HAKKINEN CLAIMS POLE FROM FRENTZEN'S HANDS
(31/07) World Champion Mika Hakkinen pulled out all the stops to claim pole position for Sunday's German Grand Prix after a thrilling qualifying session. The Finnish McLaren driver's first time was overtaken by Heinz-Harald Frentzen but Hakkinen hit back with a time of 1:42.950 to head the field.
Johnny Herbert was lucky to escape serious injury after being involved in a 210mph crash in the final practice. He hit a barrier and slid backwards for 200m but only bruised his thumb.
Hakkinen, 1st: "It was a good qualifying session and I enjoyed it. However, I think I could have done better. Things on my second to last run were going exceptionally well until the second to last corner, when I arrived there I found a lot of dust on the circuit and I lost three tenths of a second at that point. But I am still on pole and that is the most important thing."
Frentzen, 2nd: " I said earlier this week that I expected us to be more competitive here than in Zeltweg, and this has been the case. The team did a superb job - they helped me to find the right set up and they have made a lot of improvements to the car. It is great to be so close to the McLarens and be in a position to fight for pole. The new engine from Mugen-Honda has been a big help."
Coulthard, 3rd: "I was on the in-lap of my first run and just between the first and second chicanes when the tread came off the tyre which was a rather attention grabbing moment because when the tread flies off it makes the tyre act in a funny way.
Salo, 4th: "I am not surprised at my performance as I am more comfortable with the car now. I am happy that we made progress throughout the weekend. I did not make any mistakes and I got what I wanted. I still have more to learn so I think there is more to come in terms of performance. "
Ievine, 5th: "At least it is better to be fifth than fourth, as the outside of the track is a big advantage here. We went the wrong way with a set-up change in the middle of the session and there was no time to change it back again for my last two runs. I had a lot of traffic on my final run, which obviously did me no favours"
Barrichello, 6th: "Well, at least I have kept up my average for the year. My target was the second row but I guess we didn't improve as much as our rivals in the afternoon. After this morning I was expecting to be closer to the front."
Fastest times for Sunday's German GP: 1 M Hakkinen Fin McLaren one minute 42.950 seconds 2 H-H Frentzen Ger Jordan 1:43.000 3 D Coulthard GB McLaren 1:43.288 4 M Salo Fin Ferrari 1:43.577 5 E Irvine NI Ferrari 1:43.769 6 R Barrichello Brz Stewart 1:43.938 7 O Panis Fr Prost 1:43.979 8 D Hill GB Jordan 1:44.001 9 J Trulli It Prost 1:44.209 10 G Fischella It Benetton 1:44.338

NEW AGE FOR BTCC COMPETITION!
(29/07) Next year's Auto Trader British Touring Car Championship will be the biggest yet, featuring 28-rounds following the addition of Mondello Park in Ireland to the BTCC calendar. In the year 2000, the world's most coveted touring car title chase will be won and lost at 14 nationwide race meetings, each one showcasing the established BTCC double-header format first introduced in 1998 that includes both short Sprint plus longer Feature races. (BTCC.CO.UK)

BIKLE EXTENDS CONTRACT
(30/07) Tyler Jet Motorsports team owner Tim Beverley announced Wednesday driver Rich Bickle has agreed to a multi-year agreement with the NASCAR Winston Cup Series organization. (NASCAR.COM)

DISMORE SCRED DOVER POLE
(31/07) Kelley Racing teammates Mark Dismore and Scott Sharp qualified first and second, respectively, Saturday for the MBNA Mid-Atlantic 200 at Dover Downs International Speedway, with Dismore winning the pole with a lap of 182.639 mph.
Top qualifying times: 1 Mark Dismore D/A/G 19.711 2 Scott Sharp D/A/G 19.735 3 Greg Ray D/A/F 19.882 4 Sam Schmidt G/A/F 19.889 5 Scott Harrington D/A/F 19.954

CHILLI AND FOGGY STRONG
(01/08) Italian Pierfrancesco Chili (Suzuki) surprised everybody by sneaking provisional pole position in the closing minutes of timed qualifying for the ninth round of the World Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch today. But home hero Foggy qualified first in super pole session.
Top times - R1: 1 P Chili It Suzuki one minute 27.553 seconds 2 T Corser Aus Ducati 1:27.645 3 A Slight NZ Honda 1:27.658 4 N Mackenzie GB Yamaha 1:27.727 5 C Edwards USA Honda 1:27.737
Top times - R2: 1 C Fogarty GB Ducati one minute 26.758 seconds 2 C Edwards USA Honda 1:26.950 3 P Chili It Suzuki 1:27.078 4 A Slight NZ Honda 1:27.100 5 N Haga Jpn Yamaha 1:27.270

HILL AGAIN ON TOP - THIS TIME IN GERMANY
(31/07) Damon Hill in Jordan dominated on Saturday's free practice ahead of qualifying session to beat strong oponent Hakkinen in McLaren car and good show from Rubens Barrichello in Stewart car. Frentzen completed great morning for Jordan team in fourth spot. Hill was first on Friday's free practice in Austria last weekend but did not deliver good result. Maybe now is also time for that.
Top times: 1 7 D. Hill Benson & Hedges Jordan - 1:43.918 2 1 M. Hakkinen West McLaren Mercedes - 1:44.001 +0.083 3 16 R. Barrichello Stewart Ford - 1:44.119 +0.201 4 8 H. Frentzen Benson & Hedges Jordan - 1:44.142 +0.224 5 18 O. Panis Gauloises Prost Peugeot - 1:44.442 +0.524 6 2 D. Coulthard West McLaren Mercedes - 1:44.526 +0.608 7 4 E. Irvine Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro - 1:44.695 +0.777 8 19 J. Trulli Gauloises Prost Peugeot - 1:44.726 +0.808 9 3 M. Salo Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro - 1:44.839 +0.921 10 22 J. Villeneuve British American Racing - 1:44.860 +0.942

EDDIE HAPPY WITH FIRST DAY RESULT
(31/07) Eddie Irvin e is more confident than ever on his team Ferrari as they are on equal terms to McLaren on high speed circuit like Hockenheim. He said after first day: "It's good to be quick today, but the time doesn't mean much. We still have a lot of work to do, because I am having trouble controlling the back end of the car, which is why I spun this morning. The new wings make the car very fast to drive down the straights, but hard to control in the slow sections. I feel under less pressure here than I did in Zeltweg, my first race as team leader. Now I am more confident and content and I hope that will come through in my driving."

ECCLESTONE PREDICTS ANOTHER SURPRISE FOR GERMAN GP
(31/07) "On paper, the McLarens are the clear favourites. But then nobody knows how much the Ferraris have improved on fast tracks. We could have another surprise. In Austria I would not have put any money on Irvine." said Eccleston about German GP feelings.

TRULLI AHEAD OF IRVINE ON FRIDAY
(30/07) Jarno Trulli, Prost driver produced stunning lap in last seconds on new rubber to switch from lonely 14th spot to 1st at Hockenheim circuit in Germany. Eddie Irvine was all Friday quickest man and lost first spot to Trulli only in last seconds. His team mate Salo was also all day well up and finished on seventh spot in second Ferrari. Giancarlo Fisichella with Benetton finished day on third spot and was also all day well up. Fourth spot goes to David Coulthard in McLaren, just ahead of Stewart's Barrichello. Salo was seventh, Hill in Jordan eight, ninth was Wurz in second Benetton and tenth Hakkinen in McLaren no. 1. Both McLarens survived spins, while Villeneuve retired from second practice after BAR car failure. Rosa produced in Arrows big smoke and also retired in second free practice. Marc Gene was star of day as he moved up to eight spot for a moment and finished in Minardi Friday on good eleventh spot.
Friday's times from Hockenheim: 1. J. Trulli Prost 1:45,677 2. E. Irvine Ferrari 1:46,225 3. G. Fisichella Benetton 1:46,243 4. D. Coulthard McLaren 1:46,411 5. R. Barrichello Stewart 1:46,418 6. O. Panis Prost 1:46,516 7. M. Salo Ferrari 1:46,542 8. D. Hill Jordan 1:46,851 9. A. Wurz Benetton 1:46,859 10. M. Hakkinen McLaren 1:46,866 11. M. Gene Minardi 1:46,953

BERGER AND LAUDA PESIMISTIC FOR BENETTON
(30/07) Niki Lauda said: "If it's bad at the start you are stuck with it all season". Gerhard Berger added that part of the blame goes to designer Nick Wirth. "He has designed three Benettons now and none of them have been very good".

CHILI QUICKEST ON SUZUKI
(30/07) Italian Pierfracesco Chili stormed to pole position in dying moments of Friday's practice to beat second placed Akira Yanagawa on Kawasaki bike. Corser on Ducati was third, ahead of Honda's Slight and Edwards. Fogarty on second factory Ducati was only seventh fastest. "It's going to be a great day and I'm going to do my best to make it a good one!" said Fogarty.
Top times from Brands Hatch: 1 Chili Suzuki 1'27.553 2 Yanagawa Kawasaki 1'27.918 3 Corser Ducati 1'27.973 172,730 4 Slight Honda 1'28.064 172,551 5 Edwards Honda 1'28.143 172,397 6 Reynolds Ducati 1'28.177

GOODYEAR AHEAD OF CHEEVER
(30/07) Scott Goodyear finished Friday's practice ahead of great rival Eddie Cheever Jr. "I had just come from the big prize money win at Indy and then, in less than an hour, proceeded to leave Dover with eight hundred thousand dollars less on my balance sheet," reminisced the Pep Boys Indy Racing League driver/owner, Eddie Cheever, Jr. of the 1998 event at Dover Downs. "It was the fastest dissipation of assets I've witnessed in my life."
Top times from Dover: 1 Goodyear G/A/G 19.746 2 Cheever Jr. D/I/G 19.773 3 Sharp D/A/G 19.777 4 Dismore D/A/G 19.787 5 Hollansworth D/A/F 19.848 6 Harrington 19.887

ITV WITH LIVE COVERAGE
(30/07) "ITV are pleased to announce that negotiations have been progressed with the FOA and as a result we will be showing the qualifying session from Hockenheim live from 11.30 on Saturday July 30. Qualifying for the remaining rounds will also be live".

SCHUMACHER FACING SEASON ON SIDELINES
(29/07) Michael Schumacher, who broke his right leg at the British Grand Prix earlier this month, may be forced to sit out the remainder of the season. The German planned to return to the cockpit within two months but his Ferrari team believe his leg is not healing as quickly as was first hoped. 'Michael has not made the step forward we had expected,' said his manager Will Weber. 'He will not come back until he is 100 percent fit which could be 16 to 18 weeks. It's all up to the doctors.'

BIG BLOW FOR TEAM PROST!
(29/07) Peugeot company will finish with F1 competition after this season as result in lack of good result and swap to World Rally competition, where their no. 1 Rally driver Bugalski scored in 206 two victories, despite they are not fully jet into Rally program. Prost team may use Supertec, so there will be four teams for next season to be supplied by Supertec! Alain Prost commented on a new engine supplier by saying: "A team like mine isn't going to spend L10 million on an engine because it would be too much of a setback to our chassis reasearch and development programme."

IRVINE: McLAREN HAVE HOCKENHEIM EDGE
(29/07) Austrian Grand Prix victor Eddie Irvine is seeking to consolidate his world championship challenge in Sunday's German Grand Prix at Hockenheim. Irvine, leading Ferrari's bid for glory in Michael Schumacher's absence, trails title rival Mika Hakkinen by two points but admits the high-speed circuit will suit the Mercedes-powered McLaren star. 'My goal is to get to the end with another finish in the points,' said the Northern Irishman. 'If it turns out to be a win that would be perfect.'

COULTHARD GETS GREEN LIGHT FOR TITLE CHASE
(29/07) McLaren boss Ron Dennis and other team insiders have decided to give both drivers, Mika and David equal status for '99 driver's title. There were many rumours that team may decide to give Hakkinen no. 1 status after Austrian accident, where McLarens colided on second corner, but it is now all clear, fight goes on! 'We have been given permission to race each other and there is still everything to go for,' said Coulthard. 'I'm 16 points behind Mika and the championship is wide open.'

DE LA ROSA OPTIMISTIC FOR ARROWS
(29/07) Spanish driver Rosa, who regularly outqualified his team mate Takagi this season in his only first one is optimistic for next season and ready to deliver good results next year for same team he is driving right now. "I expect to stay at Arrows next year. I'm not worried at all. This year we have only had a development of the 1998 car, but next year will be a different story. I think we will surprise a few people."

WEBBER TO TASTE JORDAN CAR
(29/07) Mark Webber is expected to test for the Jordan team after the German Grand Prix. The team has scheduled a three day test at Silverstone where the Australian gets his first run in a Formula One car. (F1TODAY.COM)

JORDAN TEAM ON GO - KARTS!
(28/07) Heinz-Harald Frentzen has invited whole Jordan team to compete in a go kart race on Wednesday, before getting down to serious business when the GP weekend gets away on Friday for the free practice sessions.

FOGARTY NOT EXPECTING TO LEAVE DUCATI
(28/07) Carl Fogarty, reigning superbike champion and strong favourite for this year's title, says he does not expect to move from the Ducati team. 'I'm not sure where I'll be next year but I'd be surprised if I wasn't still with Ducati. It would be stupid to break up a winning team.' Fogarty, who continues his chase for a fourth world crown at Brands Hatch on Sunday, said titles did not bother him. 'I just want to win races. If I win enough I'll be world champion.'

NEW OWNER FOR NO. 30 PONTIAC
(29/07) Bahari' Racing owner Chuck Rider announced today he has sold the team to Eel River Racing, LLC, a newly formed team owned by Boston businessman Jack Birmingham.

BODINE HOPES FOR VICTORY LANE
(28/07) Geoffrey Bodine has been competitive enough to win a Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway -- now he just hopes his luck holds long enough to put him in position to score in the sixth annual event.

SHARP READY FOR DOVER THIS WEEKEND
(29/07) Young Sharp returns to Dover Downs International Speedway this weekend to defend his 1998 victory in Sunday's MBNA Mid-Atlantic 200. He comes in on a high after scoring his first win of 1999 in the Kobalt Mechanics Tools 500 presented by MCI WorldCom on July 17 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

BENETTON MAY BRING UP DINIZ
(28/07) Mild Seven, Benetton's title sponsor, has an agreement in which their sponsorship is performance related and with Benetton's disappointing performance thus far in the season, they are open to alternatives. Pedro Diniz is rumoured to bring 7.5 million pounds with should he be signed. If that's the case, curent Benetton driver will move to Sauber, while Diniz will leave this team and move up to Benetton. Diniz scored two points so far this season, while Wurz scored three.

SCHUMACHER DISMISSES RETIREMENT RUMOURS
(28/07) Michael Schumacher has rejected Ferrari teammate Eddie Irvine's suggestion that he may retire from racing because of his accident at the British Grand Prix. Irvine had queried whether the German, expected to be out of action for at least three months with a fractured leg, could recover psychologically from the impact of such a heavy crash. But the ex-world champion said: 'I want to be healthy again as soon as possible and as soon as I am fit I will drive Formula One races for Ferrari.'
Ferrari technical boss Brown added: "He was low for the first few days after the crash, but since then he has been fine. He wants to know how we are doing and the way things are going. He wants to be involved, and the way he's talking he'll be OK when he comes back. I don't think the accident will affect him."

IRVINE IN TALKS WITH McLAREN
(28/07) For a few months now Eddie Irvine has been linked to the McLaren team to possibly replace David Coulthard for the 2000 season. At this point in time both the parties involved have denied any deal being done. Sources have indicated though that Eddie Irvine met with Ron Dennis for informal talks on what is being rumoured to be contract specifics.

