Carpentier Starts His Own Streak

Patrick Carpentier’s engine didn’t blow, his wheels stayed on, and he didn’t run out of fuel.

He had a fairly uneventful trip around the race track for a change. And a winning one.

Carpentier, beset by mechanical problems last week in Toronto, finally got some luck and his second career victory, winning the Marconi Grand Prix of Cleveland on Sunday to end Cristiano da Matta’s CART winning streak at four.

“For once, we had everything going our way,” said Carpentier, who took the lead on Lap 49 when defending champion Dario Franchitti broke down. “We had no problems, zero problems. My team gave me a perfect car.”

Carpentier, who blew an engine during Saturday’s practice session, won by 17.059 seconds over Michael Andretti, and 28.295 seconds over Paul Tracy.

Carpentier averaged 120.998 mph over the 115-lap race on the temporary 2.106-mile Burke Lakefront Airport course.

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Troy Bayliss and Colin Edwards were winners in the two races at the World Superbike Championships at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey.

Bayliss leads the circuit after earning his 14th victory of the year in the first race.

Edwards, a native Texan, had never won a World Superbike race in the United States, but he rode his Castro Honda harder in the second race to finally get a win on home soil.

Bayliss, the runner-up in the second race, leads the championship raceby 53 points over Edwards. There are four rounds to go, all in Europe.