BTCC Donington Park
Race 1
Fiona Leggate’s engine had blown in qualifying in such a way that the team couldn’t repair it for any of the day’s races. At the start the front pair of Gordon Shedden and Colin Turkington got away well and Shedden led into the first corner. Fabrizio Giovanardi once again made a good start, he passed Mike Jordan straight away and then came past team mate, Tom Chilton. Mike Jordan meanwhile made a horrid start. Jordan described the start as, “It was like NASCAR, I got out of the freight train and I couldn’t get back in until halfway around the lap,” by that time Jordan had dropped from 4th all the way down to 11th place. Eoin Murray had made a good start. From 10th place he had passed both SEATs before the first corner and then got by Mike Jordan shortly after.

Gordon Shedden was soon under pressure from Colin Turkington. Shedden’s tyres weren’t quite up to temperature so Turkington managed to pull alongside on the exit of Coppice and the two raced side by side down the straight into the Goddards chicane where Turkington had the inside and Shedden was forced to yield. Shedden on lap 2 then ran wide onto the dusty grass on the exit of the Old Hairpin, this cost him a lot of speed. Fabrizio Giovanardi who wasn’t terribly close to Shedden before hand now roared by the Scotsman into McLeans to take second place. Shedden finally re-grouped and started to fight back. He began to close back in on Giovanardi and a couple of laps later re-passed the Vauxhall.

Eoin Murray had got himself up into 7th place now and passed Gavin Smith at the Old Hairpin for 6th place. However he had some contact with Smith and this broke part of his roll bar. This severely messed up the handling of the Alfa Romeo and soon Murray found himself tumbling back down the order behind a squabbling group of Smith, Jason Plato, Darren Turner, Rob Collard and the recovering Mike Jordan.

Gordon Shedden was now into his full stride and had begun to hunt down Colin Turkington’s MG. The Honda was clearly the quicker and soon Turkington’s lead was nothing. Into the first corner Redgate, Turkington was forced to defend the inside, this meant he went a little wide on the exit and Gordon Shedden slipped by to re-take the lead of the race.

At the back end of the top 10 Mike Jordan passed Rob Collard and Darren Turner in quick succession, Collard then also passed Turner to take back 9th place and then re-passed Jordan for 8th place. Jordan came back at him but this only let Turner back in. Collard was just making a break away from those two when he ran wide fully onto the grass at the Old Hairpin. He came back as Turner was drawing level and the MG just came too far across the track. The two made contact pitching Turner into a spin and letting Mike Jordan gain those two places.

It was interesting to note that the Vauxhall were not eating through their tyres so quickly, indeed Chilton was holding off Matt Neal until quite late on into the race. Neal though finally did get by Chilton at Goddards. That move allowed Gavin Smith to close in on Chilton and he was able to push passed his team mate at the Old Hairpin. However Smith was wide on the exit and Chilton drove back passed the Irishman. The Vauxhall’s are still not good on their tyres but they have definitely improved since Croft. Gordon Shedden managed to hang on for victory ahead of Colin Turkington while Fabrizio Giovanardi got 3rd place

Result
1. Gordon Shedden Team Dynamics Honda Integra Type-R (9kg)
2. Colin Turkington West Surrey Racing MG ZS (36kg)
3. Fabrizio Giovanardi VX Racing Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch
4. Matt Neal Team Dynamics Honda Integra Type-R (45kg)
5. Tom Chilton VX Racing Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch
6. Gavin Smith VX Racing Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch
7. Jason Plato SEAT Sport UK SEAT Leon (27kg)
8. Mike Jordan Team Eurotech Honda Integra Type-R
9. Rob Collard West Surrey Racing MG ZS
10. James Kaye Synchro Motorsport Honda Civic Type-R
11. Dave Pinkney Motorbase Performance Honda Integra Type-R
12. Darren Turner SEAT Sport UK SEAT Leon (18kg)
13. Eoin Murray Quest Racing Alfa Romeo 156 (30kg)
14. Martyn Bell Geoff Steel Racing BMW 320.i E46
15. Jason Hughes Kartworld Racing MG ZS
16. Adam Jones Xero Competition Lexus IS200
17. Mark Smith In-front Motorsport Alfa Romeo 156
18. Richard Marsh Team Griffin Racing Peugeot 307 (45kg)
DNS. Fiona Leggate Tech-speed Motorsport Vauxhall Astra coupe
Fastest Lap: Gordon Shedden 1:12.970

Race 2
A taster of how this race would be was given to us right at the start of the race as the good starting Giovanardi was squeezed by Colin Turkington. Turkington tried to block Giovanardi and the Vauxhall was forced onto the grass but his start was so good that Giovanardi still got second place. Behind them Jason Plato was also forced onto the grass. Down through the Craner Curves, Shedden led from Giovanardi. Chilton and Turkington were now side by side, Chilton put a wheel onto the grass and slid into Turkington and spun off into the gravel at the Old Hairpin, Turkington was forced off the track and dropped to 12th, Gavin Smith also went wide but kept the power on and maintained his place if only because Darren Turner was sent wide into the gravel too. Turner also recovered but Dave Pinkney didn’t. Pinkney had cut across in front of Mike Jordan but had put a wheel on the grass this had sent him spinning across the circuit and into the wall. Out of McLeans, Martyn Bell then spun after some contact with another car. With cars dropping off the track just about everywhere the Safety Car was quickly deployed but not before Fabrizio Giovanardi managed to dive up the inside of Gordon Shedden to take the lead.

The marshalls could get Chilton’s car out of the gravel so had to leave the Vauxhall beached there. The field was looking somewhat odd now with Turkington, Turner and Smith all back down the field and Jason Hughes running up in 8th place. The dizzying heights for Hughes didn’t last long as after the restart he was ambushed by both Gavin Smith and James Kaye. Gordon Shedden now applied the pressure to Giovanardi. Shedden dived up the inside at Goddards to take the lead from the Vauxhall.