SCHUMACHER MAY RETURN EARLIER!
(27/07) Schumacher's spokesperson Heiner Buckingere stressed that Michael may return a lot sooner, although no one knows for sure as Schumacher has never broken a leg before. Speculations are that Schumacher might be back in action as soon as in two week's time. "I think Michael will be getting on the track in a couple of weeks, but no one should expect to see him back racing too soon".

EU APOLOGISES TO GRAND PRIX CHIEFS
(27/07) The European Commission has apologised to F1's governing body for some hostile public comments about commercial deals - and leaking a confidential document. International Automobile Federation officials said the Commission's apology was 'unprecedented' but added: 'It's unfortunate it took them 16 months to admit they were wrong....' Last month the EU warned racing supremo Bernie Ecclestone that the FIA is being investigated for 'abusing its dominant position and restricting competition.'

McLAREN PAIR CALMS DOWN AHEAD OF GERMAN GP
(27/07) McLaren did great job for Ferrari and Irvine, but after all they all know such mistakes can happen. Even Ferrari lost their first man in Britain when Schumacher was overtaking Irvine ahead. David Coulthard, who admitted that he misjudged the second corner of the first lap said: "Today was my nightmare scenario. Not only did I take out my team mate, I also finished second to our opposition. I was on the brakes going into the corner but by then Mika was turning in. I am very sorry for what happened. I completely misjudged the corner".
Mika Hakkinen said the following about the incident: "I was very upset. David cost me the race. If it had not been for the accident I would have been half-a-lap ahead of the field - I had been faster than everyone all weekend. When you see your team-mate in your mirror you do not expect him to go into you. But I have accepted it was a mistake on David's part and I will learn from this for the season."

NINA JERANCIC - PERSPECTIVE WOMAN IN PORSCHE CUP!
(27/07) Nina Jerancic from Slovenia, many times Slovenian carting champion made first appearance close to Formula One guys last weekend in Austria, Spielberg where was running also F1 GP. She qualified 20th, but improved during the race to 19th spot despite two spins. But she managed to finish Porsche Cup race and delivered for their Hit Casinos sponsor and Porsche positive result. She was testing Porsche 911 Prototype only twice and jet managed to be 1,5 seconds adrift of best posted time. If sponsors are ready to support her step to high ranked motorsport, she will be soon big surprise to many male drivers. Even Jarno Trulli, Prost GP driver was impressed by Jerancic's performance in Austria. Go Nina, Go!

STRICKLIN IMPROVES VERY MUCH
(28/07) Hut Stricklin's performance in the No. 58 Turbine Solutions Ford over the past two weeks has so impressed SBIII Motorsports owner Scott Barbour, the two will likely be together for some time to come, a source close to the team said Monday.

BLUNDELL BACK INTO THE ACTION
(27/07) After almost two months Briton Mark Blundell is again back into PacWest team to continue racing as he will take over from Roberto Moreno, who did great work for team as he outperformed his team mate Gugelmin in almost every race while he was replacing injured Briton. 'I want to thank Roberto for the wonderful job he did filling in for Mark ,' said PacWest team boss. 'He brought a lot of credit to PacWest and we will miss him. I hope one day we'll get the chance to do it again under different circumstances.' Blundell is really under the pressure to show his good driving form and added: 'I'm really anxious to get back in a car. This has been the longest summer of my life.'

MULLER AND KOX LOST NERVES!
(28/07) It can happen, also in such high rated motorsport. Remeber last season when Coulthard and Schumacher want to fight after Spa crash. But what about exchanged words ... Same happened few days ago between Kox and Muller and what happened.
Speaking at the post-race press conference, the Dutchman Kox said, ‘Everyone at the front raced with respect, but if some people [at this point he looked at third-placed Muller] had been involved it could have been nasty.’ Muller interrupted twice to say ‘f*** off’ and then ‘You’re Dutch, aren’t you?’ Muller hit back again when explaining his collision with Kox’s team-mate, James Thompson. ‘I’m very sorry it was James,’ he said. ‘If it was him [Kox] then I don’t f***ing care. I’ve spoken with James and it’s OK – you can do that with him, because he’s intelligent.’

BRANDS HATCH IS BACK ON BTCC LIST
(28/07) British motorsport meca, Brands Hatch circuit which is also in game for Formula One GP in near future will stage BTCC series race and kick off season. The 2.6-mile track will be used by the series for the first time since 1996, and will also be the first of three meetings to be televised live by the BBC.

TODT CHALLENGES IRVINE TO WIN AGAIN
(26/07) Ferrari team boss Jean Todt has backed Eddie Irvine to lead the team to further glory in the absence of injured team leader Michael Schumacher. The Northern Irishman came in for criticism from the Italian press following his lacklustre qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix, but victory in Sunday's race silenced his detractors. And Todt said: 'We said we would not give up. Now Eddie must continue to deliver this kind of race because actions speak louder than words.

SCHUMACHER PRAISED IRVINE FOR GREAT DRIVING
(26/07) Injured Michael Schumacher commented on Irvine's performance and said: "Eddie did a great job. The world championship is wide open. Eddie drove a very clean race and especially kept his nerve at the end when Coulthard increased the pressure. I also have to give a great compliment to the team which once again chose the right race strategy." In ending Schumacher said that he was upset that he was unable to compete and that it would have been an important race for him as well.

IRVINE HOLDS OFF MCLAREN PAIR TO WIN!
(25/07) Can we say - new king was born? Ferrari's Eddie Irvine took advantage of a first lap collision between McLaren pair Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard and a well-timed pit stop to win the Austrian Grand Prix. David Coulthard stayed on track while Hakkinen spun and battled back to third place from last position after first lap was completed. Sauber drivers decided for two pit stop strategy, all others stay out for only one pit stop. On lap 20 Hakkinen moved up to fifth place, behind leading Coulthard in McLaren, second placed Barrichello in Stewart car, third placed Irvine in Ferrari and fourth placed Frentzen in Jordan car. Diniz was sixth, but pitted twice and paid off as he completed sixth at the end of race too. After pit stops of both McLarens on lap 42 and 43 Irvine still stayed out and made few flying laps. He pitted from first place few laps latter and came out as first, 2 seconds ahead of now second placed Coulthard. Barrichello in Stewart retired from 4th place with engine explosion, while Hakkinen moved up to third place. Frentzen completed race as fourth, Wurz moved up to fifth spot to score two points for Benetton team. Diniz finished on sixth spot for Sauber team.
For sure, race was decided on first lap when both McLarens made contact, but Irvine and Ferrari tactic supremo Brown were also great and that decided Irvine will be ahead of Coulthard at the end of Austrian GP. With loss of Schumacher there is new Ferrari guy, who is prepared to give Hakkinen more hard time this season. Maybe, Ferrari will get Title at the end of 1999 season, but for a change, with Irvine!
Austrian GP results: 1. E Irvine Ferrari 1:28:12,4 2. D Coulthard McLaren + 0,3 3. M Hakkinen McLaren 22,2 4. HH Frentzen Jordan 52,8 5. A Wurz Benetton 1:06,3 6. P Diniz Sauber 1:10,9 7. J Trulli Prost 1 lap 8. D Hill L Jordan 1 lap 9. M Salo Ferrari 1lap 10. O Panis Prost 2 laps

UNLUCKY PAPIS HANDS IT TO KANAAN
(26/07) Tony Kanaan claimed his first career win after passing unlucky Italian Max Papis on the last lap in the US 500 at Brooklyn, Michigan. Papis led the latter stages of the 250- lap race but 200 metres from the finish his Reynard Ford ran out of fuel. Running three seconds behind, Brazilian Kanaan sped by in his Reynard Honda to hold off Juan Montoya of Colombia. Paul Tracy was third and Papis finally crossed the line in seventh position.
Result of 250-lap US 500 in Brooklyn, Michigan: 1 T Kanaan Brz Reynard Honda 2 J Montoya Col Reynard Honda 3 P Tracy Can Reynard Honda 4 M Andretti USA Swift Ford 5 D Franchitti GB Reynard Honda 6 A Fernandez Mex Reynard Ford 7 M Papis It Reynard Ford

BOBBY LABONTE VICTORIOUS AT POCONO EVENT
(26/07) Bobby Labonte completed a sweep of both races held at Pocono Raceway this year by winning the Pennsylvania 500. The Pontiac Grand Prix driver finished 8.6 seconds ahead of Winston Cup points leader Dale Jarrett to secure the 10th victory of his career - and third of the season. Labonte was also first in the Pocono 500 last month. Mark Martin performed well to claim third place, despite still being sore from the injuries he sustained at Daytona last month. Stewart finished fourth fastest, just ahead of Dallenbach who completed good day for him on fifth spot.
Result of the 200-lap Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway: 1 B Labonte Pontiac 2 D Jarrett Ford 3 M Martin Ford 4 T Stewart Pontiac 5 W Dallenbach Chevrolet

OKADA AND BARROS WIN ENDURANCE RACE
(26/07) Honda pair Tadayuki Okada of Japan and Brazil's Alex Barros won the Suzuka eight-hour endurance race, completing 213 laps. New Zealand's Aaron Slight and Colin Edwards of the USA, also riding a Honda, finished a lap down in second place.

SPENCER'S COMEBACK ENDS IN CRASH
(24/07) Former world champion Freddie Spencer's hopes of a comeback at the Suzuka eight-hour endurance race ended when he broke bones in both hands in a crash. The 37-year-old former 500cc and 250cc champion, who had not raced for four years, was thrown off his Honda during the free practice session. 'He thought it was just cuts and bruises but he had a suspicion that it might be worse,' said a Honda team spokesman.

STEWART EYE DREAM COMBINATION
(25/07) The Stewart-Ford team are hoping to snatch former two-time German champion Michael Schumacher from Ferrari in time for next season's Championship. Ambitious Ford have already offered a three-year deal to current champion Mika Hakkinen believed to be worth $52.5 million. Schumacher is tied to Ferrari until 2002, but Ford chief Martin Whitaker told German newspaper Bild am Sonntag that 'the best car needs the best driver - and that means Schumacher.'

EDDIE IRVINE FEELS PRESSURE!
(25/07) Finn Mika Hakkinen is confident for good result in Austria and said also that Irvine is under huge pressure as all Tifosi eyes are on him from now on! 'I don’t like to laugh at other people’s misfortune,' said the Finn. 'In that position it is very difficult to relax, that only comes with experience, having the right support around you and the right management. 'Whatever he says he is feeling the pressure, believe me. Extremely high pressure. 'I am not number one at McLaren, David and I are equal, but I have been racing so many years and I know what it is like to be in that position. 'I am not saying they are doing the wrong thing at Ferrari but the pressure is there on Eddie. 'Today was a big lesson for him. If he can take it the right way it will make the year very interesting. 'I haven’t forgotten he is only eight points behind me so I don’t want to speak too soon.'

SKINNER FASTEST IN POCONO QUALIFYING
(24/07) Slightly more than five hours after it was announced Friday that veteran crew chief Larry McReynolds would remain with Mike Skinner for the next three years, the Richard Childress Racing driver claimed his first career Bud Pole at Pocono Raceway. "I gambled. I hit the throttle, the car slid up the race track, got all the way up in the gray area, I almost ran out of race track but I didn't. "In Winston Cup nowadays, you almost have to wreck in order to qualify good," said Skinner.
Qualifying results for Sunday's Nascar Winston Cup Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway: 1 M Skinner Chevrolet 170.45 mph 2 M Martin Ford 170.07 3 K Schrader Chevrolet 169.93 4 B Labonte Pontiac 169.87 5 J Andretti Pontiac 169.78 6 W Dallenbach Chevrolet 169.52 7 J Gordon Chevrolet 169.51 8 W Burton Pontiac 169.45 9 S Marlin Chevrolet 169.44 10 J Nemechek Chevrolet 169.39

VASSER SCORED FIRST POLE OF 1999 SEASON AT MICHIGAN
(24/07) American Jimmy Vasser claimed pole position for Sunday's US 500 race and then predicted a roller-coaster race. Vasser, who clocked a qualifying time of 31.35 seconds at Michigan Speedway, said: 'I'll be surprised if I lead the first lap. It's the least important qualifying session of the season but it gives me momentum.' Adrian Fernandez, who starts from second, agreed with Vasser.'I started from pole last year and by the time the first circuit was over I was fourth!'
Qualifying positions for Sunday's US 500 at Michigan Speedway: 1 J Vasser US Honda Rey 31.35 seconds 2 A Fernandez Mex Ford Rey 31.38 3 J Montoya Col Honda Rey 31.39 4 M Andretti US Ford Swift 31.41 5 S Pruett US Toyota Rey 31.49 6 M Papis It Ford Rey 31.54 7 B Herta US Ford Rey 31.60 8 P Tracy Can Honda Rey 31.60 9 D Franchitti GB Honda Rey 31.60 10 C da Matta Brz Toyota Rey 31.61

SILVER ARROWS TO STRONG IN AUSTRIA
(24/07) Both McLaren drivers Hakkinen and Coulthard were miles ahead of competition in Saturday's qualifying. Hakkinen scored his 17th pole position. Third fastest was Eddie Irvine in Ferrari, full one second off Hakkinen's best time. Fourth place scored Frentzen in Jordan, just ahead of two Stewart's of Barrichello and Herbert. Salo in second Ferrari scored seventh place, ahead of Ralf Schumacher in Williams car. Hill could manage only 11th fastest time, he was first on Friday! Many drivers run off circuit but without serious damage on the cars. Only Zonta retired from qualifying while he runs into gravel trap at the end of finish straight.
Mika Hakkinen, 1st: "I had to change to the T.Car as my race car cut out at the exit of the pit lane and that always makes you feel a bit nervous, although the T. Car is exactly the same as your race car. But it was great teamwork and we got the right result. This is a tough grand prix, hard on the cars and brakes with many things that can happen, but I am going to go flat out and try to gain the maximum from the race."
David Coulthard, 2nd: "I had a small electronic problem at the start of the session which I came back in to check before starting my qualifying laps. But apart from that, I have felt really comfortable with the car all weekend and I think we should have a great race tomorrow. I have been quick all weekend and I think that if we have reliability, the same conditions, then we expect the race to be very close."
Eddie Irvine, 3rd: "The reason for the big gap to pole position is that my brakes were inconsistent: one lap I would lock the fronts, the next it would be the rears. Because of that I could not commit to the corners. If you look at the section times, then the gap is not so big and as this problem with the brakes does not occur in race conditions, I am confident for tomorrow. Third is a good place to start, and I hope to get past David and try and chase Mika. The car is well balanced and we will be much closer in the race."
Harald Frentzen, 4th: After a difficult morning trying to find the right set up, I had not expected to finish so high up. This is the best result we have had all season and I am very pleased with the job we did today. This morning we were struggling to find the perfect balance for this track but we made the right modifications in time for a successful qualifying session.
Rubens Barrichello, 5th: "I had a problem with turn-in oversteer this morning and I felt like a passenger at times. But we improved the car's handling and mechanical grip as the session went on and the car felt very good by the end. I think fourth was probably the best I could have done."
Johnny Herbert, 6th: "It has taken me and the team a bit longer than expected but now we are in the top six it's a big relief. Considering I was fourth quickest this morning I'm a little frustrated not to be one or two places higher up."
Top times for Sunday's race: 1 M Hakkinen Fin McLaren One minute 10.95 seconds 2 D Coulthard GB McLaren 1:11.15 3 E Irvine GB Ferrari 1:11.97 4 H-H Frentzen Ger Jordan 1:12.26 5 R Barrichello Brz Brz 1:12.34 6 J Herbert GB Stewart 1 12.48 7 M Salo Fin Ferrari 1:12.51 8 R Schumacher Ger Williams 1:12.51 9 J Villeneuve Can BAR 1:12.83 10 A Wurz Aut Benetton 1:12.85

