MAY 20, 2002

Current and former F1 stars in action over the weekend

DESPITE the fact that there was no grand prix this weekend, there were quite a few F1 names racing around the world.

Alex Yoong and Takuma Sato competed in the Historic Grand Prix of Monaco this weekend. Yoong was one lap from victory when the gearbox on the ex-Ronnie Peterson Lotus 72 he was driving stuck in 5th gear. The young Malaysian was passed by Martin Stretton in a Tyrrell P34, but still managed to take second place.

Sato was set to compete in a Lotus 49, but a small crash in practice ended his weekend early. During the wet practice session, the young Japanese driver went off in the swimming pool section where some oil had accumulated. Because of the car's age, the team had no spare parts and was forced to sit out the race. Despite their problems, the two F1 rookies put in some valuable laps on the difficult Monaco circuit, where the F1 circus will visit this coming weekend.

Ex-Formula One driver Johnny Herbert was also in action this weekend. The Briton's plan was to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 for Duesenberg Brothers Racing on Saturday and fly to Sears Point raceway in Sonoma, California, for Sunday's ALMS event, but rain in Indianapolis put an end to his Indy plans. The wet weather on Saturday made it impossible for Herbert to qualify before leaving for California. At Sears Point, Herbert placed second for the Champion Racing Audi team, and took the championship points lead.

Finally, at Donington Park, Jean Alesi took his first DTM win for the factory Mercedes team. The Frenchman won both the qualification race and the main race on Sunday in the hotly contested series.