Da Matta Signs Formula One Deal

Toyota made official Tuesday the long anticipated signing of Cristiano da Matta to a Formula One contract.

The Brazilian driver, who has already clinched the Championship Auto Racing Teams championship driving a Toyota-powered Lola for Carl Haas and Paul Newman, will join France’s Olivier Panis on the Panasonic Toyota Racing team for 2003 and 2004.

“I have accomplished one of my goals by winning the CART title,” said da Matta, 29, who has raced in North America for the last six years. “Now I am ready for the next challenge. It is great to be able to ... further develop my already successful partnership with Toyota.”

In a related move, Bruno Junqueira, da Matta’s countryman and boyhood friend, has been signed by Newman/Haas Racing to replace him in 2003.

-- Shav Glick

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Jimmy Spencer’s disappointing run at Chip Ganassi Racing ended when the car owner fired him after one season.

Spencer will run the last two races in the No. 41 Dodge, then be released from the three-year contract he signed before this season.

Jurisprudence

Jose Canseco and his twin brother pleaded guilty to charges they beat up two men in a Miami nightclub fight, agreeing to probation and community service but avoiding prison time.

The Cansecos made the deal while their trial was in jury selection.

Canseco, 26th on the career home run list, and his brother, former big leaguer Ozzie, also will have to attend anger management classes.

A court hearing over whether Ted Williams’ daughter can challenge her half brother’s desire to have the Hall of Famer’s body cryogenically preserved was postponed for a second time.

The hearing had been scheduled for today in Citrus County (Fla.) Circuit Court. No new date had been set.

Miscellany

A female freshman soccer player at Bowling Green died at the hospital after collapsing five minutes into a game, a nursing supervisor said.

Leslie Dawley was away from the ball when she fell during a Mid-American Conference tournament game against Buffalo at Bowling Green, Ohio. Trainers rushed onto the field and tried to revive the 18-year-old player.

Davis said she did not know what caused Dawley’s death. She said an autopsy would be done in the next few days.

Duke junior Alana Beard was the only player on all 44 ballots for the Associated Press preseason All-America team in women’s basketball.

In addition to the 5-foot-11 Beard, the national media panel selected Connecticut’s Diana Taurasi (41 votes), a former high school All-American from Chino Don Lugo High who averaged 14.3 points and 5.3 assists last season.

Rounding out the top five were Vanderbilt’s Chantelle Anderson (42), Mississippi State’s LaToya Thomas (35) and Stanford’s Nicole Powell (24), who will miss the Cardinal’s Nov. 22 opener against Rutgers because she played in a summer league game not sanctioned by the NCAA.

A Nov. 20 date has been set by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for a hearing for Fernando Vargas. The former 147-pound champion faces disciplinary action after testing positive for an illegal steroid following his TKO loss to Oscar De La Hoya in a September title fight.

In a letter to the commission asking for leniency, Vargas concedes the accuracy of the tests, but is still claiming he was given the steroid without his knowledge by overzealous members of his camp.