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Motorsport News: Russ Bonds Weekly Report

All Alonso

After watching all the Grand Prix so far this year from afar, it was good to see Montreal pop up on the calendar, just so I could go in person and see what is really going on. I like to sit and watch from the turn one-two complex so I can hear and see what the drivers and cars do. I am now happy to report that I learned a few things that you dont see on television, or from reading reports like this... normally.

Firstly, no one is going to catch Alonso - end of story. If you remember back a year or so, when you saw the in-car camera from his Renault, the understeer in it was atrocious; that is now gone. His car goes where he points it. He was clearly the fastest between the two corners. Most came through turn one, and had a little squirt of power before hammering the brakes for turn two. Alonso carried so much speed through turn one, he didnt need the squirt. He just braked for turn two.

Also, the Renault traction control is far superior to any other teams. The garbled mess from most - which translates to a lack of power as the cars struggle for grip on the exits of corners - is practically non existent from the Renault. It launches very well, and off it goes. That is why Fernando Alonso won the Canadian Grand Prix, and also why no one will challenge him for this years championship.

Ferraris Michael Schumacher did what World Champions do, he picked up the points he could. Really, he shouldnt have been second, but a mistake from McLaren Mercedes driver Kimi Raikkonen at the hairpin let him through for the

Unstoppable Alonso walks with a rejuvinated Trulli. (Photo: Russ Bond, RussBondAgency.com)

runner up spot. The Ferrari is on the pace for the most part, but the deciding factor is the traction control systems for the launches out of the corners, and that is where the Renault is better. Raikkonen is solid, looks much better than his teammate Juan Pablo Montoya. This said, Raikkonen looks much more aggressive with the car, and that could be part of the reason it breaks so often. I should point out that it didnt break at Montreal, Raikkonen made a rare mistake to lose second place.

On the other end of the spectrum, I have to question whether Toyotas Ralf Schumacher is really a Schumacher at all. Hes a mess. He doesnt look fast, and his qualifying position - he was 14th, his teammate Jarno Trulli, who out qualified Michael Schumacher was fourth - would back that up. He raced even worse, and to be honest, the car - despite what he said - looked stable on the track. In my opinion, he made too many mistakes - like two spins at the hairpin. He blamed his choice of tires for most of his problems, but it was his choice right?

Jacques Villeneuve, was - as I expected - getting the most from his BMW Sauber. He looked comfortable, and is very close to being able to challenge the top six for positions.

"The track heated up, we lost the balance of the

Ferrari has the speed, but can it actually contest for the championship? (Photo: Russ Bond, RussBondAgency.com)

car and couldnt get it to work anymore," Villeneuve said after qualifying. He then added, "It is very disappointing as now we are in the middle of the pack for the first corner. We should be all right once the race gets going so we just need to keep our nose clean in the first corner. We missed getting into the last part of qualifying by thousandths of a second, which was very annoying as we were really looking forward to being in the top ten here."

Villeneuve should have been in the top 10, but even still, he raced well, ran as high as fifth before a crash that ended his day with just a few laps remaining. Villeneuve directed most of his post race comments towards Ralf Schumacher, who was a thorn in his side all race long.
"Ralf Schumacher was running very slowly for quite a few laps and I think he had a problem with his car," Villeneuve said of Schumacher, who was two seconds off the race pace. "When he decided to let me by it was through a corner. He lifted and just to avoid him I had to go wide where there was old rubber from the tires - it was like being on an ice rink. We were competitive all day; we fought hard but had a problem in the pit stop, which meant Nick [Heidfeld] jumped us. This was very a shame as we had been ahead of him the whole race, and then lapping Ralf was very frustrating. This is always a tough race and sometimes

Cool Montoya is hardly looking as suave on the track. (Photo: Russ Bond, RussBondAgency.com)

it doesnt work out."
For the record, Fernando Alonso, despite reports to the contrary, had the race under control from the first corner to the checquered flag. Michael Schumacher did well to finish second. Raikkonen was third, and Trullis sixth place is hard to believe it was his first points finish of the year. Obviously his new three-year contract with Toyota suits him well.

It was Alonsos fourth consecutive victory - his sixth of the season and first at Montreal - giving Michelin their 100th Grand Prix win and extending his championship lead over Schumacher to 25 points.

In related news, Michelin sent out a release on Saturday saying that they would not answer Formula 1s request for a tire tender for next year saying in effect that this is not the way Michelin wants to proceed with Formula 1, so it will be all Bridgestone next year - no surprise there.

American Scott Speed was interesting to watch. On the track he is a demon, destined for greatness, but in the paddock and drivers parade, he still looked like the same kid that used to mop the floor in karts just a few years ago. Sporting a Red Bull golf shirt, he walked through the paddock with ease, not being stopped by anyone. I think of all the F1 drivers, Speed is the hardest to recognize. Speed drove a good race from 17th on the grid to finish 11th. Next week at Indy will be the real test for him.

Gordon Comes

Jacques Villeneuve is a changed, team-oriented man, and getting the most from his BMW Sauber. (Photo: Russ Bond, RussBondAgency.com)

Home with a Victory

Jeff Gordon knows there is no place like home... like in California... dude. Gordon, a four-time NASCAR Nextel Cup Series champion dominated Sundays Dodge/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway, taking his first victory of the season in front of his family, friends, a new fiancée and a sea of Gordon crazy Californian fans... dude.

