Cristiano da Matta

Cristiano da Matta
Da Matta at the 2006 Grand Prix of Long Beach
Nationality	Brazilian
Born	(1973-09-19) 19 September 1973 (age 50) Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Achievements	2002 CART FedEx Championship Series Champion
Champ Car career
101 races run over 6 years
Years active	1999–2002, 2005–2006
Team(s)	Arciero-Wells PPI Motorsports Newman-Haas PKV Racing Dale Coyne Racing RuSPORT
Best finish	1st - 2002
First race	1999 Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami (Homestead)
Last race	2006 Grand Prix of San Jose (Streets of San Jose)
First win	2000 Target Grand Prix of Chicago (Chicagoland)
Last win	2005 Grand Prix of Portland (Portland Raceway)
Wins Podiums Poles 12 20 7
Formula One World Championship career
Active years	2003–2004
Teams	Toyota
Entries	28
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	13
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	2003 Australian Grand Prix
Last entry	2004 German Grand Prix

Cristiano Monteiro da Matta (born 19 September 1973) is a Brazilian former professional racing driver. He won the CART Championship in 2002, and drove in Formula One with the Toyota team from 2003 to 2004.

Biography

Origins and early career

Da Matta driving for West Surrey Racing at Silverstone during the 1995 British Formula 3 Championship season.

Da Matta's father was Toninho da Matta, a 14-time Brazilian touring car champion. Born in Belo Horizonte, Cristiano da Matta 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 Brazilian Formula 3 championship against the likes of Hélio Castroneves and Ricardo Zonta. In 1995, da Matta participated in the British Formula 3 series, winning one race and placing eighth in the standings. He then placed eighth in the following year's Formula 3000 championship, with a best finish of fourth 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 seven races and securing four 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 seven race wins and seven poles.

Formula One

Da Matta driving for the Toyota team at the 2004 United States Grand Prix.

Cristiano da Matta in 2004.

Da Matta completed a move to Formula One in 2003, 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 before ultimately finishing tenth. He led the 2003 British Grand Prix for seventeen laps after the race was disrupted by a protester who invaded the track and triggered the deployment of the Safety Car. This caused most of the front-running cars to make unscheduled pit stops leaving da Matta in the lead, ultimately finishing seventh for one of four points-scoring finishes in his debut season. His fortunes took a downturn in 2004, however. Having scored only three 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.

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 9 June 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 3 August 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 throttle 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 7 August, 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 9 August, 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 20 August, da Matta was transferred out of intensive care. ^[8] On 30 August, 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 24 September, 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 20 March 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", "The biggest thing I felt was just a sense of relief. For me, it was a big, big relief, bigger than big". ^[13] da Matta paired with former Champ Car champion, Jimmy Vasser, to enter the Rolex Series racing at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in 2008. ^[14] after a solid race, the pair were classified in 32nd position.

Brazilian Championship Formula Truck

In December 2009, da Matta tested a Fórmula Truck vehicle owned by Iveco, ^[15] and in January 2010 confirmed that he would run the 2010 Fórmula Truck season for the team. ^[16]

American Le Mans Series

In 2011 da Matta signed for Rocketsports Racing to race in the American Le Mans Series. He scored six points at the Grand Prix of Long Beach. ^[17]

Film and media

Da Matta and his 1999 car appear in the movie Driven , starring Sylvester Stallone.

Da Matta is a playable character in the video games Formula One 2003 and Formula One 04 .

In 2017, a documentary was released about his and his father's lives in motorsport, entitled "Família Gasolina" (Gasoline Family). It is available for free on YouTube.

Post-racing career

Da Matta is no longer racing and is involved in the financial and logistical side of the family Da Matta Design clothing business. ^[18]

Racing career

Complete British Formula 3 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Engine	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	DC	Pts
1995	West Surrey Racing	Mugen	A	SIL 1 2	SIL 2 4	THR 1 Ret	THR 2 Ret	DON Ret	SIL DSQ	SIL Ret	DON 1 11	DON 2 16	OUL 1	BRH 1 3	BRH 2 6	SNE 20	PEM 1 Ret	PEM 2 5	SIL 1 9	SIL 2 6	THR Ret	8th	81

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 9	PAU 4	PER 5	HOC Ret	SIL Ret	SPA 10	MAG 5	EST 7	MUG Ret	HOC Ret	9th	7
Sources: [19] [20]

Complete Indy Lights results

(key)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Rank	Points	Ref
1997	Brian Stewart Racing	MIA 21	LBH 2	NAZ 1	SAV 21	STL 2	MIL 4	DET 26	POR 5	TOR 18	TRO 4	VAN 1	LS 1	FON 4		3rd	141	[21]
1998	Tasman Motorsports	MIA 2	LBH 1	NAZ 1	STL 3	MIL 10	DET 2	POR 20	CLE 22	TOR 15	MIS 2	TRO 1	VAN 1	LS 22	FON 11	1st	154	[22]

Complete CART/Champ Car results

(key)

