Top Scot in Cleveland

SCOTSMAN Dario Franchitti ended a lengthy absence from victory circle Monday morning Australian time when he drove to victory in the 20th Grand Prix of Cleveland at Burke Lakefront Airport.

Franchitti, who had not won since Surfers Paradise in 1999, qualified his Reynard-Honda only 14th and was forced off the track at turn one, yet still managed to fight back through the field from 23rd for the seventh FedEx Championship win of his career.

He finished just 0.305 of a second ahead of Memo Gidley in the Ganassi Racing Lola-Toyota, while Bryan Herta (Reynard-Cosworth) finished third for his best finish since victory at Laguna Seca in 1999.

Franchitti's victory moved him from sixth to third place in the FedEx Championship Series championship with 65 points.

Kenny Brack (Lola-Ford) of Team Rahal continues to lead with 84 points following a sixth-place finish at Cleveland, while Helio Castroneves (Reynard-Honda) of Marlboro Team Penske stands second with 70 after collecting a single point for 12th place.

The Grand Prix of Cleveland was the ninth round in the 21-round 2001 series.

Franchitti led 11 laps of the 100-lap event, including the final nine when Gidley, who had built a lead of more than 25 seconds just past the midway point of the event, was forced to pit for a splash of fuel on Lap 91.

Franchitti, meanwhile, coaxed just enough fuel out of his tank to bring Honda its third victory of the season and its fifth in the past six starts at Cleveland.

Franchitti ran out of fuel just after taking the chequered flag, which made Team KOOL Green's decision to have him pit under caution on lap two and top off the fuel tank a crucial one.

"My dashboard said there was one gallon on the last lap, and I knew I had to be careful, because I didn't want to lose it in the last chicane," said Franchitti. "I was kind of shocked when I crossed the finish line.

"The guys at Team KOOL Green did a great job today. We kept believing we could do it. We've qualified really, really well last year, and then we'd come to second lap and we were off. This season we've had great cars, and today was no exception, except that today everything went right.

"There's no point in giving up. Even at the most difficult point last year, I never thought about giving up. You might as well park the car if you're going to give up." Gidley's career-best finish exceeded his previous career-best result of sixth at Road America last year, when he drove for Della Penna Motorsports.

Herta recorded his third podium finish at Cleveland and a best-ever result for the Zakspeed/Forsythe Racing Team, which is spending its first full season competing in the FedEx Championship Series.

Rounding out the top-five finishers were defending FedEx Championship Series champion Gil de Ferran (Reynard-Honda) of Marlboro Team Penske and Jimmy Vasser (Reynard-Toyota) of Patrick Racing. De Ferran improved from eighth to fourth in the championship with 56 points while Vasser jumped from 10th to seventh, with 50 points.

RACE RESULTS
1 D Franchitti (Reynard-Honda) +1hr47:04.723
2 M Gidley (Lola-Toyota) +0.305
3 B Herta (Reynard-Ford) +7.897
4 G de Ferran (Reynard-Honda) +12.070
5 J Vasser (Reynard-Toyota) +21.298
6 K Brack (Lola-Ford) +22.061
7 C da Matta (Lola-Toyota) +27.539
8 R. Moreno (Reynard-Toyota) +28.108
9 A Tagliani Reynard-Ford) +30.376
10 M Gugelmin (Reynard-Toyota) +31.838DRIVERS' CHAMPIONSHIP
1 Brack (SWE) 84
2 H Castroneves (BRA) 70
3 Franchitti (SCO) 65
4 De Ferran (BRA) 56
5 Da Matta (BRA) 55
6 M Andretti (USA) 53
7 Vasser (USA) 50
8 C Fittipaldi (BRA) 48
9 S Dixon (NZ) 44
10 R Moreno (BRA) 41
MANUFACTURERS' CHAMPIONSHIP
1 Honda 136
2 Toyota 132
3 Ford-Cosworth 114
Next round: Molson Indy, Toronto, Canada - July 15