CART: Tony Kanaan, Post Race Notes and Quotes, Vancouver
4 September 2000
Tony Kanaan and the #55 Hollywood/Mo Nunn Racing Mercedes-Benz Reynard finished where they started, taking 14th place in today’s Molson Indy Vancouver, but not before having to recover from an early-race incident that set them back several spots in the order. By Lap 11, Kanaan had worked his way up to 12th from his 14th starting position when he was hit hard from behind by Michel Jourdain in a Turn 1 incident that knocked Jourdain out of the race. Kanaan proceeded from there, but the rear suspension gave way some three laps later due to the impact. Kanaan pitted, and the crew discovered a broken rear toe link. The repair cost four laps in the pits before Kanaan resumed in 20th place. He worked his way up to 14th and finished five laps off the pace of race winner Paul Tracy, who won for the third time this year and for the second race in a row. Kanaan recorded the fifth-fastest race lap enroute to his finish. The next stop on the 20-race CART FedEx Championship Series tour is next weekend’s Round 16 at Laguna Seca Raceway (Sept. 8-10) for the Grand Prix of Monterey. TONY KANAAN “That really takes the wind out of your sails when you lose laps early in the race like that, especially when it’s not your fault. I was on the outside of Memo (Gidley) going into Turn 1 and I saw all kinds of stuff happening behind me. I think Jourdain thought he could brake deeper than he could because he slammed into me really hard. He pushed me forward 200 feet and I almost didn’t make the turn. But I got past the tire barrier and was hoping the car was alright. It was for a few laps. But then I felt the rear end give way. I was hoping it was only a flat tire. But it was much more than that. It’s really unfortunate because the crew really had the car balanced well for me for the race after we struggled all day in qualifying yesterday. But we turned good laps, and managed to finish where we started. Our luck is bound to change soon. We go to Laguna next week, and that’s definitely one of those tracks I have had great success on in the past. We deserve to turn our luck around, don’t we?”