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Survival of the fittest Castroneves outduels da Matta for Long Beach win
Updated: Sunday April 08, 2001 8:34 PM
LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) -- 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. "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 every lap 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 five 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 Castroneves 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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