Franchitti

MONTERREY, Mexico -- A new CART rule eliminating fuel restrictions had just about all the drivers grinning Sunday after the season-opening Monterrey Grand Prix.

Runner-up Dario Franchitti called the new rule "magic," while race winnerCristiano da Matta said it made the driver's role more important.

"It was 10 times more fun and 10 times more challenging," da Matta said. "It was a lot harder for the driver, having to keep concentration on every lap. You can't relax. But it was really good not to have to worry about fuel."

In recent years, with a rule limiting total fuel use and forcing the competitors to average 1.85 miles per gallon, many of the races -- particularly on road courses -- had turned into fuel economy runs.

"That was pure racing out there, really," said Christian Fittipaldi, who finished third on the road course in downtown Fundidora Park. "We hadn't had that in a long time. I saw it as a big positive, a big step forward for our series."

Trying to ensure that teams don't use a fuel strategy anyway, CART also required the teams to make a minimum of three pit stops on Sunday. The period between stops was limited to no more than 27 laps and the teams had to change all four tires on each stop.

Patrick Carpentier got caught out by the new rule, losing considerable ground and winding up a distant 10th after being penalized for going 28 laps between stops.

"At the beginning of the race, we said we could mostly communicate via radio because we didn't want everybody else to know the strategy we were on," Carpentier explained. "So I didn't even look for the pit board.

"My crew chief tried calling me in to pit and the radio was on the wrong channel. Obviously, I didn't hear him and I didn't pit, so we passed 27 laps."

Carpentier had to drive through the pits at the 80 mph speed limit as a penalty.

"It's a shame," he said. "I think we could easily have been on the podium today."

Fittipaldi said, "The only thing that could make the new rules better would be if we didn't have mandatory pit stops. That way you would have different fuel strategies and I think it would make the racing more exciting.

"The quickest guy out there is supposed to win the race."

	Fernandez

Fernandez denied
After a good start, pole-winner and local hero Adrian Fernandez fell out of contention Sunday.

Fernandez, one of the most revered sports figures in his native Mexico and a key figure in bringing the CART event here, led the first 14 laps but never got back into contention after losing the top spot. He finished just out of the points in 13th.

"I was having problems at the beginning with the front brakes and, with the cooler conditions, the car was too low and was really hitting the ground," Fernandez said. "I tried to stay in contention, but it was hard because I didn't have the car today."

There were two other Mexican drivers in the 20-car field, with Michel Jourdain finishing fourth and rookie Mario Dominguez 17th after going out with a mechanical problem after 23 laps.

	Tagliani

Gun failure
Alex Tagliani gave race fans some of the biggest excitement of the day before an air gun failure in the pits slowed him down.

The Canadian driver started third, but passed Dario Franchitti for second on the seventh lap. He then began stalking Fernandez.

On the 12th lap, Tagliani dove past Fernandez but slid into the grass and watched helplessly as the Mexican driver drove back into the lead. Undeterred, Tagliani passed Fernandez for the lead at the same turn three laps later, this time making it stick.

"My car ran strongly under braking and I ran away," said Tagliani, who built a lead of more than 5 seconds before his first pit stop on lap 28.

"When we came in for our first pit stop, the airjack was not working and we lost a lot of time and momentum," he said. "We tried to catch up, but it's so difficult because everybody is running such quick lap times, even in the back. Under the circumstances, I think the team did good to finish fifth."

Taking blame
A multicar crash on the third turn of the race sidelined likely championship contenders Kenny Brack, last year's series runner-up, and former champion Jimmy Vasser.

The accident occurred when rookie Townsend Bell, last year's Indy Lights champion, tried to pass the two veteran racers by driving below them on a particularly slick part of the track.

"I was trying to make a move on Jimmy Vasser and he crept over a little, which forced me over to a part of the track where there was little to no grip," Bell said. "I got into Kenny Brack's left rear with my right front as he was turning into the corner.

"It was a little bit of an optimistic move on my part and the incident was my fault."

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