CART Preview - Round 8 : Portland.

In 1997 Mark Blundell crossed the finishing line with 0.027 seconds to spare over the chasing Gil De Ferran and less than half a second over Raul Boesel, who took the lead just metres after the chequered flag fell, in what still is the closest finish in Champ Car history. With the current Fed-Ex series in such a competitive state, it wouldn't come as any great surprise if the outcome of Sunday's Freightliner/G.I. Joe's 200 was decided by a similar margin.

Helio Castroneves' emotional maiden win in Detroit made it seven different winners in seven races so far this season and with four drivers in the top ten in points yet to win this year, all the arrows point to a cracking race.

The 1.9 mile Portland circuit is liked by the vast majority of drivers and offers a very difficult challenge to the Champ Car teams. It combines blindingly fast straights and sweepers with extremely tight and narrow chicanes leaving many in a quandary over what set-up to use.

The weather is another decisive factor in determining the pattern of the race. The Oregon climate can be notoriously fickle when it wants to be and the oft-changing weather patterns in Portland have been liked to the notorious conditions experienced at Spa in Formula One circles. The 1997 event was run in dry-wet-drying conditions and the threat of rain has hung over the last two races.

Juan Montoya and Gil De Ferran will probably be the men to beat on Sunday. Montoya has controlled race after race this year only to be sidelined by mechanical failures totally out of his control. In Detroit last Sunday the Colombian held a commanding lead until a driveshaft broke. Last year Montoya finished second behind De Ferran after the Brazilian gambled on three pit-stops while Montoya went for two. Still despite his current run of bad luck, Montoya only lies 13 points behind series leader Paul Tracy.

De Ferran finally scored his first win at Portland last year with Walker Racing, a success made even more noteworthy when you consider that the Brazilian was using Goodyear rubber and not the favoured Firestone compound. Now De Ferran has the desired tyre and the highly successful Reynard-Honda combination at his disposal. However he and Penske team-mate Castroneves don't have the same cars as the other Reynard customers.

Roger Penske and his expert band of men have been working diligently throughout the season adding small features here and there to their chassis. The 'new' cars have been affectionately christened 'Renske's' and 'Penard's' by many within the Champ Car fraternity but joking aside, the modifications have worked.

Portland could be the place where De Ferran and Castroneves fully exploit the team's development work. Both drivers love the track and both led the race last year. Castroneves is still very much on a high after Detroit and all 36 of his championship points have come at the two road course events held so far this year.

Championship leader Paul Tracy has failed to score in the last two races and was cruelly denied points in Detroit when he was disqualified for injuring a crew member in a pit-lane incident and his once secure points lead has now been whittled down to just seven. Tracy was masterful around the streets of Long Beach earlier this year proving that overtaking is possible anywhere if you really put your mind to it.

Tracy's Team KOOL Green partner Dario Franchitti is well overdue for a win and needs a big points haul soon to keep him in the title picture. The fiery Scotsman could have won in Detroit but for a loose break duct getting lodged in his suspension. Franchitti finished third here last season and is relishing the prospect of another wheel to wheel battle with his adversaries.

Without doubt the man with the most experience at Portland is Michael Andretti. The American has raced here 15 times and has won three times and dominated the 1990,'91 and '92 events. Luck has repeatedly gone against Andretti so far this year which was typified by his late race retirement at Detroit after a fighting drive. Last year Andretti battled gamely with the Swift chassis and was only able to finish tenth but with the more familiar Lola underneath him this year, he should be a major contender for victory.

Jimmy Vasser still holds down second place in the championship even though he has been almost invisible in the last three races. An uninspiring run to 13th in Milwaukee was followed by a distant seventh in Detroit which can largely be put down to the attrition around him rather than his own pace. The American has been struggling badly for grip in recent weeks but he must get the problem sorted before he is enveloped by the chasing pack.

Surely Roberto Moreno must be in line for a win soon. The Brazilian failed to score in Detroit thanks to the particularly wide Lola of Takuya Kurosawa just as he was on course to take the lead of the Fed-Ex Championship for the first time. Moreno has been another extremely consistent driver this year although only once, in Long Beach, has he really put himself in a position to win. Last year Moreno subbed for the injured Blundell and finished a superb seventh in a strange car and team.

Others to watch this weekend include Adrian Fernandez, Patrick Carpentier, Max Papis and Bryan Herta. Fernandez has scored points in all but one of his six visits to Portland and will be looking to regain the momentum lost in recent weeks.

Carpentier has been highly impressive since his return from injury, running second to Montoya at Milwaukee before finishing a fine third behind the Colombian and Milwaukee master Andretti. That performance was backed up by a strong run to fifth last weekend and Carpentier is more hungry than ever for his first win while Papis finished second on Sunday to push himself back into championship contention.

Herta makes his return to the series in place of the injured Tony Kanaan for the Mo Nunn squad and will be eager to impress at one of his favourite Champ Car venues. Last year Herta qualified fourth for Team Rahal and finished a strong sixth. There will be one or two drivers looking nervously over their shoulders at the Reynard-Mercedes this weekend.

The list of potential winners doesn't stop there either, Christian Fittipaldi and Kenny Brack have both looked strong in recent races and Fittipaldi was on course for a podium finish in Detroit when he was assaulted by De Ferran. Brack lies tenth in the points standings but could still leave Portland as the championship leader such is the closeness of the series.