Femalefirst Motorsport roundup

Missed a race? Catch up with the weeks events in Formula one, Rallying and British Superbikes, here.

Formula one
The Bad Boy of F1 struck yet again at the weekend, earning himself a slapped wrist and a disqualification from the finale of the season, in his home country.
In another messy, low speed incident, Soto let something get the better of him - Whether it was his temper or his car, we'll never know, running Jarno Trulli off the road early in the race. The Italian was forced to retire due to the heavy damage to his car whilst Soto was able to continue to finish 13th, before he was stripped of that place by stewards, and disqualified from the Shanghai Grand Prix, this weekend.

These were not the only fisticuffs to add excitement to the weekends racing as Jaques Villeneuve forced Monyoya off the track towards the end of the race.
It appeared the Villeneuve took the final corner a little too wide, forcing Montoya off the circuit, and into the gravel trap.
The McLaren also sustained some heavy damage when it collided with the barriers, forcing Montoya into an early bath, too.
Villeneuve went on to finish 11th, though a 25 second time penalty dropped that down to 12th.

This means that as Renault were able to get both cars home, they are now two points ahead of McLaren in the constructors championships, meaning that Shanghai looks set to host another exciting race.

In the race for third place, Toyota didn't seem to fare too well at the weekend. One driver down and although Ralph Schumacher won his firts pole of the season, he didn't manage to hold onto it after a pit stop on lat 13, dropping from first to 9th. He didn't make up much ground in the following laps, finishing in 8th place.

British driver, Button, starting in second place didn't manage to stay there, either. The driver said he was on the receiving end of another few mistakes by the makers of the BAR Honda.
"It's very frustrating. In the first stint the tyres weren't too bad but the car had massive under-steer on the exit of corners." he said.

"We have been suffering from it all year, we really need to look at that."

F1 teams are now about to jet off to China, for the final race of the season, the Shanghai GP, which takes place on the 16th October.

Rallying
As the teams and drivers look to the final three races of the season, the Merry go round is beginning to slow down and drivers are looking for their next seat.

Peugeot and Citroen teams will cease to exist, next year, meaning the rush for a drive is all the more frenzied. Gronholm has already been signed to Ford in a two year deal. Whilst it remains uncertain what team mate Markko Martin is planning to do for the coming 2006 season, it's certain that he won't be continuing with the 2005 season, following the loss of his Co Driver, just three weeks ago. Ford have already confirmed an interest in the driver.

Subaru seemed to have returned to form, following a change of suspension for Rally Japan, meaning that Solberg was able to make the running on Hokaido, though he was forced to retire in the final stage (Michael Park taking the time to even tings out?) so despite the illusion that the team would be looking for replacements, both Solberg and Atkinson will be keeping their seats. Sarrazin's seat will be dependant on his performance in the final three rallies of this season.

Skoda still hasn't decided on any plans for 2006, but are likely to be looking for cheap, or heavily funded drivers for next season, to bolster the team's budget.

This leaves returning hero, Colin McRae as the last big player without a seat. He has been linked with a return to Skoda, after the impressive performance he put in a Rally GB, but given their apparent lack of funds, the driver could be looking to Mitsubishi or Ford for a top seat for 2006.

British Superbikes
After an exhilarating final round, Spaniard, Georgio Lavilla has emerged the BSB champion for 2005.

The champion scored a first and second place at the Brands hatch races at the weekend, taking the first race by just one third of a second.
His nearest rival - Kiyonari came fourth in the first race- meaning that Lavilla only needed one point from the second race to win the crown. After breaking the lap record, he came second, to Leon Haslam.

Although the rider did not have a contract at the start of the season, he earned it the hard way. After racking up the points during the first races of the season, Ducatti realised that this guy was gong to be one of the big players in the championship.

The 30 year old said he was surprised with the result:
"It is a great feeling but I did not expect to be standing here at the start of the season. My thanks to the team,"
He added: "My bike has been consistent, very good. After the summer break we raced on circuits I knew and started winning regularly, taking points back from the Hondas.
"I think you say mission complete. It has been a great year and we have finished it well."

Runner up, Kiyonari was not without recognition, this season, either, as he was presented with a Brand new Audi TT, and a prestigious award for excellence on two wheels. The Audi Quattro Performance award.
The award was open to all competitors, who built up points for each pole position placing, race victory and fastest lap time they achieved.

The final driver standings are: