Tue, Apr 05, 2005 page20

• Alonso secures his 2nd straight victory

  GRAND PRIX AUTO RACING Fernando Alonso won the Bahrain Grand Prix just one week after finishing first in the Malaysian Grand Prix. Michael Schumacher had to drop out of the race after his hydraulic system failed

  • AP
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  The top driver in Formula One is Spanish, not German. And the top car is blue and yellow, not red.

  Instead of Michael Schumacher running away with his eighth Formula One title, it's Fernando Alonso who won his second straight race on Sunday, easily capturing the Bahrain Grand Prix.

  And instead of Ferrari, it's Renault that has won the first three races of the season. Giancarlo Fisichella won the opening race.

  "It means we are extremely competitive," Alonso said. "It shows we are the car to beat."

  Alonso led virtually from start to finish after capturing the pole position for the second consecutive race. It was his third career victory after Malaysia two weeks ago and Hungary in 2003. He now leads the drivers' standings with 26 points.

  It was also Renault's 20th win, and the 100th for a car with a Renault engine, which were also used by Williams and Benetton in the 1990s.

  "I think that if we stay competitive like we are, and if we can avoid mechanical problems, then we will be hard to beat," Alonso said.

  Schumacher, the defending Formula One champion, was racing with a new Ferrari, but it didn't seem to help.

  The German started on the front row with Alonso and challenged the Spaniard at the start before dropping out after just 12 laps with a hydraulic problem possibly caused by debris on the track.

  "My feeling is that I picked up some debris on the circuit following Fernando, which may have caused the radiator to be broken," Schumacher said. "On the first lap there was a lot of debris and parts flying around."

  It was the first time since the German GP in 2001 that Schumacher retired from a race because of a mechanical problem. Other times, including Australia this year and Monaco last year, were because of accidents with other drivers.

  Schumacher has just two points from three races -- his worst start in years. His last victory was at the Japanese GP last October.

  Jarno Trulli finished second in a Toyota, 13.4 seconds back, and Kimi Raikkonen took third in a McLaren-Mercedes, 32 seconds back.

  "I realized midway through the race that it was futile to try and catch Fernando and we were safely in second, which is tremendous for everyone in the team," Trulli said. "But we still have one place ahead of us, so we must keep pushing with that as the target."

  Fisichella went out after the third lap. He has failed to finish the last two races after winning in Australia.

  "The car felt great on the first lap, when I gained positions and felt like I could get even more. Then, the engine lost power and I was called into the pits to retire," Fisichella said.

  Track temperatures were above 55? C and drivers took extreme precautions to protect them from the heat.

  Ferrari cars had their nose cones in black as a sign of mourning for Pope John Paul II, who died Saturday night.

  Ralf Schumacher was fourth in a Toyota, 53 seconds behind. Pedro de la Rosa, who replaced the injured Juan Pablo Montoya at McLaren-Mercedes, finished fifth, with Mark Webber in a Williams-BMW in sixth.

  Under new rules, each team must use the same engine for two race weekends, unless a driver fails to finish the first of a selected pair of races. If there is a replacement, the cars are penalized 10 spots on the starting grid.

  The next race is the San Marino GP on April 24.

  England's Dan Wheldon led an Andretti Green Racing sweep of the top four places Sunday in the first street race in the 10-year history of the Indy Racing League's IndyCar Series.

  But it took an aggressive move by Brazilian teammate Tony Kanaan just nine laps from the end to make the sweep possible in the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

  Rookie Ryan Briscoe, a 23-year-old Australian driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, was out front and seemingly on the way to his first IRL victory before a pair of late caution flags on the 2.9km, 14-turn temporary road circuit in downtown St. Petersburg.

  Kanaan, the defending series champion, took advantage of a restart on the 84th of 100 laps to move from fourth to second, bumping past Briscoe's teammate Darren Manning and then moving past Wheldon to the runner-up spot.

  Two-time series champ Sam Hornish Jr., who started the day leading the points standings, and rookie Tomas Engle then collided on the 87th lap, bringing out the fifth and final caution flag of the race and putting Kanaan right behind Briscoe for the final restart on lap 92.

  As the green flag waved, Kanaan began harassing the young leader, feinting first to the outside, then the inside and finally trying to move pst Briscoe on the inside as they went into turn 10. The rookie turned into Kanaan, then careered into a tire wall.

  The contact didn't damage Kanaan's car, but it did slow him enough to allow Wheldon to shoot past into the lead. The 26-year-old Englishman then held off his teammate, pulling away to a 1.45-second victory.

  He and Kanaan were followed across the line by Scotsman Dario Franchitti and pole winner Bryan Herta.

  Briscoe, a former Formula One test driver who has now crashed out of each of his first three IRL starts, led a race-high 43 laps but wound up 14th in the 21-car field.

  The sweep of the top four spots for the team co-owned by former racing star Michael Andretti, Kim Green and Kevin Savoree made it a perfect day for AGR.

  A division of the team also promoted the first non-oval race in IRL history, which appeared to be a huge success, drawing an enthusiastic crowd estimated at more than 30,000 on a sparkling, cool Florida day.

  Wheldon, who took over the series lead, earned his second victory in three starts this season and the fifth of his IRL career.
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