Free practice 2: Still da Matta!
Six more drivers broke into the 57-second bracket in the Saturday morning Champ Car practice session at Cleveland's Burke Lakefront Airport. But Cristiano da Matta still emerged fastest
The Brazilian lowered the target to 57.177 seconds in his Newman-Haas Lola-Toyota and maintained the comfortable 0.4-second margin over the field he held in Friday's provisional qualifying session. Kenny Brack came closest in the Saturday morning practice, notching a 57.632-second effort in his Ganassi Lola-Toyota.
Jimmy Vasser, Michael Andretti, Bruno Junqueira, Paul Tracy and Michel Jourdain all managed to record laps under 58 seconds in a session punctuated by several red flags. Scott Dixon had the biggest shunt, slamming his Ganassi Lola-Toyota backwards hard into the Turn 8 tyre wall shortly after turning a 58.476-second lap that was good for 12th place.
Dario Franchitti also found the Turn 8 tyres. The Scot put his two left-side wheels on the grass in the transition between Turns 7 and 8 and his Lola-Honda slid sideways into the tyre barrier. Dario resumed in the same car later in the session but wasn't able to match the 58.0-second effort he produced before the accident.
Team Rahal team-mates Jimmy Vasser and Michel Jourdain also spun off course in their Lola-Fords but didn't hit anything. The session closed as Patrick Carpentier lost an engine in his Reynard-Ford.
The second qualifying session takes place later today.
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