Christiano da Mata returning to racing, debuted for testing at ECR in north Texas.
03-26-2008, 12:05 PM
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Christiano da Mata returning to racing, debuted for testing at ECR in north Texas.
Christiano da Mata, who was badly injured at Elkhart Lake in 2006 when he struck at deer on the track, made his driving comeback last week at Eagles Canyon Raceway in north Texas. He was there driving a Gainsco (Bob Stallings) Daytona prototype car (Gainsco reserved the track for a couple of days). Speed TV came out with a crew to film the event for a segment on their show (see video link). Rumor has it that he is joining the Gainsco team. I had the opportunity to watch from the hotpit and it was exciting to see da Matta running our own hometrack Eagles Canyon. da Matta definitely still seems to have it. And of course, he broke the ECR track record! He was turning 1:42's consistently and I think he got down to around 1:40 a couple of times. Not bad for a guy that hasn't driven a racecar since being in a coma and having never driven that track before. Amazing to watch. He entered pit-in faster than I go through turn 11! 
http://link.brightcove.com/services/...ctid1468256914
http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/artic...iano-da-matta/
http://www.speedtv.com/gallery/view/...241/show_link/
http://link.brightcove.com/services/...ctid1468256914
http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/artic...iano-da-matta/
http://www.speedtv.com/gallery/view/...241/show_link/
03-26-2008, 03:54 PM
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Formula One Spin Doctor
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Saw Cristiano at Sebring , he was having lunch with the same group as us and i must say it was good to see he is well enough again. I will add that i was surprised to hear he is getting back in a race car so soon , as by observation he did not seem 100% , maybe he was just being so , but it did seem to us that his motor skills was not 100%, it will be interesting to see if he really drives as announced.........if he does , it would be fantastic , 1 more reason to watch grand-am.
03-26-2008, 04:07 PM
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Yes, the armco that was on the edge of the track next to pit-in has been replaced with a wall that is much farther back from the track edge and a wide gravel trap added between track edge and the wall.
I'm certainly no expert, but he seemed fine in terms of motor skills when I saw him at ECR last week. No doubt thought that it must have been a long road to recovery for him from such a bad injury.
Saw Cristiano at Sebring , he was having lunch with the same group as us and i must say it was good to see he is well enough again. I will add that i was surprised to hear he is getting back in a race car so soon , as by observation he did not seem 100% , maybe he was just being so , but it did seem to us that his motor skills was not 100%, it will be interesting to see if he really drives as announced.........
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03-26-2008, 04:13 PM
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03-26-2008, 04:21 PM
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Yes, the armco that was on the edge of the track next to pit-in has been replaced with a wall that is much farther back from the track edge and a wide gravel trap added between track edge and the wall.
I'm certainly no expert, but he seemed fine in terms of motor skills when I saw him at ECR last week. No doubt thought that it must have been a long road to recovery for him from such a bad injury.
I'm certainly no expert, but he seemed fine in terms of motor skills when I saw him at ECR last week. No doubt thought that it must have been a long road to recovery for him from such a bad injury.
03-26-2008, 08:15 PM
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It must have been pretty cool to see. Lucky bastard you.
03-26-2008, 08:36 PM
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....and an even more class act about him, was that he personally responded to a number of people I know who sent him cards while he was in the hospital in Neenah.
