup teams.

NASCAR Sprint Cup driver standings after 11 of 36 races -- Jeff Gordon (Chevrolet) 1601 points, Tony Stewart (Chevrolet) 1572, Kurt Busch (Dodge) 1546, Jimmie Johnson (Chevrolet) 1465, Denny Hamlin (Toyota) 1445, Jeff Burton (Chevrolet) 1384, Kyle Busch (Toyota) 1380, Ryan Newman (Chevrolet) 1363, Greg Biffle (Ford) 1345, Matt Kenseth (Ford) 1326. Australia's Marcos Ambrose (Toyota) is 20th on 1131 points.
 
Evans' pick of rally bunch, other stars emerging
The stunning Rally Queensland victory by Simon and Sue Evans in their privateer Mitsubishi Evo included winning all but one of the 14 stages.

And it was a flat tyre that prevented them winning the other stage.

Multiple Australian and Asia-Pacific champion Cody Crocker and co-driver Ben Atkinson won that stage in their Singapore-entered Subaru.

While it was understandable from Crocker's point of view, it was nonetheless disappointing to hear Crocker say he only drove as heard as he needed at the weekend to win maximum Asia-Pacific championship points, knowing that Evans is not registered for it.

That's a sad commentary on the quality of competition in the Asia-Pacific championship -- and it's been said for years.

The Indian MRF Tyres team's Japanese driver Katsu Taguchi inherited second-place points in his Mitsubishi after finishing third on times, and Crocker's teammates Emma Gilmour of New Zealand and Australian Rhiannon Symth gained third-place points for a reportedly outstanding drive to fourth. 

While Evans had the glory of convincingly beating the APRC drivers from Japan, China, India, New Zealand, Singapore and New Caledonia, he bagged maximum points in the ARC over the nominal winner of that section, young Victorian Glen Raymond in a Toyota. 

Raymond beat Toyota stalwart and four-time Australian champion Neal Bates by just 1 second on the last stage.

Brendan Reeves, the 20-year-old Victorian rising star (and brother of Rhiannon Smyth), won the Pirelli Star Driver competition in his ex-Les Walkden Subaru with new co-driver Glen Weston alongside him.

Reeves now progresses to a shootout with up to 13 other young drivers at the new Rally Australia in northern NSW in September, from which he could win a fully-supported World Rally Championship campaign in 2010. 

Images: Getty Images for redbullracing.com