Motorsport News: Russ Bonds Weekly Report

When in Spain...

For the past two Grand Prix, Renaults Fernando Alonso has failed to occupy the top step of the podium. But this past weekend, the Spaniard wanted nothing more than to be the first Spanish driver ever in the history of Formula 1 to win the Spanish Grand Prix - Alonso can now tick that goal off his to do list. Alonso cruised to victory in his home Grand Prix, after starting from the pole, but there was an interesting aspect to the race.

You see, the Renaults - Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella - occupied the front row, and Michael Schumacher and his Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa would start from row two. Now, I should interject the fact that there are a number of reasons why teams have two drivers, but one of the main ones - for teams challenging for the championship - is to have the second driver take points away from the other teams first driver. A few years ago, we saw this issue in full swing when McLaren

Alonso reigns in Spain... no doubt a pain to MS again. (Photo: Renault F1)

driver Kimi Raikkonen was trying to make up points in the championship, but his teammate, Juan Pablo Montoya failed to help him out by taking points away, and twice in two races, in the dying laps, he in fact helped the other team by crashing or dropping out. This arguably cost Raikkonen the championship. Now, fast forward to this years Spanish Grand Prix, and Fisichellas job is to stop Schumacher from finishing second - or winning.

He couldnt do it, finishing a distant third after Schumacher leap-frogged him on the first stop. You should remember this because, if the championship comes down to a few points at the end, this result could well point to the reason why Alonso

Still off the pace, Kimi Raikonnen wrestled his McLaren Mercedes to a solid fifth. (Photo: McLaren Mercedes)

loses - if he does. I wont even go into why having Fisichella as a teammate is basically like racing by yourself - he is never around at the end. Yes, I know he won one already this year, like he does every year, but look at the results - or lack thereof - since then.

Massa should be doing the same thing to Renault that Fisichella is supposed to be doing to Ferrari, but he is unable to do much to help Schumacher either, so it will come down to a straight fight between the two championship winning drivers.

The other interesting news out of Spain was all but lost in the Alonso-mania. Renault signed back on for Formula 1 until 2012. Why is this such a big deal, you ask? Well, you see, they have had trouble attracting a world class driver to replace

Button wasnt on his game all weekend, but still managed to nudge ahead of ex-Ferrari teammate Rubens Barichello in the end, finishing 6th. (Photo: Honda F1)?

Alonso - who leaves for McLaren at the end of this season - mainly because the belief was that they were done in 2007. Now, with them staying, that buzz you hear is driver managers faxing Renault like mad, trying to secure a ride for their driver. Alonso better win this year, as a championship in a McLaren Mercedes looks like a pipe dream at best - just ask Raikkonen.

North Americans once again had little to cheer about at Spain, as Jacques Villeneuve had an engine change that made him start shotgun on the field. Villeneuve looked to be okay on a one stop strategy, but he still wound up 12th. American Scott Speed continues to show speed in his Toro Rosso mount, but mechanical issues forced him to retire in Spain, resulting in a dnf.
Battle of the Bad Luck Drivers at Darlington

Jacques Villeneuve, after car problems during qualifying that resulted in a new engine and therefore, back of the grid placement, fought his way back to 12th. (Photo: BMW Sauber F1)

Greg Biffle or Jeff Gordon, take your pick. Neither has delivered on pre-season promise so far, due mostly to bad luck, so its kind of ironic that the two battled in the closing laps of the Dodge 500 on Saturday night at Darlington.

I actually thought it would go to Gordon, but he came up short. Biffle collected his first win of the year - after experiencing at least 7 instances of lead killing or racing killing bad luck so far this year.

Matt Kenseth - again quietly - finished third, keeping him near the top of the standings, behind points leader Jimmie Johnson, who finished fourth.

"Weve had tough luck, and you just have to be positive all the time," Biffle said after the race. "What happened yesterday was yesterday and what happens tomorrow I can control. I know I can come here and try again, and I know I can go to Charlotte next week and try. I cant change the past, so I always just look to the future.

