De Ferran: It just gets better

Fourth place ahead of main title rival Kenny Brack in Sunday's race Down Under was enough for de Ferran to repeat his championship success of 2000 in his Reynard-Honda.

"It's a great day, I'll tell you," he said. "I was just trying to drive my own race, and stay out of trouble. We knew what our objective was. Then I started to lose the brakes a bit at the end of the first stint, which was a bit worrying."

Once again, the Brazilian has said teamwork was the key to his title: "You have no idea how proud I am to be driving for Roger Penske," he said. "I owe him the world, him and all the team. I may be the guy on Sunday afternoons that has to bring it home, but it's a real team business here. I owe a lot to them. They mean a lot to me."

With his second title in the bag, de Ferran has pledged to attempt a hat-trick of successes in 2002, which is rumoured to be Penske's last year in the CART series before switching to the Indy Racing League.

"Obviously I guess I've been able to drive better and keep reaching for new heights. Even though I'm getting a lot of grey hairs, I still feel I'm getting better. This means a lot to me, and never in a million years would I have thought I could achieve this much success," he added.

For the race report from Surfers' Paradise, click HERE.

For full results of the race, click HERE.

For full championship standings click HERE.