MOTORSPORT: World's best race driver

NASCAR's Kyle Busch gets our vote as No. 1
Here we are almost half way through 2008, with the world's major motor racing championship near their halfway marks, and it's got us wondering about just who is the best driver in the world today.

Here are five names to consider:
Kimi Raikkonen
Lewis Hamilton
Fernando Alonso
Sebastien Loeb
Kyle Busch

These exercises generally spark debate, even strong arguments, and straight away there will be people who will point out that we haven't included Felipe Massa, now leading the Formula 1 world championship after winning the French Grand Prix, or Robert Kubica, who at 23 won the Canadian GP two weeks ago, led the world championship until Massa overtook him and has been the revelation of the F1 season.

Others might even argue for Nico Rosberg, prematurely we would say, and we expect New Zealanders would push Indianapolis 500 winner and IndyCar series leader Scott Dixon's barrow, but we don't think he's quite at the top of the tree.

Strong cases can be made for each of the F1 drivers and the rally driver on our list.

Raikkonen is the reigning F1 world champion and it could legitimately be claimed is the quickest driver in F1 and, if not for an exhaust problem, would have won the French GP rather than having to surrender the lead to Ferrari teammate Massa and settle for second place.

Hamilton is Hamilton. He has been on the mark from the instant he arrived in F1, almost won the world title in his debut season, has led the championship again this year and gives all the appearances of qualifying in the league of GP racing's greatest.

Alonso is a dual world champion, and they were titles won against the mighty Michael Schumacher. He doesn't have the machinery at the minute to win GPs, but were he still at McLaren rather than Renault he surely would be right in contention for another crown.

Loeb has been so consistently good for so long now in the world rally championship that he must come into any calculations of who is the best driver at the minute.

But the man we believe can lay the strongest claim to being the very best racing driver in the world right now is Busch.

The 23-year-old American won today on the Infineon Raceway road course at Sonoma, California -- his fifth victory in 15 rounds so far in this season's NASCAR Sprint Cup.

NASCAR is the most competitive four-wheel racing in the world and Busch has been simply sensational in it this year.

Having been released by the premier NASCAR team of recent times, Hendrick Motorsports fielding Chevrolets, to make way for Dale Earnhardt Junior, Busch went across to Joe Gibbs Racing, which is representing NASCAR newcomer Toyota.

For Busch to win four oval-track races already this season has been one thing, but to be just as emphatic in winning at one of NASCAR's few road course rounds was astonishing.

American stock car racing's most accomplished road racer, Jeff Gordon, a five-time winner at Sonoma, came in third, with David Gilliland between him and Busch (and Australian rookie Marcos Ambrose was in the fray earlier... more of that in a moment).

Busch has increased his lead in the Sprint Cup and, all being well, is on his way to the title.

His older brother, Kurt, won the Cup in 2004.

Kyle Busch has progressed from 20th in the series in 2005, to 10th in 2006, fifth in 2007 -- and now he is undoubtedly the pacesetter and man to beat.

He's brash -- what else would you expect of a driver from Las Vegas? -- but on racetracks, of whatever kind as he has now shown, he is something else.

Even though Busch will do an F1 test for Toyota -- for publicity purposes -- later this year, don't try telling us he has to go to GP racing to prove that he is the best in the world.

If that's your line, try sending a few F1 drivers to NASCAR and see how they fare.

We are seeing already that top open-wheeler drivers -- particularly Juan Pablo Montoya, even though he won at Sonoma last year -- are having great difficulty cutting the mustard in NASCAR.

There might never be conclusive proof about any one driver in the debate over who is best at any particular time, but to us Kyle Busch in 2008 looks like the definitive racer.

Now that doesn't mean that Ambrose is the second best driver in the world ... he's got a lot more to prove yet before he can come into that calculation.

A gearbox failure -- after a knock from rival Elliott Sadler as he was changing down into first gear for a corner -- put Ambrose's Ford Fusion out on lap 84 of the 110-lap Sonoma race.

But he was delighted with his debut and made a huge impression on the NASCAR world.

