F1 Turkey GP - Race - 26/08/2007 Istanbul

Felipe Massa declared himself 'proud' to score a second consecutive Turkish Grand Prix as the Brazilian closed the gap between himself and world championship leader Lewis Hamilton to just 15 points.

Massa's third win of the season also allowed the Ferrari star to re-establish himself ahead of his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen in the championship order, having played second fiddle to the Finn for much of the summer.

Massa described his fifth career victory as "amazing".

"This is second the race in a row here starting from pole and winning, it is really fantastic," he said.

"I love the track and I love the place. Here is when my career just made a switch and I started winning races and fighting with the front-runners.

"It is a very special place for me. It is difficult to find the right words."

Massa led from start-to-finish and remained in control despite coming under significant pressure from Raikkonen in the middle stint and suffering an unusual problem with his crash helmet.

"I had a crack on the cooling system on the helmet and I had a big turbulence," he said.

"On the straights my head was being pulled up and then pushed down under braking. I was losing a lot of concentration.

"So I used some strength, took it away, and made some strange behaviour on the straight! It cracked completely and then it was better."

To the surprise of many, Ferrari opted to start the race with the softer 'option' Bridgestone tyre, and the tactic paid off as Raikkonen swept by Hamilton's McLaren at the start.

Massa and Raikkonen quickly asserted themselves with the tyre advantage while McLaren proved unable to match the Ferraris through the race.

"On Friday we made a long run on both tyre types," explained Massa.

"It was pretty similar, there was maybe one or two tenths difference between the tyres on the long run and we knew Friday to Sunday the track improves a lot. So the softs would improve even more.

"We took a gamble a little bit but at least it was a safe risk.

"Especially for the start we knew that the soft tyres are always better."



1. F.Massa
2. K.Raikkonen
3. F.Alonso

MotoGP - Czech Rep. - Brno - 19/08/2007

World Championship leader Casey Stoner was in dominant form at Brno on Sunday afternoon as he earned his seventh win of 2007, riding to victory by a 7.9 second margin to extend his standings lead to 60 points with just six races to go.

The 21-year old Ducati Marlboro rider repeated his Laguna Seca trick at the historic Czech circuit of Brno, controlling the Cardion ab Grand Prix Ceske republiky race from start to finish - having started on pole for the third round in succession - adding to his championship advantage as Fiat Yamaha's Valentino Rossi could only finish seventh.

There was another great performance from Rizla Suzuki's John Hopkins who crossed the line second to secure his best ever MotoGP result, while third placed World Champion Nicky Hayden continued his recent improvement in form with his third podium in four races.

Hayden's Repsol Honda colleague Dani Pedrosa missed out on a podium finish himself by just under three seconds, while Rizla Suzuki's Chris Vermeulen was fifth and Stoner's Suzuki-bound Ducati colleague Loris Capirossi was sixth.


Behind Rossi, Kawasaki's Randy de Puniet (eighth), Pramac d'Antin's Alex Barros (ninth) and Carlos Checa completed the top ten, while a special mention must go to Toni Elias (Honda Gresini) who bravely finished 11th as he continues his recovery from his femur brake at Assen.

There was disappointment on both sides of the Fiat Yamaha pit box as Colin Edwards retired early in the race due to engine failure.

DORNA / CAPSIS International

1. C.STONER
2. J.HOPKINS
3. N.HAYDEN

F1 Hungary GP - Race - 05/08/2007 Hungaroring

Lewis Hamilton put aside all the trials and tribulations of the dramatic qualifying session yesterday to take victory this afternoon in Hungary. Starting from pole position the championship leader was under pressure throughout the 70-lap race, but took the chequered flag just under a second ahead of Kimi Raikkonen.

It was a tough race for Hamilton as he was not able to pull out any significant advantage from his Ferrari rival, but with team-mate Fernando Alonso finishing in fourth position, does extend his championship advantage from two points to seven.

Raikkonen made the best of a slow start from Nick Heidfeld to grab second position into the first turn. The Ferrari driver was able to hound Hamilton race long, but such is the nature of the circuit, was never able to make a serious attempt at a pass.

Nick Heidfeld took the final podium position for BMW Sauber. It was a solid run from the German racer as he came under intense pressure in the closing stages from Fernando Alonso. Opting to run a three stop strategy, Heidfeld found himself only just ahead of Alonso in the final laps of the race, taking the chequered flag 1.7s clear of the McLaren driver. For Alonso, his race was compromised by a cautious opening lap that saw him initially lose ground to Mark Webber and Robert Kubica. Alonso soon regained the ground but would then spend much of the race stuck behind the Toyota of Ralf Schumacher. It was not until the final stint that he was clear of Schumacher and able to pressure Heidfeld.

Robert Kubica was fifth in the second BMW Sauber and like his team-mate used a three stop strategy. Ralf Schumacher had a solid run in his Toyota to finish in sixth position ahead of Nico Rosberg who will be disappointed with seventh position in his Williams Toyota. Rosberg ran fourth in the opening stages, but the team had opted for a very short first stint meaning a three stop strategy. This would lose him ground late in the race.

Heikki Kovalainen salvaged a point for the Renault team in eighth position ahead of Mark Webber in his Red Bull Renault. Jarno Trulli was never able to recover from a poor start and finished in tenth position in the second Toyota.

David Coulthard finished in 11th position in his Red Bull Renault ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella who was unable to make up the ground he lost with his qualifying penalty. It was a similar situation for Felipe Massa in the second Ferrari as he took the chequered flag in 13th position, underlining just how hard it is to pass at this circuit.

Alex Wurz had a low-key race in the second Williams as he took 14th ahead of Takuma Sato in his Super Aguri Honda and Sebastian Vettel in his Toro Rosso. Adrian Sutil was 17th in his Spyker Ferrari finishing ahead of Rubens Barrichello who had the most difficult race of his long career in the awful Honda RA107.

Sakon Yamamoto crashed out of his first race with Spyker early in the race, while an engine failure ended Jenson Button’s miserable day. Anthony Davidson and Giancarlo Fisichella battled hard on track and slight contact sent the Super Aguri Honda driver spinning out of the race.

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International

1. L.Hamilton
2. K.Raikkonen
3. N.Heidfeld