ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. Alessandro De Tullio has found his stride.

After making his USF Pro 2000 Presented by Continental Tire debut toward the end of last season following an 18-month hiatus from car racing due to a lack of funding, the 18-year-old university student from Miami, Fla., joined forces with the defending series champion team Turn 3 Motorsport over the winter. He came out of the blocks strongly by setting the pace in last weeks Spring Training test at NOLA Motorsports Park and translated that form into an emphatic victory in todays first leg of the Andersen Interior Contracting Grand Prix of St. Petersburg doubleheader.

Remarkably, De Tullio became the fourth driver in as many years to win the opening race of the season for Turn 3 Motorsport.

Last years USF2000 Presented by Continental Tire champion Max Garcia, from Coconut Grove, Fla., stepped up a level to claim second in his debut USF Pro 2000 race for Pabst Racing, while teammate Michael Costello, from Naples, Fla., ensured a home state sweep of the podium following a post-race penalty for Canadian Mac Clark, who had to settle for fourth for Exclusive Autosport.

De Tullio began the race weekend as he left off from Spring Training, posting the fastest lap in qualifying yesterday to snag his first Continental Tire Pole Award. However, with no fewer than 19 of the 22 cars blanketed by less than a second, he knew to expect plenty of challenges during the first of two 25-lap races that would kick off the 18-race season.

Three relatively brief full-course cautions due to some midfield incidents served to break up the first half of the 25-lap race around the unforgiving 1.8-mile, 14-turn street course. But De Tullio held his nerve and his lead, despite the best efforts of Garcia, who on each restart attempted to brake deeper on the outside line at Turn One, at the end of the longest straightaway.

De Tullio hit his marks perfectly on every restart, leaving Garcia no opportunity to make a move for the lead. De Tullio even cemented his authority on the proceedings by setting what was to stand as the fastest lap of the race worth an additional championship point with three laps remaining.

Clark made up two positions on the opening lap to run in fourth behind De Tullios Turn 3 teammate Elliot Cox, from Indianapolis, Ind., then pulled off a nice pass immediately following a restart on Lap 10 to move into third.

Clark couldnt match the leading pace and had to work increasingly hard to hold off not only Cox but also Costello, who had risen from ninth on the grid, and VRD Racings Max Taylor, from Hoboken, N.J., who had been only 13th fastest in qualifying.

The foursome circulated almost as one for the final stages of the race. Clark appeared to have done enough to maintain his third place, although unfortunately for him, race officials deemed he had overstepped the limits of defense making a move to defend his position in reaction to a pursuer on the final lap. Clark therefore had to relinquish the final podium position to Costello, who had also profited when Cox made one slight error and clipped the wall at Turn Nine with just two laps to go.

Taylor, last years champion in USF Juniors Presented by Continental Tire, took the checkered flag in fifth ahead of Turn 3 Motorsports Cooper Becklin, from Portland, Ore., and Brazilian Nicolas Monteiro, who made up two positions at the final restart to net a seventh-place finish for DEForce Racing.

Monteiro also earned the Tilton Hard Charger Award after having started 19th.

The PFC Award as the winning car owner went to Peter Dempsey of Turn 3 Motorsport.