Tagliani second in Road America
source: cart.com ELKHART LAKE, Wis.--Cristiano da Matta won Sunday's Grand Prix at Road America Featuring the Motorola 220, Round 12 of the 2002 CART FedEx Championship Series. Driving the Havoline Toyota/Lola, da Matta scored his sixth victory of the season and built his lead to 42 points over Bruno Junqueira and Patrick Carpentier. Da Matta crossed the finish line .805 of a second over Alex Tagliani in the Player's/Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Reynard. Junqueira, the polesitter and defending race winner, wound up third in the Target Toyota/Lola. Pit stops proved to be a key to da Matta's victory. The Brazilian driver started second but dropped the to third at the start after being passed by Paul Tracy in the KOOL Honda/Lola. Tracy then passed Junqueira for the lead as the field headed into Turn 5. Tracy held the lead for the first 24 laps, but surrendered the lead when he made his second stop ahead of the lead pack. That put Junqueira in the lead and after he and da Matta made their second stops, both were able to rejoin the race ahead of Tracy. Tracy's day came to a halt on Lap 40 when Kenny Brack's passing attempt failed and his Target Toyota/Lola spun and took both cars out. When the yellow came out on Lap 50 for Shinji Nakano's spin, the leaders pitted for the final time. Junqueira lost time after his rear tire knocked the impact wrench out of the hands of one his rear tire changers. The time spent retrieving the wrench allowed Tagliani to rejoin the race in second, behind da Matta. The top three would remain that way for the remainder of the race. Tony Kanaan, who started last in the Pioneer/WorldCom Honda/Lola after experiencing a myriad of mechanical problems throughout the weekend, finally had things go his way and charged to fourth place. Jimmy Vasser drove a steady race to place fifth in the Shell Ford-Cosworth/Lola. Rounding out the top 10 were Christian Fittipaldi in the Lilly Toyota/Lola, Carpentier in the Player's/Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Reynard, rookie Mario Dominguez in the Herdez Ford-Cosworth/Lola, Michel Jourdain Jr. in the Gigante Ford-Cosworth/Lola and Michael Andretti in the Motorola Honda/Lola. Jourdain scored in the points for the 12th straight race and also recorded his 10th top-10 finish of the season. Andretti was knocked of contention after Kanaan punted him into the gravel. He was able to rejoin the race, but lost a lap in the process. Complete detailed results at CART.com
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