DA MATTA Wins Miami GP and TAKES 'DA CART TITLE'

October 6, 2002

MIAMI--Cristiano da Matta won the battle and the war. The Brazilian driver won the inaugural Grand Prix Americas in Miami's Bayfront Park and with the victory emerged with a big enough points lead to clinch the 2002 CART FedEx Championship Series title.

The driver of the Chevron Toyota/Lola captured his seventh race of the season and led the most laps while his closest rival in the standings, Bruno Junqueira, wound up fifth in the Target Toyota/Lola. The 10-point difference between first and fifth and the bonus point for most laps led give da Matta a 69-point lead and the 2002 Vanderbilt Cup. With a maximum of 68 points available in the three remaining races on the schedule, da Matta cannot be overtaken in the standings.

Da Matta crossed the finish line .734 of a second over Newman/Haas Racing teammate Christian Fittipaldi in the Lilly Toyota/Lola. Jimmy Vasser wound up third in the Shell Ford-Cosworth/Lola and Alex Tagliani was fourth in the Player's/Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Reynard more than 12 seconds ahead of Junqueira.

Starting sixth, da Matta quietly moved up in the standings and took over the lead when polesitter Tony Kanaan was assessed a penalty for blocking.

Kanaan took the lead at the start of the race with Scott Dixon in hot pursuit. Dixon harried Kanaan and tried to make a pass on Lap 20. The resulting contact put the driver of the Target Toyota/Lola out of the race while Kanaan managed to maintain the lead. However, Kanaan was then penalized and the Pioneer/WorldCom Honda/Lola dropped to 13th place.

In the meantime, Paul Tracy was a man on the move. After starting 16th in the KOOL Honda/Lola, Tracy moved up to fourth by Lap 23. Tracy made his first stop on Lap 4 when the yellow came out for contact between Mario Dominguez and Patrick Carpentier. That put him out of sequence with the leaders and the Canadian driver assumed the lead when da Matta, Dario Franchitti and Christian Fittipaldi all made their first stops on Lap 42.

Junqueira, who made his first stop on Lap 20, took over the lead when Tracy had to pit on Lap 46. Junqueira stayed in front until pitting for a second time on Lap 62 and that put da Matta back into the lead.

Da Matta, Franchitti and Fittipaldi held the top three spots until pitting for the final time on Lap 84. Tracy now led, but returned to the pits in four laps.

Da Matta regained the lead, but the caution came out on Lap 91 for Franchitti, who went into the Turn 3 tire barrier in his KOOL Honda/Lola. That closed the ranks, and the yellow came out shortly after the Lap 94 restart with tangle involving Tracy, Vasser, Junqueira and Michel Jourdain Jr. The incident eliminated Tracy while Vasser passed Tagliani for third.

The green flag came out on Lap 101 and with Fittipaldi between him and the others, da Matta was able to sail home safely for the race win and the title.

Rounding out the top 10 were Jourdain in the Gigante Ford-Cosworth/Lola, Adrian Fernandez in the Tecate/Quaker State/Telmex Honda/Lola, Michael Andretti in the Motorola Honda/Lola, Kanaan and Franchitti.