Da Matta Is Off to a Fast Start

It took Cristiano da Matta one race to be successful for Newman-Haas Racing.

The diminutive Brazilian, sitting in the seat occupied for the last seven years by Michael Andretti, the biggest star in the CART series, drove away from the field Sunday to win the season-opening Telmex Tecate Grand Prix.

The victory in the first CART race in Mexico in 20 years was the second for the 27-year-old da Matta, who began his career last year with the now-defunct PPI Motorsports team.

“Everybody on this team is awesome,” da Matta said after scrambling out of his Toyota-powered Lola. “The track was very slippery in spots and I nearly spun early in the race. I had to figure out the line.”

He held off series champion Gil de Ferran over the last few laps of the race, shortened to 78 laps--two fewer than scheduled--by a two-hour time limit.

De Ferran, who was battling an intestinal problem that forced him to take intravenous fluids after Saturday’s qualifying and again before the race, trailed da Matta to the checkered flag by nearly two seconds--almost the length of the final straightaway on the new 2.1-mile, 12-turn road course.

Paul Tracy finished third, followed by Andretti, who switched to a new team fielded by Barry Green, who also campaigns cars for Tracy and Dario Franchitti.