| | Associated Press
HOUSTON -- Jimmy Vasser proved he can still win,
outdistancing the field in the Houston Grand Prix.
But Gil de Ferran gained a measure of control in the still-
tight CART championship battle with a third-place finish Sunday.
|  | | Jimmy Vasser led the final 25 laps on Sunday, finishing ahead of teammate Juan Montoya on the streets of Houston. |
Vasser, the 1996 series champion, pulled away from teammate Juan
Montoya at the end and picked up the ninth victory of his career
and first since a season-ending win in 1998 in Fontana, Calif.
"Finally," said Vasser, who is looking for a ride for 2001
after being told earlier this season he will not be back with Chip
Ganassi's team. "It's been a long time. I feel great.
"We've been in position to win some races since that last one,
but it's pretty tough when you've got Montoya as your teammate."
Vasser became the 10th different winner in 18 races this season.
The hot day, with air temperatures in the low 90s and the track
temperature near 110, began with 13 drivers mathematically in the
running for the championship and the top six drivers just 19 points
apart.
De Ferran, who led more than half the 100 laps on the tight
1.527-mile temporary downtown street circuit, lost the lead when he
made a late pit stop for a splash of fuel. But the 31-year-old
Brazilian still came away a winner after most of the contenders ran
into problems.
He now has a 19-point margin over new runner-up Paul Tracy with
races remaining in Australia on Oct. 15 and Fontana on Oct. 29.
"That's good," de Ferran said. "But still we've got to keep
our heads down and do a good job in Australia.
De Ferran, who sat on the pit wall for several minutes while overcome by the heat, said he was tired.
"We had to push really hard during the race," he said. "I was
running a qualifying pace throughout the race and, there at the
end, I was really concentrating. It was very tense being the meat
in sandwich there between Juan and Paul."
Tracy, who began the day fourth in the points, moved up with a
fourth-place finish, just ahead of de Ferran's Team Penske teammate
Helio Castroneves, Christian Fittipaldi, Adrian Fernandez, Shinji
Nakano, Oriol Servia and Tony Kanaan, the last driver on the lead
lap.
The big losers were Roberto Moreno and Michael Andretti, who
came into the race second and third in the standings, just nine and
11 points, respectively, behind de Ferran.
Moreno got only two points Sunday for an 11th-place finish after
having to make an extra pit stop when his seat belts came loose on
lap 64.
Andretti had a disastrous afternoon, killing his engine during a
pit stop and then losing two laps after being spun out by rookie
Alex Tagliani.
"There goes the championship," said Andretti, who fell into a
tie for fifth with Fernandez, 26 points behind the leader and four
behind Moreno with a maximum of 44 points remaining. Andretti
finished one position out of the points in 13th.
Sunday's race got off to a halting start with two full-course
cautions in the first seven laps.
Dario Franchitti's distant title hopes ended on the first lap.
Starting next to de Ferran on the front row, Franchitti tagged one
of the concrete barriers midway through the lap, damaging the
right side of his car. Franchitti continued, but the broken
suspension sent him skidding into a tire barrier on the first turn
of the second lap.
The green flag came back out for the start of lap seven, but Max
Papis appeared to have a transmission problem, slowing suddenly in
the middle of the track. Memo Gidley, driving close behind, banged
into the rear of Papis' car and slid up onto the rear, where the
two cars locked together.
Safety workers took several minutes to get the cars untangled
and Gidley was able to continue.
The early cautions changed a lot of the fuel strategies, and
three more caution flags kept changing the scenario.
De Ferran kept Vasser at bay throughout the early going and gave
up the lead only during pit stops.
Following their second stops, de Ferran tried to build a big
enough lead to make a quick fuel stop without giving up the top
spot.
The strategy appeared to be working as de Ferran moved ahead of
runner-up Vasser by nearly 17 seconds before Tarso Marques stopped
on course with a broken transmission on lap 74, bringing out another
full-course caution.
De Ferran quickly drove into the pits for his fuel stop, giving
up the top two spots to the Toyota-Lolas of Vasser and Montoya and
barely staying ahead of Tracy for third. That's the way it stayed
to the end, with Vasser beating Montoya to the finish line by
1.914 seconds -- about a quarter of a mile. | |
ALSO SEE
Houston Grand Prix results
Notebook: Unlucky Andretti falls further behind in title chase
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Jimmy Vasser takes the checkered flag in the Houston Grand Prix.
avi: 2810 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Michael Andretti's spin out causes a six car pile up.
avi: 1467 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
A victorious Jimmy Vasser speaks with ESPN's Marlo Klain after the race.
RealVideo: 28.8
Gil de Ferran spoke with ESPN's Marlo Klain about his growing lead in the CART championship.
RealVideo: 28.8
 Jimmy Vasser talks about his first victory since the 1998 season.
wav: 188 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Jimmy Vasser recounts being challenged by his teammate Juan Montoya for the victory.
wav: 151 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Juan Montoya comments on his second place finish in Sunday's Houston Grand Prix.
wav: 86 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Gil de Ferran tried his best at attacking Juan Montoya for a second place finish.
wav: 475 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
With an eye on the championship, Michael Andretti had very little to say about his disastrous spin out.
wav: 75 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
The high temperatures made it physically difficult for Paul Tracy.
wav: 77 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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