Cristiano da Matta

Cristiano da Matta
Cdmlb06.jpg
NationalityBrazil Brazilian
Born (1973-09-19) 19 September 1973 (age 49)
Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Achievements2002 CART FedEx Championship Series Champion
Champ Car career
101 races run over 6 years
Years active1999–2002, 2005–2006
Team(s)Arciero-Wells
PPI Motorsports
Newman-Haas
PKV Racing
Dale Coyne Racing
RuSPORT
Best finish1st - 2002
First race1999 Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami (Homestead)
Last race2006 Grand Prix of San Jose (Streets of San Jose)
First win2000 Target Grand Prix of Chicago (Chicagoland)
Last win2005 Grand Prix of Portland (Portland Raceway)
Wins Podiums Poles
12 20 7
Formula One World Championship career
Active years20032004
TeamsToyota
Entries28
Championships0
Wins0
Podiums0
Career points13
Pole positions0
Fastest laps0
First entry2003 Australian Grand Prix
Last entry2004 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.

Career 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 8th in the following year's Formula 3000 championship, with a best finish of 4th 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 7 races and securing 4 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 7 race wins and 7 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 his move up the racing ladder in 2003, reaching the pinnacle of motor sport 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 3 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. 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. 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. Da Matta was then airlifted to Theda Clark Medical Center in Neenah, Wisconsin, where he underwent surgery to remove a subdural hematoma. Following the surgery, da Matta was placed in an induced coma, to allow for the swelling to subside. 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. 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". On 20 August, da Matta was transferred out of intensive care. On 30 August, da Matta was confirmed to have made steady progress, conversing in English and Portuguese, and walking short distances. On 21 September 2006, da Matta was allowed to leave the hospital after having recovered better than expected.

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.

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." 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". da Matta paired with former Champ Car champion, Jimmy Vasser, to enter the Rolex Series racing at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in 2008. 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, and in January 2010 confirmed that he would run the 2010 Fórmula Truck season for the team.

American Le Mans Series

In 2011 da Matta signed for Rocketsports Racing to race in the American Le Mans Series. He scored 6 points at the Grand Prix of Long Beach.

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.

Racing career

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

Complete Indy Lights results

(key)

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Rank Points
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
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

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
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
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
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
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
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
2006 Dale Coyne Racing Lola B02/00 Ford XFE LBH
5
HOU
9
MTY
9
MIL
13
13th 134
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

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 Tyres 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Rank Points
2011 Jaguar RSR GT Jaguar XKR GT2 Jaguar 5.0 L V8 D SEB
ovr:Ret
cls:Ret
LNB
ovr:12
cls:6
LIM
ovr:Ret
cls:Ret
MOS MID AME BAL MON PET 26th 6

This page was last updated at 2023-02-05 15:49 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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