De Ferran Clinches 2nd Title

Brazil’s Gil de Ferran clinched his second consecutive CART championship with a fourth-place finish in the Honda Indy 300 at Surfers Paradise, Australia.

Cristiano da Matta, also from Brazil, took the lead on the 52nd of 65 laps and held on for his second victory this year. De Matta started third and finished 5.786 seconds ahead of Michael Andretti. Alex Tagliani was third.

De Ferran began the race with a 26-point lead over second-place Kenny Brack. De Ferran finished one spot ahead of Brack, putting the title out of reach going into the final race Sunday at Fontana.

The title was not decided without controversy. Bobby Rahal, who owns Brack’s car, charged that his driver was being blocked for part of the race by Helio Castroneves, De Ferran’s teammate.

Castroneves, also within striking distance of the championship when the race began, said bad brakes hurt him in a 20th-place finish.

Brack didn’t complain about Castroneves, choosing instead to congratulate De Ferran, who gave Penske his ninth CART championship and 11th open-wheel title overall.

“They did a great job all year,” Brack said of de Ferran’s team. “I always had a feeling he would be the one to beat for the championship.”

Penske said de Ferran has established himself as a true champion, and was never better than this year, when he was forced to rally for the title.

“He came from behind in the points and was fast and consistent when he needed to be,” Penske said.

De Ferran earned 12 points for a total of 191. Brack received 10 points and has 163.

The race through drew more than 110,000 spectators. CART also drew more than 100,000 when Da Matta won the season-opener in Monterrey, Mexico.

“To win in Australia is good because we come here so early and you get to make friends and go out to dinner and things like that,” Da Matta said.

Da Matta averaged 97.511 mph in a Toyota-Lola.

Rookie Darrell Russell won his second top fuel race this season at the NHRA’s ACDelco Nationals.

Ron Capps, Mark Pawuk and Shawn Gann also were winners on the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Russell blasted down the quarter-mile in 4.602 seconds at 319.67 mph to defeat points leader Kenny Bernstein. He made a pass of 4.689 seconds at 308.78 mph.

Capps scored in funny car, getting his third victory this season when final-round opponent Bob Gilbertson fouled.

Pawuk got out fastest for his first Pro Stock victory this season. He beat former NBA player Tom Hammonds. Gann earned his first career Pro Stock Motorcycle, beating Antron Brown.