Opels Rule The Roost

Starting Grid

POS	DRIVER	POS	DRIVER
1	Van Ommen	2	Franchitti
3	Reuter	4	Schneider
5	Lehto	6	Stuck
7	Magnussen	8	Thiim
9	Danner	10	Tarquini
11	Bartels	12	Wurz
13	Watt	14	Gavin
15	Lohr	16	Maylaender
17	Modena	18	Alzen
19	Dalmas	20	Larini
21	Grau	22	Ludwig
23	Giudici

NOTES:

DNS: Dalmas, Grau, Giudici.

Larini started from the pits.

It was declared a wet race. There was low cloud - the camera-helicopter kept periodically disappearing into them, it was drizzly, and it was Cold (9 C according to the FIA, although my feet suggested it was colder) - typical Eiffel weather in fact. But it was to set the scene for a very exciting race.

They all got around the first corner safely this time, but only as far as the Ford Kurve. Franchitti was in the lead, followed by Van Ommen and Reuter. Going into the Ford Kurve, the mid-field argy-bargy caused Modena to spin off into the gravel. He continued, but had to retire later due to technical problems. Into the Veedol Chicane for the first time, and the drivers found that the bollards they had demolised in the first race had been

replaced. They were soon removed.

At the end of the first lap, the positions were Franchitti, Reuter, Lehto and Stuck. The Mercedes drivers seemed to have a disliking of the damp track, and were falling backwards. Into the Castrol Kurve, Reuter dived down the inside of Franchitti, and neither were going to give way. Francitti hung on around the outside, and severely leant on Reuter through the left hand part. It almost worked, but it allowed Lehto to pull alongside Reuter. Down the straight Lehto and Reuter slugged it out, banging wheels, but Reuter held out, and gained first position, rapidly creating a small gap.

Michael Bartels was the next victim, in the fast RTL corner. Alex Wurz tagged the rear, sending Bartels flying off. The Stewards of the meeting adjudged Wurz to have pushed him off, and he was awarded a stop/go penalty on lap 4. However, when serving the penalty which he took on lap 6, mechanics removed a piece of flapping bodywork. Lap 7, and Wurz was therefore Black-flagged for working on the car during a penalty. He stayed out a lap, and on lap 9 was disqualified. Bartels, meanwhile, continued, but not for long. Lap 10 and he was in the pits permanently, his gas pedal broken.

Oliver Gavin was continuing the Opel Youth Driver policy of car demolition, leaning several times on Jason Watt. He made contact again with the rear of Wurz into the Veedol Chicane, rearranging the front of his car, and causing his retirement. He had just been awarded a stop/go penalty, but was unable to take it. He was served with a $5000 fine suspended for three races instead.

Meanwhile, Stuck was moving, passing Lehto for second into the Dunlop Kurve, and was catching on Reuter. Tarquini was also doing well, keeping station behind Lehto. This wasn't to be for long though, and he gradually dropped couldn't. Stuck looked like pulling into a good lead and taking his first win for Opel, but it wasn't to be. On lap 17 down the start/finish straight, the rear of his car caught fire. Out he went, and past went Reuter and Lehto.

Mercedes' day was gradually getting worse. On lap 15, Ellen Lohr made contact with the Alfa of Christian Danner, but was able to continue. On lap 18, Joerg Van Ommen, team-mate of Thiim, went straight on into the gravel at the Bit-kurve. Lap 21, and Thiim's gearbox failed, sending him into retirement. The highest placed Mercedes driver was thus Magnussen, who finished third.

Results

POS	NO	NAME	TIME
1	7	Manuel Reuter	37:30.118	163.54kph
2	43	JJ Lehto	37:32.375
3	3	Jan Magnussen	37:37.217
4	16	Uwe Alzen	37:45.141
5	18	Gabriele Tarquini	37:45.374
6	1	Bernd Schneider	37:45.941
7	5	Nicola Larini	37:46.286
8	2	Dario Franchitti	37:49.858
9	19	Jason Watt	37:57.516
10	15	Christian Danner	38:02.603
11	21	Ellen Lohr	38:13.622
12	12	Kurt Thiim	-2 laps
13	11	Joerg Van Ommen	-4 laps
14	44	Hans-Joachim Stuck	-5 laps
		Not Classified
	10	Michael Bartels	-13 laps
	22	Bernd Maylaender	-14 laps
	25	Alexander Wurz	-14 laps
	8	Oliver Gavin	-19 laps
	17	Klaus Ludwig	-19 laps

Lap Chart

Lap/Pos	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
0	11	2	7	1	43	44	3	12	15	18	10	25	19	8	21	22	9	16	17	5
1	2	7	43	44	11	18	12	25	10	15	8	1	19	3	16	22	17	21	5
2	7	43	44	18	2	11	12	25	15	1	19	8	3	16	22	17	5	21	10
3	7	43	44	18	2	11	12	25	15	1	8	3	19	16	5	22	21	17	10
4	7	32	44	18	11	2	12	15	1	3	16	25	19	5	22	21	10
5	7	44	43	18	11	12	1	2	3	16	19	5	15	22	21	25	10
6	7	44	43	18	11	12	1	3	16	2	5	19	15	22	21	25	10
7	7	44	43	18	11	12	1	3	16	2	5	22	19	21	15	25	10
8	44	7	43	18	11	12	3	1	16	2	5	22	19	15	21	10	25
9	44	7	43	18	11	12	3	1	16	5	2	19	15	21	10
10	44	7	43	18	11	12	3	1	16	5	2	19	15	21
11	44	7	43	18	11	12	3	1	16	5	2	19	15	21
12	44	7	43	18	11	12	3	1	16	5	2	19	15	21
13	44	7	43	18	11	12	3	1	16	5	2	19	15	21
14	44	7	43	11	18	12	3	16	1	5	2	19	15	21
15	44	7	43	11	18	12	3	16	1	5	2	19	15	21
16	44	7	43	11	12	18	3	16	1	5	2	19	15	21
17	7	43	11	12	3	18	16	1	5	2	19	15	21
18	7	43	12	3	18	16	1	5	2	19	15	21
19	7	43	12	3	18	16	1	5	2	19	15	21
20	7	43	3	18	16	1	5	2	19	15	21	12
21	7	43	3	18	16	1	5	2	19	15	21
22	7	43	3	16	18	1	5	2	19	15	21

Car Top Speeds

	DRIVER	KPH
1	Larini	260
2	Lohr	260
3	Schneider	260
4	Stuck	260
5	Lehto	260
6	Tarquini	260
7	Thiim	259
8	Reuter	259
9	Magnussen	258
10	Van Ommen	258
11	Franchitti	258
12	Danner	258
13	Alzen	257
14	Bartels	257
15	Watt	257
16	Ludwig	254
17	Wurz	253
18	Maylaender	250
19	Gavin	237

Drivers
Championship:

POS	DRIVER	PTS
1	Reuter	64
2	Magnussen	51
3	Schneider	41
4	Franchitti	40
5	Lehto	23
6	Van Ommen	22
7	Alzen	19
8	Stuck	18
9	Grau	14
10	Tarquini	9
11	Thiim	6
12	Fisichella	5
13	Larini	4
14	Danner	3
15	Lohr	2
16	Watt	2
17	Nannini	1

Manufacturers
Championship:

POS	TEAM	PTS
1	Mercedes	67
2	Opel	64
3	Alfa Romeo	15