SPENCER MAKING ANOTHER COMEBACK
(23/07) Former world champion Freddie Spencer of the USA is making yet another career comeback at Sunday's Suzuka eight-hour endurance race in Japan. The 37-year-old first quit in 1987 - two years after becoming the last man to win both 250cc and 500cc titles in the same season. Now he partners ex- superbike star John Kocinski for Honda. Spencer's last competitive outing was four years ago and he said: 'I never intended to race again, but this was such a good opportunity'. MONTOYA FASTEST IN PRACTICE
(24/07) Montoya went out on Friday to put in his mandatory rookie training laps. "It's pretty exciting, it was really pretty cool," he said of racing on the high-speed oval track in the practice sessions today. His times today were some 3 plus seconds slower than the track qualifying speed set by Jimmy Vasser in 1996. But that does not take into consideration the fact that CART officials made an attempt to slow the cars down last season with a wing-like piece of carbon fibre known as the Handford Device. Fastest times: 1 Montoya Target/Chip Ganassi 99I HR F 231.258mph 2 Gugelmin Hollywood/PacWest 99I MB F 230.740 3 Papis Miller Lite/Team Rahal 99I XD F 230.518 4 Moore Players Indeck/Forsythe 99I MB F 230.260 5 Fittipaldi KMart/Newman Haas SWI XD F 229.760 6 Kanaan McDonald's/Forsythe Chmp99I HR F 229.672 7 Unser Jr. Marlboro Team Penske P27 MB G 229.424 8 Carpentier Player's/Forsythe Racing99I MB F 229.321 9 26 Tracy Team KOOL Green 99I HR F 228.971 10 Andretti I KMart/Texaco/NewmanHaas SWI XD F 228.964

COMMENTS FROM TOP PLACED DRIVERS
(23/07) Damon Hill, 1st place: "That was fun! I enjoyed myself and am delighted to finish the day in first place. The team has done a great job to develop the car and now I feel I am able to really fight, something I have missed for most of this season. When the car feels good you can really start to dig deeper although I went off so many times, I wondered whether I should be taking up a new career as a rally driver! The reason I went off was that we had not found the right set up, but obviously we fixed it by the end of the session. If I can keep this balance tomorrow we should do well."
Mika Hakkinen, 2nd place: "It was a good practice session. I am not yet one hundred percent pleased, but we made good progress as we worked on the balance and handling of the car and I am feeling very positive about qualifying."
David Coulthard, 3rd place: "I am happy with the progress we made today, especially as we picked up grip throughout both sessions. I am looking forward to tomorrow."
Ricardo Zonta, 4th place: "The work we did at our last test at Monza has helped us a lot. My car felt very good today. It was consistent in the corners, which meant I was able to push. Jacques and I are now running with the same differential - at Silverstone I still had the older spec one and I think this gave Jacques a second's advantage over me in qualifying. Now we're the same and I think the lap times show this. I still have quite a bit of understeer in the fast corners but we're gradually improving this, and I think we can be even quicker."
Ralf Schumacher, 6th place: "This first day here in Zeltweg was not so bad, I am quite happy with the car so far, although in today's free practice session I missed a little bit of grip both, front and rear. I hope that we can improve by changing the set-up of the car for tomorrow's qualifying and I am confident that the Winfield Williams Team will do a good job here in Spielberg."
Eddie Irvine, 9th place: "This was a usual Friday, doing a lot of laps on old tyres and with a heavy fuel load, so I am not bothered about my time from today. The car is pretty much the way it should be. There are a few minor improvements we can try tomorrow morning. We made a good step forward before my last two runs this afternoon, but traffic and old tyres meant we did not see the difference on the watch. Tyre choice will be straightforward here. I like this circuit and it is fun to drive."

HILL FASTEST MAN IN AUSTRIAN'S SPIELBERG
(23/07) Brit Damon Hill, who is set to retire after 1999 season was fastest man on twisty Spielberg circuit on Friday. He scored fastest time in dying moments ahead of championship leader Mika Hakkinen and his team mate David Coulthard. Brazilian Ricardo Zonta springs big surprise as he finished training on fourth place, just ahead of Alesi and Ralf Schumacher. Diniz, Villeneuve, Irvine and Barrichello completed top ten rankings. Need to mention here that both McLaren drivers were playing ping pong for first place all day, but Hill in Jordan snatched first spot in dying moments. Also both BAR cars were performing well at the end of first day, both finished into top 8. Sauber also looks good, while Williams, Stewart and Ferrari do not look so strong. Neither of both Benettons finished inside top ten! Mika Salo retired in Ferrari from training into gravel trap, Frentzen lost Jordan car in second free practice due electrical problems, both Fisichella and Wurz were faced by frightening moments, Wurz also retired after second spin in Benetton. Takagi's Arrows engine says enough! Top times from Spielberg: 1.Damon Hill GBR 1:13:303 Jordan-Mugen-Honda 2.Mika Hakkinen FIN 1:13,325 McLaren-Mercedes 3.David Coulthard GBR 1:13,376 McLaren-Mercedes 4.Ricardo Zonta BRA 1:13,685 BAR-Supertec 5.Jean Alesi FRA 1:13,696 Sauber-Petronas 6.Ralf Schumacher GER 1:13,711 Williams-Supertec 7.Pedro Diniz BRA 1:13,740 Sauber-Petronas 8.Jacques Villeneuve CAN 1:13,840 BAR-Supertec 9.Eddie Irvine GBR 1:13,883 Ferrari 10.Rubens Barrichello BRA 1:13,923 Stewart-Ford

SPIELBERG CIRCUIT CHARACTERISTICS
(22/07) A modern, medium to high downforce track with mainly slow corners. Has been described as 'Monaco without the barriers' as it is very tight and overtaking is very difficult. John Watson's assessment of the circuit: "On my first acquaintance, I could quickly tell that this was nothing like the circuit on which i scored by first GP win in 1976. Passing will be very difficult, but I suppose you could say that each generation misses out on the great tracks enjoyed by the previous generation."

IRVINE LIKES TO BE NO.1 - BUT NOT JET DECIDED!
(22/07) Eddie Irvine's ambition to become no. 1 or at least equal in status to Michael Schumacher when German driver returns back into competition is still in jeopardy. Ferrari will decide on status only after what Irvine will show in next few races, and also Finn Salo might play second fiddle as well. 'As soon as Michael is back we will see what the situation in the championship and we will decide the strategy which we think is best for the team,' said Todt on the eve of the Austrian Grand Prix. 'We will be running the strategy and it will not be down to the drivers,' he added stoney-faced. 'Eddie has done very well since the beginning of the season. Now he is second in the championship. 'Of course he is in the best condition we can put him for the second part of the championship so time will tell how well he can do. 'He has to show us what he can do. He will not have Michael to worry about for the time being so I am just hope he will be able to do the best job possible.' Todt refused to be drawn on whether Salo has signed the same number two contract Irvine was bound to. 'Mika Salo has just arrived so we should give him some time to get used to the team and the car and see what he does. 'If he is behind Eddie which seems normal in the present situation he will try to do the best job for Ferrari. If he is front of him….. then we will see.'

HAUG WANTS BOTH DRIVERS TO STAY!
(22/07) "McLaren Mercedes without Mika Hakkinen - that will simply not happen. Our drivers would be doing something wrong if they did not have such offers from various teams. But I like to compare it with a sound marriage. Both partners would have chances with others but that doesn't necessarily mean they will split up." said Nobert Haug, Mercedes Motorsport boss and added: "We knew before what David is capable of. There are a couple of details to sort out, but assume the chances of seeing Mika and David in McLaren Mercedes in 2000 are big."

DENNIS FULL OF IRVINE!
(21/07) McLaren boss said he is tiring of Irvine's remarks, and suggests Ferrari's new number one should just get on with his own job. 'Eddie would find his time best spent focusing on his own performance and trying to get the best out of his team, rather than making remarks that are counter-productive to that process,' commented Dennis.

UNSER ON PENSKE SIDE
(22/07) Al Unser is set to try one more season with Penske team, but if everything goes wrong from that moment on he is set also to move inside IRL series, where he might drive for new IRL team headed by former chief mechanic Owen Snyder, who works alongside Eddie Cheever. 'I can't tell you what I will be driving next year, but I hope it's with Pense. I still want to win races and I hope the team can come back and prove we can still win.'

MONTOYA TO STAY IN CART
(22/07) Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya is sure to stay in CART for at least one more season. Montoya and Zanardi could be involved in a swap transaction which will see Zanardi returning to Champcars after a disappointing season in F1. Montoya is on loan from Williams to the Ganassi team, but sources have indicated that he told Williams that he prefers to remain in Champcars for the 2000 season. He said the following: "For sure I will be racing here next year, and as far as I know the year after that as well. I would like to go to F1 when the right time comes with a car that is capable of winning races."

BARRETT TO GET ONE MORE CHANCE
(22/07) Car owner Junie Donlavey will try to smooth the rough ride he's been having in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series when young Stanton Barrett tries to qualify his Hills Brothers Coffee Ford for this weekend's Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway. Hills Brothers was on Donlavey's No. 90 Taurus earlier this season at Richmond, where Hut Stricklin failed to qualify for the race.

MARTIN RELAXED TO BE READY FOR NEXT RACES
(20/07) Mark Martin had a reprieve from the busy schedule of a NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver last weekend when he spent some relatively calm "rest and relaxation" time at his home recuperating from the multiple injuries he suffered in a crash July 2.

ALESI MAY LEAVE SAUBER
(21/07) The Frenchman is being lined up to replace either Jarno Trulli or Olivier Panis at Prost Grand Prix. Team boss Peter Sauber said, ‘You have to expect that a driver whose contract is running out is getting other offers. 'It is quite normal. We have to expect Jean Alesi leaving,’ said Peter Sauber.

BERGER FAVOURS HAKKINEN FOR 1999 TITLE
(21/07) Gerhard Berger, BMW project head would put money on Mika for his second consecutive title as Schumacher is out of league after an accident. Berger added: "He was always the pepper in the soup. Hakkinen is going to have to be careful to keep focused and keep luck on his side, but at the end of the day he will be world champion. I don't see anybody giving him a really hard time". On Irvine and his chances he said: "Irvine does not have the capacity to do it. He and David Coulthard are in a lower league. If everything goes all right, Hakkinen will get the championship much easier without Schumacher".

SCHUMACHER OUT OF HOSPITAL
(20/07) On Sunday, the 18th of July Michael Schumacher was discharged from the clinic where he received specialized treatment for his injuries. Claudio Berro, a spokesperson for the team commented on his condition and state of mind by saying: "His general condition is good. His potential for recovery has also impressed the doctors. Michael has been deeply touched by all the concern and support shown him by the entire team and the fans from all over the world."

MONTOYA UNDER PRESSURE
(20/07) Ex-Williams test driver Juan Pablo Montoya had been enjoying a healthy lead, but retirements from the last two races at Road America and Toronto have eaten into his points margin. That may be indicators that young Colombian must respond in proper way to all his rivals, who were fighting with him for last few races. One gear box failure and driver's error already means hard time for Rookie of the year and hard way to find out how to take advantage of only slight overall points advantage. He will need to find some extra stamina, that he did not jet show to use. Can he or not ... wait for few more days!

DOOHAN: I MAY QUIT RACING NEXT YEAR
(20/07) World 500cc champion Mick Doohan, badly injured in a crash at the Spanish Grand Prix in May, has hinted that he might retire from racing next year. 'Unless I think I can win, I won't be getting back on the bike,' the Australian said. 'Unless I can be competitive I'm not interested.' He said his Honda team bosses had been pressing him for a commitment to next season but they were still waiting for an answer.

KNAPP OUT FOR THREE MONTHS
(21/07) Indy Racing League driver Steve Knapp will be sidelined at least three months after undergoing surgery Tuesday to repair a fracture of his C-7 vertebra. Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Terry Trammell performed an anterior fusion to repair the vertebra at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. Knapp is expected to be released from the hospital by Friday, said Dr. Henry Bock, IRL director of medical services. (ESPN.COM)

TOYOTA MAY DROP LE MANS 2000!
(21/07) Sources in the company have indicated that they have stopped the development of the GT One sportscar and they are most likely not to compete in the Le Mans 24 Hours in the 2000 season. This has heightened the rumours that they are zeroing in on the challenge in entering F1 and their announcement on when such can be expected is imminent. A spokesperson for the company stated the following: "Straight after this year's race there was a feeling that we should go back and try again at Le Mans in 2000 but, realistically, it isn't going to happen. We are concentrating everything on rallies and F1."

ONLY WOMAN PAULA COOK OUT OF DRIVE
(21/07) BTCC competition lost Cook team, who scored in their only first season Independent cup in 1998 season but as sponsors say enough they must withdraw with immediate effect. Team owner Derek Cook said, ‘It was a very difficult decision, but unfortunately you need a budget to go motor racing and there is nothing you can do if you haven’t got the funds.’

IRVINE OVER SCHUMACHER!
(19/07) British driver Eddie Irvine has said the injury to Michael Schumacher might help the Ferrari team win the world drivers championship. The 33-year-old has become the main driver in the team following the crash at Silverstone that broke Schumacher's leg and ensured a long recuperation. Irvine reckons the lay-off will ease the pressure on Ferrari. He added that Schumacher is very demanding to work with, and without him the rest of the team will be much more relaxed.

IRVINE COULD QUIT FERRARI NEXT YEAR
(20/07) Eddie Irvine has said that he might quit Ferrari next year if injured Michael Schumacher comes back as the team's number one driver. Irvine said he wanted Schumacher to be his number two when he was fit again. 'He will have to drive for me as I have done for him for the past three years to help him win the world title.' he said. But he agreed Schumacher was likely to return as number one and that was why he wouldn't stay too long at Ferrari.

SCHUMACHER DESCRIBES SILVERSTONE CRASH
(20/07) Michael Schumacher has described his horrific crash at the British Grand Prix, saying he felt completely helpless as his Ferrari flew off the Silverstone track into a tyre wall. The former world champion, who broke two bones in his right leg, said that just before the accident his brakes had not been responding properly. 'All I could do was try to reduce speed as much as possible by locking the wheels before I went into the gravel trap,' he said.

GRAVEL TRAPS WILL BE REDESIGNED VERY SOON
(19/07) Following the crash of Michael Schumacher at British GP where run off area did not prevent German driver from injury tere are already signals that FIA might introduce new areas. The new surface will be coated with a self draining paving according to the FIA safety experts. Max Mosley elaborated: "Gravel was just not efficient in Michael's case. He said it didn't feel as though he was slowing at all. The basic problem you have is that a car goes out of control and ideally you want to stop it before it hurts someone, and that was always the idea with gravel".

BREMBO NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR CRASH
(19/07) Brembo is the firm supplying the Ferrari team with brake components and they have issued a statement in which they claim they are not responsible for the failure in the F399's brake set up. "After the first check, made in Maranello together with Ferrari, it has been clarified that the reasons of the unlucky accident occurred to Michael Schumacher are not related to any failure of Brembo components".

RODRIGUEZ MAY DRIVE FOR PENSKE
(19/07) The Uraguayan, who currently races for the Astromega team in Formula 3000, is being linked with a drive at the Penske team. It is thought he will race for the team in Detroit in a couple of weeks.

STEVE BIRD BACK INTO COMPETITION
(19/07) A crew chief who has four NASCAR Busch Series Grand National Division championships to his credit shouldn't expect to be unemployed long. Steve Bird was only gone two months. Bird, who left BACE Motorsports in May, has been hired by Bill Davis Racing. He will be in charge of that team's NASCAR Busch Series operation in 2000, when Davis' current team in the NASCAR Busch Series moves up to the NASCAR Winston Cup Series.

