Ralf Schumacher finished 14th as he made his debut in the premier German touring car series (DTM) on Sunday.

At Hockenheim, the venue for this year’s German Grand Prix in July, the former Grand Prix winner, was a lower-midfield competitor in his year-old Mercedes-Benz.

The German newspaper Bild am Sonntag pointed out that the 32-year-old finished narrowly in front of the race’s two female competitors, Susie Stoddart and former Champ Car racer Katherine Legge.

Reigning champion Mattias Ekstrom won the race, ahead of another Audi driven by Timo Scheider.It was okay,” Schumacher said, “I made no major mistakes and I knew that I would not begin right at the front.”

He also confirmed that he would happily return to formula one with a top team, but excluded becoming a test driver.

 

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For the past 30 years open-wheeled motor racing in America - commonly known as IndyCar racing - has been dogged by enough in-fighting, rows, splits and enmity to fill an entire season of Dallas or Dynasty. As a result it has struggled to maintain a foothold in a nation still dominated by four major sports: baseball, American football, ice hockey and basketball. IndyCar must also compete for precious viewing figures with the more popular Nascar, America’s cartoonishly colourful stock-car series, and formula one, a sport with far more appeal to a global audience. IndyCar frequently produces races that are more exciting than anything you might see in Nascar or F1 - the problem is, no one has been watching them.

IndyCar’s troubles date back to 1979, when a group of disgruntled team owners split from the United States Automobile Club (IndyCar’s governing body), to form the Cart (Championship Auto Racing Teams) series. Cart was successful for many years and even attracted F1 drivers - Nigel Mansell won the title in 1993 - to its oval tracks. However, the Indianapolis 500, America’s most famous open-wheeled race, continued to be run by the USAC. The strained alliance between Cart and the USAC continued until 1994, when Tony George, the owner of the Indy Motor Speedway, created his own breakaway series, the Indy Racing League. George demanded that the majority of entrants in the Indy 500 be IRL drivers, a move that prompted Cart to boycott the race for several seasons. In 2003 Cart went bankrupt, only to be revived as the Champ Car series one year later. Continued

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BMW Sauber revealed the true pace of its F1.08 car at Albert Park on Saturday morning as it took a surprise 1-2 in final practice session – with the big names forced into a back seat.

Nick Heidfeld had predicted following the first day of running in the new season that last year’s third fastest team had more speed than its lowly Friday positions suggested – and he was proved right in practice three.

Heidfeld and team-mate Robert Kubica completed the first laps of the weekend under the 1m26s barrier in the closing minute of the hour, with Kubica’s best of 1m25.613s three tenths faster than Heidfeld’s.

However the expected response from the Ferrari and McLaren quartet didn’t materialise, as they all either got stuck in traffic or had to slow down for incidents on their own final soft tyre runs.

It meant the likely contenders for the qualifying session that follows all had the unusual experience of finishing outside the top 10.

Fernando Alonso showed Renault may have more pace over one lap for qualifying than he initially feared by going third fastest, with Williams’ Nico Rosberg fourth.

Red Bull Racing continued its fine form from the opening day, with David Coulthard and Mark Webber closed matched in fifth and sixth.

Jenson Button was 0.9s away from the BMWs in seventh, but his final timed run included the fastest time in the middle sector.

Toro Rosso’s Sebastian Vettel and the consistently impressive Force India of Giancarlo Fisichella completed an unusual looking top 10.

Indeed these two both had spells higher up the order as numerous drivers headed the field during the session as the times tumbled across the hour.

Afterhot temperatures and gusty wind, combined with the usual ‘green’ track surface, contributed to numerous spins and offs on Friday, conditions were far cooler on Saturday with the circuit beginning to pick up more grip.

However neither Ferrari nor McLaren’s drivers got a chance to fully exploit this with a fast lap on soft tyres.

Felipe Massa was 1.4s off Kubica’s pace in 11th, with Lewis Hamilton a slot behind in 12th.

World champion Kimi Raikkonen 14th with the second McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen just ahead of the Super Aguris in 20th.

Renault rookie Nelson Piquet Jr endured another difficult session, with his hour including a trip through the gravel trap at turn 3 en-route to the 15th fastest time.

Australian GP free practice session 3 times

1. KUBICA BMW 1m25.613s
2. HEIDFELD BMW 1m25.950s
3. ALONSO Renault 1m26.082s
4. ROSBERG Williams 1m26.171s
5. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m26.385s
6. WEBBER Red Bull 1m26.470s
7. BUTTON Honda 1m26.502s
8. VETTEL Toro Rosso 1m26.663s
9. FISICHELLA Force India 1m26.682s
10. TRULLI Toyota 1m26.882s
11. MASSA Ferrari 1m27.020s
12. HAMILTON McLaren 1m27.084s
13. GLOCK Toyota 1m27.162s
14. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m27.163s
15. PIQUET Renault 1m27.284s
16. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m27.333s
17. SUTIL Force India 1m27.489s
18. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso 1m27.578s
19. NAKAJIMA Williams 1m27.601s
20. KOVALAINEN McLaren 1m27.992s
21. SATO Super Aguri 1m28.363s
22. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1m28.912s

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