- Cristiano da Matta
-
Cristiano da Matta Nationality Brazilian
Champ Car career Active years 1999–2002, 2005–2006 Team(s) Arciero-Wells (1999), PPI Motorsports (2000), Newman-Haas (2001-2002), PKV Racing (2005), Dale Coyne Racing (2006), RuSPORT (2006) Race starts 101 Championships 1 Wins 12 Podium finishes 20 Pole positions 7 First race 1999 Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami First win 2000 Target Grand Prix (Chicago) Last win 2005 G.I. Joe's Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland Last race 2006 Canary Foundation Grand Prix of San Jose Cristiano da Matta Born 19 September 1973 Formula One World Championship career Nationality Brazilian
Active years 2003–2004 Teams Toyota Races 28 Championships 0 Wins 0 Podiums 0 Career points 13 Pole positions 0 Fastest laps 0 First race 2003 Australian Grand Prix Last race 2004 German Grand Prix Cristiano Monteiro da Matta (born September 19, 1973 in Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil) is an auto racing driver, winner of the American CART Championship in 2002, and former Formula One driver with the Toyota team.
Contents
Career biography
Origins and early career
Da Matta driving for West Surrey Racing at Silverstone during the 1995 British Formula Three Championship season.Da Matta's father was Toninho da Matta, a 14-time Brazilian touring car champion. He began karting at the age of 16, adopting a helmet design nearly identical to his famous father's helmet. He quickly rose to the top by winning numerous karting championships before winning the 1993 Brazilian Formula Ford championship. In 1994, he continued his successful ways, winning the Formula Three Sudamericana championship. In 1995, da Matta participated in the British Formula Three series, winning one race and placing eighth in the standings. He then placed 8th in the following year's Formula 3000 championship, with a best finish of 4th at Pau.
North American racing
1997 saw da Matta move to the United States for the Indy Lights racing series, in which he won Rookie of the Year honors. The next year (1998), he won the championship by winning 7 races and securing 4 pole positions. In 1999, da Matta raced in the CART series for Team Arciero Wells, which were running Toyota engines; da Matta drove a Toyota-powered car from then until 2004. His first win came in 2000, and despite some sponsor opposition he joined the front-running Newman/Haas Racing team for 2001. He won the CART drivers' championship in 2002 under Toyota power with the Newman/Haas Racing team, dominating the year with 7 race wins and 7 poles.
Formula One
Da Matta completed his move up the racing ladder in 2003, reaching the pinnacle of motor sport with the Toyota Formula One team. He scored 10 championship points that year, four more than seasoned veteran and teammate Olivier Panis, and soon made a name for himself in Formula One when he spent much of the first half of the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix hounding reigning World Champion Michael Schumacher in the monsoon-hit race. His fortunes took a downturn in 2004, however. Having scored only 3 championship points, da Matta lost his race seat to Ricardo Zonta after the German Grand Prix in Hockenheim. This was not only due to performance issues, but also due to Da Matta openly making statements about how uncompetitive the Toyota was. Da Matta vowed to never again race in Formula One, as he felt it was not competitive enough, with too much emphasis on car performance.
Return to USA
In 2005, da Matta moved back to the Champ Car World Series, to race for the PKV Racing team. That season he won the race at Portland, and finished 11th overall in the standings. For the 2006 Champ Car season, he switched to the Dale Coyne Racing to drive the No.19 Ford Lola, until June 9, 2006, when he switched teams again, to take over A.J. Allmendinger's seat at RuSPORT.[1] Second place at San Jose left him 6th overall in the series.
Collision with deer during test
On August 3, 2006 da Matta's car was involved in a collision with a deer that ran in front of him as he headed towards turn 6 during Champ Car open testing at Road America. He hit the deer with his right front tire, the deer then flew back and hit da Matta in the cockpit.[2] It is believed when the deer hit da Matta in the cockpit, he was knocked unconscious. He remained unconscious with his foot still on the brake when the safety crew arrived and extricated da Matta from the car.[3] Da Matta was then airlifted to Theda Clark Medical Center in Neenah, Wisconsin, where he underwent surgery to remove a subdural hematoma.[4] Following the surgery, da Matta was placed in an induced coma, to allow for the swelling to subside.[5] As of August 7, da Matta was making "slow but steady progress", while the doctors were working on reducing da Matta's level of sedation.[6] This slow recovery was confirmed on August 9, as it was reported that da Matta was able to move "all of his extremities spontaneously as well as in response to physical stimulation".[7] On August 20, da Matta was transferred out of intensive care.[8] On August 30, da Matta was confirmed to have made steady progress, conversing in English and Portuguese, and walking short distances.[9] On 21 September 2006, da Matta was allowed to leave the hospital after having recovered better than expected.[10]
When the Champ Car World Series returned to race in the Grand Prix of Road America on September 24, da Matta gave the traditional command - "start your engines". Throughout the next couple of years, he engaged in a training and therapy regime while deciding his racing future.[11]
Comeback
On March 20, 2008 da Matta climbed back into a race car for the first time since his accident, completing a two-day test in a Riley Daytona Prototype prepared by reigning Rolex Sports Car Series champions GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing. He found speed right away, and team owner Bob Stallings said "the comeback has begun." [12] da Matta said, "After the test, I realized 'I still know how to do this, I remember this very well. The biggest thing I felt after the test was just a sense of relief. For me, it was a big, big relief, bigger than big."[citation needed] da Matta paired with former Champ Car champion, Jimmy Vasser, to enter the Rolex Series racing at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in 2008.[13] after a solid race, the pair were classified in 32nd position.