PETER AND DAVID JOYFULL
(19/07) Peter Kox, who is driving for Honda team scored his first ever career BTCC victory at Snetterton event this weekend. However, in sprint race, race winner was David Leslie, Nissan driver who progressed to victory after his team mate was forced to retirement from lead. David Leslie had looked set to make it a double victory in Norfolk, but a late tyre problem forced him to slow and allowed Kox, who has been inconsistent since joining Honda at the beginning of 1998, to finally taste victory. Kox: "I'm really happy. It's taken too long for this first win, but now I hope it is the first of many. I didn't know where the smoke was coming from but I was pleased when I saw it was from David!" Sprint race results from Snetterton: 1 David Leslie RML Nissan Primera 23m44.2s 2 Rickard Rydell TWR Volvo S40 23m45.7s 3 Vincent Radermecker TWR Volvo S40 23m46.1s 4 Jason Plato Williams Renault Laguna 23m46.4s 5 Jean-Christophe Boullion Williams Renault Laguna 23m46.9s Feature Race result from Snetterton 1 Peter Kox West Surrey Racing Honda Accord 40m45.358s 2 David Leslie Ray Mallock Ltd Nissan Primera 40m49.187s 3 Yvan Muller Triple Eight Vauxhall Vectra 40m52.504s 4 Jean-Christophe Boullion Williams Renault Laguna 41m06.537s 5 Vincent Radermecker TWR Volvo S40 41m06.915s

SCHUMACHER'S CRASH MAKES MONEY
(18/07) Michael Schumacher is receiving 65000 pounds per day while he is out of action and taking the estimated recovery time he could earn up to 8 million pounds and 30 million pounds if he is out of action for the remainder of the 99 season. Michael Schumacher is insured with Lloyds of London and he pays 200 000 pounds per month in insurance payments for this benefit. According to the insurance agent, Wolfgang Druschky, it should be seen in perspective: "That sounds like a lot of money, but Schumacher has simply calculated what his loss of earnings would be. With him it is naturally a lot higher."

WHAT THEY WERE TESTING AT MONZA
(18/07) Damon Hill took a well deserved break from racing and is currently holidaying in Spain with his family when he made the announcement that he would be continuing for the Jordan team until the end of the 99 season. In his absence, Jordan test driver Shinji Nakano was in action for the team on Wednesday. He started the development programme for the team and concentrated on reliability testing with an upgraded gearbox and worked on different downforce settings. Regular driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen took over on Thursday and busied himself with back to back tyre testing and evaluation as well as aerodynamic and suspension development.
Williams team concentrated on assessment of the new aerodynamic package, including sidepods and diffusers, which they first raced at the British GP. In addition they concentrated on set up and towards the end of the session Schumacher evaluated new brake calipers. He also had some hydraulic and electrical problems during the session.
The McLaren team concentrated on preparing for both the Austrian and the German GP in finding the correct set up for the two races.
British American Racing team concentrated on fine-tuning a very low downforce chassis set-up for its cars and also evaluated a number of new components, including a revised "aero" package and suspension parts. The results were encouraging, Villeneuve and Zonta recording the fifth and seventh fastest times of the test respectively despite not concentrating on setting competitive times.
Eddie Irvine spend most of the time fine tuning the high speed configuration of the Ferrari 399. In addition he also worked on set up and aerodynamic evaluation.
Stewart team evaluated a revised exhaust configuration and according to the drivers the engine runs smoother with the revised exhaust. Burti, test driver of Stewart team commented on the opportunity: "It was a fantastic experience driving an F1 car at Monza for the first time. We have got through a lot of set-up work and I was pleased to be able to make a contribution."
Sauber team concentrated on the assessment of the new low downforce aerodynamic package for the C18, which included revised bargeboards.

MAKINEN ON COURSE FOR NEW RECORD
(18/07) Tommi Makinen put himwelf in a commanding position to claim a record fourth successive world title by winning the New Zealand rally. The Mitsubishi driver led a Finnish 1-2-3 to secure his third victory of the season. Makinen said: 'We started very hard and built up a big lead. Since then we have had a relaxed drive.' Juha Kankkunen (Subaru) was second and Toni Gardmeister (Seat) third. Final places from New Zealand Rally: 1. T. Makinen FIN/mitsubishi lancer 4:11:07,1 2. J. Kankkunen FIN/subaru imprezza + 1:37,0 3. T. Gardemeister FIN/seat cordoba 2:49,0 4. D. Auriol FRA/toyota corolla 6:15,8 5. P. Bourne NZL/subaru imprezza 6:48,3 6. C. Sainz SPA/toyota corolla 8:15,9

MAYFIELD FASTEST ON TESTING
(17/07) Jeremy Mayfield recorded the fastest lap in testing Wednesday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as Ford's NASCAR Winston Cup Series teams concluded a two-day test at the famous 2.5-mile oval, in preparation for the Aug. 7 Brickyard 400.

ROBERTS WINS GERMAN GRAND PRIX
(18/07) American Kenny Roberts kept his world championship hopes alive when he fought off Spanish rival Alex Criville to win the 500cc German Grand Prix. Roberts, riding to the limit on the twisty Sachsenring track, triumphed in 45 minutes 59.73 seconds on his Suzuki. Japan's Norick Abe was third. Criville had won five of the previous six races and comfortably retains his lead in the overall standings. Roberts moved second after his third win of the year which came in his 50th Grand Prix. Result of the German 500cc Grand Prix in Hohenstein-Ernsttahl: 1 K Roberts USA Suzuki 45 minutes 59.73 seconds 2 A Criville Sp Honda 46:00.07 3 N Abe Jpn Yamaha 46:05.40 4 C Checa Sp Yamaha 46:05.46 5 J Kocinski USA Honda 46:20.04 6 H Aoki Jpn Honda 46:27.58

MORENO CAN REPLACE PJ JONES
(19/07) Roberto Moreno could stay racing in CART after Mark Blundell returns to reclaim his PacWest seat in a few weeks. CART rumours suggest that Moreno is being considered to replace PJ Jones at the Patrick Racing team.

FRANCHITTI ON ROLE AS MONTOYA CRASHED OFF
(18/07) Scot Dario Franchitti, KOOL Team driver scored well deserved victory at Toronto as he leads the race from start to finish. He holds off all challenges from team mate Paul Tracy who finished second to delight home crowd. Third place snatched KMart driver Christian Fittipaldi, race winner of Elkhart Lake event one week ago. Championship leader Juan Pablo Montoya has not enjoy good weekend in Canada as he qualified only eight fastest and was never on move for top five. He was penalized for dangerous driving into the pits as pole sitter De Ferran, who must move back from second place 14 laps to go. Montoya fall back from seventh to 22nd spot and moved forward to 11th spot where he tangled hard with another driver while he was fighting for better place. He retired 30 laps to go as Ferran after spin on Moore's oil on 12 laps to go. Home driver Moore had disastrous day, managed three spins and finally retired on lap 82 of 95 laps with engine failure impressive oil explosion. Franchitti dramatically closed gap with Toronto victory as championship leader Montoya retired. Brazilian Moreno, who will soon lose site to Blundell in PacWest team scored another impressive fourth place in Toronto, just ahead of Italian Papis. Top spots from Toronto round: 1 D Franchitti Sco Honda Reynard 95 laps 2 P Tracy Can Honda Reynard 3 C Fittipaldi Brz Ford Swift 4 R Moreno Brz Mercedes Reynard 5 M Papis Ita Ford Reynard 6 A Fernandez Mex Ford Reynard 7 S Pruett Usa Toyota Reynard

SHARP SCORED FIRST EVER IRL TASTE OF WINNING LANE
(18/07) Scott Sharp passed Robby Unser with 31 laps remaining and went on to win the Kobalt Mechanics Tools 500 presented by MCI WorldCom Saturday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his first victory of the 1999 Pep Boys Indy Racing League season. "I just can’t say enough about the Delphi team," Sharp said. "I just love coming to Atlanta. This is my favorite of the 1.5-mile tracks we go to. I prayed every lap out there tonight. Hat’s-off effort." Top places from Atlanta: 1 Scott Sharp 2 Robbie Unser 3 Kenny Brack 4 Eliseo Salazar 5 Buzz Calkins

ORECA VIPER PAIR GO BACK ON TOP
(18/07) Former Formula One drivers Olivier Beretta and Karl Wendlinger scored their fifth win in the 1999 Championship driving the Oreca Viper at Zolder. The win enables them to regain the lead in the Championship, but for the first time this season it was not an Oreca double. Ni Amorim and Toni Seler were second in the Chamberlain Motorsport Chrysler Viper with the Lister Storm of Mike Hezemans and David Hart third.

AIELLO FROM POLE AT SNETTERTON
(17/07) It was a double top for Nissan as Laurent Aiello and David Leslie repeated their morning's performances to win pole for tonight's Sprint Race at Snetterton. Top starting places: 1 Laurent Aiello Nissan Primera 1:08.331 2 David Leslie Nissan Primera 1:08.644 3 Rickard Rydell Volvo S40 1:08.711 4 James Thompson Honda Accord 1:08.898 5 Jean-Christophe Boullion Renault Laguna 1:09.346 6 Vincent Radermecker Volvo S40 1:09.419 7 Matt Neal Nissan Primera 1:09.468

BRAZILIAN EDGES FRANCHITTI FOR POLE
(17/07) Brazil's Gil de Ferran won a heated duel with Scotsman Dario Franchitti to claim pole for Sunday's Molson-Indy race in Toronto, Canada. De Ferran, earning his second pole in three races, bumped provisional pole- sitter Franchitti into second place with a record lap of 57.14 seconds for the 2.8km street circuit. Five-times winner Michael Andretti will start third on the grid. Colombian Juan Montoya, who leads the overall Cart standings, is eighth. Starting spots for Toronto event: 1 G de Ferran Brz Honda Reynard 57.14 seconds 2 D Franchitti GB Honda Reynard 57.38 3 M Andretti USA Ford Swift 57.64 4 J Vasser USA Honda Reynard 57.68 5 C Fittipaldi Brz Ford Swift 57.76 6 P Tracy Can Honda Reynard 57.80 7 T Kanaan Brz Honda Reynard 57.94 8 J Montoya Col Honda Reynard 58.15 9 B Herta USA Ford Reynard 58.32 10 G Moore Can Merc Reynard 58.40

BAILEY GIVES LISTER THEIR FIRST POLE
(17/07) Julian Bailey has given the Lister Storm team their first international pole with a qualifying time of 1:34.314 for the Zolder round of the FIA GT Championship. Team manager Laurence Pearce said: 'We now have an engine problem which we will have to fix tonight in order to get the car on the grid tomorrow.' The Roock Racing team equalled their best qualifying result with Hubert Haupt's 1:34.445 earning a front line position.

ROBERTS ON POLE IN GERMANY
(17/07) Suzuki rider Kenny Roberts grabbed pole position for Sunday's German 500cc Grand Prix after the final qualifying race at Hohenstein-Ernsttahl. Roberts, who won the first two races of the season, had the edge thanks to his time of one minute 27.318 seconds set during Friday's opening practice. Fastest in the qualifying event was Honda rider Alex Barros, of Brazil, whose 1:27.44 came in the dying moments of the one-hour session. Italian Luca Cadalora was third in 1:27.53.
Grid positions for Sunday's German 500cc GP in Hohenstein-Ernsttahl: 1 K Roberts USA Suzuki One minute 27.31 seconds 2 A Barros Brz Honda 1:27.44 3 L Cadalora It Muz Weber 1:27.53 4 C Checa Sp Yamaha 1:27.66 5 J Kocinski US Honda 1:27.70 6 M Biaggi It Yamaha 1:27.83 7 T Harada Jpn Aprilia 1:27.85 8 N Abe Jpn Yamaha 1:27.99 9 H Aoki Jpn Honda 1:28.04 10 A Criville Sp Honda 1:28.09 FRANCHITTI SIGHS WITH RELIEF
(17/07) Dario Franchitti breathed a huge sigh of relief after gaining provisional pole ahead of Sunday's Molson-Indy race in Toronto, Canada. The British driver has failed to finish the last two Cart FedEx series events because of mechanical problems, but went round the 1.75 mile, 11-turn street circuit in 57.95 seconds. 'It's been a while since we didn't have a problem on the first day,' Franchitti said. 'When I came in my engineer was thanking God that Friday was over.' Provisional qualifying for Sunday's Molson Indy CART race in Toronto: 1 D Franchitti GB Honda Rey 57.95 seconds 2 G de Ferran Brz Honda Rey 58.09 3 M Andretti USA Ford Swift 58.27 4 P Tracy USA Honda Rey 58.37 5 T Kanaan Brz Honda Rey 58.38 6 J Vasser USA Honda Rey 58.49 7 H Castro-Neves Brz Merc Lola 58.53 8 J Montoya Col Honda Rey 58.64 9 G Moore Can Merc Rey 58.68 10 S Pruett USA Toyota Rey 58.72

RENAULT TO LEAVE BTCC COMPETITION
(15/07) French marque Renault and Williams Racing Team ended long term cooperation and will be separated after this season. 'We always had in mind an x number of years,' he said. 'We set our goals and we achieved these so we are cancelling our future BTCC plans for the forseeable future. 'It's a sad day for us. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Touring Cars.' Renault UK Managing Director Benoit Marzloff praised the team for its 38 wins and thanked the TOCA organisation, which runs the BTCC. He said, 'TOCA has provided Renault with the best possible platform to market its image and that of Laguna. I know the TOCA series will continue from strength to strength.' Frank Williams, whose Williams team has become synonymous with Renault in both BTCC and F1 said, 'The Touring Car paddock has seen great technological advancement since we first became involved and I hope we helped play a part in that.'

FERNANDEZ JOINS NASCAR BOYS
(15/07) Mexican Adrian Fernandez, Cart driver is ready to take part on September 5 in Vancouver, Nascar competition. 'I'm thrilled,' said Dr William A Burke, president of LA Events. 'I believe the Hispanic community will respond very well, the entire community will respond. He's a great driver.'

MAKINEN REMAINS IN CHARGE
(17/07) World champion Tommi Makinen maintained leadership of the New Zealand Rally as Toyota pair Didier Auriol and Carlos Sainz suffered mishaps on stage two. Frenchman Auriol's car lost a wheel, while Spaniard Sainz's vehicle wound up in a ditch. They must both now set their sights on limiting any further increase in Makinen's advantage. Said the Finn: 'It has been a good day like we planned. I have a fever and I am sweating like hell, but I am really enjoying the driving.' Leaders after the second leg of the New Zealand Rally: 1 T Makinen Fin Mitsubishi 3 hours 21 minutes 28 seconds 2 J Kankkunen Fin Subaru 3:23.05 3 T Gardmeister Fin Seat 3:24.00 4 T Radstrom Swe Ford 3:25.58 5 D Auriol Fr Toyota 3:27.33 6 P Bourne NZ Subaru 3:27.49 7 C Sainz Sp Toyota 3:29.42 8 M Kahle Ger Toyota 3:33.09 9 F Loix Bel Mitsubishi 3:34.34 10 G Trelles Uru Mitsubishi 3:35.08

FERRARI PLAN TO GET SCHUMACHER RACING
(17/07) Michael Schumacher is being targeted for an early return to racing after breaking his leg in the British Grand Prix last Sunday. Ferrari are putting together plans to redesign the vehicle so Schumacher can get back sooner than expected. German newspaper Die Welt quotes Ferrari chief technician Ross Brawn as saying the cockpit could be revamped with heavy padding and that the gas pedal could be applied by hand. No-one was available for comment at Ferrari.

MONZA - FRIDAY TEST REPORT
(17/07) Ferrari's Eddie Irvine clocked fastest time on final day of testing at Monza circuit in Italy ahead of Rookie Burti, who impressed this week with good runs inside Stewart car. Third fastest was Wurz in Benetton, ahead of fourth placed Diniz in Sauber and fifth placed Redon in second Benetton. Check test times.

