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CART: Reynard finishes 1-2 at Portland Champ Car race

27 June 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

Gil de Ferran driving the Marlboro Team Penske Honda Reynard Champ Car took victory at Portland this weekend, to give the Penske team consecutive wins in the Championship, following de Ferran's team mate, Helio Castro Neves' success at Detroit last week. The win for de Ferran keeps Reynard ahead of its rivals in the Constructors Championship and has enabled Honda to take the lead in the Manufacturers Championship. Victory at Cleveland was the second win for de Ferran this year, the first driver to win more than one event so far this season.

A Reynard driver also took the runner-up spot in the race with Roberto Moreno in Patrick Racing's Ford Cosworth Reynard finishing 2.526 seconds behind de Ferran, to equal his career-best finish and take the lead in the CART Drivers Championship for the first time in his seven-year career. Christian Fittipaldi, Newman Haas Racing, Ford Cosworth Lola, joined the Reynard drivers on the podium in third sport, to form the first podium sweep by Brazilian drivers in CART history.

In scoring his seventh top-10 finish in eight events to date, Moreno moved to 68 points, one ahead of de Ferran, who stands second with 67. Paul Tracy, Honda Reynard, Team KOOL Green, whose 59 points entering the weekend led all drivers, went scoreless for the third straight event and fell to third.

Gil de Ferran, Marlboro Honda Reynard was understandably delighted with his win, commenting, "The car improved after the first stop, and I was able to start closing up ground on the leaders. After the second stop, the car was really fantastic, and Roger just said 'Go.' So I just kept pushing harder and harder and the car just kept going quicker and quicker and quicker. I knew those guys in front of me had to stop, so I just kept biding my time."

Roberto Moreno, Visteon Ford Reynard said of his second place finish, "What can I say? It was a great day for the Visteon guys again. We tried to be in touch with the leaders while saving fuel. Unfortunately, on the last stop, it took about twice as long to put in fuel, so that might have made a difference in the outcome. But it was a great race strategy once again. It was a great day and my guys did a great job."

The 2000 FedEx Championship Series moves on to Cleveland next week for round 9, July 2, at Burke Lakefront Airport on the shores of Lake Erie in Cleveland.

Drivers Championship Standings:

1 Roberto Moreno 68, 2 Gil de Ferran 67, 3 Paul Tracy 59, 4 Michael Andretti 56, 5 Jimmy Vasser 54 6 Max Papis 47, 7 Kenny Brack 47, 8 Juan Montoya 46, 9 Helio Castroneves 44, 10 Dario Franchitti 44 11 Adrian Fernandez 39, 12 Christian Fittipaldi 38

Constructors Championship Standings:

1 Reynard 159, 2 Lola 121, 3 Swift 4

Text provided by Alison Hill

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