Brazilian Championship Formula Truck
In December 2009, Da Matta tested team's Iveco truck,[2] and in January 2010 confirmed that he'll race the 2010 Fórmula Truck season for the Iveco team.[3]
Racing career
Complete International Formula 3000 results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DC Points 1996 Pacific Racing NÜR
9PAU
4PER
5HOC
RetSIL
RetSPA
10MAG
5EST
7MUG
RetHOC
Ret9th 7 American Open-Wheel racing
(key)
CART/Champ Car
Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Rank Points 1999 Arciero-Wells MIA
14MOT
RetLBH
RetNAZ
4RIO
RetGAT
RetMIL
11POR
11CLE
RetROA
RetTOR
RetMIC
RetDET
RetMDO
9CHI
14VAN
5LS
RetHOU
11SRF
RetFON
Ret18th 32 2000 PPI Motorsports MIA
12LBH
RetRIO
4MOT
4NAZ
13MIL
14DET
RetPOR
5CLE
3TOR
4*MIC
RetCHI
1MDO
RetROA
RetVAN
7LS
15GAT
4HOU
14SRF
4FON
Ret10th 112 2001 Newman/Haas MTY
1*LBH
2FTW
CNAZ
10MOT
RetMIL
RetDET
7POR
10CLE
7TOR
RetMIC
4CHI
19MDO
10ROA
6VAN
RetLAU
RetROC
3HOU
6LS
RetSRF
1FON
15th 140 2002 Newman/Haas MTY
1*LBH
8MOT
13MIL
11LS
1*POR
1*CHI
1*TOR
1*CLE
16VAN
12MDO
13ROA
1MTL
2DEN
3ROC
2MIA
1*SRF
8*FON
11MXC
21st 237 2005 PKV LBH
10MTY
6MIL
11POR
1*CLE
16TOR
17EDM
17SJO
10DEN
18MTL
6LAS
12SRF
19MXC
1411th 139 2006 Dale Coyne Racing LBH
5HOU
9MTY
9MIL
Ret13th 134 RuSPORT POR
5CLE
14TOR
5EDM
RetSJO
2DEN MTL ROA SRF MXC Complete Formula One results
(key)
Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 WDC Pts. 2003 Panasonic Toyota Racing Toyota TF103 Toyota V10 AUS
RetMAL
11BRA
10SMR
12ESP
6AUT
10MON
9CAN
11EUR
RetFRA
11GBR
7GER
6HUN
11ITA
RetUSA
9JPN
713th 10 2004 Panasonic Toyota Racing Toyota TF104 Toyota V10 AUS
12MAL
9BHR
10SMR
RetESP
13MON
6EUR
RetCAN
DSQUSA
RetFRA
14GBR
13GER
RetHUN BEL ITA CHN JPN BRA 17th 3 External links
- Official website of Cristiano da Matta
- da Matta's profile provided by CBS SportsLine
References
- ^ "RUSPORT ANNOUNCES DRIVER CHANGE", Champ Car World Series, June 9, 2006
- ^ "UPDATE: Da Matta In Critical Condition", Speed Channel, August 3, 2006
- ^ "Wrong Place, Wrong Time: Cristiano da Matta Still in Critical Condition", PaddockTalk, August 4, 2006
- ^ "Update on Condition of RuSPORT Driver Cristiano da Matta", RuSPORT, August 3, 2006
- ^ "Update on Condition of Champ Car Driver Cristiano da Matta", RuSPORT, August 5, 2006
- ^ "Cristiano da Matta's Condition Continues to Improve", RuSPORT, August 7, 2006
- ^ "Cristiano Da Matta Making Steady Progress", RuSPORT, August 9, 2006
- ^ "Christiano Da Matta Transferred out of Intensive Care", RuSPORT, August 20, 2006
- ^ "More Progress for Cristiano da Matta", RuSPORT, August 30, 2006
- ^ "Da Matta leaves hospital", F1technical, September 21, 2006
- ^ "Da Matta yet to decide on his future". Grandprix.com. 2006-12-01. http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns17821.html. Retrieved 2006-12-01.
- ^ [1]
- ^ da Matta Returns to Track in GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Test, Grand-Am, March 25, 2008
Sporting positions Preceded by
Fernando CroceriBrazilian Formula Three Champion
1994Succeeded by
nonePreceded by
Tony KanaanIndy Lights Champion
1998Succeeded by
Oriol ServiàPreceded by
Gil de FerranCART Series Champion
2002Succeeded by
Paul TracyPreceded by
Colin Edwards
Jeff Gordon
Jimmie JohnsonRace of Champions
Nations' Cup
2003 with:
Fonsi Nieto
Gilles PanizziSucceeded by
Jean Alesi
Sébastien Loeb(1979) Rick Mears · (1980) Johnny Rutherford · (1981–82) Rick Mears · (1983) Al Unser · (1984) Mario Andretti · (1985) Al Unser · (1986–87) Bobby Rahal · (1988) Danny Sullivan · (1989) Emerson Fittipaldi · (1990) Al Unser, Jr. · (1991) Michael Andretti · (1992) Bobby Rahal · (1993) Nigel Mansell · (1994) Al Unser, Jr. · (1995) Jacques Villeneuve · (1996) Jimmy Vasser · (1997-98) Alex Zanardi · (1999) Juan Pablo Montoya · (2000–01) Gil de Ferran · (2002) Cristiano da Matta · (2003) Paul Tracy · (2004–07) Sébastien Bourdais
Categories:- 1973 births
- Living people
- Brazilian racecar drivers
- Brazilian Formula One drivers
- Brazilian people of Italian descent
- Champ Car drivers
- Indy Lights drivers
- South American Formula Three Championship drivers
- British Formula Three Championship drivers
- International Formula 3000 drivers
- Texaco
- American Le Mans Series drivers
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