REYNARD LOST HIGH SEAT AT BAR
(17/07) 'I was surprised at being slagged off by Jacques. We're pretty close. I have been to three races and five test sessions,' said Reynard. 'I have my wife, five kids, other companies and Jacques Villeneuve. I guess I prioritise them in that order, and he didn't like that. It's unfortunate that his remarks didn't reflect well on me or the team.' As vice-chairman, Reynard will not have any input without going through chairman Craig Pollock. He was earlier on technical director when the marque was founded two years ago.

FERRARI PRESS RELEASE ABOUT SCHUEY'S ACCIDENT
(16/07) What has been established so far, is that the accident was caused by a sudden loss of pressure in the rear brake circuit. This was due to the loosening of a brake bleed nipple on the left rear caliper. The reason for this loosening of the nipple has not yet been established. This component had been checked as part of the Saturday evening race preparation and there had been no subsequent servicing of that part. The data shows no problem either in the warm-up or indeed in the braking manoeuvres for the first half lap of the race.

ITALIAN GP IN DANGER
(16/07) Mosley is concerned that the FIA officials as well as the teams might be held criminally responsible in the event of an accident during the race scheduled for the 12th of September. "We have had a number of discussions about that and I recently had a meeting with the Italian Minister of Justice. We understand a law is in preparation. We want to see a Europe-wide law which makes it clear that nobody involved in a dangerous sport will be held criminally responsible unless he does something completely outside the rules unforeseen by anybody".

MAKINEN TAKES COMMAND AS RIVALS FALTER
(16/07) World champion Tommi Makinen moved to the top of the New Zealand Rally leaderboard as misfortune struck down his rivals on the second day. The Mitsubishi driver from Finland has a 15-second advantage over Frenchman Didier Auriol, whose Toyota sustained a puncture earlier in the stage. Colin McRae, who led Makinen at one point, was forced out when his Ford Focus developed an electrical failure. Fellow Briton Richard Burns (Subaru) also quit because of gearbox trouble. Leaders after the first leg of the New Zealand Rally: 1 T Makinen Fin Mitsubishi 1 hour 37 minutes 40 seconds 2 D Auriol Fr Toyota +15secs 3 J Kankkunen Fin Subaru +1m 25s 4 T Gardmeister Fin Seat +2m 04s 5 P Bourne NZ Subaru +3m 24s 6 T Radstrom Swe Ford +3m 57s 7 C Sainz Sp Toyota +4m 24s 8 H Rovanpera Fin Seat +4m 48s 9 G Trelles Uru Mitsubishi +5m 57s 10 M Kahle Ger Toyota +5m 57s

ROBERTS TRAILS CHAMPIONSHIP LEADERS!
(16/07) American Kenny Roberts mastered the Sachsenring track to take provisional pole for Sunday's German 500cc Grand Prix in Hohenstein-Ernsttahl. Brazilian Alex Barros, whose time of one minute, 27.76 seconds was only eclipsed by Roberts (1:27.31), is second on the grid. Yamaha's Max Biaggi of Italy was third quickest. "Our Suzuki has been good since we took it out of the truck," said Roberts, who won the first two races of the season but slipped back to third in the championship after finishing eighth two weeks ago at Donington. "This could be a good sign because when the bike has been good right from the start we have usually had good results. It kinda feels like Malaysia again, but we've still got a long way to go to get these results through to Sunday." There was also nasty crash as Briton Michael Rutter was taken to hospital after being involved in a crash with Spaniard Juan Borja. Neither rider appeared seriously injured. Best times: 1 K Roberts US Suzuki One minute 27.31 seconds 2 A Barros Brz Honda 1:27.76 3 M Biaggi It Yamaha 1:28.27 4 J Kocinski US Honda 1:28.28 5 T Okada Jpn Honda 1:28.35 6 A Criville Sp Honda 1:28.54 7 T Harada Jpn Aprilia 1:28.60 8 L Cadalora It Muz Weber 1:28.61 9 N Abe Jpn Yamaha 1:28.67 10 N Aoki Jpn Suzuki 1:28.73

ANDRETTI AND FITTIPALDI HOT IN TORONTO
(16/07) Michael Andretti and Christian Fittipaldi, both drivers of Newmann Hass Team in Swift chassis posted fastest lap times on tricky road circuit in Toronto. Third fastest was rookie Juan Pablo Montoya for Chip Ganassi team, followed by Adrian Fernandez in Reynard Ford.

ALEX BARRON WITH PENSKE
(15/07) Barron has been running tests at the Michigan Speedway and at the California Speedway in Fontana, California for Penske team for the last few days and signed deal for two races. Roger Penske said, “Alex performed well at both tests and the Penske chassis was very consistent, so we’ll run two Penske cars at Michigan.”

MONZA - DAY THREE, NOT A FINAL DAY JET!
(15/07) On a hot and sunny day at Monza, the testing session was stopped several times because of red flags (in total the track was closed for 1,25 hrs), due to a very crowded track. Some of the teams will continue testing tomorrow (Friday), namely Ferrari, Benetton, Sauber and Stewart. But on Thursday fastest man on the Monza high speed circuit was Jordan's Heinz Harald Frentzen. He broke track record this season on his only first and last day of testing. Hius team mate is on holidays ... think about that. Second and third fastest were McLaren pair of Hakkinen and Coulthard. Ralf Schumacher completed good day for Williams on fourth place, just ahead of very quick BAR's Villeneuve. Eddie Irvine managed only ninth fastest lap of day in Ferrari car. Take a look inside F1 test times page.

MICHAEL OUT FOR AT LEAST THREE MONTHS
(15/07) "The most important thing is for him to become fully fit and recover from his leg injury properly," manager Willi Weber told the German sports agency SID after visiting the double former world champion at a clinic in Switzerland. "For those reasons, a pause of three months sounds realistic. He will need that long for a full recovery." "We don't want to take any risks and the doctors have advised him not to," Weber said. "He doesn't want to come back too early and risk long-term sequels." Weber refused to comment on reports that Schumacher might put his career to an end. "I wish I hadn't heard that," he said.

SALO PREPARED TO HELP IRVINE
(15/07) Finn Mika Salo completed third day of testing for Ferrari team and said few words about his status inside Italian team: "Nobody has talked to me about team tactics. But there's a radio in the car, and if they tell me something I'll know what to do." "The championship isn't my objective, although obviously I'll do the best I can. Ferrari are top of the constructors championship, so my job will be to keep that position right to the end." Salo didn't want to speculate on the future and whether he will drive for the team next season and commented by saying: "I'll be driving until Michael is physically fit. It's too early to be talking about next season." Ferrari expected Salo to continue testing this week, but he said: 'I have a little problem on Saturday - I'm getting married.'

FIRST OUTING FOR GENE IN MONZA
(15/07) The Minardi team conducted their first day of testing at Monza on Wednesday, but could only start with their session at 11h30 because of heavy overnight rain and subsequently the track first had to be cleaned. Marc Gene has his first experience of the Monza circuit as he conducted the session for Minardi. They concentrated on set up for the upcoming race. According to Gene the session was good training to ensure him confidence for the upcoming race.

MINARDI ALSO AIMS FOR SUPERTEC POWER
(15/07) Minardi has confirmed that they have been in discussions with Supertec concerning the supply of engines in the 2000 season and according to Cesare Fiorio the deal with Arrows doesn't compromise their position as he explained by saying: "This doesn"t prevent us having them, because they can supply three teams. The discussions that have been going on with Flavio always indicate they will supply the same engine to everybody."

BOURNE STRIKES FIRST IN HOME EVENT
(15/07) Home favourite Possum Bourne triumphed in the muddy 2.1km special stage opener to the New Zealand rally which started in Manakau. The Subaru driver clocked one minute 28.9 seconds, but Finland's world champion and current points leader Tommi Makinen came in 10th in 1:32.0. Britain's Colin McRae was the highest- placed of the championship contenders. The Ford driver was third in 1:29.7 with compatriot Richard Burns sixth for Subaru and Spain's Carlos Sainz eighth. Leaders after the first special stage of the New Zealand rally at Manakau: 1 P Bourne NZ Subaru 1 minutes 28.9 ceconds 2 T Radstrom Swe Ford 1:29.2 3 C McRae GB Ford 1:29.7 4 H Rovanpera Fin Seat 1:29.8 5 J Kankkunen Fin Subaru 1:30.0 6 R Burns GB Subabu 1:30.2 7 F Loix Bel Mitsubishi 1:31.1 8 C Sainz Sp Toyota 1:31.5 9 T Gardmeister Fin Seat 1:31.9 10 T Makinen Fin Mitsubishi 1:32.0

JARRETT AND GORDON COOL
(14/07) Jeff Gordon had an opportunity to cool off and head to a post-race media briefing, where his tone had softened considerably after a bump-and-run with dale Jarrett that put him in third and Jarrett in fourth. Gordon said then that there was no question he and Jarrett would resolve their differences. On Monday, Jarrett had an opportunity to offer his update on the situation. "As far as I am concerned, everything is over and done with," Jarrett said. "When we get to Pocono it'll all be forgotten." (NASCAR.COM)

SACHSENRING READY FOR RACING WEEKEND
(15/07) The 2.1 mile (3.5km) track on the outskirts of the town of Sachsen may be the slowest track of the year, but in years past it was a titanic high speed blast through local streets and roads. After 1972 it was off the GP calendar although local racers used it upto 1990. It is a racetrack that is restricted in usage throughout the year as it was primarily built for road safety purposes and teaching. However, this did not stop a sell out crowd of over 65,000 people flock to the track for the first year of GP racing in 1998 after a tremendous effort was put into it by the organisers.

CADALORA BACK INTO THE ACTION
(13/07) Italian Luca Cadalora returns in the German 500cc Grand Prix on Sunday after recovering from the rib injury he suffered at Assen last month.

McCOY TAKES OVER FROM CRAFAR AT YAMAHA
(13/07) Australian Garry McCoy will see out the 500cc Grand Prix season with Yamaha after being drafted in as a replacement for New Zealander Simon Crafar. The 28-year-old rider competed on the non-works Yamaha in the last two races after the team parted with Crafar, who has endured a disappointing season. 'I am very happy to be given the chance to continue the work I have started,' said McCoy. 'I have learned a lot in the last two races and my aim now is to be consistenly quick and score points.'

CASTRO NEVES CLOSER TO FORMULA ONE
(15/07) Brazilian Castro Neves, who curently drives for Hogan racing has been in talks with McLaren - Mercedes programme and has been said that Brazilian already signed a deal for possible driver development programme and waits for decision and further plans in that direction. 'It is our intention to develop these men to be GP drivers,' said McLaren team boss Ron Dennis.

HAKKINEN POSTED QUICKEST LAP TIME IN MONZA
(14/07) Finn Mika Hakkinen posted on his first day on Wednesday quickest lap time ahead of team mate and British GP winner Coulthard in another McLaren car. Third fastest was Alesi in Sauber, ahead of Herbert in Stewart and Irvine in Ferrari car. Check all test times.

HILL TO CONTINUE RACING
(14/07) British driver Damon Hill has confirmed that he will carry on racing for the Jordan team until the end of the season. The 1996 champion had already announced he would retire at the end of 1999 but poor results had led to speculation that he would quit immediately. But fifth place in the British Grand Prix resulted in him saying: 'I am looking forward to helping the team achieve their highest ever Constructors' Championship position.'

SALO ABOUT FIRST IMPRESSIONS
(14/07) Finn Mika Salo was full of smile after first day of testing Ferrari car in Fiorano. "There are lots of new things in the car that I have to learn and it takes time but I'm sure I will get them," he said. "Of course, for me it's a difficult situation sitting in Michael's car -- it's very unfortunate what happened to him and I hope he gets better quickly," Salo said. He said he would call Schumacher soon. "I wanted to talk to him before and I've got a lot questions," said Salo, whose first race will be the Austrian Grand Prix on July 26.

ZANARDI'S SEAT UNDER QUESTION MARK
(14/07) Williams team scored 19pts so far this season and all were scored by Ralf Schumacher. Alex Zanardi was miles away to score single one and Cart champion is in danger to be dropped out of the team. Patrick Head admitted that the team is growing impatient when he said: "Alex's car has had reliability problems. But there have been enough times when it hasn't, for us to expect to see closer times between the drivers".

ALESI AGAINST SALO!
(14/07) Sauber driver, Jean Alesi commented on the replacement of Michael Schumacher by saying: "Ferrari's choices are not my business. But in my opinion, any comparison between Mika Salo and Luca Badoer would have gone Badoer's way. I just can't understand why Salo has been chosen. For me, Badoer would win 1,000-1."

HILL WILL DECIDE FUTURE ON HOLIDAY
(14/07) Damon Hill will decide his motor racing future during a holiday in Spain this week. He has decided to take a break with his wife and four children rather than attend a test session with Jordan at Monza. A team spokeswoman said that a firm decision from Hill was not expected until towards the end of the week. 'Damon has taken a few days off to go away and think things through. We do not expect anything until Friday,' she said.

FISICHELLA UNHURT IN HIGH SPEED CRASH AT MONZA TEST
(13/07) Italian Giancarlo Fisichella walked away unscathed after wrecking his Benetton car in a high-speed crash during practice at Monza, Italy. Fisichella slammed into a barrier at 150kph after losing grip at a corner. A team spokeswoman said Fisichella hit the guardrail at speed just after the first curve in the official test session, which was then suspended for more than an hour. "The car is damaged beyond repair," she said.

SALO REPLACES SCHUMACHER - CONFIRMED BY FERRARI
(13/07) Ferrari has named Finland's Mika Salo as the replacement driver for Michael Schumacher, who faces a lengthy lay-off after breaking his leg at Silverstone. The 32-year-old will team up with Eddie Irvine, second behind David Coulthard at the British Grand Prix last Sunday, for at least the next three races. "Ferrari has reached a collaboration agreement for the current season with the driver Mika Salo, who will drive the car number three from the next GP of Austria," said a Ferrari spokesman.

SCHUMACHER IS OUT OF HOSPITAL
(13/07) Michael Schumacher has left hospital in Northampton after the 130mph crash at Sunday's British Grand Prix that will sideline him for up to three months. His manager, Willi Weber, said the former world champion would now receive further treatment in Switzerland - where he lives - or in France. Schumacher had a 12-inch plate inserted in his broken right leg after hitting a tyre barrier. He said: 'I am thankful for the improvements in cars because that is what helped me escape.'

REASON FOR SCHUMACHER'S ACCIDENT
(13/07) What has been established so far, is that the accident was caused by a sudden loss of pressure in the rear brake circuit. This was due to the loosening of a brake bleed nipple on the left rear caliper. The reason for this loosening of the nipple has not yet been established. This component had been checked as part of the Saturday evening race preparation and there had been no subsequent servicing of that part. The data shows no problem either in the warm up or indeed in the braking manoeuvres for the first half lap of the race.

MAKINEN FASTEST IN PRACTICE
(14/07) World champion and current leader Tommi Makinen sent an ominous warning to Colin McRae and the other title chasers ahead of the Rally of New Zealand. Finland's Makinen, who has never won this event, was quickest by almost two seconds for Mitsubishi in the four-mile official practice session. McRae, 13 points behind Makinen in join fourth place alongside fellow Briton Richard Burns, was third fastest in a Ford Focus behind two-time world champion Carlos Sainz's Toyota Corolla.

FIGHT FOR TITLE GOES ON IN NEW ZEALAND
(13/07) British rally rivals Richard Burns and Colin McRae are both targeting the top spot of the podium in this week's New Zealand Rally. The duo are tied in fourth behind World Championship leader Tommi Makinen and Toyota pair Didier Auriol and Carlos Sainz. Ford's McRae knows victory is vital if he is to end Makinen’s run of three championships and regain the title he last held in 1995. 'If we don’t win in New Zealand,' said the Scottish ace, 'it doesn’t mean we can’t still take the title, but we really need to close the gap to those ahead of us.' Meanwhile Burns is hoping to capitalise on recent form, which included a win in Greece and second in Argentina. 'I have shown that I’m not here to make up the numbers,' added the Subaru star.