Rob Collard was now attacking Matt Neal. The two went side by side down through the Craner Curves, Neal was trying to give Collard room but touching the kerb flicked Neal across the track and into Collard. Collard tried to hold it but a wheel onto the grass was all that was needed to spin him around and off the track at the Old Hairpin. Neal had to brake hard not to run into Collard and this caught out Jason Plato who ran into the back of Neal. Plato was sent into the gravel while Neal with supreme luck managed to stay away from the gravel and only dropped down to 8th place. With Plato now stuck in the gravel the Safety Car was deployed again. However once again the marshall couldn’t budge Plato’s car. So the stewards took the decision to display a permenant yellow flag at the Old Hairpin to stop overtaking there.

After the Safety Car, Shedden was pressured by Giovanardi but he couldn’t by him. Giovanardi was slowed on the exit of Redgate and now had Gavin Smith drive passed him and into second place. Behind Giovanardi in 4th place was Mike Jordan followed by Eoin Murray and James Kaye. However behind them Darren Turner had been hit by Matt Neal and spun coming into the Old Hairpin and had hit Colin Turkington sending both into the gravel, both managed to rejoin the field. Eoin Murray ran out wide at McLeans leaving space for James Kaye to slide passed and into 5th place at Coppice. However the next lap, Kaye ran wide at McLeans letting Murray back through. Kaye with dirty tyres then fell off the track at the very next corner which left Matt Neal going through into 6th place. Colin Turkington was also slowly recovering he was in fighting for 8th place with Adam Jones. It showed the improvements in the Lexus that Jones was able to hold off Turkington for a lap or two before the MG finally got by at McLeans.

Mike Jordan was following Fabrizio Giovanardi now and started to challenge for 3rd place. The two had made some contact already as Jordan probed for a weaknesses. The weakness was Giovanardi running slightly wide through the long Coppice corner. Jordan was able to get up alongside him down the Goddards straight before moving by into the chicane for third place. Behind them, Matt Neal had caught Eoin Murray. Murray was doing a very good job in his Alfa and fought to hold off Matt Neal but the Honda was superior and Neal dived up the inside of Murray at McLeans to claim 5th place. However 6th place for Murray was still a very good result. This all left Gordon Shedden to claim his second race victory of the weekend with Gavin Smith claiming an excellent second place with Mike Jordan third. Adam Jones dropped behind Darren Turner at the end of the race but still claimed his first championship point in 10th place.

Result
1. Gordon Shedden Team Dynamics Honda Integra Type-R (45kg)
2. Gavin Smith VX Racing Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch
3. Mike Jordan Team Eurotech Honda Integra Type-R
4. Fabrizio Giovanardi VX Racing Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch (27kg)
5. Matt Neal Team Dynamics Honda Integra Type-R (18kg)
6. Eoin Murray Quest Racing Alfa Romeo 156 (30kg)
7. James Kaye Synchro Motorsport Honda Civic Type-R
8. Colin Turkington West Surrey Racing MG ZS (36kg)
9. Darren Turner SEAT Sport UK SEAT Leon
10. Adam Jones Xero Competition Lexus IS200
11. Mark Smith In-front Motorsport Alfa Romeo 156
12. Martyn Bell Geoff Steel Racing BMW 320.i E46
13. Rob Collard West Surrey Racing MG ZS
DNF. Richard Marsh Team Griffin Racing Peugeot 307 (45kg)
DNF. Jason Hughes Kartworld Racing MG ZS
DNF. Jason Plato SEAT Sport UK SEAT Leon
DNF. Tom Chilton VX Racing Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch (9kg)
DNF. Dave Pinkney Motorbase Performance Honda Integra Type-R
DNS. Fiona Leggate Tech-speed Motorsport Vauxhall Astra coupe
Fastest Lap: Rob Collard 1:13.523

Race 3
Richard Marsh suffered an engine failure on his way to the grid, leaving his 307 ditched on the side of the road. An unfortunate end to his weekend.
Gordon Shedden had selected the 9 card giving the top 9 reversed on the grid, meaning Darren Turner would start on pole position for the race alongside Colin Turkington once again. James Kaye and Eoin Murray would share the second row. Off the start, Turner made a pretty bad one and Turkington shot by him. Kaye drew level and Matt Neal drove by Murray and blew by Kaye and Turner on the exit of Redgate for second place. However back on the start line Mark Smith had made a slow start. Jason Hughes went to go around him but got pinched in as Jason Plato came across. This sent Plato spinning across the track and he hit the rear of Collard’s car. Collard’s car then speared into the wall as Hughes rammed the back of Smith. Plato suffered terminal suspension damage, as had Smith, while the two MGs involved had smashed their front ends. Hughes’ car was left stranded right in the middle of the track and the Clerk of the Course decided to red flag the race.

This meant the race distance would be reduced by 2 laps and the cars would take up their original grid positions only with Collard, Smith, Hughes, Plato, Marsh and Leggate all missing. On the second start Turner once again fluffed it. Turkington leapt into the lead and James Kaye took second place. However down through Craner Curves, Darren Turner came back at Kaye. Turner dived down the Honda’s inside at the Old Hairpin and the two made contact, they both went wide onto the grass and lost places. This left Matt Neal in second place and Eoin Murray up to third. James Kaye rejoined just in front of Gordon Shedden. Shedden looked to get passed Kaye but the veteran defended well. Shedden then learnt he had a drive thru penalty for jumping the start. Out of the chicane, Shedden kept turning left in order to go to the pits but then Gavin Smith following him hadn’t expected Shedden to do this and hit the Honda spinning it around. Smith’s speed was slowed a lot and Mike Jordan took to the grass to go by Smith. Tom Chilton went the other way, swerving around the spinning Shedden and drawing alongside Smith and Jordan. Dave Pinkney had taken the usual line through the chicane and the start-finish straight and immediately had a run on Chilton. As they turned into Redgate, Smith drove around the outside of Jordan as Pinkney slipped by Chilton and then got Jordan on the exit of the corner. Shedden meanwhile had crept into the pits to serve his penalty, chances of a good score dashed. Dave Pinkney now was on the move and caught Gavin Smith. Pinkney went up the inside of Smith at Coppice but Tom Chilton now following after passing Jordan, went even further to the inside as Pinkney tried to force Smith wide. Chilton out braked Pinkney into Goddards, Chilton ran wide on the exit of the corner, while Pinkney had to cut the second part of the chicane. Pinkney, Smith and Jordan went back by Chilton and Smith also got by Pinkney too into Redgate.

It was at this point that the British summer weather struck.

