Raikkonen Has Engine Trouble Again

Kimi Raikkonen was quickest in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix but will start today’s Formula One race in the sixth row because of an engine-change penalty, a blow to the Finnish driver’s title hopes.

Raikkonen covered the Monza, Italy, circuit in 1 minute 20.878 seconds Saturday, 0.176 of a second quicker than McLaren-Mercedes teammate Juan Pablo Montoya. Montoya will start first, with championship leader Fernando Alonso of Renault also on the front row after recording the third-fastest time of 1:21.319.

New rules this season limit Formula One teams to one engine for every two races and changes result in a 10-position penalty on the starting grid, meaning Raikkonen will start 11th. The team changed the engine because of a valve problem, the third such change Raikkonen has had in the last six races.

Alonso leads Raikkonen by 24 points in the drivers’ standings with five races remaining and needs only to keep finishing among the top three to clinch the title.

*

Greg Hancock used what he called a near-perfect set of starts to win the second round of the three-race series for the American Motorcyclist Assn. national speedway championship at the Industry Hills Expo Center.

Hancock and Billy Hamill, his teammate with the Oxford Silver Machine of the British Elite League, were tied for the round’s point lead heading into the final heat.

Hancock, the 1997 world speedway championship and a five-time national champion, won the final heat, making him the top qualifier for the final and giving him the choice of gates for the final.

Hancock chose the inside and went on to a wire-to-wire victory in the four-lap final, his second victory in the series in as many nights. Hancock was also the winner in Friday’s round at Auburn, Calif., where the final round will be held Oct. 8.

*

Mat Mladin rode his Suzuki to his 11th AMA Superbike victory this season, in Braselton, Ga. He defeated Ben Spies, also aboard a Suzuki, by 0.721 seconds. Miguel Duhamel, riding a Honda, finished third.