Life's a beach for Castroneves

HELIO Castroneves has shot to third in the CART championship standings after dominating the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday.

The Marlboro Team Penske driver led from pole position and remained in front for the entire 82-lap race distance, to complete the first CART competition points sweep since his victory in Laguna Seca last year.

He picked up a total of 22 points for winning the race, taking pole position and leading the most laps.

The 25-year old Brazilian celebrated his triumph with his trademark climbing of the fence along the start/finish straight immediately after his victory lap.

Castroneves finished just over half a second ahead of round one winner Cristiano da Matta, who attacked the leader on numerous occasions over the last 25 laps but was never able to force his way past.

"The best place to pass was in turn one, but Helio (Castroneves) is a smart guy and he always kept me on the outside," da Matta said.

"I couldn't have passed him unless I made a crazy move. He drove well, he drove defensively and he deserved to win. I had nothing for him." Da Matta's runner up performance keeps him in the lead in the championship ahead of third place getter Gil de Ferran.

Defending champion de Ferran capped off a good weekend for Marlboro Team Penske, recording his second consecutive podium finish in the Honda Reynard.

"I feel good about where we're at as a team," de Ferran said.

"We're carrying over the way we finished off last year but the important thing is to keep our eye on the ball instead of patting ourselves on the back." Kenny Brack was the main challenger to Castroneves in the early stages in the Shell Ford-Cosworth/Lola.

The Swede's car was faster on the straight, but Castroneves' Honda Reynard continually pulled away through the twisty sections.

Brack fell from contention after he stalled during the first pit stop and then damaged the gearbox with a quick take-off when the crew got the car restarted.

Paul Tracy made the biggest improvement during the race, moving from 12th on the grid to finish just off the podium in fourth.

"We had a good car today, but it's tough when you start that far back," Tracy said.

Michel Jourdain Jr had a disappointing finish after running strongly with the leaders in the first stint.

A slow pit stop dropped him from sixth down to 12th, before a pit lane speed violation pushed him further down the order to take the flag out of the points in 13th place.

While the first two rounds of the 2001 series were held on road/street courses, the next four events will be held on oval tracks in the US and Japan.

Round three is the inaugural Firestone Firehawk 600 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas on April 27-29.

RACE RESULTS 1. Helio Castroneves - Marlboro Team Penske (Honda/Reynard/Firestone) 82 laps - 1hr52min17.779sec 2. Cristiano da Matta - Newman/Haas Racing (Toyota/Lola/Firestone) +0.534sec 3. Gil de Ferran - Marlboro Team Penske (Honda/Reynard/Firestone) +1.787sec 4. Paul Tracy - Team KOOL Green (Honda/Reynard/Firestone) +2.435sec 5. Jimmy Vasser - Patrick Racing (Toyota/Reynard/Firestone) +3.342sec 6. Dario Franchitti - Team KOOL Green (Honda/Reynard/Firestone) +4.855sec 7. Tony Kanaan - Mo Nunn Racing (Honda/Reynard/Firestone) +5.915sec 8. Nicolas Minassian - Target Chip Ganassi Racing (Toyota/Lola/Firestone) +6.749 9. Bruno Junqueira - Target Chip Ganassi Racing (Toyota/Lola/Firestone) +7.565 10. Bryan Herta - Zakspeed/Forsythe Racing (Ford-Cosworth/Reynard/Firestone) +11.169 CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS 1. Cristiano da Matta (BRA) 37 2. Gil de Ferran (BRA) 30 3. Helio Castroneves (BRA) 27 4. Paul Tracy (CAN) 26 5. Jimmy Vasser (USA) 18 6. Michael Andretti (USA) 12 7. Dario Franchitti (SCO) 12 8. Tony Kanaan (BRA) 12 9. Kenny Brack (SWE) 11 10. Nicolas Minassian (FRA) 7 11. Bruno Junqueira (BRA) 4 12. Bryan Herta (USA) 3 13. Tora Takagi (JAP) 3 14. Roberto Moreno (BRA) 2 15. Shinji Nakanon (JAP) 1 16. Max Papis (ITA) 1