SEPANG, Malaysia, 20 March 2004 — Kimi Raikkonen led the way in a McLaren-Mercedes ahead of Williams-BMW driver Ralf Schumacher as the last two race winners dominated the second practice session yesterday for the Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix.
The Finn Raikkonen clocked 1 minute 34.395 seconds for the 5,543- kilometers lap. Ralf Schumacher of Germany had 1:34.693 and Mark Webber placed third in a Jaguar in 1:35.054 minutes.
“We are off to a great start,” said Webber. “The car feels very well balanced and gives a great feeling of confidence, allowing you to really push.
“It’s not just the one-off lap that was good, but the consistency of the times too. That was a very hot session in terms of track temperature and I’m not sure how significant that is,” the Australian said.
Ralf Schumacher won the 2002 edition of the Malaysian Grand Prix and Raikkonen got his first career win in last year’s race. Six-time world champion Michael Schumacher finished fourth in 1:35.094 in his Ferrari after he had dominated the first practice session earlier in the day ahead of teammate Rubens Barrichello.
Schumacher said he expected a tight contest on the weekend. “It was an interesting Friday session, we did all the work we wanted to do. The car seems to be working well and I am quite happy with its balance, but there is still room for improvement.
“It certainly seems to be a step forward from what we have seen in the past here. But the signs are that it will be a tight competition.”
Barrichello said that even though their rivals had bettered their time in the second session, he was not unduly concerned. “We had a bigger advantage over the others in the morning session, but I am not concerned about our performance in the afternoon, as we ran the whole time in race configuration and we can be happy with our work. I think we still have the edge over our rivals.”
Barrichello finished with the tenth fastest time, behind Juan-Pablo Montoya who was fifth in the second Williams, Jarno Trulli in a Renault, Felipe Massa in a Sauber, Fernando Alonso in the second Renault and Raikkonen’s teammate David Coulthard.
Schumacher and Barrichello got a one-two finish in the season-opening Australian Grand two weeks ago, but McLaren and Williams are out to bounce back in Malaysia where their cars run traditionally well.
The qualifying session is today and the race tomorrow.
F1 Set to Bow to Television on Qualifying
Formula One team bosses say they will dance to television’s tune as they try to defuse a row over the new qualifying format.
“We will follow television because that is how we get our money,” Frank Williams told a news conference at the Malaysian Grand Prix yesterday. “Whatever works for that, we will try to do that.”
McLaren’s Ron Dennis added: “The teams were supportive of the changes that were made over the winter but if it is better to change for television, then I am sure all the teams would support the change.”
“Perhaps there is some argument that says let’s wait two or three races until we know exactly what the reaction is but there appeared to be quite significant reaction coming after Australia so maybe it is a case of better sooner rather than later.”
Formula One changed qualifying this season to one extended session on Saturday afternoon.
The new format was widely criticized as boring by broadcasters after the season-opening Australian race, with drivers having no incentive to push hard in the first part and the entire session lasting longer than the race itself.
The governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) said this week that the format could be changed before the next race in Bahrain on April 4, with the two parts clearly divided and broadcasters likely to show only the second half.
Duncan Comes Off the Bench to Trip T-Wolves
Deutsche Presse-Agentur
LOS ANGELES, 20 March 2004 — Tim Duncan returned to the San Antonio Spurs’ lineup but in a new role that suited him just fine. Duncan collected 22 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Spurs past the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves, 106-86 on Thursday in a Midwest Division collision.
Duncan missed nine of the last 10 Spurs games with a sore left knee. But the reigning two-time Most Valuable Player came off the bench for the first time after starting all 506 games of his NBA career.
“It was a choice I made to limit the minutes,” said Duncan, who made six of 15 field goals and 10-of-15 free throws in just 27 minutes.
Frenchman Tony Parker scored 16 points and Argentine Manu Ginobili added 15 points for defending champion San Antonio, which welcomed back their best player by snapping a modest two-game slide. Kevin Garnett collected 28 points and 12 rebounds for slumping Minnesota, whose lead was trimmed by San Antonio following its sixth setback in the last nine games.
