Castro-Neves aims for Brazilian glory

The 24-year-old, who signed for the Team Penske team at the end of 1999, is hoping his new team will help him achieve his ambition of winning the Champ Car title.

Penske is backed by cigarette giant Marlboro, which was synonymous with its sponsorship of F1 outfit McLaren - the former team of Senna and Fittipaldi.

"It's a fantastic team, no doubt about that," said Castro-Neves.

"Everybody wants to be part of Marlboro Team Penske and, of course, I'm very happy to be part of the Penske family. They have a lot of resources that will help me improve. I'm going to learn a lot.

"The first time I received my driving suit, when I saw the Marlboro name across my stomach and the red and white colours, that's impressive.

"These colours are something out of this world. Since I was a kid I dreamed of driving one of these cars, and now my dream has come true."

Castro-Neves said he was still learning about Penske's new Honda/Reynard package in preparation for the 2000 season.

He added: "I'm taking a little while to adapt to the Reynard chassis and Honda engine. I ran a Reynard chassis in '98, but I'm taking it step-by-step to understand the package."

With two Champ Car seasons under his belt, his goal for 2000 will be to score his first CART title.

"I've always been looking for a victory. Last year was very close and again, all the time I go to the track is to achieve No. 1," he added.

"That's what I want to achieve this year. It doesn't matter if it's the championship, or a race win, I will try to be the fast guy. But it's going to be tough. There's a lot of very strong competition out there."

The Brazilian will partner Gil de Ferran this season.