The Daily Telegraph from London, Greater London, England • 44

I 44 FRIDAY, AUGUST 20, 1999 THE DAILY TELEGRAPH Franchitti finds fast track to F1 By Jim Holder WHEN Dario Franchitti says he is not feeling any pressure, you have no choice but to believe him. The FedEx Championship Car points in tones SO calm neadassured that he oozes the self-confidence born of success. This weekend, he will race in Chicago, defending his singlepoint lead over Juan-Pablo Montoya in front of an audience that will include Formula One team leader Frank Williams. For most people, that would be the ultimate high-pressure scenario, but for Franchitti it is just another day in the high-speed environment he has inhabited for the past three years. "The pressure is always on to perform well, but it's from myself not from the outside," said Franchitti.

"You've just got to get on and do the job and not worry about everything going on around you. "This year, we have been competitive at every track except one. Even when Montoya was 27 points ahead of me, I never thought it was too far away. By being consistent and staying focused, we have shown we can get the job done." Franchitti's route to the top of America's biggest single-seater racing series has been long and tortuous, but most people believe that should he wrap up SPORT this year's title, it will be a case of when and not if he will make the move into Formula One. In 1995, that looked a distant possibility for the Scot.

Driving for Jackie Stewart's Formula Three team, he outclassed by teammate Jan Magnussen. While the Dane was breaking records, Franchitti was going nowhere. The following secured a last-minute deal to as race? team-mate to Magnussen in Mercedes' international touring car squad. Onlookers predicted a repeat 1995, but it Franchitti who impressed. A Mercedes-funded switch to ChampCar racing the following year confirmed Franchitti's career was on the ascendancy once again.

Flashes of potential resulted in a switch to Team Kool Green, where he has matured from race winner to potential champion. "If you are at the back in ChampCars, there is generally a reason for it," said Franchitti. "In this series, you can work hard and get yourself up to the front, but because there is a greater depth of competition here than in Formula One, it can be very hard. "ChampCars have more power than Formula One cars, but they, are heavier to drive. The cars I drive are less aerodynamically efficient than Formula One cars, making it tougher and more physical." Picture: AP Shaper KOL KOOL KLEIN TI ON No Pressure point: Scotland's Dario Franchitti talks through the set-up of his Team Kool Green car These are differences Franchitti has given a lot of thought to.

After winning the Autosport Young Driver of the Year award early in his career, he got to drive McLaren's Formula One car in 1995. It is an experience he wants to repeat. "The ChampCar series is a championship in its own right, not a breeding ground for future Formula One drivers, said Franchitti. "But the lure of Formula One is still there for me; it is just a case of picking the right moment to move over. Big turnout to celebrate 40th Diary "At the moment, the odds might be stacked against me because of the grooved tyres.

Normally, if you can drive one thing quickly you can drive anything quickly. But at the moment, Alex Zanardi, who has won the ChampCar title twice, is struggling in Formula One. "That's why if you make the switch, you have to stack the odds in your favour. Formula One is what I want, but I have to have a chance to win races. I'm not going to be running around at the back of the grid for the sake of it." Jyvaskyla, Finland: Tommi Mabirthday of marvellous Mini the kinen, onship record the leader, books World hopes by Rally to taking rewrite Champi- a sixth consecutive win in his IT WAS I born as a doodle on a serviette in 1959 in response to the Suez crisis, but 40 years and 5.3 million sales later the Mini remains an enduring part of life in Britain.

A measure of the car's popularity is that this weekend more than 70,000 people will converge on Silverstone to celebrate the racing and rallying heritage of the 'pocket rockets', with more than 5,000 of the cars putting on an extravaganza of Mini-shaped entertainment. There is much for Mini lovers to remember, too. Boasting an engine, brakes and suspension geometry that offered the chance to be successful at a sensible price, it did not take long for road-going versions of the car to be converted for competition use. In the swinging Sixties the Mini was a pacesetter as well as a trend-setter, and the highestprofile successes came in rallying. Britain's first rally hero, Paddy Hopkirk, won the Monte Carlo event in 1964, the first of three victories for the Mini during that decade.

