da Matta

MONTEREY, Calif. -- Cristiano da Matta loves any place called Monterey, no matter how it's spelled.

Starting on a CART pole for the first time, da Matta pulled away from the competition Sunday to easily win the Bridgestone Grand Prix of Monterey, his second victory of the season, sixth of his CART career and fourth in his last seven races.

Da Matta added the Monterey, Calif., title to his season-opening victory at the Tecate Telmex Monterrey Grand Prix in Mexico on March 10.

His unchallenged triumph -- more like a pleasant Sunday drive on a gorgeous, sunny afternoon at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca -- moved him into the lead in the championship points race.

''For me, it was a perfect day,'' he said.

Da Matta's Chevron Newman-Haas teammate Christian Fittipaldi was second, 19.087 seconds behind the winner. Kenny Brack, who started alongside da Matta in the front row, was third, 19.410 seconds behind the champion.

	Cristiano da Matta held the field at bay all day at Laguna Seca Raceway.

It was the seventh 1-2 finish for Newman-Haas, and second at Laguna Seca. The top four finishers had Toyota engines, the first time that's happened in CART competition.

Da Matta led 82 of the 87 laps, falling behind only when he went to the pits.

The 28-year-old Brazilian won 22 of a possible 23 championship points. Of his 51 points this season, 49 have come on road courses. He leads second-place Michel Jourdain Jr. by five points.

After a seven-car crash on the second turn at the start of the race, da Matta's car was uncatchable.

''We had a good start. That was my main concern,'' da Matta said. ''Once I got in the clear, I knew I had a good car.''

He had long given notice that his Toyota-powered Lola would be tough to beat at Laguna Seca. He led all four preview sessions in February, as well as both practice rounds this week and Saturday's qualifying session.

The only session he didn't lead was Friday's provisional qualifying, when he was second to Brack.

''It's big pressure when you have such a good car,'' da Matta said. ''You really have to deliver because it doesn't matter what you did when it didn't count.''

Da Matta wasn't popular with his competitors when the race began because of his tactics in Saturday's qualifying round.

Five minutes before the qualifying session ended, da Matta blew an engine and stayed on the track, spewing oil as he raced to the pits.

The slick track prevented any drivers from getting off a late quick run, and Brack was convinced he could have topped da Matta's speed and won the pole had the track been clean. Brack and other drivers said da Matta should have at least pulled off the racing line to the edge of the track.

When someone asked Brack if he would have won had he started on the pole, da Matta shouted ''No,'' as reporters and drivers laughed.

Brack wasn't so sure.

''On speed, he was faster than I was,'' Brack said. ''But on the other hand, to pass here is not easy, so I think my car would have been pretty wide. It's hard to say. I don't know.''

Through the 42 laps on Sunday, until his second pit stop, da Matta picked up between a half-second to nearly a second each time around the 2.238-mile, 11-turn course. At one point, he led by more than 12 seconds.

But da Matta had some traction problems, and ran into traffic as he lapped many of the slower cars. His lead dwindled to just over 3 seconds before he and Brack went to the pits after 63 laps.

Fittipaldi took the lead briefly when da Matta went to the pits. But after Fittipaldi's pit stop, da Matta had a 2-second lead and, with plenty left in his car, pulled away for the one-sided victory.

At the start of the race, Jourdain was knocked into a spin in the crowded second turn, triggering a crash that involved seven cars and knocked Dario Franchitti and Adrián Fernández out of the race.

Team Kool Green had a miserable end to a bad week. After Franchitti was knocked out, teammate Paul Tracy was soon to follow.

Tracy went to the pits after lap 16, and a crew member apparently failed to get the left rear tire on securely before the car sped away. Just after turn four, the tire flew off and sent Tracy's car spinning into the tire wall along the infield.