TNT Sports
Frenchitti beats Da Matta to Montreal win
By
Published 26/08/2002 at 10:21 GMT+1
Scotland's Dario Franchitti won his second CART race of the season at Montreal on Sunday as series leader Cristiano da Matta had to settle for second at the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit. Franchitti held off the attentions of the Brazilian following a 74th lap restart to claim his ninth career victory.
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Image credit: TNT Sports
Scotland's Dario Franchitti won his second CART race of the season at Montreal on Sunday as series leader Cristiano da Matta had to settle for second at the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit. Franchitti held off the attentions of the Brazilian following a 74th lap restart to claim his ninth career victory.
RESULTS: Montreal classification & updated standings
Brazilian Tony Kanaan took third, Canadian Paul Tracy was
fourth while American Jimmy Vasser and Mexican Michel Jourdain
completed the top six.
The race turned into a two-man duel after 71 laps with
Franchitti leading da Matta but Mexican Adrian Fernandez then
crashed his car after going wide on a curve, prompting a yellow
flag while drivers further back got a chance to catch up.
"Races like today are always fun. Cristiano and I were on
different parts of the track because of strategy but yet we were
sort of fighting toward the end," Franchitti told a post-race
news conference.
"I didn't know ever if Cristiano would come out of the pits
ahead of me or behind me so you just have to attack every lap."
Da Matta still has a solid lead in the series standings, with 161 points to Franchitti's 106. "I wasn't in a position to attack so much. With six races left, I wasn't in a position to throw away any points," said the championship leader. "It was very important for me to finish the race today. But I'm very pleased with second place."
Franchitti has now won all three CART events held in Canada,
having taken the Vancouver Indy last month and the Toronto
edition in 1999.
Hometown favorite Patrick Carpentier had started fourth but
bailed out on his 27th lap because of engine problems while his
French-Canadian team mate Alexandre Tagliani took 11th place.
Carpentier drops to third in the standings and is tied with
Brazilian Bruno Junqueira, who also suffered engine failure.
In June, when Formula One cars raced on the same circuit for
the Canadian Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher had the best lap
with 1:15.960.
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