Herta: Crazy race was no fun.

Bryan Herta's difficult 2001 campaign continued at Portland on the weekend, as rain made the eighth round of the CART FedEx Series something of a lottery.

The event began on a surface made slick by heavy pre-race rain, and suffered a series of full-course yellow flag incidents as over-eager drivers failed to keep their cars on the road. Although Herta was not one of those to go off under his own steam, he was involved in one of the incidents at the Festival Turns, eventually leading to a lowly - and point-less - 14th place finish with the Zakspeed-Forsythe car.

"It was an absolutely crazy race," the Californian revealed, "It was really slick out there, and not a lot of fun. We were running really well in the beginning, and I was able to gain some positions and stay clear of all of the other melee around me. Wilson hit me pretty hard from behind and that really set us back. I was actually hit from behind a few times. After that, we were out of sequence on our stops and we were hoping the other guys would have to stop again. They didn't."

Herta started the race from 12th position on a soaked race track with heavy showers continuing, and gained one position on the first lap as Memo Gidley, Tony Kanaan, and Alex Zanardi all made contact after taking the green flag.

The race re-started on lap five, but went yellow again on the sixth lap when Tora Takagi and Shinji Nakano spun. Herta remained in eleventh position when the track when green again on eighth lap and gained a position when Cristiano da Matta spun on lap ten under yellow conditions, which were brought out by Adrian Fernandez's spin.

Herta took the re-start on the 13th lap in tenth position, but was hit from behind on the same lap by Max Wilson, sending Herta into the gravel trap and bringing out another full course caution. The CART Safety Crew retrieved Herta, and the Zakspeed-Forsythe crew made their first pit-stop of the day on the 13th lap, taking fuel only.

The track went green again on the 15th lap, with Herta in 18th condition. Finally getting the opportunity to complete a few green laps, Herta passed Oriol Servia on the 18th lap and remained in 17th position until the track went yellow again due to a spin by Tora Takagi, placing Herta in 16th position.

The race re-started on the 23rd lap, but remained green less than one lap, due to Michel Jourdain Jr's spin, pushing Herta up to 15th position. Michael Andretti passed Herta on the re-start on lap 25, but it was deemed illegal by CART and Andretti was served a black flag, drive-through penalty. Andretti served the penalty on the 27th lap and Herta was back in 15th position.

With eight green laps, Herta was setting times as fast as the leaders. Fernandez spun again on the 33rd lap, causing the seventh caution period of the day, bringing in the leaders for service.

Herta remained on the track, and took the re-start from fifth position, but was bumped from behind by Dario Franchitti and forced to short cut the course alongside Roberto Moreno in effort to save his race position. Herta re-joined the race in fourth position ahead of Moreno, but was forced by CART to let Moreno by, having illegally gained position on the shortcut.

Nakano spun on the 40th lap, bringing out another full course yellow, enabling the Zakspeed-Forsythe crew to make their second stop of the day under yellow conditions.

"It's been a heck of a day already," commented Herta as he was given four fresh tyres, a wing adjustment and a full tank of fuel. Herta took the green flag on the 43rd lap from 16th position, with plenty of fuel to finish the race; he would not have to stop again.

The final caution of the day was displayed just two laps later, Mauricio Gugelmin and Paul Tracy made contact, retiring both cars. Herta gained to positions due to the contact, and took the final green flag on the 48th lap in 14th position. He was passed by Alex Tagliani on lap 49, placing him 15th, but not for long as he then passed an ailing Jimmy Vasser four laps later for 14th position.

With the two-hour time limit quickly approaching, the Zakspeed-Forsythe crew was hoping there would be enough green track time to force the leaders to pit, as Herta would be able to remain on the track and gain back his positions. The time limit expired, however, and the chequered flag fell on the 76th lap, just in time for the top-seven cars to finish the race without having to stop for fuel. Herta finished the race in 14th position.