Texaco/Havoline CART History
Cristiano da Matta
 For exciting young Newman/Haas driver Cristiano da Matta, it was clearly a case of “father knows best.” While he was growing up in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Cristiano’s mother dreamt of him becoming a world-class swimmer or gymnast. And though the boy was competitive in both sports, he yearned to follow in the footsteps of his father Antonio, who won 14 racing championships in Brazil over a 30-year career.
Though his father’s career ended in the 1980s due to an automobile accident, Cristiano’s was just beginning. After persuading his father to purchase a go-kart, he debuted at the age of 16 in 1989 and over the next three years, steadily rose through the karting ranks.
He grew out of the go-karts, and by 1993, he won the Brazilian Formula Ford Championship in a Texaco-sponsored car. After capturing the 1994 Brazilian Formula Three Championship, he headed to Europe for two years of competition in the British Formula Three and European Formula Three series.
In 1997, Cristiano moved to the United States, where he quickly made racing news. He captured Rookie of the Year honors in the PPG-Dayton Indy Lights series with four wins, three poles and seven podium appearances en route to winning the overall championship.
He joined the Champ Car ranks for the 1999 season with a team run by Cal Wells. In his first race, Cristiano set a then-record sixth place qualifying start for Toyota since the engine manufacturer joined the series in 1996.
Cristiano gained his first CART victory at the Chicago Motor Speedway in 2000, holding off Michael Andretti by a mere 1.6 seconds. He also placed second in Toronto, Canada, and third in Cleveland, Ohio, and finished the season 10th in the overall points standings.
When he returned for the 2001 CART season, he moved into Andretti’s former seat as driver of the Havoline Lola car for the Newman/Haas Racing team. He began the season impressively by winning the Tecate Telmex Monterey GP in Monterey, Mexico. His breakthrough season also included back-to-back wins in Queensland, Australia -- his first-ever CART victory on a street course -- and Fontana, Calif. In one of his five top-three podium finishes, Cristiano was third at the Rockingham 500 in Corby, England, during CART’s initial visit to Europe.
After just three years of driving in the CART FedEx Championship Series, Cristiano has proven that he can win on any type of course -- from the short oval in Chicago to a road course in Mexico, a street course in Australia, and a Super Speedway in Fontana. Small wonder that he was one of five drivers named to the 2001 CART All-Star team.
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