Toronto results

[Gerard]

1. Michael Andretti - Lola-Ford
2. Adrian Fernandez - Reynard-Ford
3. Paul Tracy - Reynard-Honda
4. Cristiano da Matta - Reynard-Toyota
5. Alexandre Tagliani - Reynard-Ford
6. Gil de Ferran - Reynard-Honda
7. Patrick Carpentier - Reynard-Ford
8. Max Papis - Reynard-Ford
9. Jimmy Vasser - Lola-Toyota
10. Kenny Brack - Reynard-Ford
11. Oriol Servia - Reynard-Toyota
12. Luiz Garcia Jr. - Reynard-Mercedes
13. Roberto Moreno - Reynard-Ford
14. Shinji Nakano - Reynard-Honda - electrical
15. Mauricio Gugelmin - Reynard-Mercedes - electrical
16. Helio Castro Neves - Reynard-Honda - mechanical
17. Christian Fittipaldi - Lola-Ford - contact
18. Bryan Herta - Reynard-Mercedes - mechanical
19. Michel Jourdain Jr. - Lola-Mercedes - mechanical
20. Norberto Fontana - Reynard-Toyota - contact
21. Tarso Marques - Swift-Ford - contact
22. Mark Blundell - Reynard-Mercedes - mechanical
23. Takuya Kurosawa - Lola-Ford - mechanical
24. Juan Pablo Montoya - Lola-Toyota - contact
25. Dario Franchitti - Reynard-Honda - contact

[Joe Fan]

Great drive for Michael. He picked up his 40th career win which puts him in sole possession of third place on the all-time IndyCar/CART win list. A.J. and his father are the only two drivers ahead of him.

[Liz]

From one who saw the race in person:

Storming race by Cristiano da Matta. He will be heard from in the future and will go far.

Half a storming race by Servias, who eventually did his usual in-t00-hot-loop-the-car-and-stall trick, and threw himself out of a points scoring position. He will learn. Brought his own cheering section who were the most vocal and loyal of all fans - even after he was out of it, they kept on cheering him on.

The Greg Moore Pole Award is a good idea but should not be given to the pilote right before the race. It effectively ruined Helio's race by reminding him that he had taken the job that Greg would have had if he'd lived.

Excellent response from Paul Tracy when he won his third place: "My name is Paul and I AM CANADIAN!" (Only Canadians will understand this.)

I have nothing to say about Andretti as I do not like him, but my mom taught me to say nothing evil of people I do not like... so therefore I am silent on that subject.

Neat, conservative, stupid race by Gil.

[enemy-ace]

Also speaking as someone who was there, it was a truly excellent race, but then i have come to expect that from CART. Kudos go to Servia and DaMatta, young Racers who gave a good showing of themselves, but eventually succumbed to the veterans poise. Servia who ran side by side with Fernandez for one corner too many and paid the price, and DaMatta who held off Andretti beautifully while leading for a good part of the race but i think maybe wore himself and the car down in the effort and eventually dropped to fourth after being passed by Andretti in the pits and locking it up while under pressure from Tracy. And although i'm not an Andretti Fan either, i will give credit where it is due. The Man drove a flawless race; fast, aggresive and smart. He deserved the Win!
Downer of the Day! - Having Franchitti and Montoya go out so early, I was really looking forward to watching them Race!
But that's the beauty of CART, the race never ends until the checkered flag drops.

[Jay]

As someone else who was there - Pukepukepukepukeopuke.

No, actually it was quite a boring a race. There was more passing during the F1 race that morning. But a nice performance by Da Matta. He will have his first win very soon.

Liz, did you see Paul almost run up the side of Gil coming out of turn 2. That was a close one!! I didn't see any replays though.

The highlight for me was Paul Tracy's tribute to Ric and Greg after the race.

Forever Moore.

[bella]

as someone who wasn't there, i'm glad you enjoyed it.

gil was pants.

if there's such an adjective as pantser, that was christian. stupid boy.

how long will cristiano da matta be in cart before someone offers him a test in f1?

sorry, all andretti fans (are there any?), but i still am not a fan of andretti. despite going like a hoolie and winning.

[Liz]

In possible mitigation for My Gil I point out that he'd had a bang on the head on Friday (crashing immediately the chequered flag dropped on Qualifying) and possibly was not feeling 100%. But I still think he could have done better.

And sorry, Bella, that he turned in front of Christian without signalling. Careless boy.

Funny photo in today's Sun of Moreno in a phone booth outside Turn 5 with his car parked in front of it. My first thought: Where is he carrying the quarter for the call? Do those suits have pockets?

[Gerard]

Is that the same Toronto Sun that had an article which said Michael Andretti should be Canadian?

[Jay]

I am not sure why he would need to use a phone booth outside turn 5, it is about a 200 foot walk from their to the motorcoach area. Anyway there were always a lot of safety guys and paramedics there to lend him a quarter.

I think it was probably just a pose.


PS The Toronto Sun or any "Sun" newspapers are the Canadian equivilant of London's "Globe" tabloid.

[Crash Test]

Oh they'd have pockets all right, but i dont think they would be very deep Maybe he was just prank calling someone, that doesnt cost anything. Oooops, too much information, I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO PRANK CALL PEOPLE FROM PUBLIC PHONES!!!

[Nuvolari]

There's a commercial running in the States with Christiano bantering with the camera, declaring "I kick ***!"

He did . . and he will.

I'm no fan of Mikey, but his experience and skill really came to the fore.

And -- he didn't run over any of his crew!

[Crash Test]

What on earth is IAM???

[Liz]

Part of the Molson's advertisement: "I AM Canadian."

Canada does not want Mikey as a citizen. We only accept peaceful, orderly and well-mannered people here.

[Neil C]

Originally posted by Liz

Canada does not want Mikey as a citizen. We only accept peaceful, orderly and well-mannered people here.

Because they already have enough of the other kind.

[Roy2]

The field was in trouble when Andretti qualified third. It was a crying shame that Montoya and Franchitti went out like they did. They might have had more for Andretti than anyone else did.

He drove an excellent race in a pukka car. The guy can be so gracious when he wants to be, witness the things he said about Toronto and the Canadian fans all weekend, but such a prick at other times. I'm referring to his *****y comments about Montoya blocking him in qualifying. I couldn't help remembering the hatchet job he did on his teamate Fittipaldi in Vancouver '97 qualifying. It happened right in front of me and was the most egregious piece of slow-down-lap misbehavior imaginable. Not deliberate, probably, just oblivious.

The point is, everyone does it sooner or later on these tight street courses, including Andretti. But if you do it to the great Andretti, then the world is going to hear about if there is a microphone within a mile of him.

A great driver, but a real pain at times.

[Jay]

I saw him on Friday and Saturday, and he was a prick then too!

[Liz]

As he has been since I first saw him - he was 19 years old and standing sullenly by his father at the track in Nazareth, ignoring everyone who came up to speak to them both - and if only Mario had slapped the s*** out of him then and told him to straighten up, perhaps he might have grown up to be a human being. (Or perhaps the problem is that he is confusing himself with Someone Else who hailed from Nazareth?)