Texas tee-off to test CART teams

THE CART series returns to the oval tracks this weekend with the inaugural running of the Firestone Firehawk 600 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.

As it is the first time a CART event has been held at the Texas track, all the teams and drivers will be on an equal footing going into the race.

The lack of vehicle data and track knowledge will place added pressure on the team engineers to get the cars sorted for the race. It should also provide a real challenge for the drivers and present some close racing and interesting race strategies.

The next four rounds will be held on ovals, with three US events and one at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit in Japan, before the series heads back to the streets with the Grand Prix of Detroit in June.

Defending CART champion, Brazil's Gil de Ferran, will be looking for his first victory of the year at this round to help maintain his momentum for back-to-back titles.

After finishes of second (Mexico) and third (Long Beach) to start the season, de Ferran is ranked second in the driver's championship standings coming into Sunday's race.

De Ferran has an impressive run of podium finishes to maintain as he has finished in the top three in seven of his past 11 starts.

Paul Tracy will be hoping his penchant for fast speedway tracks will enable him to break up the Brazilian trifecta at the top of the drivers' points standings.

The Team KOOL Green driver is fourth in the championship, just one point behind Marlboro Team Penske's Helio Castroneves who dominated the last event on the streets of Long Beach, winning the race as well as taking points for pole position and leading the most laps.

Championship leader Cristiano da Matta has also finished on the podium in both races this year and has history riding with him for another good result in his Newman/Haas Lola at the weekend.

Teammate Christian Fittipaldi won the last CART oval race at the California speedway last October and in the past five CART oval track events, all have been won by either a Newman/Haas driver or a Toyota-powered car.

Michael Andretti, Dario Franchitti and Jimmy Vasser are also expected to be amongst the front-runners.

Racing legend and four-time CART champion Mario Andretti will serve as the grand marshal for the Texas 600.

DRIVERS' CHAMPIONSHIP 1: Da Matta (BRA) 372: De Ferran (BRA) 303: Castroneves (BRA) 274: Tracy (CAN) 265: Vasser (US) 18