RACE CENTRE
KINRADE/LAT
WorldMags.net
Johnson took
the flag at Atlanta
NASCAR SPRINT CUP ATLANTA (USA), MARCH 1 RD 2/36
JIMMIE JOHNSON AND KEVIN HARVICK
both had to start 2015’s second
NASCAR Sprint Cup race from the
back, but that didn’t stop the series’
last two champions battling for
victory on a misty and murky
afternoon at Atlanta.
Johnson – along with fellow
past champions Jeff Gordon, Matt
Kenseth and Tony Stewart – was
caught out by a stringent new
technical inspection prior to
qualifying, and was among a group
of cars that didn’t get through tech
in time to even take to the track,
leaving them at the back of the field.
Harvick’s problem came later; he
qualified second to Joey Logano but
then blew an engine early in Saturday
practice so had to fall to the rear.
He made the most rapid progress
in the slightly rain-delayed race,
taking the lead from the hitherto
dominant Logano on lap 87. But
Johnson came on stronger in the
second half of the race and, after
several exchanges with Harvick,
made a decisive break in the 14-lap
sprint that followed a late red flag
after Greg Biffle and Joe Nemechek
triggered the day’s second pile-up.
Gordon had been a victim of the
first, collected along with secondplace starter Jamie McMurray when
long-time lead contender Denny
Hamlin lost control in the cold
conditions on a restart.
Dale Earnhardt Jr was a
frontrunner for most of the day and
got between Johnson and Harvick
late on, but lost second to the champ
in the closing laps. Logano faded to
fourth ahead of Kenseth, another
man on a charge from the back.
In a one-off for Michael Waltrip
Racing before Brian Vickers returns
following heart surgery, rookie Brett
Moffitt impressed with eighth place.
RESULTS
1 Jimmie Johnson (Chevrolet SS), 325 laps
in 3h49m06s; 2 Kevin Harvick (Chevy), +1.802s;
3 Dale Earnhardt Jr (Chevy); 4 Joey Logano (Ford
Fusion); 5 Matt Kenseth (Toyota Camry); 6 Martin
Truex Jr (Chevy); 7 AJ Allmendinger (Chevy);
8 Brett Moffitt (Toyota); 9 Brad Keselowski
(Ford); 10 Ryan Newman (Chevy). Chase grid
1 Logano, 1 win/88 points; 2 Johnson, 1/87;
3 Harvick, 0/86; 4 Earnhardt, 0/84; 5 Truex,
0/75; 6 Casey Mears, 0/68; 7 Kasey Kahne, 0/65;
8 Allmendinger, 0/62; 9 Aric Almirola, 0/62;
10 Clint Bowyer, 0/58; 11 David Gilliland, 0/56;
12 Sam Hornish Jr, 0/55; 13 Greg Biffle, 0/54;
14 Carl Edwards, 0/54; 15 David Ragan, 0/53;
16 Danica Patrick, 0/51.
AUSTRALIAN GT ADELAIDE (AUS), FEBRUARY 28-MARCH 1 RD 1/6
PRO MAZDA WINTERFEST
BARBER (USA), FEB 26 RD 2/2
Tan leads from
Aitken in finale
Aitken is
all over Tan
LONDONER JACK AITKEN CLAIMED
the title after a thrilling battle with
Malaysian Weiron Tan thanks to
claiming fastest lap in the Barber
Mot orsports Park finale.
The first race was rained off on
a torrential day in Alabama, but
conditions cleared for Thursday,
with Team Pelfrey-run half-Scot
half-Korean Aitken holding Tan
at bay throughout. Reigning
USF2000 champ Florian Latorre
was third from a second Brit,
Raoul Owens. This race had a
lengthy caution due to a first-lap
shunt for Nicholas Latifi.
Aitken was only fourth on the
grid for the double-points decider,
but quickly made his way up to
second behind Tan. Now the
fastest lap bonus would prove
all-important, and the honour was
traded between Aitken, Tan and
Jose Gutierrez throughout the race
before landing in the first-named’s
favour, with one point the final
difference in the scores.
Dalton Kellett completed the
podium this time as Tristan
DeGrand made a late run to
move from eighth to fourth.
Antunes out front in Audi
NATHAN ANTUNES HAS MARKED
himself out as the man to beat after
the opening three races of 2015.
The ex-Formula BMW UK race
winner took the first race in his
Audi R8 LMS ultra, ahead of Marcus
Marshall (Porsche) and Peter
Fitzgerald (Audi), and then drove
solo to win the second, longer race
from Tony Quinn/Klark Quinn
(McLaren) and Jono Lester/Paul
Kelly (Ferrari 458 Italia). But the
final race was marred by a huge
first-corner incident, triggered when
Kelly lost control and crashed into
a wall. Six cars, including the new
RESULTS
Race 1 1 Jack Aitken, 15 laps in
30m09.7370s; 2 Weiron Tan, +0.7712s;
3 Florian Latorre; 4 Raoul Owens; 5 Dalton
Kellett; 6 Timothe Buret. Race 2 1 Tan, 17 laps
in 30m11.6799s; 2 Aitken, +1.3897s; 3 Kellett;
4 Tristan DeGrand; 5 Garett Grist; 6 Latorre.
Points 1 Aitken, 167; 2 Tan, 166; 3 Kellett, 98;
4 Latorre, 96; 5 Grist, 91; 6 Will Owen, 83.
WorldMags.net
Two wins
for Antunes
McLaren 650S of Tony Walls, were
eliminated on the spot.
Tony Quinn won the restarted
race from Trophy Class driver Theo
Koundouris (Porsche) and Antunes.
Greg Taylor (Audi) edged
Koundouris for Trophy honours
for the weekend.
OPhil Branagan
RESULTS
Race 1 1 Nathan Antunes (Audi R8 LMS ultra),
18 laps in 30m45.4579s; 2 Marcus Marshall
(Porsche 911 GT3-R), +1.9281s; 3 Peter
Fitzgerald (Audi); 4 Jono Lester (Ferrari 458
Italia GT3); 5 Tony Walls (McLaren 650S GT3); 6
Barton Mawer (Audi). Race 2 1 Antunes, 42 laps
in 1h01m30.4992s; 2 Klark Quinn/Tony Quinn
(McLaren MP4-12C GT3), +10.7678s; 3 Lester/
Paul Kelly; 4 Walls; 5 Fitzgerald; 6 Michael Hovey
(Ginetta G55 GT3). Race 3 1 T Quinn, 9 laps in
23m38.2082s; 2 Theo Koundouris (Porsche 911
GT3 Cup), +1.1442s; 3 Antunes; 4 Greg Taylor
(Audi); 5 Jan Jinadasa (Lamborghini LP560-4); 6
Geoff Emery (Mercedes SLS AMG GT3). Points 1
Antunes, 150; 2 Quinn/Quinn, 104; 3 Lester/Kelly,
80; 4 Christopher Mies/Greg Crick, 78; 5 Marshall/
James Koundouris, 71; 6 Emery/Max Twigg, 63.
MARCH 5 2015 AUTOSPORT.COM 83
83
Johnson beats stars back to front