After qualifying in California he flew to Milwaukee for the race in the second tier Nationwide Series in which he drives full-time, coming from the back of the field there -- because he had skipped qualifying -- to finish 16th. (Reigning Nationwide champion Carl Edwards scored his first win of this year's series ahead of teenager sensation Joey Logano).

Then it was back to California for Ambrose (and Edwards).

Next weekend Ambrose will be doing "double duty" again, but this time both his races will be at the same track -- New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

He has a heavy schedule coming up, combining another seven races in the Wood Brothers Fusion and four with the JTG team for which he drives in the Nationwide Series with his regular commitments in that secondary championship.

While there is another road race at the famous Watkins Glen circuit on the US east coast in August, the other Sprint Cup starts will be on ovals -- and that is where Ambrose needs to show his wares.

He has to prove to the NASCAR community that he can be more than a road race "ring-in" in the premier series. Given the right equipment, we don't doubt he can do it.

And we must say that the Wood Brothers Fusion at Sonoma proved to be much better than we had anticipated, based on the team's decline over recent years, although we always thought Ambrose would acquit himself well if the car was anywhere near competitive.

Ambrose got Juan Pablo Montoya fuming after clipping the rear of the Colombian's Chip Ganassi Dodge, sending him into a half-spin as Ambrose assumed second place.

In Ambrose's defence, Montoya cut across him sharply in a corner and the Aussie could hardly be blamed for the contact.

At the restart with 33 laps to go, Ambrose was right behind leader Busch, only to be jumped by Jamie McMurray, dropping him to third.

David Gilliland and Tony Stewart also got past Ambrose, putting him fifth.

Then, as Ambrose plotted a late charge, the hit from Sadler put him out (while Sadler finished 19th, Montoya sixth, and Ambrose was classified 42nd and second last, one spot behind the man who had threatened pre-race to destroy his car, Boris Said).

"As Sadler hit me I was just down-changing into first gear," Ambrose said. "I'm not sure exactly what broke it, but the impact was at just the wrong time and enough to break a gear.

"I heard it go 'crunch, crunch'. It put a hole in the gearbox casing and we were spraying oil everywhere.

"I didn't want to oil the track and make a mess so I just came in and parked it. It's a sad end to a great day.

"We didn't get to run right to the end but they certainly knew we were there and we showed what we're capable of in Cup.

"I would never have dreamt that we would've run this well -- here I am passing Jeff Gordon and racing with Earnhardt -- it's just fantastic.

"It's what I dreamed about, dreamed what it would be like, and it's certainly like that. It's just fantastic.

"It's just a shame we couldn't finish the race.

"It will be a lot easier to run both my cars at the same place (next weekend) without all the travel.

"It will be another challenge to run Cup on an oval and have to qualify to get in the show."

Ferrari and Toyota up, BMW and McLaren struggle, points for Webber
The F1 world championship lead has changed after each of the past four races -- and now it is Felipe Massa on top after winning the French GP.

It was Ferrari's eighth win in the event in the past 12 years, and Kimi Raikkonen salvaged second -- and a crucial eight points -- despite a broken right exhaust that robbed him of power throughout the second half of the race.

It was Massa's third victory of the season and he took the chequered flag 17.9 seconds ahead of teammate Raikkonen.

Jarno Trulli gave Toyota its first F1 podium since Ralf Schumacher's third at the 2006 Australian GP -- a fitting tribute to Ove Andersson, the man who headed the team in its infancy through 2002 and '03 but was killed in a crash in a classic car rally in South Africa recently.

Heikki Kovalainen was fourth for McLaren, almost half a minute behind Massa, from 10th on the grid, while Lewis Hamilton had his third race without scoring points, starting 13th (courtesy of the 10-place penalty for his Canadian crash in Raikkonen) and copping a drive-through penalty for cutting a kerb as he overtook Sebastien Bourdais' Toro Rosso on the first lap.

The BMW-Saubers, first and second in Canada, were surprisingly off the pace in France, with Robert Kubica fifth -- although little more than two seconds from the podium -- and Nick Heidfeld 13th and more than a minute behind Massa.

Australia's Mark Webber notched world championship points for the sixth time in eight races this season with another sixth place from sixth on the grid.

