European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 13, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday March 13, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 25racing Roundup Senna s Victory an impressive one in last years opening . Grand prix at Phoenix ariz., the brazilian Ayrton Senna drove a perfect race and came Home the Winner. And in Phoenix last sunday it was a Case of the same but his Victory this time around was even More impressive. Quot a ,. In the 1990 event Sennit did no to take the Lead until the one third Mark. Last sunday he started from pole position and led from Start to finish never remotely challenged. While it made the race somewhat of a bore it did show the defending world Champion at his Brilliant Best. And his Victory was especially impressive because he won in a Brand new Mclaren car powered by Quot an equally Brand new Honda v-12 engine. So Mclaren Honda has served notice on Ferrari that its going to be another hard season. Commenting on his Victory in a press conference afterwards brazils Senna said a the car is Good and the performance Speaks for itself. Its the first time we were out for distance on full Gas tanks and it was a great run. The car proved reliable and the engine was Good too. Z a but it Wasny tall perfect a a Senna said. A i had Small problems with the Gearbox and the balance of the car. But every year we fight with it the Gearbox and the balance problem occurred simply because we have a new  while Senna had a relatively easy Day it still Wasny tall smooth sailing for the Mclaren Honda team. Senna a teammate Gerhard Berger of Austria was never in the Hunt qualifying far Down in seventh place and retiring from the race before the half Way Mark with fuel pressure problems. The austrian was running fifth at the time a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a v a a a a a a a. Last sundays grand prix opener also served to confirm that it is indeed going to be another year of All out Battle Between Senna and Alain Prost. Not that anyone thought otherwise. The rivalry is now entering its fourth year and its All becoming a a rerun of the rerun situation. Still the a a scripts in past seasons have been rather exciting and we wonder what these two have in store for each other and for us a this time around in last sundays . Grand prix Prost qualified second a big 1.1 seconds off Senna s Pace and placed second behind his hated Arch rival from Brazil. So Senna draws the first blood. But compared to his race at Phoenix last year Prost is off to a Good Start. In the 1990 Phoenix grand prix a Proste a first Outing with the Ferrari team a he qualified seventh and was out of action Early with engine failure while running fourth. In a pre race interview last weekend Prost noted How poorly he had fared at Phoenix last year then added a but the race Here can to be used As a prognosis because this Street circuit is not a real Drivers course. And its so extremely special that it does no to demonstrate the Power capabilities of the  regardless the Phoenix race did show that the new Mclaren Chassis and v-12 Honda engine combination have the Edge on Ferrari at this Early stage despite Ferrari a dominance in Winter test outings. A Randy Barnett Ayrton Senna Alain Prost after the race Prost said he had clutch problems on his Ferrari but admitted that the real problem was a we were simply not fast enough.�?�. Like the Mclaren Honda team Ferrari also failed to record a two car Timsah with newcomer Jean Alesi of France dropping out late in the race with Gearbox problems. Alesi looked Good in his Ferrari debut running second much of the time lie finished second at Phoenix last year when he drove Tor Tyrrell and it was this race that made him a a Man to  Italy s , meanwhile was also fast and impressive in the Williams Renault last sunday while Nelson Piquet of Brazil performed Well in his Benetton Ford eventually placing third the Young ill Anlian Driver Lefano Modena driving the Tyrrell Morula v-1 1, also served notice that he will give a Good account of himself this season. A a a a a a a a a a a a a despite the Best efforts of the other teams however it becomes painfully evident that Mclaren Honda and Ferrari will be thoroughly dominant once again. Although Prost is Correct when he save that the . Grand prix can to be used As an example As to How the Competition will shape up it is quite Clear that Mclaren and Ferrari Are Miles ahead of the others. We think that those of you who watched the Phoenix race on television would agree. Looking through our files recently we came across an interview we did in 1970 with Jack Brabham of Australia a three time world Champion who was later knighted for his racing exploits. Discussing the Outlook for that Long ago season Brabham said there were at least 10 Drivers who had a Good Chance of winning the world championship. Think of it. Ten Drivers. But in those Days a Good Driver could still win with a so so car and