Gil de Ferran and Helio Castroneves never questioned Roger Penske.

When Penske made the stunning decision to move his open-wheel team to the rival Indy Racing League from the CART series he helped form, Castroneves and de Ferran -- the 1-2 finishers at last year's Indianapolis 500 -- just followed their leader.

	Helio Castroneves will take his fence-climbing antics to the IRL in 2002.

"I trust Roger's judgment better than my own since he's got a proven record over time to decide what's best for the future," de Ferran said.

The switch means de Ferran won't have a chance to become the first driver to win three straight CART titles. Bobby Rahal and Rick Mears are the only three-time series champs.

"I really did not see things from the perspective of 'Oh, I'm going to miss this,'" said the 34-year-old Brazilian. "I aligned myself with the team, which I know will be successful because Roger will continue to be successful."

Penske is the most successful owner in open-wheel racing with 109 victories and 11 championships, including 96 wins and nine season titles in 23 CART seasons. He also has 11 wins at the Indianapolis 500.

"As long as you are with a great team, why take a chance?" said Castroneves, whose racing career began in go-karts at age 12. "It took me so long to achieve what I want to be and where I want to be."

Castroneves and de Ferran were hired after the 1999 season, when Marlboro Team Penske used four different drivers -- including two-time Indy 500 winner Al Unser Jr. in his last year with the team -- and went through a second straight year without winning a race.

In just two years, they have combined for 10 wins. Castroneves has won six races, and de Ferran has the first season titles since Unser won eight races in 1994 and Penske drivers finished 1-2-3 in the CART standings.

Last May, they gave Penske a triumphant return to Indianapolis after a five-year exile caused by the nasty CART-IRL split. Castroneves won the race 1.73 seconds ahead of de Ferran, and the IRL didn't have a driver in the top six or on the lead lap in its showcase event.

This year, they are going through the entire 15-race IRL season. Penske made his decision public in December to switch from the globe-trotting CART to the IRL that runs only on ovals in the United States.

"It's going to step up the level of competition a little bit," said Sam Hornish Jr., the defending IRL champion who won three races last year. "They bring a little more to the series."

Scott Sharp, who has six career IRL wins, knows the Penske team will "raise the bar of competition and be a front-runner."

The opening race is March 2 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Despite their dominance at the Brickyard last May, Castroneves and de Ferran know they have to prove themselves in a full IRL season.

"When I read those things that we should go out there and win every race, I wish they are right," de Ferran said. "But the Indy 500 is a unique event in the sense that you have a lot of running time, basically two or three weeks in the month of May just running and running and running."

He knows that's much different than other IRL events with "two 45-minute practice sessions Friday, a half-hour practice Saturday, qualify, race and see you later."

In their only other IRL appearances last year, Castroneves finished 18th at Phoenix, six spots ahead of his teammate.

There will be plenty of new tracks, and the adjustment from the turbocharged Champ cars to the smaller engines in IRL.

"Imagine you're getting to a track that you've been with a Champ car, it's a totally different way to drive," said Castroneves.

The Brazilian duo is different in many ways, but they are winning drivers who have developed a unique friendship.

De Ferran is the family man, married with two young children. He left engineering school 14 years ago to dedicate himself completely to racing.

Castroneves, the 26-year-old who celebrates victories by climbing fences, has the boyish looks and is considered one of the world's sexiest athletes. He was featured as a "Hunk of the Month" in Cosmopolitan and appears in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue out this month.

"I don't know, it just seems to be a good mix," de Ferran said. "We work well on the track and we get along well off the track."

Not only are they friends and teammates, they are each other's biggest competitors.

"I want to beat him and he wants to beat me," Castroneves said.