CART NOTEBOOK: UNDAUNTED SERVIA STARTS LAST BUT FINISHES FIFTH.Byline: Keith Lair Staff Writer FONTANA - Being perfect does not necessarily result in a victory. Oriel Servia started 18th, and last, but finished fifth, the first car a lap off the lead in the Toyota 500 at California Speedway The California Speedway is a two-mile, low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway in Fontana, California, similar to that of "sister track" Michigan International Speedway. It is located approximately 40 miles east of Los Angeles on the site of the former Kaiser Steel mill. on Sunday. ``It is always easier to pick up a lot of places at the start of the race when you qualify last,'' he said. ``When you start second or first, there aren't a lot of cars to pass. Next time I am here, I would prefer not to pass any cars at the start because I am starting on the pole.'' Servia ran the last 12 laps in fifth place, jumping two spots when Cristiano da Matta Cristiano Monteiro da Matta (born September 19, 1973, in Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil) is an auto racing driver, winner of the American CART Championship in 2002, and former Toyota Formula One driver. blew an engine to bring out a yellow flag. ``Every pit stop we changed the car and each time we made a change, the car got better. The improvement really showed at the end of the race when we did the fastest lap In motorsport, the fastest lap is the quickest lap run during a race. Some series, like A1 Grand Prix and the GP2 series, award bonus points to the driver/team with the fastest lap. of the race. We just got the car set up correctly a little too late in the weekend.'' Servia ran the race's fastest lap on the two-mile oval on lap 234. He went 232.114 mph. By then the team's weekend-long trouble with understeer un·der·steer intr.v. un·der·steered, un·der·steer·ing, un·der·steers To turn less sharply than the operator would expect. Used of vehicles, especially automobiles. n. 1. An instance of understeering. had been solved. ``We did a good job to come from last to fifth,'' he said. ``But to win in this series, you have to do everything from the start of the weekend through the end of the race perfect.'' --`Mad Max' falls short: Max Papis Massimiliano "Max" Papis (born October 3, 1969[1]) is a racing driver from Italy who has competed in several top-level motorsports series such as Formula One and Champ Car. had something to prove. The Italian, dubbed dub 1 tr.v. dubbed, dub·bing, dubs 1. To tap lightly on the shoulder by way of conferring knighthood. 2. To honor with a new title or description. 3. ``Mad Max,'' was a replacement for Adrian Fernandez, who had to sit out Sunday's race because of injuries suffered last week in Australia. However, mechanical problems knocked him out of the race with 35 laps to go. ``I had been out of the car for a long time, but it was not a problem for me,'' he said. ``We were fighting like a lion. That's how much we wanted to win. I think we had a car for the top four or top three. It was just a matter of track position.'' --Not this week: It also was a disappointing day for last week's winner, Mario Dominguez, whose engine blew after 107 laps. ``It was a thrill to go 220 mph,'' he said. ``I was definitely learning a lot out there.'' --Wait and see: California Speedway president Bill Miller likes the moves the troubled CART series has made for next year. But he said he's waiting for the final details before he'll feel at ease. ``There are still a lot of variables,'' he said. ``We're just waiting to see what they roll out. They're going 100 percent. It's been a challenging year. I like it that they announced Bridgestone as a sponsor. But there is still a lot to work out.'' The weekend crowd of about 120,000 - track officials do not release attendance figures - was more than the attendance at March's Indy Racing League The Indy Racing League, better known as IRL, is the sanctioning body of a predominantly American based open-wheel racing series. The League consists of two series, the premiere IndyCar Series event. That was the first for the track, and there was limited infield Infield is a widely used term in sports terminology, its meaning depends on in what sport it is used. In baseball In baseball the baseball diamond plus a rounded region beyond it (see diagram), usually clear of grass, in contrast to the more distant, usually grass-covered camping space because the road course was in use. ``We have been a successful event for a number of years and we'd like to get our numbers back. That requires work from our end and their end.'' Weather was a helping factor. Two years ago, the race was plagued by rain. Last year, by cold. Sunday, it was warm and sunny before clouds crept crept v. Past tense and past participle of creep. crept Verb the past of creep crept creep over the track mid-race. ``People saw two good races,'' Miller said. ``Plus, it was an exciting finish (Sunday).'' |
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