The rain started to come down but only on half the track. The first section from Redgate down to the Old Hairpin was getting increasingly wet and slippery, while the last half of the lap from McLeans to the start-finish straight was dry. Drivers were having to cope with half a circuit that was nearer to sheet ice than tarmac in terms of grip. The cars started to slide around more and more as the rain came down. Eoin Murray became the first casualty of this. He had been running quite comfortably in 3rd place but the rain had seen his driving become increasingly ragged. Eventually he just touched a kerb halfway through the Craner Curves, this flicked him out wide and onto the grass, he started to spin and slide across the circuit and into the gravel trap at the Old Hairpin, luckily not collecting Giovanardi. Tom Chilton passed Mike Jordan just before the Safety Car had to be deployed in order for the marshalls to recover Murray’s stricken Alfa.

The safety car was very bad news for Colin Turkington. The Ulsterman had a huge lead at the front of the field and this of course disappeared under the safety car. When the safety car came in Turkington had to hold off a charge from Matt Neal. The tyres had lost temperature under the safety car and of course the first bit of the track they had to face was the wet part. Turkington and Neal both got seriously sideways at the Old Hairpin but both somehow kept it together without losing places. Dave Pinkney spun at the Goddards chicane and lost a couple of places. Giovanardi then slid off at Redgate losing just one place to Gavin Smith. You would have thought that Neal would have learnt from his first time through the Old Hairpin that the track there might be a little bit slippery however Neal simply went straight on at that corner with no grip, bouncing across the gravel but somehow getting back onto the track without bogging down into the gravel. Gavin Smith almost followed Neal, sliding off but not going into the gravel. Mike Jordan also lost it under braking at the Old Hairpin, spinning into the gravel and sinking into it. With Jordan’s car now in a dangerous position the safety car had to be put on track again.

Once again Colin Turkington’s lead of several seconds had been eroded. He had Fabrizio Giovanardi right behind him. Only 10 cars were now left in the race. Indeed only 9 were with the safety car as the 10th, Martyn Bell was struggling so badly he couldn’t even keep pace with it, however it was worth staying out just to collect that point. As the Safety Car pulled in there was just two laps to go. Colin Turkington made a decent restart and led away from Giovanardi and a remarkable Gordon Shedden who after his penalty now found himself in 3rd place and with a shout of claiming a hat-trick of victories this weekend. Onto the last lap, Colin Turkington was looking comfortable but then ran wide at Redgate. The MG went onto the grass and drove back onto the track. Giovanardi managed to drive alongside Turkington down through the high speed Craner Curves side by side in the wet, Turkington was forced to give way and let Giovanardi have the lead of the race. However Turkington was prepared to give up yet. He stuck with Giovanardi through the next turns. Giovanardi defending hard into McLeans and Coppice. Turkington was right behind him. With just one corner to go Giovanardi’s 1st and Vauxhall 100th BTCC win was in sight but then Giovanardi made a hideous mistake for such an experienced driver; he left the inside open. Turkington saw the invitation and took it, diving up the inside into the last corner. Giovanardi turned in and hit Turkington forcing both to cut the chicane with Turkington emerging ahead and claim victory.

Result
1. Colin Turkington West Surrey Racing MG ZS
2. Fabrizio Giovanardi VX Racing Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch (18kg)
3. Gordon Shedden Team Dynamics Honda Integra Type-R (45kg)
4. Darren Turner SEAT Sport UK SEAT Leon
5. Gavin Smith VX Racing Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch (36kg)
6. Tom Chilton VX Racing Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch
7. Matt Neal Team Dynamics Honda Integra Type-R (9kg)
8. James Kaye Synchro Motorsport Honda Civic Type-R
9. Dave Pinkney Motorbase Performance Honda Integra Type-R
10. Martyn Bell Geoff Steel Racing BMW 320.i E46
DNF. Mike Jordan Team Eurotech Honda Integra Type-R (27kg)
DNF. Eoin Murray Quest Racing Alfa Romeo 156 (30kg)
DNF. Adam Jones Xero Competition Lexus IS200
DNF. Jason Plato SEAT Sport UK SEAT Leon
DNF. Rob Collard West Surrey Racing MG ZS
DNF. Jason Hughes Kartworld Racing MG ZS
DNF. Mark Smith In-front Motorsport Alfa Romeo 156
DNS. Richard Marsh Team Griffin Racing Peugeot 307 (45kg)
DNS. Fiona Leggate Tech-speed Motorsport Vauxhall Astra coupe
Fastest Lap: Colin Turkington 1:13.351

Drivers’ Championship
1. Matt Neal 183 (+18)
2. Colin Turkington 161 (+33)
3. Gordon Shedden 130 (+44)
4. Jason Plato 129 (+4)
5. James Thompson 114 (0)
6. Tom Chilton 86 (+11)
7. Fabrizio Giovanardi 83 (+31)
8. Gavin Smith 82 (+23)
9. Mike Jordan 62 (+13)
10. Rob Collard 61 (+3)

---

Scratchit: But he's a cripple!
Blackadder: He's not a cripple, Mrs Scratchit. Occasionally saying "Phew! My leg hurts!" when he remembers to wouldn't fool Baldrick!

BTCC--

Race1--Well this seemed like a very clean race (which certainly wasnt a prediction of things to come).  Sheddon had a bit of a hiccup early on, but I think he proved he was the quickest of the crowd rebounding nicely there. 

VXR had some very good news this weekend in that their cars didnt fall off so much this time around.  But overall it sounds like it was Sheddon's race and the real race was for the bottom half of the top 10.

Race2--The start sure sounded chaotic, everyone deciding to spin off and people playing follow the leader by spinning off.  Collard is still driving a little rough it seems, as he caused that mid race incident with Neal and Plato.  This really wasnt SEAT's weekend, was it?  From start to finish, SEAT was just in collossal trouble. 

The VXRs looked even better in this race with Smith and Giovanardi coming through with good races.  Smith just didnt have enough to put up a fight with Sheddon for the win but a great 2nd place for him (and a great 3rd place for Jordan who had a tough start to race 1).  Giovanardi could have easily gotten a podium but running wide let Jordan make his move.

Race 3--Well to those who thought race 2 was a mess, what about this race?  I doubt people were prepared for this one.  What a messy messy start.  That must have been absolute chaotic carnage with all those retirements.  Poor Plato, his horrid weekend just continued.

