2001 Cleveland Thoughts
TRACK: Perhaps the only track where the drivers don't mind the bumps because the layout is so much fun
for them. As Cristiano da Matta said, "Everything about the track encourages you to go deeper; to put the power
down earlier."
RACE: The best race of the season with great drama, lots of action throughout the field, and a ton of
feel good stories.
START: It's turn one at Cleveland. What did you expect?
GRID: Perhaps the topsy-turvy lineup wasn't so topsy-turvy after all.
FRANCHITTI: Welcome back to victory circle, Dario. It's been too long for a talent such as yourself.
GREEN: It's a wonder team owners don't get ulcers worrying about fuel every race.
GIDLEY: All the headlines were written, but the story didn't play out. Nonetheless, probably the most
popular runnerup in CART history.
GANASSI: Thanks, Chip, for finally seeing the light.
HERTA: Always good at Cleveland, and most likely not the last you'll see of Bryan this year.
DE FERRAN: If nothing else, Gil probably had a lot of fun passing all those cars.
VASSER: Surprising that Mr. Steady scored his first points since May.
DA MATTA: A consistently fast weekend gone sour by the qualifying weather.
MORENO: Despite the finish, a very good race for Roberto.
GUGELMIN: Well, the number one spot was nice while it lasted.
ZANARDI: Some of the old Zanardi was back. Can Alex keep it going?
SERVIA: This year, Oriol is the first turn, first lap goat.
PAPIS: Sometimes you are not rewarded for your efforts. Mad Max finally gets out of the first qualifying
group thanks to his wonderful weekend at Portland, only to be smitten by rain during the second qualifying group's
session, and ends up starting 22nd.
WILSON: There we go again, eating crow for the second week in a row. We are going to officially change
our tune. Max Wilson is indeed a driver to be reckoned with. As is the Arciero-Blair team.
FERNANDEZ: Despite the results, this team made great strides speed wise at Cleveland.
JUNQUIERA: This time it was Bruno's fault in the pits. And like the last pit incident, the result is a
23rd place finish.
TRACY: Maybe bad karma from last week's incident carried over to Cleveland.
RADIO: If you think the number of commercials on TV is bad, you should listen to the CART Radio Network.
It's practically a run of nonstop commercials which is a shame because the announcers do a great job.
STAT OF THE WEEKEND: The mark of a great driver is to be able to run consistent lap times when pushing
hard. Memo Gidley ran laps 36-40 within 0.14 seconds of each other, and after getting by a stubborn Max Papis,
ran 17 straight laps within a half second range.
HISTORICAL FACT OF THE WEEKEND: The only other Cleveland area track to host a championship event took
place in 1930 at the Cleveland-Akron Track, a half mile board track. The 200 lap event was won by Shorty Cantlon
in a Miller-Schofield at an average speed of 68.543 mph. Only ten cars started the race.
QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: Dario Franchitti, after being told by the team that Memo was catching him, Herta
was close behind, but he had to save fuel, "I thought, how am I going to do that?"
QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: Mauricio Gugelmin thinking about how the first group always complains of
unfair conditions after rain afflicted the second group, "Maybe now that the first group was faster, for sure the
other guys will be screaming."
SCHEDULE: Off to Toronto, the Long Beach of the East.
Copyright © 2001 by Deep Throttle. All Rights Reserved.
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