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Monday, April 9, 2001
Points leader da Matta finishes second
ESPN.com news services
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach results
LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Helio Castroneves fought off tenacious
Cristiano da Matta and drove away with a victory Sunday in the
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.
The two Brazilians put on a sensational show over the last half
of the 82-lap race on the 1.968-mile, 12-turn temporary street
circuit, but da Matta -- the runaway winner of the season-opener
last month in Mexico -- couldn't make Castroneves flinch.
|  | | Helio Castroneves negotiated the picturesque Long Beach circuit for his fourth career CART win. |
"There was a lot of pressure," the winner said. "Sometimes
you drive much better when you have pressure. That's what I felt."
It was the fourth CART series victory for Castroneves, who
earned the maximum 22 points for the weekend -- one for winning the
pole, 20 for taking the race and one for leading the most laps. In
fact, Castroneves led all but two laps on the scenic downtown
course, while first Kenny Brack and then da Matta stalked him lap
after lap.
After Brack's gearbox broke during a pit stop on lap 30, da
Matta came out of the pits right behind Castroneves Marlboro Team
Penske Reynard-Honda.
Da Matta applied the pressure on just about every lap, but
Castroneves was flawless. Several times, without success, the
second-place car made moves to get by at the end of the long, fast
front straightaway.
"The front straightaway is wide but it's pretty narrow going
into turn 1," da Matta said. "I didn't have a realistic chance to
get around him. I couldn't get by him on the outside and he kept
the inside line closed. I just couldn't find room."
The race was slowed by three full-course caution flags,
including one that began on lap 76 after rookie Tora Takagi crashed
into a tire barrier.
That bunched the cars for one last restart on lap 79, but da
Matta was unable to take advantage as Castroneves remained solidly
in control to the end.
A crowd of more than 90,000 watched Castronves beat da Matta's
Toyota-powered Lola by 0.534 seconds -- about two car-lengths.
Gil de Ferran, Castroneves' teammate and yet another of the
speedy Brazilians, wound up third, followed by 2000 Long Beach
winner Paul Tracy, Jimmy Vasser, Dario Franchitti and Tony Kanaan.
Nicolas Minassian and Bruno Junqueira, the two rookies driving
for Target/Chip Ganassi Racing, finished eighth and ninth.
Although there was little passing in the race, it was also
difficult to get away from the pack. The top nine drivers finished
within 7.555 seconds, 15 of the 28 starters were on the lead lap
and 21 cars were running at the end.
Da Matta maintained his lead in the season standings, with de
Ferran, who was the runner-up in the opener, trailing by seven
points. Castroneves is 10 back, just one point ahead of Tracy.
Michael Andretti, who finished fourth in Mexico and is among the
favorites for the 2001 CART championship, was the first driver out
of Sunday's race, falling out after just five laps with an
electrical problem.
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 Helio Castroneves holds off Cristiano Da Matta to win the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.
avi: 1363 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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