Montoya takes win in Vancouver

The 23-year-old Columbian punched the air with delight as he crossed the finish line after staying ahead for most of the CART series race.

He lost the lead once - to Paul Tracy - but a mistake from the Team Green driver enabled Montoya to retake the top spot.

Montoya's main title rival Dario Franchitti made a disastrous move on the Columbian late in the race, eventually spinning behind the rookie and damaging his rear wing.

The Scot rejoined the circuit after pitting for repairs, but was trailing in 10th place behind Tony Kanaan when the race was called after two hours.

Montoya now leads Franchitti 194-171 in the championship with four races to go.

Canadian Patrick Carpentier scored his highest finish, coming home in second place, with Montoya's team-mate Jimmy Vasser coming a strong third.

Team Green, however, suffered a terrible race, when Paul Tracy made a mistake just a few laps from the two-hour finish cut-off, ripping the front of his car off after driving into
a wall.

The race was disjointed, with a wet track causing the start to be made with the Safety Car.

It led for several laps, before the race went to full green.

But, with cars sliding off the dry line throughout the race, and tyre choices - some drivers opted for slicks early in the race - backfiring, the action was confined to short bursts in between local and full course caution periods.