Speedcar Series Bahrain Saturday
Third success for Alzen in Bahrain
Uwe Alzen took the lead of the Speedcar Series after scoring
his third win of the season in a dramatic Saturday morning
race in Bahrain. The German beat the strongest field of F1
drivers assembled thus far.
New to the series for this race were 1997 World Champion
Jacques Villeneuve, and his former Williams team mate Heinz-Harald
Frentzen. With JJ Lehto back again that brought the number
of former Sauber F1 drivers in the field to six! Also back
for his second outing of the season was former Le Mans and
DTM star Klaus Ludwig.
In Friday morning's qualifying session Johnny Herbert just
pipped Stefan Johansson to pole, while Nicolas Navarro and
Alzen filled the second row. Championship leader Jean Alesi
made a mistake on his new tyres run, and thus had to settle
for seventh. Meanwhile newcomers Frentzen and Villeneuve took
time to settle in. They started 10th and 14th, the Canadian
struggling with his brake balance.
The first lap passed without incident at the front, as Herbert
slipped into the lead from Johansson, Alzen and Navarro. Meanwhile
Alesi quickly passed both Gianni Morbidelli and David Terrien
for fifth. However, there was early disappointment for Lehto,
who had a suspension problem even before the start, while
Ludwig also stopped early after his engine went onto seven
cylinders.
From the start Herbert felt that his engine was down on power,
and at the onset of the second lap he was unable to resist
as Johansson and Alzen swept past. Indeed the Briton soon
tumbled down to seventh, and decided that rather than try
and fight he would concentrate on bringing home some points.
New leader Johansson soon came under strong pressure from
Alzen, while Navarro, Alesi and Terrien stayed closed and
made it a spectacular five-car battle for a while. On the
eighth lap Alesi and Terrien both made it past Navarro. Leader
Johansson was having problems, and on the 10th lap Alzen found
a way past.
"I picked up a huge vibration in the front," said
Stefan, "and I had to back off a little under braking,
or I was going to lock up all the time. I was just trying
to keep the pace. I could barely see the road in the end,
it was so bad."
Just after losing the lead Stefan was also passed by Alesi,
but when Terrien then tried to muscle past the Swede he misjudged
the move and nudged an innocent Jean into a 360 degree spin.
Alesi had dropped to fifth by the time he got going again.
After several attempts Alesi finally made it past Navarro
for fourth on lap 14. At the start of lap 17 he made a move
on Terrien under braking for the first corner, but he couldn't
get the car stopped, He ran into the side of the unfortunate
Johansson, who was turning into the corner. The two cars made
heavy contact, and Alesi's rode over the front of Johansson's
in spectacular fashion. Jean had to pull off the road and
park a few corners later, while Stefan retired to the pits.
"I'm so disappointed, because they were such valuable
points," said Johansson. "Had I not been there I
think Jean would have been in the barrier before he stopped!
It wasn't going to work in a million years."
"I made a big mistake," admitted Jean. "At
the end of the straight you're braking at 180 metres. When
I tried to overtake Terrien I had no chance to stop."
Out front Alzen had an untroubled run, and had quietly extended
his lead as the others fought amongst themselves. At the end
he was a huge 7.9 secs ahead of Terrien, while Morbidelli
passed Navarro to take the final podium spot.
"It was not easy," said Alzen. "But it was
easier than the last race in Sepang, where the heat was higher
and you had more humidity in the car. Here it was better.
The only problem that I had was a flat spot at the front,
so it was a little bit tricky towards the end. I'll start
tomorrow in the eighth position, so that's for sure not easy,
especially at the first corner."
Marchy Lee had a good run to fifth, while Herbert just held
off Villeneuve for sixth. Jacques did get past at one stage,
but he then saw yellow flags and let Johnny back through.
"We had a brake problem yesterday and we changed it,"
said Jacques. "It took me a few laps to see where I could
brake. But it was good, because I could brake late, and I
was racing hard. I had a blast, but it was really hot!"
The only other drivers to go the distance were Hasher Al
Maktoum and Ukyo Katayama, as Frentzen, Ananda Mikola and
Fabien Giroix joined the list of retirements.
The top eight will be reversed for Sunday's grid, so Al Maktoum
will start on pole, ahead of Villeneuve, Herbert and Lee.
Off the track, the drama continues however as the Union Properties
Team consisting of David Terrien and Hasher Al Maktoum have
submitted a formal protest against race winner Uwe Alzen.
They are asking that the German be disqualified on the premise
that he was not wearing the HANS (Head and Neck Safety) device
during the race according to the FIA regulations. The allegation
is currently being investigated by the race director and stewards
and a decision will be made by this afternoon.
Uwe Alzen excluded, David Terrien wins
Uwe Alzen's victory in the first race this morning was cancelled
by the Bahrain Support Race Stewards of the meeting. The German
driver was excluded from the race classification based on
an official protest lodged by another team.
The Stewards found that the driver had not worn his HANS (Head
and Neck Safety Device) during the race in contravention of
the Series regulations. The HANS device is a special safety
device used in all major top level international championships
and is designed to protect the driver's neck in the case of
an accident during racing.
Frenchman David Terrien therefore inherits the race win.
The new and official classification is as follows:
Classification Race 1
Pos Driver Laps Time/Gap
1 David Terrien 19 41:19.395
2 Gianni Morbidelli 19 4.894
3 Nicolas Navarro 19 10.178
4 Marchy Lee 19 15.940
5 Johnny Herbert 19 25.266
6 Jacques Villeneuve 19 25.332
7 Hasher Al Maktoum 19 35.561
8 Ukyo Katayama 19 37.762
9 Stefan Johansson 16 DNF
10 Jean Alesi 16 DNF
11 Heinz-Harald Frentzen 14 DNF
Not Classified
Ananda Mikola 12 DNF
Fabien Giroix 3 DNF
Klaus Ludwig 1 DNF
JJ Lehto 1 DNF
Uwe Alzen Excluded
Fastest Lap
Nicolas Navarro 2:08.484 on lap 4
Speedcar Series positions after Race 5
Pos Driver R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 TOT
1 Jean Alesi 10 8 10 6 - 34
2 Uwe Alzen 4 10 5 10 - 29
David Terrrien 5 5 1 8 10 29
4 Johnny Herbert 6 2 8 5 4 25
5 Mathias Lauda 8 4 6 - - 18
6 Nicolas Navarro 3 - 2 2 6 13
7 Gianni Morbidelli - - - 4 8 12
8 Ananda Mikola 1 6 4 - - 11
9 Stefan Johansson - - 3 3 - 6
10 Klaus Ludwig 2 3 3 - - 5
Marchy Lee - - - - 5 5
12 Jacques Villeneuve - - - - 3 3
Hasher Al Maktoum - - - 1 2 3
14 Ukyo Katayama - 1 - - 1 2
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