Sheddon made that blasted mistake and then it got worse as he was coming into the pits.  You know he battled all the way back from it, imagine if he didnt jump the start, or even if there wasnt a red flag and he got those 2 laps back so he could take 2 more laps to catch up to the leaders.  Either way he may have pulled off the sweep, the 2nd man to do it, ironically in the same car--not even the team leader car.  A 3rd place was still a fantastic result for him after the rockiness of the race and an all around terrific weekend

But what about that rain?  It sure messed up the race for the field.  With the weather and the start of the race the way it was, you would have expected a depleted grid by races end.  Bell managed to survive to finally get some nice points this season, good for him. 

As for the rest of the field that was left after the carnage and spinning on wet track, Giovanardi makes another mistake.  You have to wonder if these British tracks and the VXR are just not to his liking, or appeasing to his talent.  Turkington made his own luck in the race but it did sort of fall into his lap after Giovanardi blew it.

Sounds like a fun race to have watched through all the chaos.

------------

NASCAR travels to Indianapolis this weekend

I was expecting the biggest entry list of the season, but 50 cars is not the biggest, still a strong entry list and one that will be tough to make.

Car	Driver	Hometown	Make	Sponsor	Owner
1	Martin Truex Jr.*	Mayetta, NJ	Chevrolet	Bass Pro Shops/Tracker	Teresa Earnhardt
01	Joe Nemechek	Lakeland, FL	Chevrolet	U.S. Army	Bobby Ginn
2	Kurt Busch	Las Vegas, NV	Dodge	Miller Lite	Roger Penske
4	Scott Wimmer	Wausau, WI	Chevrolet	Morgan-McClure	Larry McClure
5	Kyle Busch	Las Vegas, NV	Chevrolet	Kellogg's/Delphi	Rick Hendrick
6	Mark Martin	Batesville, AR	Ford	AAA	Jack Roush
7	Robby Gordon	Orange, CA	Chevrolet	Menards/Johns Manville	Robby Gordon
07	Clint Bowyer*	Emporia, KS	Chevrolet	Jack Daniel's	Richard Childress
8	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Kannapolis, NC	Chevrolet	Budweiser	Teresa Earnhardt
9	Kasey Kahne	Enumclaw, WA	Dodge	Dodge Dealers/UAW	Ray Evernham
10	Scott Riggs	Bahama, NC	Dodge	Stanley Tools/Valvoline	James Rocco
11	Denny Hamlin*	Chesterfield, VA	Chevrolet	FedEx Express	J D Gibbs
12	Ryan Newman	South Bend, IN	Dodge	ALLTEL	Roger Penske
14	Sterling Marlin	Columbia, TN	Chevrolet	Waste Management	Bobby Ginn
15	Paul Menard	Eau Claire, WI	Chevrolet	Menards	Teresa Earnhardt
16	Greg Biffle	Vancouver, WA	Ford	National Guard	Geoff Smith
17	Matt Kenseth	Cambridge, WI	Ford	DEWALT	Mark Martin
18	J.J. Yeley*	Phoenix, AZ	Chevrolet	Imitrex/GSK	Joe Gibbs
19	Jeremy Mayfield	Owensboro, KY	Dodge	Dodge Dealers/UAW	Ray Evernham
20	Tony Stewart	Rushville, IN	Chevrolet	The Home Depot	Joe Gibbs
21	Ken Schrader	Fenton, MO	Ford	Little Debbie	Glen Wood
22	Dave Blaney	Hartford, OH	Dodge	Caterpillar/Cat Financial	Bill Davis
24	Jeff Gordon	Pittsboro, IN	Chevrolet	DuPont	Rick Hendrick
25	Brian Vickers	Thomasville, NC	Chevrolet	GMAC	Mary Hendrick
26	Jamie McMurray	Joplin, MO	Ford	Crown Royal	Georgetta Roush
29	Kevin Harvick	Bakersfield, CA	Chevrolet	Reese's	Richard Childress
31	Jeff Burton	South Boston, VA	Chevrolet	Cingular Wireless	Richard Childress
32	Travis Kvapil	Janesville, WI	Chevrolet	Tide-Downy	Calvin Wells, III
34	Chad Chaffin	Smyrna, TN	Chevrolet	Front Row Motorsports	Brad Jenkins
37	Mike Skinner	Susanville, CA	Dodge	Atomic X Energy Drink	John Carter
38	Elliott Sadler	Emporia, VA	Ford	M&M's	Robert Yates
40	David Stremme*	South Bend, IN	Dodge	Coors Light	Felix Sabates
41	Reed Sorenson*	Peachtree City, GA	Dodge	Target	Chip Ganassi
42	Casey Mears	Bakersfield, CA	Dodge	Texaco/Havoline	Floyd Ganassi
43	Bobby Labonte	Corpus Christi, TX	Dodge	Totino's	Richard L Petty
45	Kyle Petty	Randleman, NC	Dodge	Tire Kingdom	Kyle Petty
48	Jimmie Johnson	El Cajon, CA	Chevrolet	Lowe's	Jeff Gordon
49	Kevin Lepage	Shelburne, VT	Dodge	LoansDepot.com	Elizabeth Morgenthau
55	Michael Waltrip	Owensboro, KY	Dodge	NAPA Auto Parts	Douglas Bawel
61	Derrike Cope	Spanaway, WA	Dodge	Peak Performance	Jeff Stec
66	Jeff Green	Owensboro, KY	Chevrolet	Best Buy	Gene Haas
88	Dale Jarrett	Hickory, NC	Ford	UPS	Robert Yates
96	Tony Raines	La Porte, IN	Chevrolet	DLP HDTV	Bill Saunders
99	Carl Edwards	Columbia, MO	Ford	Office Depot	Jack Roush
00	Bill Elliott	Dawsonville, GA	Chevrolet	Burger King	Michael Waltrip
04	Bobby Hamilton Jr.	Nashville, TN	Dodge	Fastenal	Stephanie Hamilton
60	Boris Said	Carlsbad, CA	Chevrolet	SOBE - No Fear	Mark Simo
70	Johnny Sauter	Necedah, WI	Chevrolet	Haas Automation	Gene Haas
78	Kenny Wallace	St. Louis, MO	Chevrolet	Furniture Row Racing	Barney Visser
90	Stephen Leicht	Asheville, NC	Ford	CitiFinancial	Robert Yates

