Cristiano da Matta
Cristiano Monteiro da Matta ( born September 19, 1973 in Belo Horizonte ) is a Brazilian automobile racing driver. It was 2002 IndyCar champion and drove in 2003 and 2004 28 Formula 1 races.
Career
From 1999 to 2002 drove da Matta in Champ Cars in the American Championship Series, where he worked with Newman / Haas Racing won the title in 2002. He then moved to Formula 1 and played a total of 28 GP races for Toyota before it was replaced by the Grand Prix of Germany 2004 by Ricardo Zonta test driver. In 2005 he moved again in the Champ Car series, but was unable to repeat the success from 2002.
On August 3, 2006 da Matta collided while training on the Road America race track in Elkhart Lake / Wisconsin with a red deer, who had run onto the track. Da Matta suffered severe head injuries and had to be airlifted to hospital by helicopter for emergency surgery. After the removal of a subdural hematoma he lay for observation until 20 August 2006 to the intensive care unit of Theda Clark Memorial Hospital in Neenah, Wisconsin. On 22 September 2006 he was discharged home, where in the meantime begun rehabilitation program continues. His racing team announced that his healing process make very good progress.
In November 2008, Da Matta took part in an internationally acclaimed kart race in Brazil. He also tested for the 24 -hour race at Daytona. In 2010, Da Matta was launched in the Brazilian racing series " Fórmula Truck." In April 2011 it was announced that Da Matta will return to the U.S. motorsport with the JaguarRSR GT team in the American Le Mans Series.