|
|
 |
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
CART Notebook De Ferran not interested in Molson Indy history lesson
TORONTO (AP) -- Only one driver has won the Molson Indy from the pole since the race's inception in 1986. Gil de Ferran wasn't interested in the facts. "I'm not a great believer in statistics," de Ferran said Saturday after he won his second pole here, edging Penske Racing teammate Helio Castroneves by 0.064 seconds. "I think you'll find a different reason every time. We'll just try to make the statistics different." If history does indeed repeat itself, that might be wise. The only driver to win this race from the pole was Michael Andretti in 1991, and he went on to capture the CART championship that year. Last year, Castroneves won the pole and finished 16th after suffering engine trouble. De Ferran won his other pole here in 1999. In that race, he lost two laps and finished 19th after sliding through some oil on the track and making light contact with the outside wall on turn 3.
Backfire bluesIt happened to several Honda drivers at California Speedway in the CART season finale in October, and it happened again in practice Saturday in the Molson Indy. An explosion in the air box blew off the engine cover at the back of Tony Kanaan's Honda, forcing him to the pits. "It was like fireworks out there," said photographer Ellen Swan, who was stationed at turn 5. "There were huge backfires." The explosions are caused by excess fuel buildup. Kanaan suffered his problem as he began to accelerate out of the 90-degree, left-hand curve. "When it happens inside, the plenum plate [air box] blows out," Honda spokesman Dan Layton said. "You don't want it to happen because you can't run until you fix it." It didn't affect Kanaan. He posted the fastest time in the first round of qualifying for Mo Nunn Racing and will start fourth in Sunday's race.
Bumpy BrackSlippery, bumpy turn 8 on the 11-turn, 1.7-mile temporary street circuit was a nemesis again. On Friday, several drivers either were forced up an escape road or slammed the tire barrier. It bit Kenny Brack in practice on Saturday morning. The current CART points leader, who didn't run many laps on test day Friday, had the fastest practice time early Saturday but slammed the tire barrier on the 90-degree right curve, cutting short his final session. Brack, who races for Team Rahal, has scored championship points in his past six starts and seven of eight overall during the 2001 season. He wasn't the only one who had problems. Jimmy Vasser spun around when he locked his brakes at turn 3, which sits at the end of a long straightaway.
Spark plugsMichael Andretti has won the Toronto Molson Indy a record six times to match a CART standard for one event. Only Al Unser Jr., now in the Indy Racing League, can match Andretti's domination of a single event. Unser won the Long Beach Grand Prix six times when he raced in CART. ... Japan's Shinji Nakano had the top practice lap Saturday at 108.692 mph, just ahead of Tony Kanaan and rookie Bruno Junqueira. Nakano and Kanaan were the only drivers to top 108 mph. ... Friday's attendance of 43,816 for practice day was an increase of more than 1,000 over the same day last year. The record for the day is 45,526, set in 1999. The record total attendance for the Toronto Molson Indy is 168,353, set last year. ... Of de Ferran's 12 career poles, eight have come on street circuits. ... Alex Zanardi, struggling to regain the form that won consecutive CART championships in 1997-98, had a disappointing day and will start way back on the outside of the 12th row.
| |||||||||||||||||||||
