|
|
|
Editorial |
||
|
Getting
the Monkey off their back |
|
Autocourse CART Yearbook 1999-2000 List Price: Our Price: $24.47 You Save:$10.48 (30%)
|
|
Nazareth Race Report |
Other Articles by Mark |
|
|
After a nearly 2-month delay because of an early April snow-out, the Bosch Grand Prix of Nazareth finally got launched as a rare all-CART Memorial weekend event. First the Mayor of Nazareth presided over a "Driver of the Century" tribute to favorite son Mario Andretti. Then, Dario Franchitti's day ended before it began when he promptly lost control of his car in the last turn coming down for the green flag. Dario did a lazy spin into the inside guardrail bending his rear wing and rear suspension. Cristiano da Matta also spun trying to avoid the spinning Franchitti but did not hit anything and was able to continue. After the short cleanup, polesitter Juan Montoya led easily over 2nd place Christian Fittipaldi and Paul Tracy. Montoya was setting such a hot pace that by lap 48 he was right behind 16th place Michael Andretti looking to put him a lap down. Andretti was struggling at Nazareth in April when the field qualified, and his struggles continued in the race, running an unfamiliar P16. Nazareth is always a hard track on which to pass lapped cars and Montoya tried every trick in his book to get by Andretti. Meanwhile Andretti was trying hard to get around Oriol Servia On lap 74 Max Papis spun on the entry of turn 2 bringing out the 2nd caution of the day and saving Andretti and others from going a lap down.
Montoya was not content to sit in 2nd place long as he promptly passed Paul Tracy at the line on the restart and immediately opened up a comfortable gap. Montoya has demonstrated his ability to take the car to the limit on cold tires without losing it and today was no different. We have followed the careers of greats Jimmy Clark, Ayrton Senna, Mario Andretti and the like. Montoya is every bit as good. Meanwhile Fittipaldi just barely held onto his 3rd place position over Gil de Ferran. On lap 118 Norberto Fontana lost control of his car in the 2nd turn ,scattering parts everywhere. Once again Paul Tracy's crew got him out of the pits first, but this time Montoya came out not only after Tracy bbut also de Ferran, Moreno and Brack. Tony Kanaan and Jimmy Vasser didn't pit and inherited 1st and 2nd place. Just before the restart the Newman-Haas crew called Andretti in for a quick top off of his tank in the hope that he could go all the way to the end with no more stops. It was a calculated risk, one that would pay dividends later. On the restart Michel Jourdain spun in turn 4 in front of Paul Tracy and the rest of the field causing Tracy to spin to avoid Jourdain and causing Juan Montoya to brake hard and flat spot his tires and break his front wing against the wall. Montoya pitted for a new front wing and topped off his tank and Paul Tracy did likewise just before the green flag. Jimmy Vasser also pitted to top off his tank dropping him out of 2nd place.
The race went green on lap 166 and two laps later Castroneves and Blundell got together in turn 1 and both made very hard contact with the outside wall. Fortunately, both walked away unscathed. The same could not be said for their cars - both were total write-offs. When the green unfurled again on lap 186 de Ferran led over Moreno, Brack, Gugelmin, Fernandez, Andretti and Montoya. Roger Penske's 100th win was on everyone's mind. Could Gil de Ferran hang on to 1st place? We were about to find out.
With 4 laps to go the green unfurled for the final time and de Ferran and Gugelmin jumped clear while Kenny Brack took third place. They ran out the final three laps in that order followed by Montoya, Fernandez and Andretti. Roger Penske got his long-awaited 100th win and Gil de Ferran was choked with emotion as he exited his car. Finally, Team Penske was able to get the monkey off their backs! Paul Tracy, who finished 10th today, remains atop the drivers’ standings with 59 points, 11 more than Jimmy Vasser. Gil de Ferran and Roberto Moreno are tied for third with 42 points. All photographs copyright David Cipolloni and Autoracing1.com Post-Race Quotes Carpentier - “The Player’s crew did a great job with the set-up of the car, and it was running really well until we came out of a pit stop and the power to the engine started cutting out,” Carpentier remarked, in explaining his retirement from the race. “I didn’t want to spin the car so I came in, and once I did, it shut down completely. Today was just one of those things, but we’ll come back strong for the next race in Milwaukee. The wrist felt fine today. I only wish I could have put in more laps to really test it.” Fontana - Rookie Norberto Fontana’s day ended early at
the Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix after contacting the wall in Turn Two on Lap
115 of the 225-lap event. Fontana returns to action this weekend after
missing the Firestone Firehawk 500 in Motegi Japan due to briefly losing
consciousness after a practice crash on Friday morning (May 12). He is the
first driver to utilize the HANS (head and neck system) device in a CART
event. “The HANS device definitely did its job. I felt my head and body moving forward then the device pulled me back. It kept my muscles from being pulled again. It’s a good thing I was wearing it.” More quotes to follow...... Comments can be sent to the authors at contacts@autoracing1.com. |
A
year of progress shapes Rockingham
A solution for CART's franchise dilemma Lausitzring nears completion, fighting hard to win CART datePaul Tracy keeps his Kool, wins LBGP for 2nd time What is an American driver?Warming up at Nazareth |
|
|
AutoRacing1 is an
independent internet online publication and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed
by CART Inc., NASCAR, FIA, FedEx, Winston, or any other series sponsor. This material may not be published,
broadcast, or redistributed without permission. Copyright 1999 - 2000, AutoRacing1, Hamilton, NJ
|