“They were more aggressive than us tonight,” said Timberwolves all-star guard Cassell, who scored 21 points. “But to lose to the Spurs by 20, for this team, that’s ridiculous. We have to get back to our brand of basketball, and that means we have to control the tempo.”
The Spurs led 44-38 at the break and took control in the third quarter. Turkoglu scored eight of his 13 points, and Duncan added six during a 26-13 run, which opened a 71-56 cushion with 39 seconds left in the period. The Spurs coasted home the rest of the way.
Elsewhere:
Detroit 89, New Jersey 71
Chauncey Billups scored 20 points and the defensive-minded Pistons rolled to their sixth straight victory by stifling the host Nets.
Rasheed Wallace had 16 points and Richard Hamilton added 15 for Detroit, which nearly stretched its NBA-record of holding six straight opponents under 70 points until the Nets got a tip-in with 1.1 seconds remaining.
Richard Jefferson scored 19 points for New Jersey, which shot 35 percent and committed 17 turnovers.
Seattle 97, Memphis 94
Ray Allen and reserve Vladimir Radmanovic scored 19 points apiece as the visiting SuperSonics won their third straight game.
The Grizzles trailed most of the game until a 14-2 run put them ahead, 78-76 on a dunk by Pau Gasol with 6:10 left. But Radmanovic hit the go-ahead jumper to snap an 88-all deadlock with 1:33 left, and the visitors held on.
Gasol had 21 points and 15 rebounds for Memphis, which lost for just the third time in the last 12 games.
Leetch on Target as Leafs Edge Out Flyers
Reuters
NEW YORK, 20 March 2004 — Brian Leetch scored twice as the Toronto Maple Leafs turned the tables on the Philadelphia Flyers, getting a goal in each period to win 3-2 in NHL action on Thursday.
The Flyers, who had taken the past four meetings between the teams, did not go quietly and scored twice in the final four and a half minutes to make it close.
Leetch, a fan favorite with the New York Rangers before being acquired by Toronto on March 3, had a hand in all three goals as he also assisted on Gary Roberts’s opening strike, giving him a rare three-point night.
Another recent signing, defenseman Calle Johansson, helped on Leetch’s second goal for his first point in nearly a year.
John LeClair and Kim Johnsson got the Flyer goals, both of them assisted by Mark Recchi, to deny Leaf netminder Eddie Belfour a shutout. The Leafs played some inspired defense at the end of the second period, killing a penalty despite dropping a couple of sticks. Coming off a three-day, team-building break in Florida, the Flyers were looking to at least stay within a point of Eastern Conference-leading Tampa Bay.
Instead, the Lightning widened the gap with a 3-1 win over Buffalo, with NHL scoring leader Martin St. Louis getting the insurance goal.
In other games, Peter Schaefer and Wade Redden got first-period goals and Patrick Lalime stopped all 23 Colorado shots as the Ottawa Senators blanked the Avalanche 2-0.
Kip Miller scored 1:18 into overtime to give the Washington Capitals a 4-3 win over the New York Rangers in a battle of also-rans. Manny Fernandez turned aside all 31 Boston shots as the Minnesota Wild surprised the playoff-bound Bruins 2-0.
Jason Arnott and Bill Guerin assisted on each other’s goals and also on Philippe Boucher’s marker as the Dallas Stars dumped the Vancouver Canucks 3-0 to extend their home unbeaten streak to 16 games (12-0-4).
Miikka Kiprusoff handled all 23 Columbus shots as the Flames won 2-0 to extend their unbeaten streak to seven games and send the Blue Jackets to their eighth straight loss.
The Detroit Red Wings and Phoenix played to a 1-1 tie, leaving the reeling Coyotes winless in 14 straight games (0-8-3-3). Curtis Brown and Jonathan Cheechoo scored two goals apiece as the San Jose Sharks outlasted the Los Angeles Kings 5-3.