Add in three 1,000 Lakes wins, the RAC, the Acropolis, the Alpine and the 1965 European Rally Championship crown and the Mini's formidable reputation begins to make sense. Recently, the Mini's reign at the cutting edge of motorsport has inevitably waned, although they continue to provide some of the most entertaining racing and rally-cross action on the national scene. Where the Mini continues to rule, however, is as a means of introducing people to motorsport. The cars are still cheap, spare parts accessible and the skills used to drive one easily, transferable to more powerful just ask top world rally drivers Colin McRae and Richard Burns. McRae swapped his trials bike for a Mini at 16 to compete in auto tests.

Burns navigated a Mini on his first rally at the tender age of 15. "I think it cost about said McRae fondly. "I suppose then it was quite a quick car there was no weight in it. It would still be good, because it handled well, but I had to sell it. It was probably just as well: I'd probably have put it through a fence." Picture: UPI GRA Preservation: Timo Makinen (right) with his Monte Carlo Mini that had light problems A fleeting By Jim Holder Pastnotes AS world rally champion Tommi Makinen chases his record-breaking sixth consecutive Rally of Finland win this weekend, he should remember the commitment shown by his namesake Timo Makinen as he chased a hat-trick of victories in the event in 1967.

Then, the event was known glimpse of glory for as the 1,000 Lakes Rally and, as now, regarded as one of the toughest on the calendar. A mixture of stages and towering crests, sent speech cars jumping through the air, ensured drivers were tested to the limit. At the wheel of a BMC Cooper Timo Makinen was enjoying a battle for the lead with Saab V4 driver Simo Lampinen and Hannu Mikkola, in a Volvo 122S, when he arrived at the Ouninpohja stage. As Motorcycling Roberts desperate for win By John Brown KENNY ROBERTS, the Suzuki team leader from America, must win this weekend's Czech Republic Grand Prix in Brno to keep alive his chances of lifting the World Championship for the first time. The Californian trails Alex Criville, Repsol Honda's championship leader, from Spain, by 47 points with "seven of the rounds remaining.

After testing during the "summer there is an air of confidence about the son of the former threetimes champion, also Kenny, as he for today's first qualifying session. TELEVISION REVIEW History rewritten by Himmler RESENTED by Michael Wood, Secret Search for History the Holy Special: Grail Hitler's (C4) began at Landsberg prison where Mein Kampf was written. It ended the same place with the execution in 1945 of Wolfram Sievers, the head of Ahnenerbe an Himmler academic investigate organisation German pre-history and thereby prove innate Aryan superiority. But this geographical neatness was almost as misleading as the film's title, which seemed to have been chosen only so that the accompanying press release could mention Indiana Jones. (Both Hitler and the Holy Grail were peripheral to proceedings.) While fascinating indeed, mind-blowing snippets, the programme never quite formed a coherent whole.

The main focus of Wood's investigation was Himmler's mystical "quest for the German soul" a quest which combined any number of lunatic theories knocking around at the time. At Wewelsberg castle, "the centre of the Nazi Himmler drew heavily on Arthurian legend to set up an SS version of Camelot. The belief also ing stories of child abuse are mixed in with lighter tales of polygamous life. The heartlessly shifting tone was established immediately. First, we met a bloke called Randy who, frankly, was lucky to have one wife, let alone the four adoring and pretty ones he had bagged.

From there, it James Walton was off to the case, widely covered last year, of a ing disturbing moral questions. I still wish he hadn't left factual ones unanswered in the process. In last night's Inside Story (BBC1) on polygamy in Utah as in last week's on Russian serial killers grisly material was unearthed not so as to be investigated but so as to be plonked before us. In other words, the programme existed primarily to make us gawp. Well, gawped.