Bobby Hamilton Racing returns for its first entry in 2006.  Also R&J Racing appears to still be entering races despite earlier season reports that he sold all his stuff to Victory Motorsports.  Hmmm, well curiouser and curiouser

---

If at first you dont succeed, dont try skydiving
Both diapers and politicians need to be changed--and usually for the same reasons

F1 German GP
Aguri
23. Sakon Yamamoto DNF
22. Takuma Sato DNF
A double DNF on the new car's debut. Yamamoto's first ever F1 race last one lap. He had to start from the pitlane after the team struggled to repair the damage done to his SA06 after a big crash in practice. Yamamoto then stalled in the pitlane and when he finally got going his driveshaft failed almost immediately and he cruised back into the pits. Sato's race lasted longer but ended in a mechanical problem with a gearbox failure.

Toro Rosso
21. Scott Speed 12th
20. Vitantonio Liuzzi 10th
I can't actually remember all that much about the Toro Rossos. Suggests they didn't do all that much in the race.

Midland
19. Tiago Monteiro DSQ
18. Christijan Albers DSQ
Hardly mattered what Albers and Monteiro did their cars were illegal due to the flexing wings. At least Albers and Monteiro weren't slower than the Aguris.

BMW Sauber
17. Jacques Villeneuve DNF
16. Nick Heidfeld DNF
BMW Sauber hadn't looked all that quick in Germany. The home race for the German marque ended in both cars retiring. Nick Heidfeld suffered a brake failure while Jacques Villeneuve crashed heavily at the last corner. Villeneuve's crash has meant he has decided to sit out the Hungarian GP to recover giving Robert Kubica his first ever F1 start. Poland will be proud.

Red Bull
15. Christian Klien 8th
14. David Coulthard 11th
Coulthard qualified better than Christian Klien but Coulthard was hit at the hairpin on the first lap, this flick the Red Bull into the air and the Scot lost several places. After that Coulthard's race was compromised and his chances of points realisitcally gone. Coulthard's misfortune was Klien's good luck and he found himself on the edges of the points all day. The Austrian managed to nab the last point in the race, something which will help his bid to try and keep the race at Red Bull.

Honda
12. Rubens Barrichello DNF
11. Jenson Button 4th
These just simply couldn't have been the same cars Honda had in France. At Magny-Cours they were terrible but at Hockenhiem they were transformed. Button and Barrichello qualified well but their starts were very bad. Barrichello sunk almost without trace while Button was lucky only to be pass by the Renaults. Button fought back though and overtook Alonso and Fisichella in successive laps. After the first round of pitstops Button was just behind Raikkonen and overtook the struggling McLaren. However just as his podium chances were looking assured the tyres on the Honda started going wrong and this allowed Raikkonen to haul Button in and re-pass him at the hairpin. However 4th place is a big improvement on two weeks ago. Barrichello unfortunately retired as engine went splat.

Williams
10. Nico Rosberg DNF
9. Mark Webber DNF
Once again Mark Webber was pushing for a terrific points scoring finish and once again the awful reliability of the Williams kicked back hard. Webber looked on for at least a 5th place finish. He might have got 4th from Jenson Button. However a water leak in the car eventually broke his car. One wonders how long Mark Webber can stand this if everytime he looks like getting a decent result (Monaco and Australia) the car fails. Nico Rosberg however didn't have any problems with the car, what he did have problems with was spinning off into the gravel trap on the very first lap.

Toyota
8. Jarno Trulli 7th
7. Ralf Schumacher 9th
Jarno Trulli went quite well. He didn't quite have enough pace to beat the Renaults so in the end had to settle for 7th place. Ralf Schumacher's pace was okay but a penalty and hitting Coulthard at the beginning of the race cost him the chance of points. Quick note; Jarno Trulli has now scored 10 points in the last 4 races, Ralf Schumacher has scored 5 in the last five races.

Ferrari
6. Felipe Massa 2nd
5. Michael Schumacher 1st
Ferrari are now the class of the field...believe it or not, I have not missed saying that. However it all didn't go to plan for Ferrari. Felipe Massa after the first set of pitstops had gone too fast on his out lap and would have gone by Schumacher for the lead if he hadn't lifted to stop embaressing his team leader. Disaster avoided, Michael Schumacher cruised (and I mean cruised) to victory in his home race with Massa in a good second place.

McLaren
4. Pedro de la Rosa DNF
3. Kimi Raikkonen 3rd
McLaren have found extra speed from somewhere. Raikkonen took a great pole but it turned out that the team simply hadn't got enough fuel into the car. On their first pitstop, Raikkonen suffered a problem with one of his tyres which would drop him down to 4th place behind Jenson Button. On his last stop, Raikkonen came out level with Webber and muscled his way passed the Australian. After that the McLaren had the legs to beat Button and the Finn made a very good move to pass the Briton from out of the hairpin. Pedro de la Rosa had a fuel pump problem that ended his race on lap 2.

Renault
2. Giancarlo Fisichella 6th
1. Fernando Alonso 5th
The mass dampner device that the FIA ruled Renault should remove from their car has clearly compromised Renault's pace. They were slower than McLaren, Honda and Williams as well as Ferrari. Thankfully for Renault the FIA have allowed them to re-install the device on their car for the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend. Alonso was off the pace. He looked slow and couldn't really match Fisichella's fastest pace. He was catching Button late on but an excursion off the track cost him any chance of 4th place. Fisichella was quicker than Alonso for the most part but he was never going to beat the Spaniard.

