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Papis takes Portland 200 checkers
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Fighting a steady rain, driver after driver slid off the track, spun out in the mud or slammed into another car during Sunday's Freightliner/G.I. Joe's 200. Fortunately for Max Papis, all of it was going on well behind him. Being the pole-sitter paid off for Papis, a 31-year-old Italian who made virtually no mistakes and dominated the race for his second career CART victory. Staying ahead of the heavy spray that led to nine caution flags, Papis held off Roberto Moreno by 1.472 seconds. "I told you I was coming back," a jubilant Papis told reporters afterward. His performance had fallen off since he won in Homestead, Fla., to open the 2000 season, and last week in Detroit he had started a demoralizing 24th before finishing 11th. "It's like your first girlfriend -- you'll never forget it," he said of last year's breakthrough victory. "But this is even more special, because we came from zero to hero."
Christian Fittipaldi made a daring move past rookie Max Wilson on the tricky first turn with six laps left to take third. Kenny Brack, the FedEx Series points leader, recovered from an early mistake to finish 11th, good for two points. He has a 76-69 lead over Helio Castroneves, who finished 17th. Papis swept all 22 points for the weekend: 20 for the win, and one each for taking the pole and leading the most laps (69 of 76). He jumped from 14th to 11th overall. Papis has been overshadowed most of the season by Brack, his Team Rahal teammate. Papis' best finish had been sixth in Japan, and it has been rumored that Rahal might not renew his contract at the end of the year unless his production picked up. The developments made winning that much sweeter. "[Sunday] was a great success on and off the track, especially off the track," he said. The race on the 1.969-mile permanent road course was scheduled for 98 laps but was shortened by 22 because of a two-hour time limit. It was the first time CART had raced in the rain since Vancouver, British Columbia in September 1999, when a downpour caused the slowest race in series history. With so many cautions, the drivers were able to conserve fuel, and the leaders went to the pits only once. Although the last 31 laps were run under the green flag, and Papis had to aim for the puddles to cool his treaded tires on the drying track, he had about a gallon of fuel left in his Ford-powered Lola at the finish. "We won because we were the fastest and the smartest," he said.
"I was trying to put him into a mistake situation, but he didn't do it," said Moreno, who was coming off a third place last week and also was second in Portland last year. Wilson finished fourth, scoring 12 points. He had been the only driver on the circuit without a point. Gil de Ferran, the two-time defending race champion, took 13th, his worst Portland finish in seven races. The drivers found trouble immediately on the Festival Curves, a perilous three-turn hairpin at the end of the first straightaway. Brack spun out on the second turn, but the leaders made it through cleanly. Then Toranosuke Takagi skidded off, followed by Castroneves, who lost a lap and never got back into contention. Moments later, Tony Kanaan, Memo Gidley and Alex Zanardi were knocked out in a crash. Kanaan slid onto the grass, and when he returned to the track, he got over too far to the right, clipping Gidley's car. Gidley drifted left and was rammed by Zanardi, who went into the wall. No one was injured. Papis held his position through it all, and fought off repeated challenges under the cautions. After the third yellow flag, Papis slowed suddenly to warm up his brakes, and Cristiano da Matta, running second, bumped into him. Da Matta wound up 10th. "It was kind of a disappointment, because I really wanted to have a good battle with him," Papis said.
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