Numero uno for Bruno

BRAZILIAN rookie Bruno Junqueira scored his first Fed Ex CART championship victory in the Motorola 220 at Road America yesterday, surviving the wet and wild conditions that saw the race delayed, stopped, restarted and then shortened.

Junqueira and the Target Chip Ganassi crew played the changing conditions to perfection to earn the team's first win of the 2001 season and Toyota's first visit to the winners' circle since Nazareth in May.

"This was a really difficult race with all of the things that happened," Junqueira said.

"At the restart I lost a lot of positions, but when I had clear track ahead of me I just pushed and pushed. I just drove as fast as I could on my 'in' lap, and I built up enough of a lead that I was able to get in for a splash-and-go, and that was it." Junqueira is now the third driver in the last four years to claim his first career victory at Road America, joining Christian Fittipaldi in 1999 and Dario Franchitti in 1998. Current F1 driver Jacques Villeneuve also scored his first Champ Car win there in 1995.

Michael Andretti (Team Motorola) survived clashes with Scott Dixon and Christian Fittipaldi to finish runner up, ahead of Mexico's Adrian Fernandez in third. It was the second podium finish for Fernandez this year, coming after a spectacular drive from last position on the grid to reinforce his reputation for doing well in tactical races.

Pac West Racing's Scott Dixon continued the impressive form that has marked his rookie season, finishing fourth to collect championship points for the fifth consecutive event. It was an amazing performance from Dixon just to stay on the lead lap, let alone finish in the points, as he was forced to pit on seven separate occasions to repair damage to his Toyota/Reynard and even drove for seven laps under yellow flags without a rear wing.

The New Zealander now has a commanding 82-47 lead over race winner Junqueira in the Rookie of the Year Award, as well as having completed the most laps so far this year - 1711 of a possible 1757.

Defending CART champion Gil de Ferran finished fifth in his Marlboro Team Penske Honda/Reynard, ahead of fellow Brazilians Cristiano da Matta (Newman/Haas Racing) and Helio Castroneves (Marlboro Team Penske).

Alex Tagliani was the first of the Ford-Cosworth drivers, finishing eighth to extend his points scoring streak to seven events - making it the top active streak in the Fed Ex series. The run has moved Tagliani from 25th to 14th place in the drivers' championship.

Castroneves is the new series leader, after picking up a bonus point (for leading the most laps) to add to his seventh placing. It is the first time in his four-year CART career the Brazilian has led the drivers' championship.

Team Rahal's Kenny Brack started the race on pole position, with a two-point lead in the championship, but wound up 14th to now trail Castroneves by five points with seven races remaining. De Ferran remains in third, while Andretti and Dixon have both moved up a place at the expense of Dario Franchitti.

Honda has extended its lead in the manufacturers' championship to 33 points over Toyota, which reclaimed second spot from Ford-Cosworth after Junqueira's win.

RACE RESULTS
1 Bruno Junqueira (Toyota) 2hr48min20.453sec
2 M Andretti (Honda) +2.687
3 A Fernandez (Honda) +10.009
4 S Dixon (Toyota) +14.413
5 G de Ferran (Honda) +15.084
6 C da Matta (Toyota) +15.934
7 H Castroneves (Honda) +16.939
8 A Tagliani (Ford-Cosworth) +17.629
9 Patrick Carpentier (Ford-Cosworth) +17.848
10 Oriol Servia (Ford-Cosworth) +19.021 DRIVERS' CHAMPIONSHIP
1 Castroneves (BRA) 110
2 Brack (SWE) 105
3 De Ferran (BRA) 99
4 Andretti (USA) 89
5 Dixon (NZ) 82
6 Franchitti (SCO) 81
7 Da Matta (BRA) 78
8 Carpentier (CAN) 69
9 Tracy (CAN) 65
=10 Moreno (BRA) 54
=10 Fittipaldi (BRA) 54
=10 Kanaan (BRA) 54 MANUFACTURERS' CHAMPIONSHIP
1 Honda 228
2 Toyota 195
3 Ford-Cosworth 191 Next round: Molson Indy Vancouver, Canada - September 2