But of course, that doesn't mean this was a proper documentary. If the makers did ever "What precisely are we trying to conclusion they reached can only have been "Blimey! Americans, eh?" a message that's fine for things like Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends, but sits far more uncomfortably when, as here, horrify- focus Weekly James Walton took hold that the Gods and the first Germans had once lived together on the island of Atlantis. So did something called "the world ice We were told, too, that Himmler saw himself as the reincarnation of Heinrich the 4th-century founder the First Reich, and that Germany's leading Indian scholar drew close and approving parallels between Hitler and the Buddha. Whether these ideas seemed such a hopeless mess simply because they were, or because Wood didn't explain adequately how they fitted together wasn't clear although my guess would be a bit both. Nor was it any clearer which of them were meant to be literal, and which metaphorical.

And the same uncertainty extended to the Nazis' global scientific expeditions, despite the astonishing footage of them in action. Where did India and Sanskrit scholarship come into it all? Why did the ethnologists study, Tibetans in such detail? What exactly were the archeologists looking for and what did they find? Wood was on much surer ground when he demonstrated that the Ahnenerbe comprised not of crackpots, but scholars of international repute. He also proved that many members who accompanied the Gestapo on the Eastern Front and in the extermination camps went on to distinguished academic careers after the war. the end, therefore, he had certainly succeeded in his aim of rais- 16-year-old Utah girl who phoned the police terrified because her uncle wanted to make her his 15th wife and her father was beating her for refusing. Then came a quick reminder that official Mormonism now disapproves of polygamy and that all the people we were meeting belonged to a cultish offshoot, before we returned to Randy and the girls for more knockabout fun.

And so programme continued, piling up the stories but never doing any real journalism. How many Utahdwellers are involved in polygamous (aka marriage? Er, about although "the true number might be much If the practice is illegal, why is no one ever prosecuted? The programme didn't know. Most importantly, was the suggestion being polygamy is always likely to lead to child abuse? The programme didn't know this either, and worse didn't seem to care just as long as we continued to gawp. Finally, You Cannot Be Serious (BBC2) was an enjoyable compilation of comedy clips about sport a subject which fortunately ensured we had plenty Alan Partridge and The Fast Show, as well as good moments from Victoria Wood, Not the Nine O'Clock News and Harry Enfield. After such quality players, Mrs Merton Malcolm unwisely allowed to provide the last sketch seemed even less funny than ever.

home event, the Rally of Finland, this weekend. The Mitsubishi driver has the added incentive of pursuing a fourth consecutive world crown this year and he is already 11 points ahead of Frenchman Didier Auriol in the battle for the title. "I always drive to win, but this rally is special to me," said Makinen. "It is always nice to be driving at Ford's Colin McRae admitted it will be hard to beat the Finn on home ground. "It's the hardest rally of the said the Scot.

finish would be great for us." Britain's Richard Burns has also set his sights on a podium finish, as well as beating his Finnish Subaru team-mate, Juha Kankunnen. "Beating Juha is my first priority," he said. "I managed it in Sweden." Chicago, Illinois: Scotland's Dario Franchitti heads the FedEx Championship Car series by a point going into the 15th race of the 20-round series. The Team Kool Green driver has been the most consistent in a competitive field this year, but young Colombian Juan-Pablo Montoya, who is in his first season, kept the pressure on at the top of the table by winning last weekend's race in Ohio. Continuing his comeback from a back injury, Mark Blundell will race for PacWest, where he has shown impressive pace in the past two In the supporting Indy Lights category, Irishman Derek Higgins aims to repeat his incredible victory from seventh on the grid at Detroit two weeks ago.