Result
1. Michael Schumacher Germany Ferrari 67 01:27:51.693
2. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari +0.7
3. Kimi Raikkonen Finland McLaren-Mercedes +13.2
4. Jenson Button Britain Honda +18.8
5. Fernando Alonso Spain Renault +23.7
6. Giancarlo Fisichella Italy Renault +24.8
7. Jarno Trulli Italy Toyota +26.5
8. Christian Klien Austria Red Bull-Ferrari +48.1
9. Ralf Schumacher Germany Toyota +60.3
10. Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Toro Rosso-Cosworth +1 lap
11. David Coulthard Britain Red Bull-Ferrari +1 lap
12. Scott Speed USA Toro Rosso-Cosworth +1 lap
Rtd Mark Webber Australia Williams-Cosworth 59 laps completed
Rtd Takuma Sato Japan Aguri-Honda 38 laps completed
Rtd Jacques Villeneuve Canada BMW Sauber 30 laps completed
Rtd Rubens Barrichello Brazil Honda 18 laps completed
Rtd Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber 9 laps completed
Rtd Pedro de la Rosa Spain McLaren-Mercedes 2 laps completed
Rtd Sakon Yamamoto Japan Aguri-Honda 1 lap completed
Rtd Nico Rosberg Germany Williams-Cosworth 0 laps completed
Dsq Christijan Albers Holland Midland-Toyota illegal rear wing
Dsq Tiago Monteiro Portugal Midland-Toyota illegal rear wing

BTCC
re VXR: They had a much improved weekend. Gavin Smith had a good second place. Fabrizio Giovanardi is improving race by race and I think he's beginning to get to grips with the car. He was angry after the third race, at first it was probably because he felt Turkington had robbed him but I think he must have seen the replay because in the interview afterwards he was beginning to realise he had cocked up coming into that last corner. Giovanardi really should not have left the door wide open, Turkington was always going to have a go if he was given a chance and Giovanardi gave him that chance.
re SEAT: Poor weekend for them. Plato has written off his title chances now though a really bad weekend for Neal and a good weekend for Plato will put him right back into the fight. SEAT simply don't have the straight line speed to match the others and unfortunately for the next event at Snetterton has got two looooong straights.
re Bell: In the third race, Bell and Adam Jones were having their usual tussle when the two collided. This put Jones out of the race and damaged Bell's steering. So Bell had to drive most of race 3 in the wet and with buggered steering.
re Turkington: At the moment Colin Turkington is looking like the only challenger to Matt Neal for the championship. If you look at the remaining circuits then Snetterton suits the Honda, Silverstone has no favourite and Brands Hatch and Knockhill are more fancied by the MG. So it could be Turkington will be right there with Neal coming into the last rounds of the season at Silverstone.

NASCAR: Perhaps R&J are still continuing until Victory get their money together to race? Or perhaps R&J simply forgot to remove themselves from the entry list?

---

Scratchit: But he's a cripple!
Blackadder: He's not a cripple, Mrs Scratchit. Occasionally saying "Phew! My leg hurts!" when he remembers to wouldn't fool Baldrick!

BTCC: Good news! It appears Mark Proctor might come back for the rounds at Snetterton. Proctor says if he hasn't sold the car before then he will race at Snetteron. No guarantee he'll race at any of the other remaining races. I think he's just seeing how it goes. So fingers crossed he has a good weekend at Snetterton and that it will encourage him to continue for the rest of the year.

Gareth Howell will a race third Team Dynamics Honda Integra for the rest of the season. The team has finally got the budget together to run Howell in their car. At least Howell will get one more race meeting than he did last year. This combined with (hopefully) Mark Proctor and Erkut Kizilirmak's return at Snetterton will boost the field to 22 cars, the highest it has been since Silverstone 2004.

Here's a picture of the startline crash at Donington Park this past weekend:


And this is of lots of drivers falling off the road at the Old Hairpin, in the dry:

---

Scratchit: But he's a cripple!
Blackadder: He's not a cripple, Mrs Scratchit. Occasionally saying "Phew! My leg hurts!" when he remembers to wouldn't fool Baldrick!

Re: Aguri--Not the start of a career Yamamoto was looking for.  It was very Andrea Moda-esque.  Sato, well no surprises, he had his time in the race before the engine gave in.  Seems thats happened a lot.

Re: STR--I noticed them when they were fighting with the Midlands and thats about it.  It was actually kind of a good battle for a while.

Re: Midland--Even when they cheat theyre still rubbish.

Re: BMW--Well after Villenueve's sorry performance he was rumored to be going to NASCAR, but that rumor stopped rather quickly.  Not a great race for him when he ran wide, it looked like quite a shunt.  Heidfeld gave a good interview as to what he was witnessing out there, other than that he did nothing, not his fault though.  Best of luck to Kubica.  Long live Poland!

Re: RBR--It was bad luck by Coulthard to get punted by Ralf.  That was quite a hit and nearly forced him onto his roof.  The American announcers were shocked there wasnt more damage done to the car and that he could continue, giving a small set of applause to the RBR durability.  Klien had an ok race and did well to come away with points

Re: Honda--I felt both Hondas actually looked good.  Barrichello was actually running well when the engine expired.  He got held up badly by Webber which could have been the reason he was seen as falling back in the pack, but really he was racing Webber with respect and didnt want to wreck both cars so he had to keep backing off.  The engine came apart in a fire.  And to be honest it was Button who I really didnt notice all race.  He appeared in 3rd at one point but fell back to 4th.

Re: Williams--Well Webber is leaving at the end of the season, and probably for greener pastures as Williams has done absolutely nothing for him.  2 years of reliability issues have crushed them.  Really terrible that they cant drive these finishes to their proper spots.  Rosberg's interview was quite funny.  The interviewer said to Rosberg:  "Quite odd what happened to the car there, eh Nico?"  Rosberg responded, "Odd?  What?  Thats called oversteer.  Whats so odd about that?  I just lost it"

Re: Toyota--They have the 1 up, 1 down syndrome.  They can never get both cars to go well.  Trulli had an awful first half of the season but has found his momentum, but now Ralf is starting to become unravelled, the exact invert of what happened last year.

Re: Ferrari--I know, it doesnt take them long to find their stride again.  All they needed was a grand prix like the American Grand Prix to discover they still have what it takes.  Odd what a bit of money and confidence can do for a team.  Massa is a great #2 driver I think, hes willing to fall on the knife for the team leader.  Renault is wondering why Fisichella wont do the same thing.  Schumacher dominated.

Re: McLaren--Raikkonen either had the wrong strategy or the wrong setup.  That first pitstop was painful to watch and way too early.  I thought his chances of a podium were out the window but he managed to come back strong.  DLR went out early for reasons not of his own making.

