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22.03.2008
The Jean and Johnny Show Jean Alesi won a spectacular Speedcar race at Sepang on Saturday morning as the championship supported a Grand Prix for the first time. Many big names from the F1 world paid close attention to the action as Alesi won a race-long battle with his old friend and sometime Sauber team mate Johnny Hebert, finally getting the better of the Englishman on the last lap. Winner of the first race in Sentul, Alesi took pole position ahead of Herbert, Mathias Lauda, David Terrien, Uwe Alzen and Ananda Mikola. Former F1 stars Ukyo Katayama, Gianni Morbidelli and Stefan Johansson were eighth to 10th, while at the back were series rookies Christian Danner, Alex Yoong and JJ Lehto, all of whom had very little time to get used to the car. Among those who came to visit the cars on the grid were three-time World Champion Niki Lauda, and Toro Rosso boss Gerhard Berger, who was keen to wish his old pal Alesi well. There was drama even before the start as Katayama and Morbidelli clashed as the field came through the corner onto the pits. The Italian spun, while Katayama retired to the pits with front end damage. At the front Alesi held on to his advantage ahead of Herbert and Lauda. There was more excitement behind when Alzen nudged Terrien into a high speed spin and claimed fourth, while further back Danner and Yoong tangled, and the local hero spun. Alesi and Herbert soon pulled away from the rest, and circulated nose to tail as Herbert sized up possible passing opportunities. Meanwhile Alzen closed in on Lauda, and began pushing him for third place. Mikola, Johansson and Nicolas Navarro were next, while behind that group the recovering Terrien was hassling fellow Frenchman Fabien Giroix. There was no change at the front until lap 11, when Herbert passed Alesi for the lead with a mighty effort at the penultimate corner of the lap. The Frenchman didn't give up however, and was close enough to have a big go at the start of the final lap. He didn't make it at that attempt, but snuck by later round the lap. Herbert very nearly got him back straight away, but tucked in behind and readied himself for a last corner effort. However, Alesi kept the door closed and despite a nudge from Johnny that left dents in both cars Jean crossed the line just ahead, to cheers from watching F1 folk. Many of the BMW Sauber mechanics came along to the podium to cheer their former drivers. "It was really down to racing, and I lost again!," joked Herbert. "In the last couple of laps I started struggling with the back end, especially at the hairpin and coming out of the last corner. I was aware of it, and maybe Jean saw that and that's what he went for. At the last corner we were level I knew I had to go a bit wider. I thought I had a run on him, but I nudged him and had to ease off, so I didn't get the win that I truly deserved!" Behind the two pacesetters Alzen relieved Lauda of third on the ninth lap, but the Austrian repaid the compliment with two laps to go, and thus claimed his fourth podium finish in five starts. His proud father watched as he took his trophy. Alzen had to settle for fourth, ahead of Mikola, Johansson, Navarro and Terrien. Giroix retired from the fraught battle with a flat front tyre. Morbidelli, who won the two Dubai races, had recovered to ninth by the flag. The top eight grid spots will be reversed for the second race on Sunday morning, so Terrien and Navarro will be on the front row, and Herbert and Alesi on the fourth. Classification Race 1 1 J. Alesi 19 42:06.705 2 J. Herbert 19 0.286 3 M. Lauda 19 18.566 4 U. Alzen 19 21.348 5 A. Mikola 19 23.894 6 S. Johansson 19 28.279 7 N. Navarro 19 28.547 8 D. Terrien 19 32.939 9 G. Morbidelli 19 35.038 10 H. Al Maktoum 19 46.177 11 A. Yoong 19 57.090 12 J. Lehto 19 59.385 13 C. Danner 19 73.787 14 M. Lee 19 78.226 15 U. Katayama 17 2 laps Not classified F. Giroix 12 DNF Fastest lap J. Alesi 2:12.234 on lap 7
Speedcar Series positions after race 3 1 J. Alesi 10 8 10 28 2 U. Alzen 4 10 5 19 3 M. Lauda 8 4 6 18 4 J. Herbert 6 2 8 16 5 A. Mikola 1 6 4 11 D. Terrien 5 5 1 11 7 K. Ludwig 2 3 - 5 N. Navarro 3 - 2 5 9 S. Johansson - - 3 3 10 U. Katayama - 1 - 1 About Speedcar Series The Speedcar Series is a one-make stockcar-style competition featuring identical 620bhp cars. The series is based in Dubai, and is taking place across Asia and the Middle East. The series features a mix of ex-Formula One and international drivers. A prize-fund of USD 3 million will be distributed to drivers at the end of the season, with the eventual champion receiving USD 600,000. About Grand Racing Beginning 2008, with strong partnerships in promoting the events, Speedcar Series jointly collaborates with GP2 Asia in 5 races as 'Grand Racing' event. Two of which will be coinciding with F1 in Malaysia and Bahrain. TV Rights Speedcar Series TV rights are distributed by One-o-one UK Ltd - Strategems -
Author: maggy (admin2)
Last modified: Saturday, 22.03.2008 - 12:56 More reports from this category all copyright automobilsport.com.
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