RACE CENTRE

Bonifacio leads NASCAR SPRINT CUP MARTINSVILLE (USA), APRIL 7, RD 6/36 Fuoco in race two Johnson:Johnson: eighteight andand countingcounting

FORMULA RENAULT ALPS dominated at Vallelunga with protege Antonio Fuoco and Bruno Bonifacio each leading home a one-two finish. Fuoco was second in race one, with Luca Ghiotto runner-up in race two ahead of Guilherme Silva (Koiranen). FORMULA RENAULT NEC Briton Oliver Rowland took an early points Johnson led lead with three podium finishes for Manor Bowyer at MP Motorsport at Hockenheim. The wins late restart were shared by Fortec’s 2012 champion HALLOWELL/GETTY Jake Dennis and ART Junior pair Esteban Ocon and Andrea Pizzitola. AS ALL AROUND HIM WERE LOSING Waltrip Racing team-mate Martin On multiple occasions she dropped their cool, Jimmie Johnson kept his to Truex Jr. But ultimately the damage off the lead lap, but fought back. NASCAR TRUCK SERIES record his 62nd NASCAR Sprint Cup took its toll. Still he held off Jeff She caused the race’s opening Johnny Sauter passed Jeb Burton with 17 win – and his eighth at Martinsville. Gordon for second. Kasey Kahne took caution – spinning after a nudge laps left at Martinsville to keep up his 100 Johnson now stands alone in third on fourth, while Busch just beat the from Ken Schrader, and a late-race per cent record in 2013. Sauter’s ThorSport the all-time winners list around ‘The Penske Ford of Brad Keselowski caution when Vickers tapped her team-mate Matt Crafton finished Paperclip’ behind only Richard Petty to the line in fifth. into Dale Earnhardt Jr – but drove second as Burton crashed late on. and Darrell Waltrip. Mark Martin’s first stand-in race well to finish in 12th spot. Victory was sealed with a perfect for Gibbs was hardly star-studded. O Connell Sanders Jr HUNGARORING 12 HRS restart from the favoured inside line There were numerous clashes on Peter Kox, Nico Pronk and Marc Hayek to maintain a position Johnson track and an incident in the pitlane RESULTS lived up to their pre-race billing as they had held for most of the race. The when he left before the left-front 1 Jimmie Johnson (Chevrolet SS), 500 laps in steered their Reiter Gallardo main challenge to the Hendrick wheel was attached. Despite all this, 3h38m58s; 2 Clint Bowyer (Toyota Camry), LP600+ to victory, 21 laps clear of the Motorsports Chevrolet came from he managed to finish 10th. The #11 +0.627s; 3 Jeff Gordon (Chevy); 4 Kasey Kahne

46 997 Cup car of Malcolm Niall/ the Joe Gibbs Racing of Kyle seat will pass to Brian Vickers for the (Chevy); 5 Kyle Busch (Toyota); 6 Brad Brett Niall/Mark Pilatti. Busch and Matt Kenseth, but they next few races. Vickers had a fraught Keselowski (Ford Fusion); 7 Jamie McMurray were out of place when it mattered, race, running for a long time with (Chevy); 8 Marcos Ambrose (Ford); 9 Greg Biffle BRAZILIAN TOURING CAR and it was left to Clint Bowyer to much of his Waltrip Camry’s (Ford); 10 Mark Martin (Toyota). Points Ricardo Mauricio began the defence of his take the challenge to the winner. bodywork missing. 1 Johnson, 231; 2 Keselowski, 225; 3 Dale title with a new team, JLM , and took It was a remarkable recovery for Danica Patrick also had an eventful Earnhardt Jr, 219; 4 Kyle Busch, 203; 5 Kahne, his Civic to a win and a second place at the Bowyer, whose Toyota carried the race. She started on the final row 199; 6 Biffle, 199; 7 Carl Edwards, 193; Interlagos season opener. J-Star Chevrolet scars of a mid-race shunt with Jamie following an engine-change penalty, 8 Bowyer, 179; 9 Paul Menard, 179; driver Leandro Romera won race two while McMurray, Joey Logano and Michael but worked her way into the top 20. 10 Matt Kenseth, 172. Allam Khodair and Ricardo Zonta each had podium finishes. SUPER GT OKAYAMA (J), APRIL 7, RD 1/8 AUSTRALIAN F3 After switching teams to join Team BRM Surprise win for Kunimitsu just four days before the Symmons Plains round, Tim Macrow won all three races. His AND team-mate Steel Guiliana was second each broke a seven-year winless streak for time with Jack le Brocq, Nathan Morcom Team Kunimitsu by winning last and John Magro taking a third place each. weekend’s opener at Okayama. The Michelin-shod NISMO SUD-AM F3 , driven by an all-new crew of Felipe Guimaraes began the season with and Masataka a double win at Interlagos in his Hitech Yanagida, led for the first three -Berta. Raphael Raucci (R&R) and quarters of the race. Bruno Etman (Cesario Formula) each had a Izawa climbed to fourth during his second and a third, Raucci recovering in time behind the wheel, and a quick Kogure held race two after dropping to last with a pitstop elevated Kogure to second off Tsukakoshi dragging clutch at the start. once he relieved his co-driver. ISHIHARA/LAT Kogure’s Honda dived down the Guimaraes inside of Yanagida – whose Michelins the driver changes, but a wheel Tsukakoshi/Toshihiro Kanieishi (Honda), won twice faded worse than his aggressor’s problem dropped the pair to 12th. +0.555s; 3 Ronnie Quintarelli/Masataka – to take the lead with GT300 honours went to the Gainer Yanagida (Nissan GT-R); 4 /Kohei four laps left, the Nissan man losing Mercedes SLS crew of Katsuyuki Hirate ( SC430); 5 Frederic Makowiecki/ out shortly afterwards to the Real Hiranaka and Bjorn Wirdheim. Naoki Yamamoto (Honda); 6 Joao Paulo de Racing Honda of Kodai Tsukakoshi. O Jiro Takahashi Oliveira/ (Nissan). Points Brit made his series 1 Izawa/Kogure, 20; 2 Tsukakoshi/Kaneishi, 15; debut alongside in a RESULTS 3 Quintarelli/Yanagida, 11; 4 Tachikawa/Hirate, TOM’S Lexus and hauled his car up 1 Takuya Izawa/Takashi Kogure (Honda 8; 5 Makowiecki/Yamamoto, 6; 6 de Oliveira/

CARSTEN HORST CARSTEN from 13th to seventh by the time of HSV-010), 81 laps in 1h58m48.911s; 2 Kodai Matsuda, 5.

46 AUTOSPORT.COM APRIL 11 2013