Da Matta started from pole and led all the way during the 112 laps on the temporary street course.

The victory was da Matta's fifth of the season and seventh in the last 10 races.

He was virtually unchallenged during the race, building leads of up to 12 seconds and driving his Toyota-powered Lola across the finish line over four seconds ahead of Kenny Brack.

Da Matta was delighted with the win, which saw him equal Alex Zanardi's 1998 record.

"The only time I felt pushed was on the last restart when I had Kenny right behind me," he said.

"Before that, there were always lapped cars between me and the second-place car on the restarts.

"The Newman-Haas team is just working well together right now - we're just collecting the fruits that have been growing since last year."

Dominant

Second-placed Brack finished just ahead of Christian Fittipaldi, da Matta's team-mate on the team co-owned by actor Paul Newman and Chicago businessman Carl Haas.

It was a chaotic race, starting with Paul Tracy jumping the start and bringing out the first of four yellow flags.

When the green flag waved on the second lap, da Matta stayed ahead of Tracy and was never in danger of relinquishing his lead.

Finishing times:

1. Cristiano da Matta, Toyota/Lola/Bridgestone, 112 laps, 93.361 mph (150.218 kph).
2. Kenny Brack, Toyota/Lola/Bridgestone, 112.
3. Christian Fittipaldi, Toyota/Lola/Bridgestone, 112.
4. Shinji Nakano, Honda/Lola/Bridgestone, 112.
5. Scott Dixon, Toyota/Lola/Bridgestone, 112.
6. Jimmy Vasser, Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone, 112.
7. Alex Tagliani, Ford-Cosworth/Reynard/Bridgestone, 112.
8. Tora Takagi, Toyota/Reynard/Bridgestone, 112.
9. Adrian Fernandez, Honda/Lola/Bridgestone, 111.
10. Patrick Carpentier, Ford-Cosworth/Reynard/Bridgestone, 111.