24.JUN.01
Arciero-Blair
Racing Driver Wilson, Finishes Career Best at Portland - Finishes
Fourth
PORTLAND, Ore. (June 24, 2001) -- The FedEx Championship Series
continued today in round eight of 21 events at Portland
International Raceway. Arciero-Blair Racing driver Max Wilson
finished fourth in the Freightliner/G.I. Joe’s 200 Presented By
Texaco.
Wilson, driving the Ford-powered number 25 WinnerB2B Lola,
started 19th for the race that covered 192.962 miles. Wilson was
only eight tenths of a second from the pole time and only five
tenths of a second from the fifth starting position in field. The
permanent road course has twelve turns and is 1.969-miles long. This
is the first year of Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART)
competition for the Brazilian driver.
The Northwest temperatures varied over the last few days, but
rain was always forecast for the race. Wilson and the team posted a
fourth best in Friday’s first session and were also fast in the
morning warm up. Confident and trying new things on the newly
debuted Lola-Ford package, the team entered today’s race hoping
for good results.
Wilson brought the Arciero-Blair entry from 19th to 15th and
steadily up the field throughout the many yellows and on-track
incidents. By lap 15, this first year CART driver was in eighth. By
lap 25 he had moved into sixth and on lap 40 was in third. The
28-year old driver listened to the team on the radio, staying calm
and focused during the many yellows and many restarts. He remained
in third until lap 70 and was passed by Fittipaldi who had better
tires on his car at the end of the timed race. Wilson went on to
finish fourth. Today’s race was a personal best on a start and
finish for Wilson and a team best for Arciero-Blair.
" It was great to finish fourth, almost a podium for
Arciero-Blair and the whole team," said Wilson. " We got
some points for our race family here. It was hard to hold off
Fittipaldi at the end; I tried but lost my rear tires and almost
went off of the track. I am very pleased with this finish and
scoring my first CART points. It was tough today as there were many
crashes and the course was wet and dry at times. The rain made the
cars the same level; we were good in the dry but the rain helped us
and I like driving in the rain. I raced a lot in Europe in the rain
and it helped. The key today was to keep the car on the track and
try to pass some other cars. Thank to God we finished the race. The
car was good in the wet and the team did a good pit stop. I did my
best to keep the car on the track and finish fourth. Our package
with the Lola Ford is good, this is just our third race with Ford
and we were able to score some points, the Arciero-Blair Team, Lola
and Ford all have given me support. Having my Dad here from Brazil
was great. He brought me some luck and I hope he brings more luck
next week at Cleveland."
"I cannot express in words how I feel about how my son
finished," said Wilson de Lima (Max’s father). "This is
a very special gift. So many people have helped him with this and
believe in him."
"This is a hallmark to the achievement for the entire
Arciero-Blair Team and Max Wilson" said Blair. "We did not
give up during all of the changes we made in the last few weeks; it
is a significant milestone on behalf of the entire team. I call this
"Max Control" out there. There are many teams out on the
track that are highly financed and have a lot more resources. This
is a big tribute to our team and I am proud."
Following this race the FedEx Championship Series continues with
its third event in as many weeks, the Marconi Grand Prix of
Cleveland Presented by Firstar, June 29-July 1 at Burke Lakefront
Airport. The race will air on the ABC Television Network, 1:00 p.m.
ET. Check local listings. Today’s race will also air on the CART
Radio Network and on CART's official website, at www.cart.com.
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