Satisfied Zanardi claims 7th race of season

   Copyright c 1998 Nando Media
   Copyright c 1998 Associated Press

SURFERS PARADISE, Australia (Oct 18, 1998 - 13:50 EDT) -- Although it
wasn't pretty, Alex Zanardi was satisfied to get his seventh CART FedEx
victory of the season under a sea of yellow flags in Sunday's Australian
IndyCarnival.

In a race slowed by seven caution flags for a total of 19 laps, Zanardi
finished the race -- predictably -- under a yellow flag and .322 seconds
ahead of pole winner Dario Franchitti of Scotland.

The race was shortened from 65 laps to 2 hours, allowing only 62 laps to be
completed on the 2.795-mile street circuit. Zanardi averaged 85.328 mph.

The win came after Zanardi, driving a Target-Chip Ganassi Reynard Honda,
edged ahead of Franchitti on a 13th-lap pit stop -- the race's only lead
change.

Third was Christian Fittipaldi, who broke his leg in an accident in last
year's race. Defending champion Scott Pruett finished fourth.

Seven cars went out because of contact on the track, including previous
Australian winners Michael Andretti (1994), Paul Tracy (1995), Jimmy Vasser
(1996) and Bobby Rahal. Tracy and Andretti blamed each other for a
collision between the two.

Zanardi celebrated his win by doing five of his trademark
"doughnut" circular spins in his car on the track immediately
after the race.

"On Saturday, I had trouble with my gearbox, and it was disappointing
not to get my first pole of the year," said Zanardi, who sat out the
final 12 minutes of qualifying Saturday, allowing Franchitti to win his
fifth pole of the season.

"But this circuit seems to be designed for my driving, so I'm very
pleased to come away with a win."

Zanardi will drive for the Formula One Williams team next year after
winning the CART series championship two years in a row.

"It's another challenge," Zanardi said. "I would have liked
to stay in CART for the rest of my life, but I've only got a certain amount
of years left, and I thought it was important to do it now."

Zanardi trailed Franchitti by less than a second Sunday when they and the
top 13 cars pitted under a caution caused when Michel Jourdain Jr., spun
out between the ninth and 10th turns.

"The problem was the first pit stop where we let Alex get track
position," Franchitti said. "It went downhill from there."

Rahal, who is retiring at the end of the season, went out on the 19th lap
after making contact with the wall.

"It's very disappointing because I wanted to do well here," Rahal
said. "I just glanced off the wall and that shot me back across the
track into the wall. I just made a mistake trying to be aggressive."

The starting grid consisted of only 27 cars instead of the usual 28. CART
officials determined that the amount of pit space available would only
safely support 27 cars, so the slowest qualifier of the weekend, Dennis
Vitolo of the United States, did not start.

Sunday's attendance of 93,000 pushed the four-day total to 245,000,
breaking the previous record of 226,000 set last year.

The previous best race-day attendance this season was at the Toyota Grand
Prix of Long Beach, Calif., April 5 when 87,500 watched Zanardi win.

Zanardi has reached 15 career wins faster than any driver in CART history,
accomplishing the feat in 50 races. If he wins the season-ending Marlboro
500 Nov. 1, he would tie the record of eight wins in a season by Andretti
in 1991 and Al Unser Jr., in 1994.

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