With most of the Brazilian "Brat Pack" racing in CART for the last time, a little tribute seemed in order. source: 7thgear.com - Tara Munger The Brazilian bond is strong in CART. Not only have most of these drivers spent their professional careers racing against each other, they have been childhood friends and rivals, and have grown to be near inseparable "brothers" off the track. Last weekend marked the last time several of them may very well ever raced together. CART Series Champ Cristiano da Matta will head off to Formula 1, with testing duties beginning in a little over a week. Christian Fittipaldi will open the next chapter of his career in Winston Cup for 2003. Tony Kanaan will follow new team owner Michael Andretti to the IRL. This weekend is very significant to the trio both professionally and, most importantly, personally. The three felt something needed to be done to mark the special weekend. Hence, the unique helmets were painted, with help from da Matta's brothers. Each of the three helmets has the driver's own paint scheme on the front, then the back is split with the scheme of the other two. Saturday morning in pit lane, there was even some bribing going as the rest of the CART drivers admired the special helmets. There was some bartering between Kanaan and da Matta about getting Cristiano to wear the helmet for his first F1 race next season. When we left them, the going rate for the F1 debut was $1000. Boy, we sure are gonna miss you guys.
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