Higgins knows he will face a tough test from the Britons Jonny Kane, Guy Smith and Ben Collins if he wants to repeat the win. Makinen Makinen was not about to lose time for repairs. Instead, he loosened his seat belts and craned his neck to see round the obstacle. Amazingly, he got the car to the end of the stage, his time just 10 seconds slower than Lampinen his average speed a staggering 65 mph. He went on to win by eight seconds.

he had stopped to fix the bonnet, it would almost certainly have cost him victory. Jim Holder the longest stage on the rally, all three competitors knew it could play an important part in the outcome. The engine in Makinen's Mini was running hot, so he removed the headlights and, for ventilation, left the bonnet slightly open, secured only by a leather strap. With only 10 of the 27km gone, the strap broke after a jump, sending the bonnet up and blocking all but a tiny bit of Makinen's windscreen. Speedway Coventry hope on Andersen By Barry Alcock Coventry, the Craven Shield and KO Cup semi who are chasBRIAN ANDERSEN faces a fitness ing their first league title test today to see if he can return for years, seemed to be heading for Coventry in their key home match defeat after a home 5-1 put them against Belle Vue tomorrow.

38-34 behind going into heat 13. The Danish grand prix rider hopes For bottom placed Wolverhampto be back after a collarbone injury ton, the defeat summed up a dismal for the clash of two clubs anxious for season. Richard Juul and Charlie points to keep up the chase of Elite Gjedde held a 5-1 in heat 14 that League leaders Ipswich. would have won them the match but Manager Colin Pratt is also wait- Shaun Tacey fell and Stuart Robson ing Andreas Jonsson, who injured won the rerun to set up the decider. a thumb in the 46-44 win at Wolver- Andy Smith dislocated a shoulder hampton on Wednesday.

A last-heat in second-placed Belle Vue's 54-36 maximum by Greg Hancock and defeat at King's Lynn but Billy Hamill earned Coventry the tonight's home clash with Peterborpoints that put them fourth. ough, who are third. RADIO Radio 4: 1.30 2.00 pm Nick Clarke is working overtime on this network today. Not only is he scheduled to present The World at One but straight afterwards, he referees this new series of vintage cryptic clue cracking (today: South versus Midlands) and tonight (8.00 pm), he hosts the Any Questions? replacement, Straw Poll, debating the abolition of the car. Principle Radio 4: 9.00 10.00 pm Marcy Kahan's (left) comedy is set in Manhattan at the close the 21st century.

Five urbane, neurotic New Yorkers contemplate what it's like living in a society where, thanks to genetic testing, you know everything about yourself when you will die, what you will do. How will they react when something unexpected happens? 12 00 Lunchtime Requests with Jane Jones. 2:00 Continuous Classics with Jamie Crick. 3 00 Jamie Crick. 6 30 Newsnight.

7 00 Smooth Classics at Seven 9 00 Classic in Concert. A spewith John. Brunning. cial of the 25th anniversary conductor James Levine's debut with the Metropolitan Opera. 11 00 Tonight at 11: Classic FM Magazine.

12 00 Midnight Classics with Sally Peterson. 2 00 Continuous Classics, rpt. 3 6.00 a.m. Michael Mappin. Round Britain Quiz Today's Choice The Uncertainty by Gillian Reynolds in 3.55 Chopin, Etude in 4.00 Kajanus, Rhapsody No 1: 4.10 Sibelius, Romance in 4.15 Beethoven, Eroica Variations; 4.35 Donostia, Song; 4.45 Tchaikovsky, Marche Slave; 5.00 A Scarlatti, Concerto Grosso in minor; 5.10 Brahms, Eight Piano Pieces; 5.40 Bach, Motet: Komm, Jesu, 5.45 Valerius, Mrs Mary Hofmans Almand (Nederlandtsche Gedenck-clanck); 5.50 Wolf, Italian Serenade.

Radio 1 MHz 6 30 a.m. Scott Mills. 9 00 Kevin Greening. 11 00 The Radio 1 Roadshow with Dave Pearce. 12 00 Jo Whiley: 2 00 Mark Radcliffe.

4 00 Chris Moyles. 5 45 News. 6 00 The Essential Selection with Pete Tong. 9 00 Dance Party: Southsea. 11 00 Westwood: Radio Rap Show.

