2002

Carlos Checa scored his first pole position since Jerez 1998 at Estoril today, outpacing the MotoGP competition aboard his Marlboro Yamaha Team M1 in the most difficult of conditions to take the teams third pole of the season.

Sam Hornish Jr won his first MBNA Pole Award since the opening round of the season at Homestead on Saturday afternoon at Chicagoland as he watched his Championship rivals struggle to crack the top ten.

Red Bull's Buddy Rice and Eddie Cheever Jr. were in top form on Friday, setting the two fastest speeds of the day in practice at the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill.

KL Minardi Asiatech driver, Alex Yoong, returned to the cockpit for the fourth and final day of the Formula One test yesterday [Friday] that has been taking place at the Monza circuit this week.

Team Telefonica MoviStar Suzuki rider Sete Gibernau will start tomorrow's Portuguese GP from the third row of the grid, after setting the ninth fastest time in today's rain-hit final practice session.

Speedway results for Saturday 7 September. Elite League: Eastbourne 45 - 45 Coventry Mark Loram 14 - Billy Janniro/Nicki Pedersen/Lee Richardson 12 Premier League:

Six time Richmond winner Rusty Wallace was the cram of the Winston Cup crop in Happy Hour practice on Friday evening as he continued to make good on his midweek comment that his losing streak would end in the Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400.

Buddy Rice led a Red Bull Team Cheever 1-2 during the opening practice session of the weekend at the Chicagoland Speedway as Infiniti powered cars took four of the top five positions on the 1.5-mile track.

Behind both Barros and Kato came the series leader Valentino Rossi, who missed out on the points for the first time in 21 races in Brno, and who set his best time on his penultimate lap, with a run into the gravel at the end of the straight then preventing him from improving any further.

Iain MacPherson [Ten Kate Honda] set the WSS pace in free practice at Assen; Chris Vermeulen [Van Zon Honda] is second; Jan Hanson [Esha-Kobutex] third; Fabien Foret [Ten Kate Honda] fourth; Andrew Pitt [ Kawasaki] completes the top five.

Following a remarkable period of rehabilitation over the two weeks since his horrendous accident on Rallye Deutschland, Armin Schwarz has been signed off as fit to contest the Rallye Sanremo later this month.

AMA Pro Racing has announced the schedule for the 2003 AMA Chevy Trucks US Motocross Championship, regarded as the world's most prestigious national series.

Monaco has long been known as a playground for the rich. Floating gin palaces, auto exotica, multi million dollar homes and designer labels abound.

Tonight (Friday) Neil Collins will hold his testimonial meeting to mark 25 years of Speedway racing, in an event that will feature a World Champions race between Collins' brother Peter and fellow former World Champion Michael Lee.

Felipe Massa took over behind the wheel of the sole Sauber-Petronas C21 at Monza, continuing the German's test programme as well as carrying out the first major assessment of the soon to be compulsory HANS device in F1.

Four races to go and the 2002 Superbike World Championship just keeps getting better and better.

MotoGP rookie Daijiro Kato made a stunning debut on Honda's all-conquering RCV V5, where the little Japanese rider was a brilliant second at the challenging Brno circuit.

With 26 teams entered, from Brazil to the Ukraine, the 2002 Motocross of Nations to be held at Competition Park, San Jacinto, California on September 29th, promises to be one of the most spectacular tournaments contested in its 55 year history.

Trelawny have secured a one-year extension of their lease to run speedway at the Clay Country Moto Parc. That means the JAG Tigers are now set for a third year of Premier League racing in 2003.

There was some bad news for Edinburgh's Fulfilment Factory Monarchs' supporters last night, as it emerged that neither Peter Carr nor Aidan Collins would be fit to return to their team for this Friday's Premier League match against title-chasing Berwick.

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation ( "MMC" ) today announced that the Marlboro sponsorship of the Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart team will cease at the end of the 2002 FIA World Rally Championship season. Mitsubishi released the following statement:

Although his 'pants-on-fire' style of commentary may have been in some way connected to the excitement generated by Formula One in the past, veteran commentator Murray Walker is quick to defend the current era of the sport against claims that it is boring.

Duck Season! Rabbit Season! Duck Season! Rabbit Season! Jeff Gordon hopes the other 42 drivers are chasing a rabbit at the end of Saturday night's Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400 at Richmond International Raceway.

Sometimes the fastest thing in NASCAR isn't the speed of the cars but how quickly things change. Just look at the weekend Johnny Benson endured at Richmond in May when a potentially victorious weekend turned into a two-night stay in hospital.