JEFF BURTON SCORED VICTORY FOR FORD TAURUS
(11/07) Jeff Burton scored a stunning victory in the Jiffy Lube 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway, charging from a provisional starting position to take the lead with two laps to go. Tony Stewart, who had been leading, ran out of fuel. Kenny Wallace managed to notch up a career best second place and championship leader Dale Jarret came in a respectable fourth. Burton's win was his third straight in the Jiffy Lube 300, his fourth win this season and the ninth of his career. Top places from Jiffy Lube: 1 J Burton Ford 2 K Wallace Chevrolet 3 J Gordon Chevrolet 4 D Jarret Ford 5 B Elliot Ford 6 M Martin Ford 7 W Dallenbach Chevrolet 8 D Earnhardt Chevrolet 9 J Spencer Ford 10 T Stewart Pontiac

FITTIPALDI WINS FIRST EVER CART RACE IN ELKHART LAKE
(11/07) After five season of waiting for first top podium position, Brazilian Christian Fittipaldi turned luck in his favour as leader of the race Montoya retired 8 laps to go due gearbox problem. Brazilian held of for last few laps ahead of his team mate Michael Andretti in another Swift Ford car. Montoya virtually leads all laps as he made brilliant flying start to pass pole sitter Andretti and was never off top spot till retirement. Christian Fittipaldi joined Newmann Hass squad in 1997 and it takes good three seasons for today's joy. Third spot goes to Adrian Fernandez in Reynard Ford. Montoya maintained overall lead, but Andretti rapidly closed the gap for championship fight. Top spots from Elkhart Lake: 1 C Fittipaldi Swift - Ford 2 M Andretti Swift - Ford 3 A Fernandez Reynard - Ford 4 G Moore Reynard - Mercedez 5 M Papis Reynard - Ford

SECOND FINN BACK TO F1 - SALO IS CLOSE TO REPLACE SCHUEY
(13/07) Finn Mika Salo, who was driving for Lotus, Tyrrell and Arrows team and was dropped by last one is close to replace Schumacher's no. 3 Ferrari car. Mika Salo's manager, Mike Greasley, confirmed that Salo has been asked to test for the team at Monza this week, but admitted that they don't know what this means. Salo is expected to be behind the wheel of the Ferrari on Tuesday already, while test driver Luca Badoer has been conducting a testing session at Fiorano for the team on Monday. A spokesperson for the Ferrari team said the following concerning Schumacher's replacement: "The decision will probably be announced as soon as tomorrow to allow the driver to carry out tests for the grand prix in Austria as soon as possible". Salo is not 100% in, but he has a lot of chance!

ALESI TURNED DOWN FERRARI DEAL!
(13/07) French driver, who was driving for Ferrar team for four seasons and switched to Benetton and later on to Sauber team was close to sign deal to replace Michael Schumacher inside no. 3 car. But, Jean Alesi himself ruled out such when he said on Monday that he would only drive for Ferrari if it can be alongside Michael Schumacher. He admitted that he is not interested in a short term deal with the team when he said: "I'm not interested in replacing him for these two months, it really doesn't interest me at all. Michael is a friend and I am fond of Ferrari, but I can't go there under these conditions".

TURN ARROUND INSIDE FERRARI TEAM
(13/07) Jean Todt conceded that the championship will be tough to win for the Ferrari team, but said that they will give it everything and that only time will tell what will happen. Speaking on the fact that the team has now shifted their hopes to Eddie Irvine he said: "I hope Irvine can win the drivers' title. Life has been such that he has often been behind Michael, but Michael will not be there for a few weeks so it's up to him to win as much as he can. He will be supported as he always has been. He has never been the second driver". He added that Michael has always been faster than Eddie and thus why he has the no. 2 status within the team. He said that they have come through equally difficult times and that he is confident they will overcome this obstacle once again.

SCHUMACHER TO RETURN THIS SEASON, REPLACEMENT LIST
(12/07) Ferrari boss Jean Todt says he is confident Michael Schumacher will be back before the end of the season. Schumacher spent the night in hospital following 90 minutes of surgery to repair a broken tibia and fibula in his right leg, sustained at Sunday's British Grand Prix at Silverstone. The crash occurred due to what Todt believed to be a rear brake failure on the Ferrari. It is expected the German will be out of action for at least the next six to eight weeks. Drivers that are most possible choice for Ferrari team to replace Schumacher up for at least three races is test driver Luca Badoer, Jos Verstappen and maybe even Jean Alesi. Luca is most possible replacement, while Jos is in the game as free driver, without contract. French driver Alesi is interesting one, but not very much chance for him as he is under contract with Sauber for full season and may even move to Prost team at the end of season. Interesting one is also that numerous British Tabloids writing about Damon Hill to try take over for few races before retiring from F1.

JORDAN HINTS THAT HILL WILL RACE ON
(12/07) F1 team owner Eddie Jordan has hinted that Damon Hill will shelve plans to quit F1 racing immediately, after fifth place in Sunday's British Grand Prix. 'I'm confident we haven't seen the end of Damon in grand prix racing,' Jordan told Sky TV. 'If he does continue then Sunday will have been the perfect kick start to get things going again.' Ex-world champion Hill planned to quit at the end of the season but then said he might go after Silverstone following a disappointing French Grand Prix.

SILVERSTONE IS BID TARGET
(12/07) British former world champions Damon Hill, Jackie Stewart and Nigel Mansell will profit after Brands Hatch Leisure made a 43 million pounds ($69m) bid for BRDC, owners of Silverstone circuit. Under the plan full and life members of the British Racing Drivers Club - they include the F1 trio - would each be paid 60,000 pounds ($96,000). The British Grand Prix is set to return to Brands Hatch from Silverstone for six years from 2002 at a cost in excess of 20 million ($32m).

SCHUMACHER 'LUCKY TO BE ALIVE'
(12/07) Michael Schumacher says he is 'lucky to be alive' after the 130mph crash at the British Grand Prix that will sideline him for up to three months. The German had a 12-inch plate inserted into his broken right leg after hitting a tyre barrier and said:' I'm thankful for the improvements in cars because that is what helped me escape...' The Ferrari driver added: 'I realise I have no chance of the championship this year. But I'm confident I'll be driving in F1 before the end of the season.'

CHARITY GOLF FESTIVAL
(12/07) A lot of drivers talked about Schumacher's accident today (Monday) on charity festival where F1 drivers were playing popular Golf for charity reasons. They brought up to 150.000DM for charity organisations. Many dirvers fell sory for Michael and expect quick recovery.

CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE NOT JET DECIDED?
(12/07) Mika Hakkinen is on the good way to become first Finn to successfuly defends his F1 title as he leads ahead of Irvine and injured Schumacher for 8 pts. In the game is also Frentzen, as he missed only 12 pts. Silverstone winner Coulthard can be in game as well, but most likely McLaren will provide better ground for defending champion.

SCHUMACHER'S ABSENCE WORRIES HUNGARIANS
(12/07) Hungarian Grand Prix organiser Janos Berenyi fears that the absence of injured double world champion Michael Schumacher could cut the attendance at the Hungaroring next month. The race usually attracts 200,000 fans but threequarters come from Germany especially to watch the Ferrari star. Berenyi fears that many Germans, and Italian followers of Ferrari, could stay away but ticket organiser Tamas Frank believes the Germans will not change their holiday plans.

SCHUMACHER MAY MISS UP TO THREE GPs
(12/07) German star, Michael Schumacher will probably miss in action fro the next six to eight weeks and that means he could be out for at least three GP's races and Eddie Irvine will be the man to fight for driver's title as he is equal to Schumacher's 32pts, eight behind Hakkinen. Schumacher broke his right leg and further injuries to his left limb and was airlifted to the accident and emergency ward of Northampton General Hospital after the accident. The Italian team has not yet confirmed a replacement for Schumacher, but names such as Jos Verstappen and Mika Salo was amongst the ones mentioned. Ferrari is expected to make the announcement in the next few days. Those speculations may be also key for Jordan's decision to try maintain Hill inside team till end of season.

COULTHARD WINS IN BRITISH DRAMA
(11/07) British GP weekend was a tragic one for Ferrari team and Michael Schumacher as German driver lost control of car on first lap while he was trying to pass Ferrari of Irvine on third place. By that time Schumacher lost control and went straight into tyre barrier, where he completely damaged front part of the car. He brakes his right leg and will probably miss next round in Austria in 14 days time. It seemed that McLaren will win easily, Hakkinen increased lead to 7 seconds over Irvine and Coulthard. But on first pit stop McLaren team was unable to get tyres up properly and Hakkinen was one's more in, and later on he lost back tyre. After that Finn Hakkinen retired. After pit stops Coulthard progressed to first place and Irvine droped to second. Fight was on for reminder of the race and Coulthard won ahead of Irvine. That means first victory for Coulthard after 15 months of waiting. Third place snatched very impressive Ralf Schumacher for Williams, ahead of stronger Jordan pair of Frentzen and Hill. Sixth place was completed by also very strong drive from Pedro Diniz in Sauber. Today's race might be turn over, cruical for Formula One future and history. 1996 Cahampion Damon Hill may finished his 7 year's long career on good fifth place, Schumacher probably lost season for Championship Title, Ferrari may decide to give full support Irvine in fight for title with Hakkinen, we can even expect to see few new faces in F1. Good Luck to both Ex World Champions, to Damon for nice life after the racing career and to Scumacher for quick return and recovery. One man was blessed today, David Coulthard!

WILD CARDS TAKE LAGUNA SECA HONOURS
(12/07) Ducati teammates Anthony Gobert and Ben Bostrom took full advantage of their wild card entries into round 8 of the Superbike championship as each claimed a victory at the Laguna Seca Raceway. Gobert, the former Australian champion whose Grand Prix career was derailed by a failed drugs test two years ago, crossed the finish line 3.15 seconds ahead of Bostrom in the first race. 'I want to get back in World Superbikes desperately, and hopefully this will help,' Gobert said.

HILL WAITS ABOUT HIS DECISION - JORDAN WANTS HIM!
(11/07) Hill would not make any comments about his future, prefering to enjoy the moment and his and the team's great performance. "There was a lot of pressure before the race so I am very happy to have come through the trials and tribulations to finish fifth," he said. " All round it was great for the British fans with David winning and me having one of my best races of the season. I was unlucky at the start because I had a great start first time, but then the race was stopped. At the end of the race I had to back off because of a pneumatic valve pressure problem, but I managed to keep the car going. All in all it was a good and enjoyable race. The strategy was good and gave me a chance to race. The plan now is to have a few beers and think about the future. I am not going to make any decisions today. This whole weekend has been great in terms of the atmosphere from the fans for all the British drivers and I think they have put on a great show for the rest of the world. I had to shut out my emotions and concentrate on the job this weekend, but I am very pleased that the job was done and I had a good result for the team." Eddie Jordan, team boss: "After Damon's performance today, I am not so sure he will want to stop. It is up to him but the team is behind him and would like him to continue if he can drive the way he drove today. If he keeps this up, he should continue to the end of the season."

SCHUMACHER BREAKS LEG IN CRASH
(11/07) Michael Schumacher suffered a broken right leg and further injuries to his left limb in an horrific crash just seconds after the start of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. The two-time former world champion was airlifted to a local hospital from the Northamptonshire track. Schumacher's Ferrari rammed head-on into a tyre barrier after he mysteriously drove straight through Stowe corner.

CORSER WILL START FROM LAGUBA SECA POLE
(11/07) Australian Troy Corser beats his fellow country man Anthony Gobert on the same Ducati motorcycle for Sunday's American Round of Superbike Series. Third fastest was American Bostrom on another Ducati bike, while Akira Yanagawa completed front row on fourth spot on Kawasaki bike. Championship leader Carl Fogarty could manage only ninth fastest time. Slovene Igor Jerman posted thirteen fastest time. Leading spots for Sunday's Laguna Seca race: 1 T Corser 1:26.194 2 A Gobert1:26.199 3 B Bostrom 1:26.488 4 A Yanagawa 1:26.493 5 A Goddard 1:26.963 6 E Bostrom 1:26.989 7 C Edwards 1:27.002 8 P Chili 1:27.096

HAKKINEN QUICKEST IN WARM UP
(11/07) Finn Hakkinen continued with dominant driving at Silverstone circuit today as he topped morning warm up times ahead of team mate David Coulthard. Third fastest was Schumacher in Ferrari, fourth fastest was home favorite Damon Hill in Jordan, closely followed by Stewart's Barrichello on fifth. Warm Up times: 1. M Hakkinen McLaren 1:26,788 2. D Coulthard McLaren + 0,498 3. M Schumacher Ferrari 0,709 4. D Hill Jordan 1,317 5. R Barrichello Stewart 1,477 6. E Irvine Ferrari 1,507 7. H Frentzen Jordan 1,593 8. R Schumacher Williams 1,594 9. J Alesi Sauber 1,643 10. J Trulli Prost 1,945

VILLENEUVE AND ZANARDI IN DISPUTE
(11/07) Canadian Jacques Villeneuve threatened to physically put Alex Zanardi 'in the wall' if the Italian cut in front of him again, as he did in free practice in the morning on Sunday.

ANDRETTI LEAVES IT VERY LATE
(10/07) Michael Andretti left it late before securing pole position for Sunday's Texaco-Havoline 200 at the Road America circuit at Elkhart Lane, Wisconsin. The 36-year-old American, who was also fastest in qualifying on Friday, produced a lap time of 100.20 seconds on his very last circuit. He said: 'That was fun. We had nothing to lose.' Andretti's last pole came in the same race a year ago. Young Colombian Juan Montoya - the series points leader - was second fastest. Grid positions for Sunday's Texaco- Havoline 200 at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin: 1 M Andretti USA Ford Swift 1 minute 40.20 seconds 2 J Montoya Col Reyn Honda 1:40.34 3 G de Ferran Brz Reyn Honda 1:40.55 4 C Fittipaldi Brz Ford Swift 1:40.71 5 A Fernandez Mex Reyn Ford 1:40.88 6 J Vasser USA Reyn Honda 1:40.94 7 D Franchitti GB Reyn Honda 1:40.95 8 G Moore Can Reyn Merc 1:41.05 9 P Tracy Can Reyn Honda 1:41.29 10 T Kanaan Brz Reyn onda 1:41.63

GORDON SHOWS SPEED ON THE MAGIC MILE
(10/07) Jeff Gordon captured his series-leading sixth pole of the season for Sunday's Jiffy Lube 300 at the New Hampshire International Speedway. Gordon set a track record with a speed of 131.17 miles per hour, giving him a lap time of just 29.03 seconds on the circuit known as the 'Magic Mile'. Gordon was followed by Rusty Wallace, with Bobby Labonte in third. Winston Cup series leader Dale Jarrett was provisionally on the fifth row after recording the ninth best time. Leading times in qualifying for the Nascar Jiffy Lube 300 at the New Hampshire International Speedway: 1 J Gordon Chevrolet 131.17 mph 2 R Wallace Ford 130.77 3 B Labonte Pontiac 130.71 4 K Schrader Chevrolet 130.71 5 K Petty Pontiac 130.65 6 K Wallace Chevrolet 130.43 7 J Andretti Pontiac 130.36 8 M Waltrip Chevrolet 130.29 9 D Jarrett Ford 130.13 10 T Stewart Pontiac 130.04

MOSLEY WANTS GROOVED TYRES
(11/07) Controversial grooved tyres should stay in Formula 1 but tobacco sponsorship will ultimately have to go, says FIA president Max Mosley. Mosley, whose organisation controls the rules of motorsport, claimed the tyres - unpopular with many drivers - were the most effective way of keeping cornering speeds under control. On tobacco, Mosley warned that Formula 1 could find itself 'up a blind alley' as rival sports mopped up other sponsorship possibilities.

BELGIAN GP COULD BE CALLED OFF
(11/07) This year's Belgian Grand Prix could be called off if a ban on tobacco advertising gets the green light, said motor racing chief Max Mosley. The race, scheduled for 29 August, is in danger because of a regional council ruling to outlaw advertising by cigarette companies. Mosley claimed that if the law remains teams would decide not to race at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit which boasts feared corners like Eau Rouge. The race is at a critical time of the season

FLYING FINN SCORED BRITISH POLE
(10/07) Finn Mika Hakkinen, driving silver arrows scored his 16th pole position of career on Saturday just ahead of Michael Schumacher of Ferrari team. Front row will be filled by 3rd placed Coulthard and 4th placed Irvine, third row will be all yellow as both Jordans of Frentzen and Hill finished 5th and 6th respectively. Stewart's Barrichello, who may sweep from Stewart to Ferrari team for 2000 season was unable to fight for first three rows and will start from seventh spot, ahead of eight placed Ralf Schumacher in Williams car. Home hero Damon Hill, in probably his final race, scored his best starting position so far this season, as he bettered seventh spot scored in Imola in early May. Top ten list was completed by Villeneuve in BAR and Alesi in Sauber car. Top starting spots and times from Silverstone: 1. M Hakkinen McLaren 1:24,804 2. M Schumacher Ferrari + 0,419 3. D Coulthard McLaren 0,790 4. E Irvine Ferrari 0,873 5. H Frentzen Jordan 1,187 6. D Hill Jordan 1,295 7. R Barrichello Stewart 1,390 8. R Schumacher Williams 1,634 9. J Villeneuve BAR 1,915 10. J Alesi Sauber 1,957 11. J Herbert Stewart 2,069 12. P Diniz Sauber 2,392 13. A Zanardi Williams 2,419 14. J Trulli Prost 2,423

McLAREN, JORDAN AND FERRARI TEAM STRONG
(10/07) Today's free practice was dominated by McLaren duo, mainly by championship leader Mika Hakkinen. Next to follow McLaren duo was Ferrari's Schumacher, closely followed by Jordan duo of Frentzen and home hero Hill. Irvine completed top six places. Ralf Schumacher in Williams could manage only eight fastest time, close behind seventh placed Barrichello in Stewart car. Prost team has another disasterous day as they are working very hard to solve suspension problems. Top times from Saturday's free: 1. M Hakkinen McLaren 1:24,489 2. D Coulthard McLaren + 0,662 3. M Schumacher Ferrari 0,812 4. H Frentzen Jordan 0,917 5. D Hill Jordan 1,111 6. E Irvine Ferrari 1,253 7. R Barrichello Stewart 1,457 8. R Schumacher Williams 1,761 9. J Herbert Stewart 1,822 10. J Villeneuve BAR 2,042 11. P Diniz Sauber 2,075 12. J Alesi Sauber 2,187

HAKKINEN QUICKEST ON FRIDAY FREE PRACTICE
(09/07) Championship leader Mika Hakkinen, driving McLaren car was the quickest man on Silverstone circuit on Friday's free practice, just few inches ahead of Williams Ralf Schumacher. Irvine finished for Ferrari team on third spot, just ahead of second McLaren of Coulthard and Stewart's Barrichello. For a long time places were the next 1 Hakkinen 2 Irvine 3 Schumacher 4 Hill but few drivers decided to use fresh set of rubber and posted quickest times in a dying moments of Friday's practice.
Eddie Irvine said after first day: "Just like at the French GP, the wind has completely changed direction since last week's test. But this time it has worked in our favour and the car is much better than last week on this track. As the current technical regulations make the cars very wind sensitive, we will have to make sure that the good set-up we have found still works well tomorrow. The only problem I had today was with a broken exhaust."
Michael Schumacher added: "We had a very productive test here last week and improved the car. In today's session we continued to work in the same direction and improved still further. We got through all our programme today and only used one set of tyres, unlike some of the cars that were quicker than me. Because of this, I am confident we can have a good weekend."
Mika Hakkinen, top placed driver: "I am pleased with today's practice. The car felt good and I was able to work well with the engineers to develop a good set up for the race on Sunday. Of course qualifying will be interesting, it always is, but I think we are looking pretty strong."
David Coulthard: "A good day's practice for me. I worked on setting the car up and apart from a little spin early on there is nothing remarkable to report."
Ralf Schumacher: "I am satisfied with my result in today's free practice session; the Winfield WilliamsF1 team has done a very good job. In fact, we have some brand new parts fitted on the car with regards to the aerodynamics that allow more downforce to the car which is also much more stable. I hope that for tomorrow's qualifying we can achieve a better position and then we will look forward to the race."
Damon Hill: "I am fairly happy with things today. We tried some minor changes since the test last week. I am confident we have the right basic set up and that we can do some fine tuning to make further improvements in the lap times. The times are pretty close, but I am happy with the car and feeling confident. Friday practice sessions can be misleading but I feel content and happy to be out there driving. The British Grand Prix has a very special buzz."

JORDAN TARGET GERMAN STAR
(09/07) Rising German star Nick Heidfeld, 22, has emerged as the leading candidate to replace former world champion Damon Hill when he quits F1 team Jordan. Heidfeld, who leads the current Formula 3000 championships, is contracted to Mercedes and is expected to drive for McLaren in the next couple of years. Loaning him to a rival team would allow him vital grand prix experience. And Jordan indicated they will move for Heidfeld after Dutchman Jos Verstappen failed to impress in testing last week.

ARROWS TO SWITCH TO SUPERTEC ENGINES
(09/07) British-based team Arrows has said that it would switch to Supertec engines next season. Supertec are managed by Italian Flavio Briatore, who ran the Benneton team with Arrows boss Tom Walkinshaw in the championship years of 1994 and 1995. The Supertec engine is a development of the Renault power unit. Arrows currently builds its own engines but has been struggling to find funds to make them competitive.

ANDRETTI TOPS FRIDAY'S TIMES
(09/07) Newmann Hass driver Michael Andretti, driving in Swift Ford Firestone package scored fastest time on Friday's practice ahead of Sunday's Elkhart Lake 200 round. Second fastest was championship leader and Rookie of the Year Juan Pablo Montoya, winner of four GP's so far this season. Third fastest was very impressive Patrick Carpentier from Canada. A slippery track sent numerous drivers spinning. The scariest incident saw Pat Carpentier's car barrel-roll six times, shortly after he had clocked the third-fastest time. He was unhurt. Surprise of the day was Rookie Gidley, who scored for Walker team fourth spot. Top spots from Elkhart Lake: 1 M Andretti Ford Swift 1 minute 41.35 seconds 2 J Montoya Honda Reynard 1:41.64 3 P Carpentier Merc Reynard 1:41.86 4 M Gidley Hond Reynard 1:41.97 5 G Moore Merc Reynard 1:42.01 6 T Kanaan Hond Reynard 1:42.03 7 C Fittipaldi Ford Swift 1:42.07 8 G de Ferran Hond Reynard 1:42.24 9 P Tracy Hond Reynard 1:42.34 10 M Papis Ford Reynard 1:42.49

IRVAN STAYS WITH THE SAME TEAM
(09/07) Ernie Irvan will stay with MB2 Motorsports for at least one more season. The team has announced that it has exercised its option on the driver's contract. Irvan has yet to find Victory Lane in MB2's No. 36 Pontiacs, but he has had some strong runs, and the team seems to be on the right track. The California native has three top-10 finishes in his last four races and has climbed to 22nd in the standings.

DAMON HILL WAS OFFERED BTCC SEAT
(08/07) Damon Hill could be set for a sensational move to British Touring Cars with top privateer Team Dynamics. That team runs with Nissan Primera car, including their star Matt Neal. A spokesperson for the team elaborated by saying: "Other Formula 1 stars have raced in the BTCC. If Damon wants to race on, he would bring thousands of fans to the BTCC." Upon announcing his retirement from F1, Damon Hill claimed that he won't be accepting any offers to drive in other championship. Thus the likelihood of Hill driving in the touring car series is highly unlikely, although not impossible.

GOBERT GETS SUPERBIKE WILD CARD AND SHOWED HIS PACE
(09/07) Australian Anthony Gobert, who left 500cc grand prix racing under a drugs cloud two years ago, will race in this weekend's USA round of the superbike world championship as a wild card. Gobert, a former Australian superbike champion, was dismissed by the Suzuki 500cc team in 1997 after he became the first rider to fail a drugs test. It was his debut season in 500cc racing. The former world superbike rider has since been riding a works Ducati 996 in the American superbike championship. Gobert makes good run on Friday's free practice at Laguna Seca as he posted quickest time so far. Top result from Laguna Seca: 1 A Gobert Ducati 1'26.718 2 T Corser Ducati 1'27.290 3 C Fogarty Ducati 1'27.400 4 A Yanagawa Kawasaki 1'27.531 5 B Bostrom Ducati 1'27.784

BRITISH GP FACTS
(08/07) The struggle for the FIA's two world championship titles reaches its halfway point on July 11, when the British Grand Prix is disputed at Silverstone. Once an airfield in times of war, the circuit is now 'home' not only to a majority of the competing teams but also to Bridgestone Motorsport, which has its F1 Motorsport Department base at High Wycombe. Already familiar to the British teams which use it regularly, Silverstone was the scene of even more intense activity during a four-day (June 29/July 2) pre-race test attended by all 11 of the teams contesting the 1999 world championships. Typically varied British weather allowed the drivers and their engineers to evaluate both wet and dry setups. Eyes will be for sure on retiring Damon Hill (who may surprise many of his fans in Britain with new decision if race goes well for him for once), Michael Schumacher who lost a little bit ground in the last three races, on Hakkinen who may continue with good runs and revenge for last year's 'Dancing in a water', on Coulthard as second home driver, who needs to find some extra luck and speed as well, on Frentzen who made very good season so far and for sure on contorversial Eddie Irvine, who may surprise all us with performance or 'special' speech. And, Johnny Herbert needs to show something special too! For more joy, try also internet broadcast system.

SAUBER SET TO USE FERRARI'S ENGINE
(08/07) F1 team Sauber is set to continue using Ferrari engines until the end of next season. Sauber's association with Ferrari has been going since 1997 and sources have indicated that the team is content with the engines supplied in the 99 season. Money wise the deal with Ferrari is a bargain as Sauber is paying 11.5 million pounds for the engines whereas the Supertec engines cost BAR, Williams and Benetton in the region of 5 million pounds more.

FORD AND STEWART TARGETING HOT ONE'S
(08/07) Drivers already targeted include Eddie Irvine and Rubens Barrichello and it now appears that Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard has been added to the growing list. Initially Ford has put aside $10 million to attract the top drivers, but in the case of Mika Hakkinen's contract with McLaren said to be worth $15 million, they would have to increase their offer. Speculations are that while such a move might prove attractive to a driver like Hakkinen, he will only use it as a bargaining tool to increase his own worth at McLaren.

FRENTZEN SIGNED FOR JORDAN 2000
(08/07) Eddie Jordan commented by saying: "Heinz-Harald has been the revelation of the year and his speed and consistency has been key to current strong third place in the 1999 World Championship". In turn Frentzen commented: "I am delighted that Jordan has taken up its option on my services for the year 2000. Together, we have shown that we are a force to be reckoned with and I look forward to continuing the challenge for greater results in the year 2000".

BLUNDELL BACK BEHIND THE WHEEL
(08/07) Briton Mark Blundell, who mised last three races and drives a Motorola Mercedes-Benz, was testing yesterday at the Putnam Park road course in preparation for Sunday's Texaco/Halvoline 200 race. After the session he said, 'I'm really glad that the team gave me the opportunity to test before Road America. I definitely felt the effects of not being in a racecar for two months. 'My neck was a bit sore afterwards, but we really had no problems. 'The last couple of months have been frustrating,' he added. 'I'm a racer - it's hard not to be sitting in the cockpit because it's such a big part of my life. I feel great and I'm itching to get back on the racetrack.'

STEWART WITH LUCK ON HIS BACK
(08/07) "I've probably had the better end of the deal in all honesty compared to the other rookies this season," Stewart said. "I've stepped into an established team that finished in the top-10 in points the last two years. I have a teammate to reflect off of and (Buckshot Jones and Elliott Sadler) don't have a teammate to go to during practice and say, 'My car feels like this or that. Does your car do the same thing?' "I've got a little bit of an advantage having a teammate (Bobby Labonte) and a team that has already been established for years."

NO MORE OLD SCUMACHER?
(07/07) Eddie Jordan will give good by to his World Champion Hill in a week time, but he already looks on another Champion, Michael Schumacher who lost that extra edge. "Whether now that he has a family and two kids and the amount of testing there is, Michael may not quite have the same edge as before, I don't know. I don't follow Ferrari very closely because I have my own team to look at, but there has to be something. Either Eddie has got quicker or Michael is not going as quick as he was. One or the other applies because Eddie is much more competitive". According to Eddie Jordan Eddie Irvine is winning over the Italian fans by always being at the front of the field and he ended by saying that Irvine is a serious force to be reckoned with inside the team.

HILL HOPES FOR MAGNIFICENT FINALE
(07/07) Damon Hill is hoping the special Silverstone atmosphere can inspire him to a famous finale in this weekend's British Grand Prix. Hill will bring his Formula One career to a close on home ground believing the presence of 100,000 fans can give his performance a much-needed lift. 'I will need that famous second a lap which racing in front of your home crowd is supposed to give drivers,' said Britain's 1996 world champion.

BMW COME IN TO RESCUE WILLIAMS
(07/07) German car manufacturer BMW have come to an agreement with the Williams Grand Prix team, giving them control of the team's livery when they supply the team with engines next year. The British-based team, which will run under the name of BMW Williams F1, originally announced an engine supply deal with the German company in 1997. This new agreement will provide them with financial stability following last week's announcement that Rothmans would not be continuing their support.

COULTHARD ABOUT ALL IRVINE'S CLAMES
(06/07) Eddie Irvine has always been quite outspoken and his most recent attacks included the McLaren driver David Coulthard, when he was quoted as saying that he has no doubts he is a better driver than Coulthard. Coulthard described Irvine by saying: "He's the classic case of the male inadequacy syndrome. He's got all the extensions to enlarge his manhood. Getting the adulation of the British public the same way Damon Hill has would just round it off nicely for him." According to Coulthard, Irvine has got the mouth to fulfil the demands of the British public and he will give them exactly what they want.

FRENTZEN - HILL RELATIONSHIP VERY GOOD
(06/07) With Damon Hill's last race only a few days away, speculations are heightening on his possible replacement. According to his team mate Heinz-Harald Frentzen he won't be that easy to replace. He explained by saying: "I will be sorry if he goes for I do not think there are better drivers around to take his place - not only driving-wise but personality-wise".

NO SPECIAL WAIVER FOR HILL
(05/07) It was reported earlier on Monday by Autorace that sources have indicated that the Jordan team has forced Damon Hill to sign a disclaimer that should he be injured in the last race of the season he won't hold the team financially or contractually responsible. A spokesperson for the team spoke out on the speculations this afternoon and said: "Damon has not signed any special waiver for this race. All drivers sign a disclaimer in their contracts at the start of the season, that if they are injured it is at their own risk. Eddie Jordan has gone about this situation the way he has to reinforce that it is Damon's decision to race and that he has not been persuaded by either Eddie or the sponsors".

JAGUAR IS A REAL POSSIBILITY
(05/07) According to reports in the Sunday Times on Sunday, Jaguar is set to enter the Formula One arena. They would do so when the Stewart team, taken over by Ford in June, are relaunched under the Jaguar name. Although the above reports are still unconfirmed by the parties involved, Jaguar chairman Wolfgang Reitzle was quoted last week as saying: "We will add some excitement around our core products. We are all agreed on adding elements - both products and activities - that must be convincing bridges to the sporty core of the brand."

