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Hello, Cleveland Da Matta fastest in qualifying as he goes for No. 5 in a rowPosted: Friday July 12, 2002 7:49 PMCLEVELAND (AP) -- Cristiano da Matta isn't showing any signs of slowing down. Da Matta, who has dominated the CART racing circuit this season, posted the fastest lap during Friday's provisional qualifying for the Marconi Grand Prix of Cleveland. Seeking a series record fifth straight victory, da Matta didn't begin the first of his 13 qualifying laps until there were just 17 minutes remaining in the one-hour session. But once he finally pulled his car onto the wide-open runways and taxiways of the 2.106-mile Burke Lakefront Airport course, it didn't take the Brazilian long to start flying. On his 12th lap, da Matta drove his black and gold Toyota-powered Lola around the course in 57.641 seconds -- nearly a half-second faster than Tony Kanaan. "He's the man," Kanaan said of his close friend da Matta, whose fast lap was at 131.531 mph. "He's got the car. He's got the team, and he's got the head. He's just got the momentum right now, and I'm not sure anyone is going to slow him down. 'He's so fast. I'm happy for him. If it can't be me that's winning, then I want it to be him." Kanaan, who recently changed his team's chassis from a Reynard to a Lola, was second at 130.510, followed by Scott Dixon at 130.506, Michael Andretti at 130.468 and Christian Fittipaldi at 130.243. Defending champion Dario Franchitti was seventh following the first day of qualifying for Sunday's race in 129.567, and Bruno Junqueira, currently second in the series point standings behind da Matta, was eighth in 129.489. By winning the provisional pole, da Matta earned another championship point and assured himself of starting in the front row on Sunday. Da Matta, who has finished in the top two of qualifying in his last nine road course events, now has 119 series points -- 49 more than Junqueira. Da Matta is attempting add Cleveland do a string of wins that began in Monterey, Calif., on June 9, and has been followed by first-place finishes at Portland, Chicago and Toronto the past three weeks. Da Matta has already joined Al Unser Jr. (1990) and Alex Zanardi (1998) as the only drivers to win four straight races. And with a win Sunday, da Matta will have pulled away from yet another pack of drivers. "I think it's cool," the 28-year-old da Matta said of his attempt at history. "I'm not saying I'm going to win every week, but I think I can keep this going. I think I can keep it going unless something happens inside the team. It's going to keep going." Not if Kanaan can help it. After watching da Matta win his fourth in a row by leading all 112 laps at Toronto Molson-Indy last week, Kanaan figured he'd try a new strategy to stop the streak. So he stayed at da Matta's house in Miami before coming to Cleveland, hoping to learn some of the enemy's secrets. "Four in a row? There must be something going on over there," Kanaan joked. "I had to check it out. I ate his food. I drank his milk. I played his video games. You can barely walk around because of all the trophies. There is better energy over there." In an age of parity in sports, da Matta is unquestionably the best driver in the CART field. Right now, no one can catch him. And that's just how he likes it. "Imagine if you're golfing with 10 friends and you kick their butts 10 weekends in a row," he said. "I think there's a pretty good chance of it happening until the end of the season."
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