The unseen consequences of a failed injury comeback
After recovering from injury, drivers don't always manage to get back to the same level they were racing at before. But sometimes they aren't given much of a chance, as Cristiano da Matta found out
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Eleven years on from the altercation with a deer at Elkhart Lake that left him with a subdural hematoma, there have only been fleeting sights of ex-Toyota Formula 1 racer Cristiano da Matta in competitive action since.
After being cleared to drive in 2008, 'Shorty' made his return in Grand-Am with Bob Stallings Racing at Laguna Seca alongside his former PKV team boss Jimmy Vasser - who had visited da Matta in hospital and brought him a guitar to play - but after sponsorship dried up, he managed only one more outing that year at Miller Motorsports Park before returning to his native Brazil to race trucks in 2010.
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