CART: Kanaan collected in first lap accident in wet Portland race

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

June 25, 2001

Tony Kanaan

#55 Hollywood/Mo Nunn Racing Honda-Reynard
Freightliner/G.I. Joe's 200 - Race Notes/Quotes - Sunday, June 24, 2001
Portland International Raceway - Portland, Ore. - 1.969-Mile Road Course
Round 8 of 21 on the 2001 CART FedEx Championship Series

An accident on the opening lap of today's Freightliner/G.I. Joe's 200 at Portland International Raceway brought an end to a disappointing weekend for Tony Kanaan and the #55 Hollywood/Mo Nunn Racing Honda-Reynard. Kanaan's teammate Alex Zanardi, in the #66 Pioneer-WorldCom team car, was also taken out of the race in the incident, which began when Kanaan was forced to put two wheels off the track to the left to avoid other cars. As he was getting back on track, Kanaan was clipped from the right by the car of Memo Gidley. Zanardi was coming up from behind when he hit Kanaan on the left side and was sent into the wall. Neither driver was injured. Kanaan started 21st.

The next event on the schedule is the Marconi Grand Prix of Cleveland next weekend (June 29 through July 1) at Burke Lakefront Airport.

TONY KANAAN

"I had go off to the left to avoid some other cars, and when I came back on, Gidley hit me pretty hard. And the worst part of all is that when I spun sideways, Alex hit me even harder and that took him out of the race. I can' t believe it. Those are the things that happen when you start so far back. We really need to start a lot closer to the front because when you're in the back, you're playing with your own luck and it isn't always going to work out in your favor. This has been a very disappointing weekend."

Text provided by Laz Denes

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