Gearbox stalls Vasser’s rally

Monday, Sept. 13, 2004 | 10:11 a.m.

MONTEREY, Calif. -- Las Vegas resident Jimmy Vasser's hopes of a second career victory at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca were dashed early Sunday when he experienced gearbox problems just 10 laps into the 79-lap Bridgestone Grand Prix of Monterey.

Vasser qualified ninth for the race but said he was encouraged after posting the fifth-fastest lap during Sunday's warm-up session. He had moved up to seventh eight laps into the race before the mechanical problem set in.

"We're not completely sure how it happened," Vasser said. "We had a real rough sound coming from the gearbox when we increased the load on the car and tried to get the power down.

"It's a shame because we were looking for a good result in the Gulfstream car today. We could have had a real positive run and gained some positions in the point standings but that's the way it goes, I guess."

Vasser, one of four Las Vegas residents competing in the Champ Car World Series, had the worst day of the bunch; Patrick Carpentier earned his second consecutive victory at the scenic road course, Alex Tagliani posted a sixth-place finish and Paul Tracy took 10th.

Tagliani's sixth-place effort was his best at Laguna Seca in five career starts on the 2.238-mile circuit.

"I'm happy to have made my best Laguna finish today ... make some progress on this track," Tagliani said. "I flat-spotted the tires twice, but otherwise the Bridgestone Potenzas did the job; they were responsive and grippy."

Tracy remained third in the championship despite his 10th-place finish, but now trails front-runner Sebastien Bourdais by 60 points after 11 of 16 races. Carpentier is just one point behind Tracy in fourth, Tagliani is fifth in the standings and Vasser slipped from ninth to 11th with his early exit Sunday.

LVMS RACE SPONSOR: Bridgestone tires and Corona beer -- two high-profile sponsors in the Champ Car World Series -- are teaming to sponsor this month's race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Champ Car's inaugural visit to the 1.5-mile LVMS oval will be called the Bridgestone 400 Presented by Corona. Qualifying will be Friday, Sept. 24 and the race will start shortly after the conclusion of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race Saturday night, Sept. 25.

In addition to serving as the exclusive tire manufacturer of the Champ Car World Series, Bridgestone is the presenting sponsor of the series and also sponsored Sunday's race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Corona has served for the past two years as the primary sponsor of the car driven by Mexican native Rodolfo Lavin. Corona also sponsors the Corona Cup, which awards $100,000 to the driver who earns the most combined points in the series' two races in Mexico.

FORMULA BMW USA: Las Vegas resident Matt Jaskol led all 15 laps and won Sunday's Formula BMW USA season finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. In Saturday's race, Jaskol posted a fourth-place finish.

Jaskol, 19, finished fourth in the final points standings -- two points behind third-place Jonathan Summerton.

TRANS-AM: Tommy Kendall won Saturday's Motorock Trans-Am Series season finale at Laguna Seca and tied Paul Gentilozzi for the series points lead, but Gentilozzi won the championship by virtue of his five victories this season to Kendall's two.