Carter stars on Racing debut
The World Cup winner kicked three conversions on his debut and produced an accomplished display as Racing made light work of the Saints.
Henry Chavancy, Eddy Ben Arous and Brice Dulin touched down before the break and a second from Dulin and a late try from Juan Imhoff completed the rout for the home side.
All Black legend Carter was involved in Racing's first try as he made space in midfield and fellow countryman Joe Rokocoko moved the ball out wide for Chavancy to go over in the corner.
Carter's first points for Racing were met with a huge applause when he nailed a conversion from the touchline with trademark accuracy.
A superb last-ditch tackle from Tom Stephenson stopped Imhoff getting Racing's second after quarter of an hour but they didn't have to wait long before Ben Arous powered his way over from close range for the home side.
Carter added his second conversion before a JJ Hanrahan penalty gave the visitors a brief foothold in the game.
But that soon disappeared when veteran lock Victor Matfield tried to move the ball out wide with the Saints in attack but his pass was intercepted by Dulin who raced 70 metres down the field to score.
Racing secured the bonus point three minutes after the break when Dulin got his second try after a devastating run from prop Ben Tameifuna.
Stephenson thought he had finally got the breakthrough for Saints with 20 minutes to go but after crossing the line the play was called back by referee George Clancy for a forward pass from replacement outside-half Stephen Myler.
Both sides then enjoyed periods of pressure in the final quarter but Racing saved their best for five minutes from the end when they produced a devastating counter-attack that finished with Rokocoko putting Imhoff over for their fifth try.
The scorers:
For Racing 92:
Tries: Dulin 2, Chavancy, Arous, Imhoff
Cons: Carter 3, Goosen
For Northampton:
Pen: Hanrahan
Teams:
Racing 92: 15 Brice Dulin, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Henry Chavancy, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Chris Masoe, 7 Yannick Nyanga, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Francois van der Merwe, 4 Luke Charteris, 3 Ben Tameifuna, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski (captain), 1 Eddy Ben Arous.
Replacements: 16 Camille Chat, 17 Julien Brugnaut, 18 Cedate Gomes Sa, 19 Manuel Carizza, 20 Antonie Claassen, 21 Johannes Goosen, 22 Alexandre Dumoulin, 23 Maxime Machenaud.
Northampton Saints: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Jamie Elliott, 13 Luther Burrell, 12 Tom Stephenson, 11 George North 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Sam Dickinson, 7 Teimana Harrison, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Michael Paterson, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Mikey Haywood, 1 Alex Waller.
Replacements: 16 Matti Williams, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Christian Day, 20 Jamie Gibson, 21 Kahn Fotuali'i, 22 Steve Myler, 23 Ah See Tuala.
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Dudley Phillips (Ireland), Mark Patton (Ireland)
TMO: Marshall Kilgore (Ireland)
Source: @ChampionsCup
