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Successful debut Da Matta wins in first race for Newman-Haas Racing
Updated: Sunday March 11, 2001 7:26 PM
MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) -- It took Cristiano da Matta one race to fill a pan out at Newman-Haas Racing. The diminutive Brazilian, sitting in the seat occupied for the last seven years by Michael Andretti, the biggest star in the CART series, drove away from the field Sunday to win the season-opening Telmex Tecate Grand Prix. The triumph in the first Champ car race in Mexico in 20 years was the second victory for the 27-year-old da Matta, who began his career last year with the now-defunct PPI Motorsports team. "Everybody on this team is awesome," da Matta said after scrambling out of his Toyota-powered Lola. "The track was very slippery in spots and I nearly spun early in the race. I had to figure out the line." The winner came out on top in a mid-race battle with polesitter Kenny Brack, then held off series champion Gil de Ferran over the last few laps of the race shortened to 78 laps -- two fewer than scheduled -- by a two-hour time limit. De Ferran, who was battling an intestinal problem that forced him to take intravenous fluids after Saturday's qualifying and again before the race, managed to hang on, trailing da Matta to the checkered flag by nearly 2 seconds -- almost the length of the final straightaway on the new 2.1-mile, 12-turn road course in downtown Fundidora Park.
Paul Tracy wound up third, followed by Andretti, who moved over the winter to a new team fielded by Barry Green, who also campaigns cars for Tracy and Dario Franchitti. Brack, who had several off-course excursions, finished fifth, just ahead of former series champion Jimmy Vasser. Brack and da Matta started from the front row and dominated the early going. After the first round of pit stops by the leaders, Brack was still ahead. But, on lap 43, Brack slid off course and through the grass, allowing da Matta to slip past. Other than a few laps after his final pit stop, the jockey-sized da Matta led the rest of the way. Brack did make a desperate move to get back out front on lap 53, but da Matta immediately repassed for the lead as Brack slid through the turn. After the final pit stops, de Ferran came up in second place. But he couldn't get close enough to challenge. "You're up there and you just want to keep going," said de Ferran. "Your focus is not quite as good and I was making a lot of mistakes during the race -- a slide here, a slide there. It's difficult to keep your rhythm when you're not feeling well." All three full-course caution flags in the race were brought out by single-car crashes in the final turn -- a fast left-hander onto the pit straightaway. Rookie Max Wilson slid through the turn and slapped the concrete barrier on lap nine, Roberto Moreno hit in almost the same spot on lap 22 and Christian Fittipaldi -- da Matta's new teammate -- also hit that same wall on lap 68.
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