Intro | 86-87 | 88-93 | 94-97 | 98-99 | 00-01 | 2002| 2003

2000


After three years in the Indy Racing League I felt it was time to look for something new. Retirement from the race track was not an option so I turned my eyes to the CART Championship. I figured it would give me an opportunity to get back on road and street courses again. I was lucky enough to get in contact with Bobby Rahal. We signed a contract and I was on my way from one legend to another. This time to Columbus, Ohio.

Although I did not reach my standard goal - which is to win races every season, I think we achieved quite a lot in our first year. I made the podium 4 times and won the "Rookie of the Year" award with a healthy margin. And even better I was in the Championship fight all the way through the last race in Fontana. Like many other races that year I led but had to retire. This time with a mechanical failure and I had to settle for a fourth place in the championship.

2001

My second season in the Shell Car with Team Rahal got off to a great start with a pole in the first race of the season on a brand new track in Monterrey, Mexico. This was quite a surprise actually because we had struggled in pre-season testing. We did not win due to electric failure, but we knew we had the speed to make things happen. Next race in Long Beach a similar thing happened. First row start followed by a mechanical failure in the beginning of the race. However we managed to keep our heads high and qualify on the first row in the two next races as well. I almost got my first win in Nazareth. I dominated the race until the very end when Scott Dixon passed me thanks to a fuel strategy that took everybody by surprise. It actually took me a couple of days to figure out what really happened there.

In Japan two weeks later it was my time to take that magic last step in to the winners circle. After having been so close so many times it was a huge relief to win a CART race. So huge that I managed to win the following race in Milwaukee as well. It looked really good. Wins in Chicago and Germany as well put me on top of the championship over 10 races.

Unfortunately we were not able to match those results on the road and street courses. Big improvements made by Reynard around mid-season made it very difficult for the Lola Cars to keep up on those types of courses. We managed some really strong qualifying efforts (Toronto 3rd, Vancouver 4th and Elhart Lake pole), but we could not make it last to the end.

When all is said and done I finished second in the Championship behind Gil De Ferran. A pretty tough thing to take considering that I had led more laps (621) won more races (4) and captured more pole positions (6) than any other driver. But still a pretty good result in only my second year in the very competitive CART Championship.

This year also saw the start of another adventure in my life. The birth of our Rock Band RPM. I have always loved to play the guitar but never really had any ambitions to do so in front of people. At least not people I don't know and definitely not thousands. However thanks to fantastic support from CART and the CART fans it all took off to a level I could never imagine. The crescendo came in Fontana when we opened for "The Doobie Brothers" at an outdoor concert. Mike Anthony from Van Halen joined us in front of an audience of about 8.000 people. We had a blast, so if I get another chance I will jump right at it. Until then I'll hang around blues bars and keep my fingers fit in my basement.

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Intro | 86-87 | 88-93 | 94-97 | 98-99 | 00-01 | 2002| 2003

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