CART: Franchitti Finishes Second in Australia to Move into Second Overall in the Championship
19 October 1998
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Franchitti started from the pole position, his fifth of the year, and a solid start allowed him to lead Zanardi for the opening 13 laps. The leaders dove into the pits on lap 13 when Michel Jourdain's spin brought out the first full course yellow. Zanardi beat Franchitti out of the pits and led the remainder of the race. Christian Fittipaldi claimed third place.
Meanwhile, Paul Tracy's race ended early when he climbed out of his KOOL Reynard-Honda after 45 laps. Tracy started fourth on the grid and was able to jump to third ahead of Fittipaldi on the first lap. Tracy was fourth when Michael Andretti hit him from behind on lap 34, which punctured left rear tire and damaged his suspension.
By finishing second today, Franchitti collects 16 points to total 160 for the season with only the season-finale left in Fontana. He moves 12 points ahead of Jimmy Vasser who suffered a DNF and falls to third overall with 148 points. Adrian Fernandez stands fourth overall with 142.
DARIO FRANCHITTI, #27 TEAM KOOL GREEN REYNARD/HONDA/FIRESTONE: (Started 1st / Finished 2nd ; Currently 2nd in the PPG Cup standings with 160 points)
"We were just a fraction slower than Zanardi on the first stop and that was the difference. The only chance I had was on one of the re-starts. Other than that, I couldn't get close enough. Car to car, I think my KOOL car was quicker than Alex today. But he had nothing to lose and I had a lot to lose.
"So second place today is good. We've moved up to second in the championship and have a bit of a gap back to Jimmy (Vasser). You can't win them all, but it would be great if you could."
PAUL TRACY, #26 TEAM KOOL GREEN REYNARD/HONDA/FIRESTONE:
(Started 4th / DNF - 23rd ; Currently 13th in the PPG Cup standings
with 61
points)
"Michael (Andretti) hit me in the rear on the back straightaway. He hit me so hard it punctured the left rear tire, bent the suspension and severed a rear brake line. So I was driving the car with only front brakes. Doing 190 mph down to 30 mph for the corners with no rear brakes, it's just not safe to be out there. I'm disappointed for the KOOL team. I had a good car and we were just trying to make the necessary fuel mileage to finish on the podium."
BARBER DODGE PRO SERIES - HOMESTEAD
Nilton Rossoni of Brazil won the 40-minute Barber Dodge race Saturday, October 17 at the Homestead Motorsports Complex with Jeff Simmons finishing second. The race was held in conjunction with the FIA GT Championship. It was the 11th event in the 12-race series. Gurney was 13th in the points standings going into the race.
Gurney's Team KOOL Green car finished fourth, leading a pack of nine cars for almost all the race. He fell from his pole position to third place on one re-start, and to fourth on another.
The 4th place finish is the best of Gurney's Barber Dodge rookie season, and he led the race - also a first.
ALEX GURNEY, TEAM KOOL GREEN
(Started 1st / Finished 4th)
"Any time you can qualify on the pole, especially in a series as competitive as the Barber Dodge series, automatically raises your stature to a contender. And to have done that, to have led for the first time, and to have my best finish yet makes this a very special weekend.
"There was a little confusion early in the race while we were running under yellow flags - I was passed by two cars [Nilton] Rossoni and [Jeff] Simmons. I'd like to see that looked into, because I held my position as we're supposed to.
"Even though I had all those cars behind me, I tried not to 'drive my mirrors' or keep looking back to see if anybody was gaining. We're taught to not do that. I just found a rhythm that worked, and stayed with it, and kept my head down."
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