Greg Biffle crosses the finish line for his 2nd straight Darlington Cup race win. (Photo: Autostock)

Even though it was a good race and even though we won here at Darlington, our focus is going to be Charlotte now."

Gordons chances came a little undone as he approached Ken Schrader early on in the race.

"[Schrader] gave plenty of room to the No. 16 {Biffle], and I carried," Gordon said. "I needed to be able to go up and then turn down and come back down to the bottom. That was my line I ran all night long. Im not saying [Schrader] knew that, but I felt like the air off his car was pushing my car into the outside wall. I felt like it killed all my momentum and made the car push worse up in the wall, so I lost every chance we had."

Results of the Dodge 500:

1) Greg Biffle, No. 16 National Guard Ford, 367 laps
2) Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet, 367, -0.209sec
3) Matt Kenseth, No. 17 DeWalt Tools Ford, 367
4) Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet, 367
5) Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet, 367
6) Ryan Newman, No. 12 Alltel Dodge, 367
7) Kyle

Greg Biffle celebrates winning the Dodge Charger 500. (Photo: Autostock)

Busch, No. 5 CarQuest Chevrolet, 367
8) Mark Martin, No. 6 AAA Ford, 367
9) Jeff Burton, No. 31 Cingular Chevrolet, 367
10) Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Chevrolet, 367
11) Reed Sorenson, No. 41 Target Dodge, 367
12) Tony Stewart, No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet, 367
13) Robby Gordon, No. 7 Menards Chevrolet, 367
14) Martin Truex, No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, 367
15) Ken Schrader, No. 21 U.S. Air Force Ford, 366
16) Joe Nemechek, No. 01 U.S. Army Chevrolet, 366
17) Casey Mears, No. 42 Havoline Dodge, 366
18) Kyle Petty, No. 45 Tire Kingdom Dodge, 366
19) Kurt Busch, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, 366
20) Tony Raines, No. 96 DLP/HDTV Chevrolet, 366
21) Kasey Kahne, No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge, 366
22) Bobby Labonte, No. 43 Cheerios Dodge, 366
23) Clint Bowyer, No. 07 Jack Daniels Chevrolet, 365
24) Dale Jarrett, No. 88 UPS Ford, 365
25) David Stremme, No. 40 Lone Star Dodge, 365
26) J.J. Yeley, No. 18 Boniva Chevrolet, 365
27) Dave Blaney, No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge, 364
28) Sterling Marlin, No. 14 Ginn Clubs Chevrolet, 364
29) Ellott Sadler, No. 38 M&Ms Ford, 364
30) Travis Kvapil, No. 32 Tide

Tracy, Bourdais and Domninguez on the podium in Houston. (Photo: Michael L. Levitt, USA LAT Photographic)

Chevrolet, 364
31) Scott Riggs, No. 10 Stanley Tools Dodge, 363
32) Jeff Green, No. 66 Best Buy Chevrolet, 363
33) Scott Wimmer, No. 4 Aero Exhause Chevrolet, 363
34) Terry Labonte, No. 44 Kelloggs Chevrolet, 361
35) Michael Waltrip, No. 55 NAPA Dodge, 359
36) Kevin Lepage, No. 49 Freightliner Dodge, 353
37) Kevin Harvick, No. 29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet, 350
38) Jeremy Mayfield, No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge, 346
39) Carl Edwards, No. 99 Office Depot Ford, 281, engine
40) Stanton Barrett, No. 95 theracespace.com Chevrolet, 255, engine
41) Brian Vickers, No. 25 GMAC Chevrolet, 246
42) Jamie McMurray, No. 26 Crown Royal Ford, 223, engine
43) Derrike Cope, No. 74 Royal/Sundance Dodge, 11, oil pressure

Motorsport Quick Hits...

Bourdais in Houston... Sebastien Bourdais didnt have it all his own way in Houston on Saturday night as he had to work for this win. Much of the race was dominated by Mario Dominguez, but a little bobble on lap 66 sent the Mexicans chances of winning out the window. Bourdais and Paul Tracy went past to finish one-two. Canadian Andrew Ranger finished in a very respectable 6th place...

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