World Series by Nissan team KTR had a brilliant start to the Magny-Cours weekend for rounds five and six of the 2004 Series, only to see its hopes reduced by a series of mishaps. "We expected to be quite competitive here in Magny-Cours," team principal, Kurt Mollekens, explained, "and we were, at least in free practice. We are only allowed three test days per year and we decided to come to Magny-Cours the week before the race, since it is the home race for both our drivers. In that test, both Bruce and Didier were amongst the fastest drivers on the track, so we had high hopes for the race weekend."

In the general test with all the other teams, both Bruce Jouanny and Didier André confirmed their form, with Bruce being fastest in the morning session. Come Friday's free practice session the team's fortune took a turn for the worst, with André's engine giving up the ghost with a broken valve spring on the first lap. A replacement engine caused some problems with the injection, which meant that both sessions were lost for André. Jouanny continued his good form and set fourth fastest time initially. "But then he went off pretty hard at the Nürburgring hairpin," Mollekens explains. "The car was a total mess but Bruce was okay, although quite shaken. The team managed to get the car repaired for the second session, but Bruce was obviously still a bit shaken by the accident and couldn't quite find his natural speed. Didier on the other had suffered from not having properly run on Friday." Both cars qualified 12th and 13th for the first race, and sixth and ninth for the second.

"The races were probably the least eventful we have ever seen in the series," Mollekens continues. "We started 12th and 13th and finished 12th and 12th because one car dropped out. Although Bruce set the fourth fastest time in the race - showing that he was finding his speed back - it was almost impossible to overtake. Race two was more of the same, although here Bruce managed to get some points for his sixth place finish."

"Next up is a test in Valencia, were we also have our next race. The best news of the weekend was probably the announcement of Nissan and Renault merging their motorsports efforts, which should have a positive effect on the World Series. With a real European championship with races at - most likely - Spa, Silverstone, Hungaroring, Monza, Estoril and some other classic tracks, we are already looking forward to next season."

Results Race 5 - Magny-Cours

1. Karthikeyan (RCM) 17 laps (74.987kms) in 25m43s521; 2. Kovalainen (Pons) + 2s916; 3. Bernoldi (GD) + 19s297; 4. Ravier (Epsilon) + 20s455; 5. Gommendy (Saulnier) + 20s724;... 11. Jouanny (KTR) + 32s164; 12. Andre (KTR) + 34s186;…

Results Race 6 - Magny-Cours

1. Kovalainen (Pons) 25 laps (110.275kms) in 38m21s246; 2. Gommedny (Saulnier) + 7s262; 3. Vilarino (Espilon) + 15s432; 4. Karthikeyan (RCM) + 16s853; 5. Monteiro (Carlin) + 19s963;… 6. Jouanny (KTR) + 32s243; 12. Didier Andre + 47s793;…

Drivers' Championship Standings (after 6 races)

1. Kovalainen 63 points; 2. Monteiro 60; 3. Bernoldi 55; 4. Karthikeyan 47; 5. Alvarez 36; 6. Gommendy 34; 7. Jouanny 25;… 14. André 4.

Teams' Championship Standings (after 6 races)

1. Pons Racing 73 points; 2. Carlin Motorsport 62; 3. RC Motorsport 57; 4. GD Racing 55; 5. Epsilon Euskadi 37;… 8. KTR 29;…