Perhaps the best reflection of Webber's form was that he finished first among the Renault-powered drivers, ahead of the factory Renaults of Nelson Piquet Junior and Fernando Alonso and Webber's Red Bull teammate David Coulthard.

Webber and Trulli are now equal seventh in the championship, while Toyota's fourth and sixth places in Canada and Trulli's podium in France have brought the Japanese manufacturer to within a point of fourth-placed Red Bull in the constructors' championship.

On the F1 political front the weekend was the calm before a possible storm at this Wednesday's Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) world motorsport council meeting.

There are signs that the apparent power struggle between FIA president Max Mosley, disgraced by his infamous sex scandal but still supported by most of his FIA colleagues (although few others in the sport), and F1 commercial tsar Bernie Ecclestone could come to a crunching head.

Master politician Mosley may try to win the favor of F1 teams that otherwise despise him by angling for them to get a bigger slice of the race sanction fees and TV revenues.

That will infuriate Ecclestone, who will claim that Mosley is not supposed to involve himself in F1 commercial affairs.

In that Ecclestone is right, but if Mosley is in any way successful it may squeeze Ecclestone's 75 per cent equity partner CVC in its ability to service the huge loans it took out in the process of buying into F1.

Here is how grandprix.com sees the situation grandprix.com

Mosley is determined that the FIA retain its governing authority over F1.

If there is an impasse, standoff or conflict, it may take every ounce of the 77-year-old Ecclestone's negotiating brilliance to produce a rabbit out of his hat to forge a solution -- just as the Victorian government is apparently deciding whether to extend its F1 contract beyond 2010 to 2015.

Formula 1 drivers' world championship top 10 after eight of 18 races -- Felipe Massa (Brazil, Ferrari) 48 points, Robert Kubica (Poland, BMW-Sauber) 46, Kimi Raikkonen (Finland, Ferrari) 43, Lewis Hamilton (Britain, McLaren-Mercedes) 38, Nick Heidfeld (Germany, BMW-Sauber) 28, Heikki Kovalainen (Finland, McLaren-Mercedes) 20, Jarno Trulli  (Italy, Toyota) 18, Mark Webber (Australia, Red Bull) 18, Fernando Alonso (Spain,  Renault) 10, Nico Rosberg (Germany, Williams-Toyota) 8.

F1 constructors' championship standings -- Ferrari 91 points, BMW-Sauber 74, McLaren 58, Red Bull 24, Toyota 23, Williams 15, Renault 12, Honda 8, Toro Rosso 7.

Englishman Dan Wheldon gambled on stretching his fuel load for the final 90 laps and won for Chip Ganassi, ahead of Andretti Green's Japanese driver Hideki Mutoh and youngster Marco Andretti.

Wheldon's teammate Scott Dixon retained his series lead by finishing fourth.

Brazilians Tony Kanaan (Andretti Green) and Helio Castroneves (Penske) dominated most of the race, but Castroneves had a late pitstop with a puncture and finished 14th while Kanaan crashed out of third.

Ed Carpenter, stepson of series supremo Tony George, blamed Danica Patrick for him spinning out of the race before quarter distance.

"Danica did her normal supreme block job," Carpenter said. "She is the new Scott Sharp of the series, as far as I'm concerned.

"That is two races in a row. I'm over her."

Patrick finished sixth, behind A J Foyt IV.

Reigning national champion Simon Evans, Bates' Toyota teammate, crashed heavily in the first heat.

He and co-driver wife Sue were taken to Nambour hospital, but without serious injuries -- although their Super 2000 Corolla was beyond repair for the second heat and it will be a rush to rebuild it for Rally South Australia in five weeks.

After winning the first heat, Bates was slowed late in the second by punctures and Evans' younger brother, Eli, 24, in a privateer Subaru Impreza STi, scored his first heat win.

Michael Guest was second in both heats in a Les Walkden Subaru Impreza STi.

Bates was the overall winner for the weekend, but only because he won more stages -- six to the three of Eli Evans, whose first heat win may have come a day earlier if not for a puncture that forced him to drive 22km on a bare wheel rim.

Simon Evans and Guest won four stages each in Queensland.

Bates has won all three rounds so far and, with a championship lead of about 60 points, is looking almost unbeatable for the title.

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