Formula 1: Brawn close to winning constructors championship
The Brawn team is merely half a point away from winning the constructors championship in the Formula 1 World Championship. Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button, who came in seventh and eighth place, respectively, at the Japanese Grand Prix have a team tally of 156 points. At the two last races of the season in Brazil and Abu Dhabi only one of them has to finish among the top eight in order to win the coveted title.
In the drivers� championship, as well, everything looks like Brawn will be in for a happy ending. Jenson Button with a score of 85 points is leading the championship in front of Rubens Barrichello (71 points). Both Brawn-Mercedes are equipped with dampers from ZF Sachs Race Engineering.
Jarno Trulli caused a surprise at Suzuka. The Italian whose Toyota team is running with high-tech clutches from ZF Sachs finished as the runner-up and thus achieved his best result of the season so far. Kimi R臺kk�en in fourth place continued delivering good showings. The Finn痴 Ferrari is equipped with dampers from Schweinfurt, as is Nick Heidfeld痴 BMW-Sauber who finished in sixth place.
Results, GP Japan (J), 15th round, FIA Formula 1 World Championship, 02 Oct � 04 Oct 2009:
1. S. Vettel, Red Bull-Renault, 1h 28m 20.443s
2. J. Trulli, Toyota, + 4.877s, ZF Sachs
3. L. Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes, + 6.472s
4. K. R臺kk�en, Ferrari, + 7.940s, ZF Sachs
5. N. Rosberg, Williams-Toyota, + 8.793s
6. N. Heidfeld, BMW-Sauber, + 9.509s, ZF Sachs
7. R. Barrichello, Brawn-Mercedes, + 10.641s, ZF Sachs
8. J. Button, Brawn-Mercedes, + 11.474s, ZF Sachs
Drivers� standings:
1. J. Button, 85,0 points; 2. R. Barrichello, 71,0; 3. S. Vettel, 69,0; 4. M. Webber, 51,5; 5. K. R臺kk�en, 45,0; 6. L. Hamilton, 43,0; 7. N. Rosberg, 34,5; 8. J. Trulli, 30,5; 9. F. Alonso, 26,0; 10. T. Glock, 24,0.
Constructors� championship:
1. Brawn-Mercedes, 156,0 points; 2. Red Bull-Renault, 120,5; 3. Ferrari, 67,0; 4. McLaren-Mercedes, 65,0; 5. Toyota, 54,5; 6. Williams-Toyota, 34,5; 7. Renault, 26,0; 8. BMW-Sauber, 24,0; 9. Force India-Mercedes, 13,0; 10. STR-Ferrari, 5,0.
World Rally Championship: Hirvonen comes to season finale as the leader
Mikko Hirvonen will travel to the season finale of the World Rally Championship as the leader of the drivers� standings. The Finn whose Ford Focus RS WRC is fitted with a clutch from ZF Sachs Race Engineering only needed a third-place finish at the Spain Rally to defend his leading position with a one-point advantage. At the Rally Great Britain (23 to 25 October) Hirvonen will now have perfect chances to break S饕astien Loeb痴 (Citro�) string of title wins and become world champion himself for the first time.
Besides Hirvonen other drivers of ZF Sachs� partner Ford scored championship points at the asphalt chase through Spain: Jari-Matti Latvala (Factory Ford), Matthew Wilson (Stobart-Ford) and Federico Villagra (Munchi痴 Ford) clinched places six to eight. All drivers of a Ford Focus RS WRC rely on high-performance clutches from ZF Sachs Race Engineering in the world championship.
Results, Rally Spain (E), 11th round WRC, 02 Oct � 04 Oct 2009:
1. S. Loeb/D. Elena, Citro�, 3h 22m 14.7s
2. D. Sordo/M. Marti, Citro�, + 12.0s
3. M. Hirvonen/J. Lehtinen, Ford, + 54.1s, ZF Sachs
4. P. Solberg/P. Mills, Citro�, + 1m 12.4s
5. S. Ogier/J. Ingrassia, Citro�, + 1m 41.6s
6. J. Latvala/M. Anttila, Ford, + 2m 49.8s, ZF Sachs
7. M. Wilson/S. Martin, Ford, + 7m 15.5s, ZF Sachs
8. F. Villagra/J. Companc, Ford, + 8m 28.1s, ZF Sachs
Drivers� standings:
1. M. Hirvonen, 84 points; 2. S. Loeb, 83; 3. D. Sordo, 58; 4. J. Latvala, 39; 5. P. Solberg, 30; 6. H. Solberg, 29; 7. M. Wilson, 25; 8. S. Ogier, 24; 9. F. Villagra, 16; 10. C. Rautenbach, 8.
Manufacturers� standings:
1. Citro�, 151 points; 2. Ford, 130; 3. Stobart-Ford, 73; 4. Citro� Junior Team, 42; 5. Munchiエs Ford, 23.