Re: Renault--Alonso was off the pace this race because he was having MAJOR tire blister problems as revealed in Nick Heidfeld's interview.  So he had to compensate speed for control in this race and tire management.  Fisichella didnt have the same problems but just wasnt as fast.

---------------------

SEAT--Odd that the car just hasnt performed as well.  They looked good early on, really competitive, but I guess the Leon doesnt quite have the speed.  Surely still an improvement over the Toledo though.

Turkington--Who would have thought the MG would be able to be right there with the Integra this late in the season?  Impressive stuff from Turks this season.

Proctor--That is good news.  I knew he wasnt going to give up.  Hes got lots of fight in him.  Good luck at Snetterton, Mark!

Cool pictures, by the way.

---------------------

Re: R&J--Well it turns out the Victory Motorsports deal fell completely through and R&J Racing is actually still alive.  They plan to run partial schedule the rest of the season and after that, who knows?

Competitive Edge (#51 Garvey) has ceased operations until further notice and have released Mike Garvey to do other things.  Marathon Oil has left and joined Petty Enterprises.  The team is not dead but will go on hiatus.  Theyve done this before, so I wouldnt be too worried.  Garvey said that he appreciated their efforts but running on a team with low funds was starting to wear on him a bit.  He looks to return to the Busch and Pro Cup series.

----------------------

Im sure youve heard the news, but ex-F1 driver and all around class act Christiano da Matta is in critical condition after colliding with a deer in his race car at Elkhart Lake.  This place is right in the woods so it doesnt shock me theres wild life out there, but it must have been an absolutely gruesome and terrifying scene for what happened.  Da Matta has had surgery to his head to remove some complications from the crash.  My thoughts are with him, his family and his fans.

---

If at first you dont succeed, dont try skydiving
Both diapers and politicians need to be changed--and usually for the same reasons

Da Matta: Yeah, I heard about it. It's really bad when wildlife gets onto the track, as we've seen from rallying in Australia with all the kangaroos getting hit. Of course rally cars are better for the people inside to hit something like that deer, an open top vehicle like Da Matta's is a lot worse. I really hope he gets better soon.

F1, Hungarian ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Before I get into the practice, Fernando Alonso has already been given a 2 second penalty on his qualifying time tomorrow. Race Stewards decided Alonso was guilty of dangerous driving when he swerve in front of Robert Doornbos' Red Bull. Alonso had blamed the Dutchman for slowing him up on a fast lap and showed his annoyance by swerving into the Red Bull's path, Alonso then brake tested Doornbos into the first corner, forcing Doornbos to taking avoiding action. Now you have to remember this is only practice, what on earth is Alonso doing getting all worked up over something as stupid like this? It is an amateurish, idiotic thing to do by Alonso and the two second penalty may well cost him 10 places on the grid which at the Hungaroring is going to kill his chances in the race.

Friday Practice 1:
1. Kimi Raikkonen Finland McLaren-Mercedes 01:21.624
2. Anthony Davidson* Britain Honda 01:22.396
3. Michael Schumacher Germany Ferrari 01:22.499
4. Pedro de la Rosa Spain McLaren-Mercedes 01:22.730
5. Alexander Wurz* Austria Williams-Cosworth 01:22.941
6. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Honda 01:23.553
7. Jenson Button Britain Honda 01:23.659
8. Robert Doornbos* Holland Red Bull-Ferrari 01:23.999
9. Jarno Trulli Italy Toyota 01:24.620
10. Markus Winkelhock* Germany Midland-Toyota 01:25.194
11. Neel Jani* Switzerland Toro Rosso-Cosworth 01:25.424
12. Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Toro Rosso-Cosworth 01:25.477
13. Scott Speed USA Toro Rosso-Cosworth 01:26.678
14. Christijan Albers Holland Midland-Toyota 01:26.680
15. Tiago Monteiro Portugal Midland-Toyota 01:27.321
16. Takuma Sato Japan Aguri-Honda 01:29.765
17. Ralf Schumacher Germany Toyota 01:30.110
18. Sakon Yamamoto Japan Aguri-Honda 01:30.353
* Friday Test Driver

Friday Practice 2:
1. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari 01:21.778
2. Fernando Alonso Spain Renault 01:23.097
3. Giancarlo Fisichella Italy Renault 01:23.189
4. Robert Doornbos* Holland Red Bull-Ferrari 01:23.195
5. Anthony Davidson* Britain Honda 01:23.498
6. Ralf Schumacher Germany Toyota 01:23.747
7. Jarno Trulli Italy Toyota 01:23.771
8. Michael Schumacher Germany Ferrari 01:23.931
9. Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber 01:23.934
10. Robert Kubica Poland BMW Sauber 01:24.106
11. Pedro de la Rosa Spain McLaren-Mercedes 01:24.252
12. Markus Winkelhock* Germany Midland-Toyota 01:24.381
13. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Honda 01:24.445
14. Jenson Button Britain Honda 01:24.465
15. Tiago Monteiro Portugal Midland-Toyota 01:24.508
16. Alexander Wurz* Austria Williams-Cosworth 01:24.609
17. Takuma Sato Japan Aguri-Honda 01:24.623
18. Nico Rosberg Germany Williams-Cosworth 01:24.793
19. Neel Jani* Switzerland Toro Rosso-Cosworth 01:24.854
20. Christijan Albers Holland Midland-Toyota 01:25.038
21. Scott Speed USA Toro Rosso-Cosworth 01:25.152
22. Mark Webber Australia Williams-Cosworth 01:25.393
23. Christian Klien Austria Red Bull-Ferrari 01:25.647
24. David Coulthard Britain Red Bull-Ferrari 01:25.843
25. Kimi Raikkonen Finland McLaren-Mercedes 01:25.968
26. Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Toro Rosso-Cosworth 01:26.198
27. Sakon Yamamoto Japan Aguri-Honda 01:26.877
* Friday Test Driver

Picks:
1. Michael Schumacher
2. Felipe Massa
3. Kimi Raikkonen

Lumiere's Picks:
1. Michael Schumacher
2. Felipe Massa
3. Kimi Raikkonen

---

Scratchit: But he's a cripple!
Blackadder: He's not a cripple, Mrs Scratchit. Occasionally saying "Phew! My leg hurts!" when he remembers to wouldn't fool Baldrick!