there were a lot of Good Drivers. For instance Brabham Denny Illume Jackie Stewart Graham Hill Joc Civ Rindt Mario Andretti piers courage. Bruce Mclaren John Surtees. Pedro Rodriguez Jacky icky. Chris Anion Lay Regazzoni and some younger Drivers on their was up a mining them Emerson Fittipaldi Derek Bell and Francois Wert. Some legendary names Are in this listing. And Brabham predicted corrective at least 10 Drivers were in with a Chance at the title that year but it was a hitter time. Mclaren. Courage and Smidt All were killed in racing accidents that year and the austrian Rindt sadly became the lies to a posthumous world Champion. Grand prix racing was extremely dangerous in that Era but it was great racing and we were privileged to have been reporting on it. But a Aback to the  1 he a Mclaren Honda Senna is. Ferrari Proste Campaign continues on March 24 in Brazil with Senna going in As the big Home favorite and deservedly so. 1 lie race will he  the inter Lagos circuit at Sao Paulo Senna a Home town. So a full House is guaranteed. In world championship rallying Carlos Sainz of spam moved further ahead in the defense of his title with a Well earned Victory in Portugal last weekend. The spaniards win aboard a Toyota Ceca gt4 ended Lancia s string of four straight victories in this event. It also extended Toyota a Lead Tor the world makes title the Toyota team now with 40 Points to Lancian a 34. Lancia Ace  illusion of Italy who had scored three straight wins in Portugal led during the Early stages but Samz closed in and then pulled away in the final sections of the crash marred four Day event. A a a a a a a. A a. -. Sainz who also won the Monte , has 40 Points to Biasion a 27 going into the next championship round a the Liast african safari on faster week March 27 to april 2. Where to go this weekend t he Stuttgart motor sports club is staging its Quot annual his Der stain Stuttgart program on saturday and sunday with races a scheduled for cars of various categories. The program will also include a Warmup session in the porsche Carrera cup series. Both practice and racing will take place on the Short  course at clock Enli Eim motor Rome. T he City of i Bockenheim is located Southwest of Heidelberg and May he reached by autobahn a5 and a. In England the first round in the British formula 3 championship will be staged sunday on the Silverstone circuit with practice scheduled for saturday supporting races Are a soon Ilie program. Silverstone is located near Towcester Southwest of Northampton. Motocross a the 29th International Moto Cross Bausch Heim will be held on saturday and sunday with two of the Motocross races rounds in the German National championship. Bausch Heim is located just Southeast of Mainz. A the stars and stripes a Nafis plan b Lone a a name signed Mark May by Dave Goldberg a football writer a in its third year the a Fly a plan b has become plan z. As in zilch. With 20 Days left in the plan b signing period the leagues 28 teams have signed juts six free Agi ints four by Phoenix. Last year at this time. 51 players had changed teams. And though there will probably be Many More before the april 1 deadline a 100 signed the last week of the 1990 period a the numbers wont approach the first two years when 413 of 1,110 available players moved. A i think teams realize that people Are what they Are a the 38th, 39th or 4 to players on someone else s team Quot says new York jets general manager Dick Steinberg who signed 10 plan b free agents in 1990 and none this year. A that makes them not very different from the 38th. 39th and 40th player on your team a a plan b began in 1989 As part of the a Fly a Effort to defuse the players Union quest for total free Agency. Fach team can protect 37 players with the rest free to sign anywhere. This year however the buyers seem warier. The Only a a name free agent to move so far is 31-v ear old Mark May one of Washington s  the offensive lineman signed with san Diego and his old general manager Bobby Beathard after missing much of the past two years with injuries. That a typical of this years plan b list filled with third string quarterbacks players coming off serious injuries and High priced veterans but few raw talents a like Martin Mayhew and Fred Stokes who Washington signed two years ago and they became starters. The new York giants for example left 33-year-old Ottis Anderson the super bowl map unprotected for the third straight year along with tight end Mark Bavaro who underwent serious knee surgery two weeks ago but they did protect 32-year-old Center Bart Oates who has been talking retirement and unknowns like Clint James and t in Downing. Teams also Are re Eva Hutting six figure signing bonuses to marginal players like Ceasar Rentie Buffalo 1989. Now in. The world league of american football. Quot we re trying to be As selective As we possibly  says Denver coach Dan Reeves. A a we re looking at people we think can not Only make our team but hopefully