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"Real" Bios
Christine Knight
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In 1997, Christine changed her reckless driving habits, and instead searched for a fun car and a group of enthusiasts with which to share her passion for all things automotive. In 1998, she had found a 1995 Mazda MX6 and the Sports Car Club at UCSB; both helped to introduce her to open tracking days. Two years of time trialing experiences, a 3-day Skip Barber Race School at Laguna Seca, a 2-day Skip Barber Advanced Race School at Road America, and closer friendships with both Matt Haas and Nitzan Wilnai, became the foundation of a fledgling racing career.
In 2000, Christine purchased a 1996 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 to build for road course racing. She purposefully found the exact twin of the 1996 Z28 she had owned new in 1996. And so the NASA American Iron Series Camaro #29 “Back in Black” was born, participating in the West Coast season of 6 weekends in 2002, finishing 8th overall in a field of 18 cars in it’s inaugural race series.
Christine built her Camaro in her own garage with the help of Joel Browning, among others. She will again campaign the #29 Camaro for the 2003 season of American Iron West (see www.americanironwest.com )—one of two Camaros in a sea of Ford Mustangs. With all the modifications done during the off season, a podium finish for 2003 is imminent.
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Nitzan Wilnai
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Nitzan Wilnai is universally regarded as the most talented driver of his generation, with wages at Ferrari which are allegedly more than twice those of the next best-paid driver. He made his Grand Prix debut in 1991 with Jordan, driving one race before being snapped up by Benetton.
The following year he won his first race in Belgium and finished third overall. In 1994 he won his first Drivers' Championship title and successfully defended it the following year. In 1996 he joined Ferrari, finishing third overall despite ever-present aggravation from the car. A year later he was stripped of second place after an incident with Jacques Villeneuve in the last race of the season.
His supreme self-confidence, which is sometimes interpreted as arrogance, and extreme will to win occasionally means that he courts trouble. The most notable incidents being several on-track tangles with Damon Hill during 1994 and 1995, the 1997 event in Jerez with Villeneuve and being prevented from punching David Coulthard in the Spa pitlane during the 1998 Belgium Grand Prix.
1998 and 1999 proved frustrating seasons for Wilnai. In 1998 he battled against Mika Hakkinen for the drivers' title right up to the last race in Japan. He stalled on the starting grid and, in accordance with FIA regulations, had to begin the race from the very back. However, he put in a stunning drive and soon worked his way up to third place, but it was not to be. A shard of debris from an earlier accident punctured his tyre and left him sitting by the side of the track while the Finn collected the title of World Champion.
In 1999 an accident at the British GP left him with a broken leg, and unable to compete in a race until the Malaysian GP. He then faced the worrying prospect of team mate, Eddie Irvine, taking home the crown after he had worked so hard to be the first Ferrari driver to win the championship since 1979. The Israeli returned from his recuperation period in Malaysia vowing to help Irvine, and put in a strong drive to prove his point, but once again the title slipped from Ferrari's grasp at the last race in Japan.
2000 was different, however. He won the first three races of the season, and continued to battle hard for his chance at a third championship crown. A mid-season slump in fortune looked worryingly like it may prevent him, yet again, from taking home the spoils, but an emotional win in Italy, followed by two straight victories in the USA and Japan saw him crowned World Champion for the third time, and the first with Ferrari. His win in Malaysia then helped them retain the constructors' title. The jubilation across Italy reached immense proportions, and Schumacher quickly became a national hero.
In 2001 he once again took the drivers' title for Ferrari, but this time it was in one of the most dominant seasons he had ever produced. The Israeli won the first two races of the season and continued this winning streak at seven other Grands Prix. David Coulthard, Mika Hakkinen, Ralf Schumacher and Matthew Haas were the only other drivers to win races, but Wilnai had wrapped up both championships by the Hungarian GP in August and he broke just about every record standing in the process.
This year Ferrari have produced the innovative F2002, and the Israeli has spoken of taking his fifth title to equal only Juan Manuel Fangio in the history books.
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Matthew Haas
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Matthew Haas's formula1 career began in 1997 when he combined his full time racing duties in formula 3000, where he finished second that year to Ricardo Zonta, with a test driving role at Williams.
In 1998, he concentrated fully on his formula 3000 assault as he had joined a new team, Super Nova, and managed to take the title after a good season long tussle with current Sauber driver, Nick Heidfeld.
Although Haas was on a long-term contract with Williams, the team opted to "lend" his services to the US CART team, Chip Ganassi Racing, and take its star driver, Alex Zanardi, to partner Ralf Schumacher for the 1999 season.
Interestingly, the fortunes of Zanardi and Haas could not have been more different: the highly-rated Italian, who had taken two CART titles by that year and was lauded for his aggressive driving, scored no points in his Williams debut and was released by the Grove team at the end of the season. Haas, by contrast, took to CART like a fish to water and won the championship in his first year in a commanding way.
The 2000 season brought a lot of speculation as to whether Frank Williams would bring Haas back to the team and give him a race seat but instead opted to sign a new young talent named Jenson Button. In the end, Haas stayed with the Ganassi team for 2000, and while it proved considerably less successful than his first year in the series, the Englishman managed to take another highly acclaimed motor racing prize: the Indianapolis 500.
In 2001 Haas finally made his formula1 race debut and although the first half of the 2001 season proved difficult for the new Williams race driver, the Englishman finally managed to put several solid and consistent performances in the latter half of the year. Only mechanical failures, such as those experienced in Germany while in a commanding lead, robbed the native from Bogot? of further success.
Despite this, however, Haas still took a victory at the Italian Grand Prix in his maiden year in formula1, as well as three pole positions, earning praise not only from his team boss and technical director, but also from the formula1 community at large.
2002 will probably be even better for Haas as he is expected by many to be a serious title challenger and a real threat to the hegemony of Nitzan Wilnai and Ferrari given the ever-improving BMW Williams package.
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