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	Rank	Points	Ref
1999	Arciero-Wells Racing	Reynard 99i	Toyota RV8D	MIA 14	MOT 25	LBH 20	NAZ 4	RIO 21	GAT 17	MIL 11	POR 11	CLE 20	ROA 21	TOR 24	MIC 17	DET 19	MDO 9	CHI 14	VAN 5	LS 22	HOU 11	SRF 13	FON 23		18th	32	[23]
2000	PPI Motorsports	Reynard 2Ki	Toyota RV8E	MIA 12	LBH 25	RIO 4	MOT 4	NAZ 13	MIL 14	DET 23	POR 5	CLE 3	TOR 4*	MIC 17	CHI 1	MDO 17	ROA 13	VAN 7	LS 15	GAT 4	HOU 14	SRF 4	FON 25		10th	112	[24]
2001	Newman/Haas Racing	Lola B01/00	Toyota RV8F	MTY 1*	LBH 2	TEX C	NAZ 10	MOT 25	MIL 25	DET 7	POR 10	CLE 7	TOR 15	MIC 4	CHI 19	MDO 10	ROA 6	VAN 20	LAU 26	ROC 3	HOU 6	LS 20	SRF 1	FON 1	5th	140	[25]
2002	Newman/Haas Racing	Lola B02/00	Toyota RV8F	MTY 1*	LBH 8	MOT 13	MIL 11	LS 1*	POR 1*	CHI 1*	TOR 1*	CLE 16	VAN 12	MDO 13	ROA 1	MTL 2	DEN 3	ROC 2	MIA 1*	SRF 8*	FON 11	MXC 2			1st	237	[26]
2005	PKV Racing	Lola B02/00	Ford XFE	LBH 10	MTY 6	MIL 11	POR 1*	CLE 16	TOR 17	EDM 17	SJO 10	DEN 18	MTL 6	LAS 12	SRF 19	MXC 14									11th	139	[27]
2006	Dale Coyne Racing	Lola B02/00	Ford XFE	LBH 5	HOU 9	MTY 9	MIL 13																		13th	134	[28]
	RuSPORT							POR 5	CLE 14	TOR 5	EDM 18	SJO 2	DEN	MTL	ROA	SRF	MXC

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

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 RVX-03 3.0 V10	AUS Ret	MAL 11	BRA 10	SMR 12	ESP 6	AUT 10	MON 9	CAN 11†	EUR Ret	FRA 11	GBR 7	GER 6	HUN 11	ITA Ret	USA 9	JPN 7			13th	10
2004	Panasonic Toyota Racing	Toyota TF104	Toyota RVX-04 3.0 V10	AUS 12	MAL 9	BHR 10	SMR Ret	ESP 13	MON 6	EUR Ret	CAN DSQ	USA Ret	FRA 14	GBR 13	GER Ret	HUN	BEL	ITA	CHN	JPN	BRA	17th	3
Sources: [19] [29]

^† Did not finish the race, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.

Complete American Le Mans Series results

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Rank	Points	Ref
2011	Jaguar RSR	GT	Jaguar XKR GT2	Jaguar 5.0 L V8	SEB Ret	LBH 6	LIM Ret	MOS	MID	AME	BAL	MON	PET	26th	6	[30]

References

1. "RUSPORT ANNOUNCES DRIVER CHANGE". Champ Car World Series. 9 June 2006. Archived from the original on 11 October 2006. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
2. "UPDATE: Da Matta In Critical Condition". Speed Channel. 3 August 2006. Archived from the original on 15 August 2006. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
3. "Wrong Place, Wrong Time: Cristiano da Matta Still in Critical Condition", PaddockTalk, 4 August 2006. Archived 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
4. "Update on Condition of RuSPORT Driver Cristiano da Matta" Archived 7 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine , RuSPORT, 3 August 2006.
5. "Update on Condition of Champ Car Driver Cristiano da Matta" Archived 7 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine , RuSPORT, 5 August 2006.
6. "Cristiano da Matta's Condition Continues to Improve" Archived 6 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine , RuSPORT, 7 August 2006.
7. "Cristiano Da Matta Making Steady Progress" Archived 24 August 2006 at the Wayback Machine , RuSPORT, 9 August 2006.
8. "Christiano Da Matta Transferred out of Intensive Care" Archived 24 November 2006 at the Wayback Machine , RuSPORT, 20 August 2006.
9. "More Progress for Cristiano da Matta" Archived 14 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine , RuSPORT, 30 August 2006.
10. "Da Matta leaves hospital", F1technical, 21 September 2006.
11. "Da Matta yet to decide on his future". Grandprix.com. 1 December 2006. Retrieved 1 December 2006.
12. "Motorsport.com: News channel". 12 April 2008. Archived from the original on 12 April 2008. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
13. "Comeback continues for de Matta". The Indianapolis Star. 26 March 2008. Retrieved 24 July 2020– via Newspapers.com.
14. da Matta Returns to Track in GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Test ^{[ dead link ]}, Grand-Am, 25 March 2008.
15. "FÓRMULA TRUCK: Cristiano da Matta testa F-Truck em Brasília (15/12/2009)". www.gpnews.com. 15 December 2009. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011.
16. "Cristiano da Matta disputará temporada da Fórmula Truck - Esportes". Estadão.
17. "2011 American Le Mans Series Presented By Tequila Patron Championship Points Standings" (PDF). www.americanlemans.com/. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 September 2011.
18. Brown, Allen. "Cristiano da Matta". oldracingcars.com. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
19. "Cristiano da Matta Results". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
20. "Cristiano da Matta". Motor Sport . Retrieved 26 August 2023.
21. "Cristiano da Matta – 1997 Firestone / Dayton Indy Lights Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
22. "Cristiano da Matta – 1998 Firestone / Dayton Indy Lights Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
23. "Cristano da Matta – 1999 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
24. "Cristano da Matta – 2000 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
25. "Cristano da Matta – 2001 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
26. "Cristano da Matta – 2002 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
27. "Cristano da Matta – 2005 Champ Car World Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
28. "Cristano da Matta – 2006 Champ Car World Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
29. "Cristiano da Matta – Grands Prix started". StatsF1. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
30. "Cristiano da Matta – 2011 American Le Mans Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 26 August 2023.

External links

• Official website
• Cristiano da Matta driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• da Matta's profile provided by CBS SportsLine