Motorsport Mondial
Snapshot from Sunday
Motorsport Mondial Presentation
On the waterfront: He could have been a contender at BAR & Honda. But now Godfather Brawn has given him the package and Button is delivering, winning for the fifth time this year in the streets of Monte Carlo. The only race where the Briton did not win was the Chinese Grand Prix where German wunderkind Sebastian Vettel gave him a Shanghai surprise. Button’s third successive win on Sunday was the first time a Grand Prix engine had won three on the trot. Brazilian teammate Rubens Barrichello was second, making it the third one-two finish this year for the Ross Brawn-led team. Final spot on the podium was occupied by the lost man of motor racing, the 2007 World Champion, Kimi Raikkonen of Finland.
Got Milk! Helio Castro Neves wins his third Indy 500, giving “Captain” Roger Penske win number 15 in the Memorial Day classic. The Brazilian driver started from pole position and also tasted milk at the Brickyard in 2001 when he triumphed as a rookie, and year later in the “Paul Tracy Pass” controversy. British driver and former winner Dan Wheldon was second. Danica Patrick was third. The wall of voodoo was touched by Marco Andretti, Graham Rahal, Tony Kanaan, Rafael Matos and Vitor Meira, who suffered broken vertebrae.
Latvala Soars in Sardinia: Flying Finn Jari-Matti Latvala, piloting a Ford Focus, wins on the Italian island ending Sebastien Loeb’s winning streak. Another Finn in a second Ford Focus, Mikko Hirvonen, was second ahead of Loeb’s Citroen.
Romain Rules: Impressive and dominating win for rising star Romain Grosjean in the GP2 feature race at Monaco, second win of the season for Renault F1 team test and reserve driver. His teammate from Russia Vitaly Petrov was second.
Raindrops keep falling on my hood: David Reutimann parks his dream machine in the rain-hit Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The Michael Waltrip “Rocket Fuel” Racing driver elected to stay on the track when the leaders dashed for the pits after a wet caution. Race was red-flagged and after a two-hour delay Reutimann was declared the winner, without leading a single green-flag lap. That’s racin.
Straw deal: After a dream rookie season in 2007 and championship winning last year, Lewis Hamilton is sipping for more success in a less than competitive McLaren car so far this year. Caught out by new regulations the McLaren ace from Stevenage, England, failed to finish in the points in Monaco last Sunday after winning the race last year.