AROUND THE CIRCUITS Auto racing briefs

Big day Down Under: Ryan Hunter-Reay made CART history at Surfers Paradise in Australia in a car fielded by American Spirit Team Johansson. It was the first time in 20 years an American rookie has won a race and the first time in eight years that a first-year Champ Car team has visited Victory Circle. The last American-born driver to win a CART event in his first season was John Paul Jr. in the 1983 Michigan 500. Brazilian Andre Ribeiro gave the then-new Tasman Motorsports a win at New Hampshire in 1995. The 22-year-old Hunter-Reay, whose best finish was third on Aug. 10 at Mid-Ohio before his victory Sunday, is a product of the CART ladder system, and has won at each step along the way. "I've kept my eye on Ryan as he progressed through the ladder system, and it was very clear that he is a special talent," said team owner Stefan Johansson, a former CART and Formula One driver. "The Champ Cars offer a steep learning curve and Ryan has developed and adapted extremely well. Mid-Ohio is known as a difficult road circuit and Surfers is notorious for its tight chicanes and highspeed straights, yet that is where his best results have come. I think its a true testament to his skill and he has a very successful future ahead of him." Teammate Jimmy Vasser, the 1996 CART champion, gave the new team another boost when he drove from 15th to third in the race, which was hampered by heavy rain and pingpong ball size hail that forced a long red flag interruption. "Ryan and Jimmy kept it together," Johansson said. "They kept it cool in trying race conditions and the team gave them great stops. It is difficult for everyone to stop a race and keep focused for the restart, yet everyone performed perfectly, and it was truly a great team effort." Johansson's team was formed on Jan. 2 and started the season with very little testing. "We proved that perseverance pays off," Johansson said. "We plan to carry this momentum into next year, work hard on and off the track over the winter and be a lot stronger. We'll be one step ahead, rather than behind, so that we can hit the road running when the season gets started in 2004."
Test drive: Chinese driver Ho-Pin Tung, winner of the inaugural Formula BMW Asia championship, has been offered a test drive with the BMW Williams Formula One team. Driving for Team Meritus, the 20-year-old Tung dominated the new Asia series with 12 poles and 10 wins in 14 races in China, Malaysia, Japan, Korea and Thailand. Tung, who comes from Wenzhou, 300 miles south of Shanghai, grew up in the Netherlands and speaks five languages. He began karting at the age of 14 and entered his first car race four years ago. "Nobody can imagine what this opportunity means to me," Tung said. "It's my lifetime dream come true. I can't be grateful enough and I'm now going to work hard, particularly on my physical fitness, to be well prepared for the test." It won't be an easy transition for Tung. The Formula BMW car is powered by a 140 horsepower motorcycle engine. The F1 engine output is more than 900 horsepower. "We have been watching Ho-Pin Tung carefully," said Mario Theissen, BMW's motorsports director. "He was the outstanding driver in his series and, in his Formula One test, he will be compared to other promising young drivers. "Formula One isn't always part of the Formula BMW program but, in individual cases, we use the connection between our involvement in talent promotion and the top level of motor racing." The F1 series is scheduled to race in China for the first time in 2004 at a new track being built in Shanghai.
Rookie race: Jamie McMurray solidified his hold on the Rookie of the Year lead with a 15th-place finish Monday in the rain-delayed race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It is the 19th time in 33 races this season and the 10th straight race in which the Target/Chip Ganassi Racing driver has been the highest finishing first-year driver. Going into Sunday's race at Phoenix International Raceway, McMurray holds a 33-point lead over Greg Biffle in the competition for the rookie title. McMurray is 15th in the season standings and has chalked up five top-five finishes and 12 top-10s, while Biffle is 18th in the points with the top-fives -- including a win at the July race in Daytona -- and six top-10s. Biffle's Daytona win kept alive a streak that has seen a first-year driver win at least one race in five consecutive seasons, but a string of seven consecutive years in which a rookie has won at least one pole is in jeopardy with only three events remaining.
-- Associated Press