He Prefers Being Graded on Curves

Cristiano da Matta has won the last three CART races--the last two in 2001, including Fontana, and the season opener in Monterrey, Mexico--but don’t ask him if he has been dominating.

“I’ve just won a few races,” the jockey-sized Brazilian said after arriving in Long Beach for Sunday’s 28th annual Toyota Grand Prix. “Dominating is the way Alex Zanardi or Juan Montoya won their championships. If I win a few more, maybe you can say that about me, but not yet.”

Zanardi won five races in 1997 and six in 1998. Montoya won seven in 1999.

Da Matta, who drives a Chevron-sponsored No. 6 Toyota-Lola, has proved to be one of CART’s most versatile drivers, having won on four different disciplines--oval, road course, street circuit and superspeedway--but he says he is happiest in road and street races, such as Long Beach, a busy 1.97-mile course with 11 turns.

“I like Long Beach. It and Surfers Paradise in Australia are the most challenging, the most interesting we run. Some street courses, you just go, you don’t even have to think, you just put the maximum level of downforce in the car, but not Long Beach. Braking is quite difficult. It has those two long straight stretches and some difficult turns, so we must struggle to find a compromise.”

Da Matta finished second last year, splitting Penske teammates Helio Castroneves and Gil de Ferran. Castroneves led all 82 laps, but Da Matta was right on his bumper most of the day.

“We weren’t running well when we arrived here, but we came up with a solution to our problem and had an all-out run. Helio did a good job. He gave me the outside, but I just couldn’t get by. It was a very good race.”

And what was the solution?

“If we had finished 15th, I would tell you,” he said with a sly smile. “But we finished second, so I can’t tell.”

Two things he will talk about are the rule changes made since Chris Pook took over as CART president. One eliminates fuel economy races and the other makes qualifying more equal and profitable.

“Every driver, every team, even the engineers, used to complain about having to conserve fuel during a race. It was like they would say, ‘We’re spending all this money, all these engineers working here, to make all this power, then it comes race time, sometimes we have to lean the engine to get better fuel economy for race strategy.’

“So the fact that we are going to be able to run as fast as you can, using as much fuel as you want, that’s going to be a great thing.”

Pre-Pook qualifying consisted of two 30-minute sessions, with the field split in half, on Saturday. This year there is one 45-minute session with all cars running--but each allowed only 15 laps at speed--on Friday and another Saturday. Low qualifier for each session receives one series point.

“This is much fairer,” da Matta said. “Before, the two sessions were never equal. Track conditions would often change between sessions. This way, everyone will have the same chance.”

Da Matta is often asked if the absence of the Penske drivers, who won five races and the championship between them last year, will make it easier to win his first CART championship.

“I don’t think it will make much difference, the competition will still be tough,” he said. “Of course, you always like to defeat a champion and this year there will be none to beat. That is the downside. On the other hand, I think Gil and Helio lost a lot more by switching to the IRL than we did by losing them.

“The [class of] drivers in the IRL is not even close, and I am sure before the year is out that both Gil and Helio will miss road racing. That’s how they grew up racing in Brazil. Now they’re only on ovals. I would think it would get awfully old.”

Da Matta’s highest points finish was fifth last year, but championships are not new to him. He won Indy Lights in 1998, including a win at Long Beach, and before coming to the U.S., won six Brazilian titles in Formula 3, Formula Ford and karts.

If he wins Sunday, da Matta will equal the CART record for consecutive wins at four. Al Unser Jr. did it in 1990 and Zanardi in 1998.

Although Da Matta has won three times on ovals (Chicago 2000 and Mexico 2001, 2002), and on a superspeedway (California Speedway, 2001), he says it is much more demanding for a driver to win on a street or road circuit.

“On a superspeedway, the car is 95% and the driver only 5%, on short ovals, the car is 85% and the driver 15%, but on street and road courses it’s 50-50,” he said.

“It’s never boring running on a big oval, not when you’re going 250 mph, but you don’t get the same challenges you get on a road or street course where you have to have more understanding of what your car is doing.”

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Long Beach Grand Prix

When: Friday-Sunday.

Grand Prix: Sunday, 90 laps, 12:30 p.m.

TV: Channel 11.

Defending champion: Helio Castroneves.

Current points leader: Cristiano da Matta.

Qualifying: Friday, 1:40 p.m.; Saturday 1:45 p.m.

Support races: Saturday: pro celebrity, noon; Sunday: Toyota Atlantic, 10 a.m.; Trans-Am, 3:45 p.m.