13th September
Missed a race? Catch up here, with the weeks events in F1, Rallying and British Superbikes
Formula one
Sunday's Belgium Grand Prix at Spa Francorchamps was one of the most eventful races of the season. It leaves Renault's Fernando Alonso within touching distance of the Title of youngest Formula one champion, ever, at the age of 24, now 25 points clear of his nearest rival.
Montoya set the fastest qualifying time to start in pole for McLaren, followed by team mate Raikkonen. Fisichella set the third fastest qualifying time, but after an engine change, was relegated ten places to start 13th, leaving Alonso to fight for Renault's points from fourth place.
Toyota's Trulli started in third, with R.Schumacher in fifth.
Although it hadn't rained since early morning, the track was slow in drying out with mist hanging in the trees and considerable spray as the cars launched themselves into LaSource hairpin for the first time of the race.
Montoya in first place held on to it until almost the final moment, when a lapped Antonio Pizzonia slid into the Colombian, in a badly judged overtake, sending them both to the pits, landing Pizzonia a fine and forcing him to retire from the race and costing McLaren their first 1-2 this century.
He wasn't the only one to land himself in trouble, as BAR's Takuma Soto had already slid into the back of Michael Schumacher's car, sending them both spinning off the track, and out of the race. Soto will be relegated ten places at the start of the Brazil Grand prix.
Montoya's run in with Pizzonia meant that Alonso left to take Second place, a mere 37 seconds behind leader, Raikkonen. Following them both for third place was BAR's Jenson Button, who suffered a bad start due to over steer.
The final placing were: 1 K Raikkonen (McLaren), 2 F Alonso (Renault), 3 J Button (BAR), 4 M Webber (Williams), 5 R Barrichello (Ferrari), 6 J Villeneuve (Sauber), 7 R Schumacher (Toyota), 8 T Monteiro (Jordan)
Teams are now preparing for the 25th September race in Brazil.
WRC
Just a week short of Rally GB in Wales and Colin McRae is already proving he has high hopes for the Welsh rally. Although he's not thinking about a specific result, the Scot, who last won the title in 1995 with Subaru, says he hopes that he can still drive a car quick enough to get into the top ten.
"I'm Very happy with the Fabia. It feels really nice to drive and I was able to get up to full speed quite quickly. It responds well to input and everything we have tried has changed the car in the way we expected."
The Scot has notched up over 800 miles testing the car, this week, so he should be just about ready for Rally wales by the time it rolls around.
Mitsubishi is also hoping for a good race, with Lead driver, Rovanpera having raced there nine times already with a top finish of second place.
Subaru's Petter Soldberg has realistic hopes for Rally GB. The norwegian has had a difficult season, so far, and doesn't believe that a fourth consecutive win in Wales is on the cards.
He says: "We have won the event many times - I won my first-ever rally there and then a year later the championship, so for sure I enjoy it very much.
"The plan and objective is to win, but we have to be realistic. It has been a difficult season for us, and we have to hope that we have more success than we have had at other gravel events. That said, we will go out to try and win, and take whatever comes at us."
2006 could be very different for Subaru, however, as they unveil the ImprezaWRC2006, which has been revamped heavily, both inside and out.
Soldberg told reporters that he was confident the new car would help him to regain the drivers crown after a bad season, this year.
Reigning Champoin Loeb is even less confident, revealing that he fears the weather, at the weekend could hamper his race. "The fact that there is so little grip forces you to drive with a great deal of finesse" he said "For me, the rally's only downside is that you can lose the race on Monday, before you even set foot on a stage if you get your tyre quota wrong "I'd like it to be dry, with my tyre quota just right"
Loeb is still facing the tough choice about who he'll drive for next year, after the withdrawal of Peugeot and Citroen at the end of the year.
Rally GB takes place on the 16th-18th September
Motorsport

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