2 00 Fabio and Grooverider. 4 00 7.00 a.m. Clive Warren. Radio 2 Mitz 00 a.m. Sarah Kennedy.

ON 30 Wake Up to Wogan. 9 30 Ken Bruce. 12 00 Jimmy Young. 2 no Steve Wright in the Afternoon. 5 05 Alex Lester.

7 00 Tin Pan Alley. 7 30 Friday Night Is Music Night. 9 15 Rob Roy. 9 30 Listen to the Band. 10 00 The Silver Lining.

10 30 Sheridan Morley. 12 05 Nicky Horne. 4.00 6.00 a.m. Janey Lee Grace. Radio 3 90.2-924 Mitz 6 00 a.m.

On Air. Beethoven, String Quartet in Rimsky-Korsakov, Capriccio Espagnol; piano works by Grieg. 9 00 Composer of the Week: Brahms. 10 00 Work in Progress: Maggi Hambling. 10 05 Masterworks.

Byrd, Mass for Five Voices; 10.30 Britten, Symphonic Suite: Gloriana. 11 00 Edinburgh International Festival. 1 00 The Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert. The Emperor Quartet. Stravinsky, Three Pieces for string quartet; Tchaikovsky, Andante Cantabile (String Quartet No 1 in D).

Schubert, String Quartet in A minor. 2 00 BBC Proms 1999, rpt. 4 00 Music Restored. 5 00 In Tune. 7 30 BBC Proms 99.

BBC Symphony Orchestra, Martyn Brabbins. Rachmaninov, The Isle of the Dead; Bartok, Piano Concerto No 03 8 25 Performing Art. 8 45 BBC Proms 99, part two. Kurtag, Messages (first British performance); Stravinsky, Petrushka (1911 version). 9 35 Debussy.

9 55 Postscript. 10 15 Hear and Now. 11 30 Jazz Century. 12 00 a.m. Through the Night.

Including 12.05 Glinka, Overture: Ivan Susanin; 12.15 Rachmaninov, Piano Concerto No 1 in sharp minor; 12.40 Gounod, Cavatina (Faust, Act 3); 12.45 Durante, Concerto No 2 in 1.00 Puccini, Tosca; 2.30 Buxtehude, Toccata in 2.40 Telemann, Flute Concerto in 2.50 Rautavaara, Magnifiat; 3.10 Schubert: String Quartet Radio 4 198 kitz 5 30 a.m. World News. 5 35 Shipping Forecast. 5 45 Prayer for the Day. 5 47 Leisure Update.

5.54 Shipping Forecast. 6 00 Today. 9 00 Desert Island Discs. 9 45 fm Serial: A Fish Caught in Time by Samantha Weinberg. 9 45 Iw An Act of Worship.

10 00 Woman's Hour. 11 00 fm The Home Front. 11 00 Iw Test Match Special: England New Zealand. (Until 6.30 pm and includes News at 1.00 pm.) 11 30 Grease Monkeys. 12 00 News.

12 04 You and Yours. 1 00 The World at One. See Choice. 1 30 Round Britain Quiz. See Choice.

2.00 00 The Archers, rpt. 2 15 Afternoon Play: Over the Horizon by Rin Takagi. 3 00 Check Up: 0870 010 0444. 3 30 Fringe Fictions. 3 45 This Sceptred Isle.

4 00 Open Book. 4 30 The Message. 5 00 PM. 6.00 00 Six O'Clock News. 6 30 Graham Norton's News Lasso.

7 00 The Archers. 7 15 Front Row. 7 45 The Surprise Summer. 8 00 Straw Poll. See Choice.

8 45 Letter from America. 9 00 The Friday Play: The Uncertainty Principle by Marcy Kahan. See Choice. 00 The World Tonight. 10.

