JPMontoya
07-07-2002, 23:12
TORONTO--Cristiano da Matta led from start to finish to win today's Molson Indy Toronto at Exhibition Place, Round 8 of the 2002 CART FedEx Championship Series. Da Matta finished 4.398 seconds ahead of Kenny Brack while his Newman/Haas Racing teammate Christian Fittipaldi wound up third.
The driver of the Havoline Toyota/Lola became only third driver in CART history to win four straight races. Da Matta joins Al Unser Jr. and Alex Zanardi as the only drivers to win four straight CART events.
The weekend was also a sweep for da Matta who earned the maximum of 23 points for being fastest in both qualifying sessions, leading the most laps and winning the race--his fifth of the season and seventh in the past 10.
Da Matta now holds a 118-70 advantage over Bruno Junqueira, who was eliminated in a tangle with Townsend Bell and was unable to score any points.
Da Matta took the lead at the start and managed to pull away from Paul Tracy in the KOOL Honda/Lola, leading by more than 11 seconds.
The first full-course yellow on Lap 62 to retrieve the stranded car of Tony Kanaan allowed Tracy to close, but his race soon became eventful when he experienced the first of three spins caused by brake problems. The Canadian ultimately was forced to retire his car, and his demise elevated Brack into second place in the Target Toyota/Lola.
Down by more than 10 seconds at one point, Brack was able to cut the gap to four seconds when da Matta was unable to lap Alex Tagliani.
All of the leaders made their final pit stops when the yellow came out for Tracy's second spin of the day. Brack was right on da Matta's tail when the race restarted, but the Brazilian was able to pull away to score the victory.
Fittipaldi had an uneventful race to third place in the Lilly Toyota/ Lola while Shinji Nakano turned in a fine run to finish fourth in the Alpine/Mitsuba Honda/Lola. Scott Dixon was fifth in the Target Toyota/Lola.
Rounding out the top 10 were Jimmy Vasser in the Shell Ford- Cosworth/Lola, Alex Tagliani in the Player's/Indeck Ford- Cosworth/Reynard, Tora Takagi in the Pioneer/Denso Toyota/ Reynard, Adrian Fernandez in the Tecate/Quaker State/Telmex Honda/Lola and Patrick Carpentier in the Player's/Indeck Ford- Cosworth/Reynard.
Defending race winner Michael Andretti managed to salvage two points for finishing 11th in the Motorola Honda/Lola while Michel Jourdain Jr. kept his streak going by placing 12th in the Gigante Ford-Cosworth/Lola. Jourdain has scored points in all eight races this season.
CART.COM
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zaalige race !
The driver of the Havoline Toyota/Lola became only third driver in CART history to win four straight races. Da Matta joins Al Unser Jr. and Alex Zanardi as the only drivers to win four straight CART events.
The weekend was also a sweep for da Matta who earned the maximum of 23 points for being fastest in both qualifying sessions, leading the most laps and winning the race--his fifth of the season and seventh in the past 10.
Da Matta now holds a 118-70 advantage over Bruno Junqueira, who was eliminated in a tangle with Townsend Bell and was unable to score any points.
Da Matta took the lead at the start and managed to pull away from Paul Tracy in the KOOL Honda/Lola, leading by more than 11 seconds.
The first full-course yellow on Lap 62 to retrieve the stranded car of Tony Kanaan allowed Tracy to close, but his race soon became eventful when he experienced the first of three spins caused by brake problems. The Canadian ultimately was forced to retire his car, and his demise elevated Brack into second place in the Target Toyota/Lola.
Down by more than 10 seconds at one point, Brack was able to cut the gap to four seconds when da Matta was unable to lap Alex Tagliani.
All of the leaders made their final pit stops when the yellow came out for Tracy's second spin of the day. Brack was right on da Matta's tail when the race restarted, but the Brazilian was able to pull away to score the victory.
Fittipaldi had an uneventful race to third place in the Lilly Toyota/ Lola while Shinji Nakano turned in a fine run to finish fourth in the Alpine/Mitsuba Honda/Lola. Scott Dixon was fifth in the Target Toyota/Lola.
Rounding out the top 10 were Jimmy Vasser in the Shell Ford- Cosworth/Lola, Alex Tagliani in the Player's/Indeck Ford- Cosworth/Reynard, Tora Takagi in the Pioneer/Denso Toyota/ Reynard, Adrian Fernandez in the Tecate/Quaker State/Telmex Honda/Lola and Patrick Carpentier in the Player's/Indeck Ford- Cosworth/Reynard.
Defending race winner Michael Andretti managed to salvage two points for finishing 11th in the Motorola Honda/Lola while Michel Jourdain Jr. kept his streak going by placing 12th in the Gigante Ford-Cosworth/Lola. Jourdain has scored points in all eight races this season.
CART.COM
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zaalige race !