1-Schumacher
2-Raikkonen
3-Massa

---

If at first you dont succeed, dont try skydiving
Both diapers and politicians need to be changed--and usually for the same reasons

F1 Hungarian Grand Snooze Qualifying:
Well just when things couldn't get exciting enough with Alonso's penalty, Michael Schumacher received a 2 second penalty for each qualifying session. In the Saturday morning practice, Jenson Button's Honda blew its engine (being the Briton will have to start 10 places further down the grid). The red flag was flown and everyone slowed to come into the pits for the session to restart. However Michael Schumacher proceeded to overtake a couple of cars, this is clearly against the rules and as such Schumacher got a two second penalty. It's amazing how the only two world champions in this field have made such stupid mistakes, you'd expect this kind of thing from rookies. This has now blown the Hungarian Grand Prix wide open!
Raikkonen took pole from Massa, the Brazilian really should have taken it but messed up his last flying lap. The Hondas looked good coming 3rd and 4th, however Button's engine penalty puts him down into 14th. Mark Webber also going well but will probably suffer a mechanical failure at some point during the race. Webber's team mate, Nico Rosberg was pretty crap. Robert Kubica was a pleasant surprise out qualifying his more experienced team mate and making it through to the top 10.

1. Kimi Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes
2. Felipe Massa Ferrari
3. Rubens Barrichello Honda
4. Pedro de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes
5. Mark Webber Williams-Cosworth
6. Ralf Schumacher Toyota
7. Giancarlo Fisichella Renault
8. Jarno Trulli Toyota
9. Robert Kubica BMW Sauber
10. Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber
11. Michael Schumacher Ferrari
12. David Coulthard Red Bull-Ferrari
13. Christian Klien Red Bull-Ferrari
14. Jenson Button Honda*
15. Fernando Alonso Renault
16. Tiago Monteiro Midland-Toyota
17. Vitantonio Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Cosworth
18. Nico Rosberg Williams-Cosworth
19. Scott Speed Toro Rosso-Cosworth
20. Takuma Sato Aguri-Honda
21. Sakon Yamamoto Aguri-Honda
22. Christijan Albers Midland-Toyota*
*Engine change penalty

---

Scratchit: But he's a cripple!
Blackadder: He's not a cripple, Mrs Scratchit. Occasionally saying "Phew! My leg hurts!" when he remembers to wouldn't fool Baldrick!

Dare I say it?  Massa the favorite for the Grand Prix after Schumacher's and Alonso's brain fades?  No, probably not.  Raikkonen will probably win from pole like all other Hungarian GPs

Silly Michael, silly Fernando. 

Nice session for Kubica

----------------

Qualifying for tomorrows Brickyard 400 is over

With the session being held in the morning and approaching noontime, it was clear an early draw in qualifying would be optimal, and indeed the 2nd car out was Jeff Burton and he claimed pole.  The fastest guy in practice, Kurt Busch got 4th. 

Great late runs by Robby Gordon and Kasey Kahne who both came out among the last 7 cars in the session.

As for those who had to qualify on time, early draws helped out almost no one as most the cars that needed to time in got late draws.  The only 3 to get early draws, Menard, Said and Wimmer werent really all that great.  In fact Menard DNQed, shockingly enough.  That team is now floundering.

The late qualifying draw for Kevin Lepage probably did him in but good late runs by Travis Kvapil and Kenny Wallace.  The shocker of qualifying came in the hands of Chad Chaffin who had a late to mid round draw.  I was fully expecting his car to be just among the weaker entries and practice didnt argue that point too much, but he picked up nearly a second and shocked everyone putting Front Row Motorsports in the 25th spot.  Neat little scheme on the car too, sponsored by the city of El Paso

Another shocker in qualifying came from Mike Skinner and the nearly posthumous R&J Racing entry.  They were looking for their first race made in 2006 and they got it this week in dominating fashion

The worst laps were set by Bobby Hamilton Jr, Stephen Leicht and Derrike Cope.  Hamilton Jr's lap was truly uncomfortable to watch as it was all over the place

Pos.	Car	Driver	Make	Sponsor	Speed	Time	Behind
1	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	Cingular Wireless	182.778	49.240	Leader
2	07	Clint Bowyer*	Chevrolet	Jack Daniel's	182.771	49.242	-0.002
3	2	Kurt Busch	Dodge	Miller Lite	182.752	49.247	-0.007
4	9	Kasey Kahne	Dodge	Dodge Dealers/UAW	182.441	49.331	-0.091
5	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	Lowe's	182.238	49.386	-0.146
6	18	J.J. Yeley*	Chevrolet	Imitrex/GSK	182.171	49.404	-0.164
7	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	National Guard	182.065	49.433	-0.193
8	12	Ryan Newman	Dodge	ALLTEL Fastap	181.925	49.471	-0.231
9	7	Robby Gordon	Chevrolet	Menards/Johns Manville	181.877	49.484	-0.244
10	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	Reese's	181.734	49.523	-0.283
11	21	Ken Schrader	Ford	Little Debbie	181.540	49.576	-0.336
12	10	Scott Riggs	Dodge	Stanley Tools/Valvoline	181.076	49.703	-0.463
13	96	Tony Raines	Chevrolet	DLP HDTV	181.036	49.714	-0.474
14	11	Denny Hamlin*	Chevrolet	FedEx Express	180.937	49.741	-0.501
15	19	Jeremy Mayfield	Dodge	Dodge Dealers/UAW	180.509	49.859	-0.619
16	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	DuPont Hot Hues	180.505	49.860	-0.620
17	37	Mike Skinner	Dodge	Atomic X Energy Drink	180.487	49.865	-0.625
18	26	Jamie McMurray	Ford	Crown Royal	180.426	49.882	-0.642
19	6	Mark Martin	Ford	AAA Insurance	180.234	49.935	-0.695
20	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	DEWALT	180.126	49.965	-0.725
21	01	Joe Nemechek	Chevrolet	U.S. Army	180.112	49.969	-0.729
22	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	Office Depot "Back to School"	180.065	49.982	-0.742
23	1	Martin Truex Jr.*	Chevrolet	Bass Pro Shops/Tracker	180.065	49.982	-0.742
24	40	David Stremme*	Dodge	Coors Light	179.462	50.150	-0.910
25	34	Chad Chaffin	Dodge