Gordon, who hails from Vallejo, California, less than 20 miles from the track, passed Terry Labonte (that is not a typo) with just over 30 laps to go, and cruised home for the victory.

"I didnt know if we were ever going to win another one of these races," said Gordon. "Im speechless. What an amazing moment this is, a very special weekend for me and this race team to get back to victory lane."

Labonte, who last finish in the top five way back at Darlington in 2003, ran out of rear tires in the late going, which handed second to Ryan Newman. Even so, the two-time Nextel Cup champ gave the first-year Hall of Fame Racing team its best finish ever, with a solid third-place in his Chevrolet. Newmans runner-up run was his best race of 2006 as well.

For fans of Ron Fellows, it was a disappointing weekend. Fellows qualified 17th, then mechanical issues put him 10 laps down, he wound up 37th.

NASCAR Racing from Sonoma on FOX Results:

Pos. Driver Start No. Mfg. Led Completed Status Pts/Bonus Money
1 Jeff Gordon 11 #24 Chevrolet 44 110 running 190/10 $325,661
2 Ryan Newman 4 #12 Dodge 11 110 running 175/5

Speed is laid back, dude, true to his California roots. (Photo: Russ Bond, RussBondAgency.com)

$219,758
3 Terry Labonte 37 #96 Chevrolet 17 110 running 170/0 $155,825
4 Greg Biffle 7 #16 Ford 0 110 running 160/0 $147,300
5 Kurt Busch 1 #2 Dodge 29 110 running 160/5 $145,433
6 Carl Edwards 20 #99 Ford 0 110 running 150/0 $116,800
7 Jeff Burton 13 #31 Chevrolet 0 110 running 146/0 $122,120
8 Elliott Sadler 24 #38 Ford 0 110 running 142/0 $118,583
9 Boris Said 5 #160 Ford 1 110 running 143/5 $83,825
10 Jimmie Johnson 16 #48 Chevrolet 2 110 running 139/5 $144,186
11 Kyle Busch 19 #5 Chevrolet 0 110 running 130/0 $97,575
12 Denny Hamlin 40 #11 Chevrolet 0 110 running 127/0 $85,075
13 Mark Martin 8 #6 Ford 0 110 running 124/0 $96,725
14 Brian Vickers 42 #25 Chevrolet 0 110 running 121/0 $89,025
15 Martin Truex Jr. 39 #1 Chevrolet 0 110 running 118/0 $108,283
16 Clint Bowyer 28 #07 Chevrolet 0 110 running 115/0 $87,875
17 Matt Kenseth 9 #17 Ford 0 110 running 112/0 $120,791
18 Jamie McMurray 2 #26 Ford 0 110 running 109/0 $121,825
19 Jeff Green 23 #66 Chevrolet 0 110 running 106/0 $102,833
20 Casey Mears 34 #42 Dodge 0 110 running 103/0 $113,708
21 Kyle Petty 33 #45 Dodge 0 110 running 100/0 $98,258
22 Jeremy Mayfield 32 #19 Dodge 0 110 running 97/0 $105,441
23 Michael Waltrip 35 #55 Dodge 0 110 running 94/0 $87,433
24 Kevin Harvick 3 #29 Chevrolet 5 110 running 96/5 $111,611
25 Joe Nemechek 10 #01 Chevrolet 0 110 running 88/0 $100,295
26 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 26 #8 Chevrolet 0 110 running 85/0 $107,916
27 Scott Riggs 25 #10 Dodge 0 110 running 82/0 $72,300
28 Tony Stewart 12 #20 Chevrolet 1 110

Jeff Gordon finally takes a victory at home in California, driving his DuPont Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS. (Photo: Dorsey Patrick)

running 84/5 $122,561
29 Reed Sorenson 41 #41 Dodge 0 110 running 76/0 $79,500
30 Scott Pruett 27 #40 Dodge 0 110 running 73/0 $89,422
31 Kasey Kahne 6 #9 Dodge 0 110 running 70/0 $110,914
32 David Gilliland 31 #72 Dodge 0 108 running 67/0 $68,050
33 J.J. Yeley 38 #18 Chevrolet 0 104 accident 64/0 $105,965
34 Dale Jarrett 22 #88 Ford 0 104 accident 61/0 $99,905
35 Bobby Labonte 21 #43 Dodge 0 104 accident 58/5 $104,656
36 P.J. Jones 15 #4 Chevrolet 0 101 rear end 55/0 $67,610
37 Ron Fellows 17 #32 Chevrolet 0 100 running 52/0 $67,475
38 Brandon Ash 43 #102 Dodge 0 85 running 49/0 $67,360
39 Dave Blaney 36 #22 Dodge 0 79 drive shaft 46/0 $67,250
40 Robby Gordon 14 #7 Chevrolet 0 74 accident 43/0 $67,125
41 Ken Schrader 18 #21 Ford 0 0 accident 40/0 $94,214
42 Sterling Marlin 29 #14 Chevrolet 0 0 accident 37/0 $66,900
43 Tom Hubert 30 #27 Chevrolet 0 0 accident 34/0 $67,116

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