45 Book at Bedtime: Eucalyptus by Murray Bail. 11 00 Late Tackle. 12 00 News. 12 30 The Late Book: Armadillo by William Boyd. 1 00 5.30 a.m.

As World Service. Radio 5 Live 909 kiz 5 00 a.m. Morning Reports. 6 00 Breakfast. 9 00 Brian Hayes.

12 00 The Midday News. 1 00 Fi Glover. 4 00 Drive. 7 00 News Extra. 7 30 Barry Davies's Sportsnight.

10 00 Late Night Live. 1.00 5.00 a.m. Up All Night. Classic FM 100-102 Milz 6 00 a.m. Michael Mappin's Easier Breakfast.

8 00 Nick Bailey. Talk Radio 1053. 1089 kitz 6 00 a.m. Big Boys' Breakfast. 9 00 Peter Hitchens.

10 00 Scott Chisholm. 12 00 OK to Talk! 2 00 Tony Lockwood and Andy Houlihan. 4.00 00 The Sports Zone. 8 00 It's Just Like Watching Brazil. 10 00 James Reeve.

100 6.00 a.m. Mike Dickin. Virgin 105.8 Mitz 4.30 a.m. Phil Kennedy. 6 30 Chris Evans Breakfast Show.

9 30 Russ Williams. 1 00 Nick Abbot. Harriet Scott. 700 Wheels of Steel. 11 00 James Merritt.

2 00 6.00 a.m. Mark Benson. World Service 198 kHz He said: "I feel we have ironed out a few machine problems. I've got to keep things on a high." Michael Doohan, who earlier this week shelved plans for a comeback this weekend after his serious crash during practice for the Spanish round in May, has now cast doubts about returning in the following San Marino round at Misano. "Generally, my recovery is good," said the champion from Australia.

times shoulder and leg five have healed well but my arm is not strong enough for racing." Doohan is adamant that he will race again before deciding his future in the sport. 4.00 am BST World News. 4.20 Sports Roundup. 4.30 The World Today. 5.00 The World Today.

5.30 Focus on Faith. 6.00 am The World Today. 6.30 John Peel. 7,00 World News. 7.15 Outlook.

7.55 My Century. 8.00 World News. 8.05 World Business Report. 8.15 Insight. 8.30 Focus on Faith.

9.00 World News. 9.05 Westway. 9.20 Off the Shelf: Memed My Hawk. 9.35 Science in Action. 10.00 World News.

10.05 Speaking of English. 10.20 The Vintage Chart Show. 10.50 Sports Roundup. 11.00 Newsdesk. 11.30 Britain Today.

11.45 World Business Report. 12.00 noon Newsdesk. 12.30 Focus on Faith. 1.00 World News. 1.05 Outlook.

1.45 Sports Roundup. 2.00 Newshour. 3.00 4.30 John Peel. 5.00 Europe Today. 5.30 World News.

3.05 Science in Action. 3.30 Music Review. 4.00 World News. 4.05 Football Extra. 4.15 Do You Believe World Business Report.

5.45 Insight. 6.00 pm Newsdesk. 6.30 Short Story. 6.45 Sports Roundup. 7.00 World News.

7.15 Britain Today. 7.30 Proms. 8.25 My Century. 8.30 Come Inside. 8.45 Off the Shelf: Memed My Hawk.

9.00 Newshour. 10.00 World News. 10.05 World Business Report. 10.20 Britain Today. 10.30 Music Review.

11.00 World News. 11.15 Sports Roundup. 11.30 John Peel. 12.00 midnight World News. 12.05 Outlook.

12.45 Insight. 1.00 The World Today. 1.30 Science in Action. 1.55 My Century. 2.00 The World Today.

2.30 Meridian Books. 3.00 The World Today. 3.30 World Business Report. 3.45 Insight. 4.00 The World Today.

4.20 Sports Roundup. 4.30 Weekend. 5.00 The World Today. 5.30 Lives and Times. For complete wavelengths, see page 7 of Saturday's TV Radio guide..