OLYMPIC CHAMPION IN WINSTON CUP GLORY
(07/07) Olympic heptathalon champion Jackie Joyner-Kersee is aiming for further glory as a NASCAR team owner. With husband Bob Kersee, the US athlete has joined forces with existing team, Roehrig Motorsports, to form Joyner-Kersee Racing. The outfit will run a Pontiac Grand Prix in NASCAR’s premier category, the Winston Cup next year.

NEW CONTRACTS FOR TYLER JET MOTORSPORT
(06/07) Tyler Jet Motorsports announced Tuesday the signing of crew chief James Ince and engine builder Claude Queen to a pair of three-year contracts. According to Tim Beverley, who purchased the team last year from Darrell Waltrip, the agreements are a big step forward.

BELLOC WINS FOR VIPER
(05/07) Against all expectations, Jean-Philippe Belloc has retained his FIA GT Championship lead after winning in Hungary earlier today. Returning after their brief American Le Mans Series holiday, Karl Wendlinger and Olivier Beretta were expected to reassert their authority in the lead ORECA Chrysler Viper, but a fuel pick-up problem in their pit stop allowed Belloc to take his second consecutive win in the other ORECA entry, partnered by Dominique Dupuy.

BLUNDELL WAITS FOR GREEN LIGHT
(04/07) Blundell, who has missed five races since breaking a vertebra in a testing crash was scheduled to have a medical this week - which could give him the green light to participate in the race on July 11. If he is cleared to race, the ex-Formuala One driver will test his PacWest Reynard at Putnam Park road course on July 7. 'I'm ready to go,' he said. 'I want to get back in the car as soon possible. I just need the medical approval.'

RYDELL GRABS FIRST '99 VICTORY
(05/07) Reigning champion Rickard Rydell has promised much in recent races , and at Croft, he finally delivered. The Volvo S40 driver took his first win of the season in the 30-lap Feature race, round 14 of the Auto Trader British Touring Car Championship. Second was James Thompson, the Honda Accord driver backing up his earlier win. Third went to the Nissan Primera of championship leader Laurent Aiello. Top results from Croft: 1 Rickard Rydell TWR Volvo S40 2 James Thompson WSR Honda Accord + 0.4s 3 Laurent Aiello RML Nissan Primera + 8.7s 4 David Leslie RML Nissan Primera + 9.3s 5 Matt Neal Dynamics Nissan Primera + 13.8s

NEW ZEALAND RALLY PREVIEW
(04/07) Rally New Zealand starts in Auckland Thursday 15 July with a single test at the Manukau Super Stage and finishes back at Manukau Sunday 18 July after 400 kilometres of special stages.

BATTLING CRIVILLE EXTENDS TITLE LEAD
(04/07) Spaniard Alex Criville fought back from a poor start to win the 500cc British Grand Prix at Donington Park, his fifth victory of the season. Criville, riding a Honda, was sixth after the first lap, but eventually edged out teammate Tayayuki Okada in a thrilling finale. Criville, who now heads Okada by 41 points in the championship standings, relinquished the lead to the Japanese on the last lap, only to immediately reclaim it. Tetsuya Harada was third.

JARRETT HOLDS OFF EARNHARDT AT DAYTONA
(04/07) Dale Jarrett won the Pepsi 400 at Daytona Beach, Florida to consolidate his leadership of the Winston Cup standings. Jarrett's victory spelt more second place heartache for Dale Earnhardt. The Chevrolet driver has now finished in the runner's up spot six-times at the famous International Speedway track. Jeff Gordon's bid for a third straight Winston Cup win at Daytona ended in disappointment as he finished in a lowly 24th place. "My hat is off to all the competitors tonight," Jarrett said. "I saw a lot of give and take. It was action-packed a and clean race all night long. Things were great. We had a great, great race car. I hate that it ended like it did under caution for the fans. I hope had it been green it wouldn't have been a different outcome."

WHAT THEY WERE WORKING ON FOR BRITISH GP
(04/07) Many teams were on testing at Silverstone for about four days and were working on improving their cars. The McLaren team had both drivers on hand during their testing session at Silverstone in preparation for the upcoming British GP. The team concentrated on set up work and aerodynamic evaluation and in addition did back to back assessment of the longer wheelbase MP4-14. The team's technical director Adrian Newey refrained from commenting on whether the assessment was favourable and also on when the team is planning to introduce such in race conditions.
On Tuesday and Wednesday Jordan test driver Shinji Nakano and replacement hopeful Jos Verstappen were behind the wheel with regular drivers Damon Hill and Heinz-Harald Frentzen taking over on Thursday and Friday. On Tuesday and Wednesday the two drivers concentrated on set-up, but most of the time was spent on familiarizing themselves with the car. On Thursday and Friday the two regular drivers also concentrated on set up, but in addition experimented with a revised lighter gearbox.
Williams team concentrated on set up for the race as well as assessment of the different spec tyres available for the race. According to sources the team also experimented with suspension configuration. The team is rumoured to be working on extensive aerodynamic changes set to be introduced at the Austrian GP at the end of July, but these were kept behind closed doors.
Benetton team mainly concentrated on comparisons between the medium and soft compound tyres and did both assessments with the dry and the wet tyres. They also concentrated on general set up for the race as well as aerodynamics. During the session Fisichella experienced some engine problems, but otherwise the team ran without any serious problems.
Stewart team also improved many things and their no. 1 driver Rubens Barrichello commented four day test by saying: "It's always nice to improve the car at the mid-point of the season. We improved a lot on braking and traction and we also managed to get the car going consistently quicker in race trim as compared with the early part of the season."
The Arrows team had both drivers on hand during their testing session at Silverstone this week. They concentrated on engine mapping as well as the testing of engine modifications, which was halted on Wednesday when the engine expired after 16 laps.
Both Ferrari drivers concentrated on finalizing their set up for the race as well as concentrating on aerodynamics and tyre evaluations. They also made good mileage on new 048B engine.
The BAR team concluded their testing for the upcoming British GP on Friday and their extensive testing programme included durability runs, assessment of new components as well as engine mapping. In addition the team used the final hour of Friday practice to practice their pit stops while the race team fine tuned their technique when the drivers came in for a pit stop.

IRVINE NOT A GENTLY MAN?
(03/07) Eddie again slammed Damon for taking part in British GP. But he sticks with his long tongue after clocking only fifth fastest, one second behind Brit, while Hill clocked 2nd fastest time in Silverstone testing. He said Damon Hill should rather play with his children and leave the driving to the rest of the drivers who still feel the need. He furthermore elaborated by saying: "If he drives into a wall and ends up with a bad limp he will be a very sick puppy. I think he would be better going to Silverstone and doing a few laps in the road car and waving at everyone because he is going to get murdered. If you look at his performances up to now what's the point."

THOMPSON SCORED POLE FOR HONDA
(03/07) In qualifying for this weekend's two rounds in the Auto Trader British Touring Car Championship, no one could do better than James Thompson. Running last in the one-shot showdown, he was more than a tenth quicker than his nearest rival. That was David Leslie, the Nissan Primera driver anxious to do well since this is also the nearest circuit to the Nissan factory. His team-mate, championship leader Laurent Aiello, is down in fifth. Third fastest was Thompson's Honda team-mate, Peter Kox, proving that the WSR Honda team are getting the car thoroughly sorted, to give Thompson a chance of cutting into Aiello's championship lead. Reigning champion Rickard Rydell was fourth in his Volvo S40, two positions lower than he managed in the earlier session. (AUTOSPORT.COM)

OKADA PIPS CRIVILLE FOR POLE SPOT
(03/07) Japanese Tadayuki Okada claimed pole position for Sunday's British 500cc Grand Prix with a 96.98mph lap, edging ahead of Honda team-mate Alex Criville by 0.063 seconds. Okada, who won last weekend's Dutch TT at Assen, sees this race as his big chance to mount a serious bid for a first world crown. Italian Max Biaggi, riding a Yamaha, took third place with a late burst and Japan's Norrick Abe completes the front row on the grid. 'I am aiming to get back on the podium before the end of this year. Finishing in the top fives is a minimum,' he said. 'You have not heard the last of me.' 'I am determined to stay in 500s and not return to Superbikes,' Crafar, 1998 Donington winner said. “A week ago when I crashed in Holland I did not think I would be sitting here today, so I am happy and relieved. We still have a long 30 lap race to do tomorrow, but I am confident that I will be able to run up front because I have done quite a few laps in the 2’02s and I think that the 30 lap race tomorrow will be in the 33s,” said Criville. Top qualifying times: 1 T Okada Jpn Honda one minute 32.597 seconds 2 A Crivile Sp Honda 1:32.660 3 M Biaggi It Yamaha 1:32.772 4 N Abe Jpn Yamaha 1:33.016 5 K Roberts USA Suzuki 1:33.028 6 J Borja Sp Honda 1:33.053 7 T Harada Jpn Aprilia 1:33.075 8 R Laconi Fr Yamaha 1:33.336

THIRY OUT AND UNHAPPY
(01/07) 'None of the drivers were doing very well on most events,' he said. 'There was something wrong when we were fighting for sixth pace. Our times in Corsica were slower than I managed last year in the old Ford Escort WRC.' Prodrive boss David Richards insisted that Thiry still had a role to play in the team. 'Bruno [Thiry] will contest the San Remo Rally [in place of Kankkunen] and will also be entered for Madeira and one other European series event,' he said. 'He will carry out the test programme for the car on asphalt.'

THOMPSON READY FOR GOOD WEEKEND
(01/07) Thompson will be hoping to repeat his race-winning performance of last year and add to his two wins of 1999, the most recent being at Donington nearly two weeks ago. 'It was great to get back to winning ways,' said Thompson. 'Croft is my home circuit and one where I really enjoy racing. 'I won there last year and I would love to do so again. I am very confident we can go well.'

MARTIN UNLUCKY AND INJURED
(03/07) Last night during the final practice session, the right front tyre on the number 6 Valvoline Eagle One Ford Taurus let go as Martin entered Turn 3. The car slammed hard into the wall before being clipped by David Green. Martin's left wrist was injured and has been splinted. 'I hit the wall about as hard as I've ever tangled with it,' said Martin, who also received a minor injury to his left leg. 'I'm a little bit sore, but I'm going to be okay. We had a fabulous car. 'I know I'll drive tomorrow. If they were starting in five minutes, I'd line up and go.'

'FRONT ROW JOE' BACK ON TRACK
(03/07) Joe Nemechek finally lived up to a 'front row Joe' nickname that had become almost obsolete, in qualifying for Saturday's Pepsi 400 at Daytona Beach, Florida. The Chevrolet driver claimed his first pole position for more than two years to justify a recent crew shake-up. Team owner Felix Sabates' decision last month to reunite Nemechek with crew chief Tony Glover proved that the two men make up a winning combination. Ricky Rudd was second fastest. Grid positions for Saturday's Pepsi 400 at Daytona Beach, Florida: mph 1 J Nemechek Chevrolet 194.86 2 R Rudd Ford 194.57 3 M Martin Ford 194.37 4 C Little Ford 193.69 5 R Wallace Ford 193.68 6 T Stewart Pontiac 193.66 7 S Marlin Chevrolet 193.45 8 M Skinner Chevrolet 193.25 9 B Labonte Pontiac 193.22 10 D Earnhardt Chevrolet 193.10

SCHUMACHER JUST AHEAD OF HILL IN BRITAIN!
(03/07) Michael Schumacher topped Friday's test times at mild Silverstone track just ahead of home star Damon Hill who clocked very impressive second fastest time with full load of fuel. Third fastest was championship leader Mika Hakkinen.

JOS THE BOSS TO SIGN FOR JORDAN
(02/07) Jos Verstappen is the most likely candidate to replace Damon Hill when he retires after the British GP. He tested with the team for two days at Silverstone alongside Jordan test driver Shinji Nakano. He is optimistic that the session has increased his chances and said: "I am just waiting and hoping".

WILLIAMS AND ROTHMANS ONLY THIS SEASON
(02/07) Rothmans International made the statement on Friday that they were to end their sponsorship of the Williams team at the end of the current season. Since 1998 Winfield has been Williams' title sponsor, but with the merger between Rothmans and BAT it was speculated that the sponsorship of the Williams team can come to an end in the foreseeable future.

CRIVILLE TOPPED FRIDAY'S TIMES
(02/07) Championship leader Alex Crivillé, lightly hobbled by the leg injury that he suffered when he crashed out of the Grand Prix of Holland last week, clearly showed his rivals that he is on form and ready for a fight at the British GP. The Spaniard on his Repsol Honda took the provisional pole from American challenger Kenny Roberts (Suzuki) by a slim 28/100ths of a second. Roberts, who trails Criville by 35 points in the title hunt, feels that the short and twisty British circuit will allow him to make up for a lack of sheer power from his works Suzuki. “This could work for us because there aren’t any long straights coming out of slow corners, so I think we have a chance of winning this one.” Top times: 1 A Criville Sp Honda one minute 33.09 seconds 2 K Roberts USA Suzuki 1.33.11 3 N Abe Jpn Yamaha 1.33.34 4 S Gibernau Sp Honda 1.33.35 5 T Harada Jpn Aprilia 1.33.43 6 T Okada Jpn Honda 1.33.45 7 J Kocinski USA Honda 1.33.49 8 J Borja Sp Honda 1.33.50 9 R Laconi Fr Yamaha 1.33.53 10 M Biaggi Ita Yamaha 1.33.56

CRAFAR BACK WITH MUZ BIKE
(01/07) Last year's British GP winner Simon Crafar has been only two races away from the grand prix arena. After finishing his relationship with the Red Bull Yamaha team before the Catalunya GP, he's back to the 500 paddock, now as a provisional replacement rider for Luca Cadalora on the MuZ.

SILVERSTONE TEST - THIRD DAY REPORT
(01/07) Brazilian Rubens Barrichello continues with good run in Silverstone, after finishing third in wet French GP. Second fastest and third fastest was McLaren duo of Coulthard and Hakkinen. Michael Schumacher was fourth fastest, closely followed by French GP winner Frentzen in Jordan car. His team mate Hill was also well up on his first day of testing with eight fastest time, just behind Irvine (6) and Panis (7).

HILL FAREWELL WILL BE FOR CHARITY
(01/07) Damon Hill will race for charity when he makes his farewell appearance before retirement in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on 11 July. The former world champion, one of whose four children has Down's syndrome, is to give all profits made from his merchandising range to Down's syndrome and leukaemia research charities. Englishman Hill also kept open the slim possibility he may keep driving for the Jordan team by tantalisingly saying: 'As we stand this is my last race'.

BRIDGESTONE ABOUT FRENCH GP
(01/07) Just as in last year's World Cup, all the attention today was on Brazil and France. On a track which started wet and got wetter, the advantage was with the drivers bold enough to make the first moves: this explains why the qualifying times set by Stewart-Ford's Brazilian star Rubens Barrichello and France's local favourites Jean Alesi (Sauber) and Olivier Panis (Prost) will allow them to start the French Grand Prix from the first three positions on the grid. The Bridgestone rain tyres, first seen this year in Brazil, coped well with heavy rain and difficult track conditions throughout this first wet qualifying session of the season.

HILL WILL FINISH HIS CAREER AFTER SILVERSTONE
(30/06) The former world champion's Damon Hill decision will be bitter-sweet for his British fans, who will be disappointed to see the Jordan driver leave mid-season, but pleased that they can see him race one more time. Hill made his mind up after talks with team boss Eddie Jordan today. 'I am delighted to give Damon this opportunity in front of the sponsors and fans who have supported his great career,' said Eddie Jordan. 'I hope everyone will join B&H Jordan in making this a triumphant send-off.' If anyone apart from Hill wins the race next Sunday, they will undoubtedly have to cope with second place as far as headlines go. Thank you Damon, 1996 Champion.