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©1999 SpeedCenter Publishing Rio de Janeiro, Brazil May 12, 1999 - Brazilian Roberto Moreno will drive the #18 Motorola PacWest Mercedes-Benz at this weekend's Rio 200, PacWest President Bruce R. McCaw officially announced today. Moreno replaces regular PacWest driver Mark Blundell, who is recovering from a May 4th testing accident at Gateway International Raceway. Blundell will return to FedEx Championship Series competition at the Motorola 300 on May 29. "I'm disappointed that I can't fulfil my obligations to the team and our sponsors," said Blundell. "I have the desire to race, but I need to be in 100% top condition to compete or it's not fair to PacWest and our partners." Moreno, a veteran of both CART and Formula One competition whose best career CART start (second) came at Rio in 1997, is excited about joining PacWest for the fifth round of the 1999 FedEx Championship Series. "It's always sad when a driver can't compete, but I'm pleased that I was chosen to replace Mark in this situation," commented Moreno. "It's difficult to come in, jump in the car, and get used to everything that people usually get used to as they go testing. I've got a big learning curve. I just hope that I can make the most of this opportunity and bring a good result to the team." The Rio native looks forward to competing in front of his fellow 'Cariocas'. "It's always great to race in your hometown. It's hard to put into words how nice it is to race in Rio," remarked Moreno. "In 1997 Mauricio and I were on the front row here but with different teams, and if we work together we can hopefully have a good showing this weekend. I'm very, very optimistic about this race and extremely happy with how the PacWest team operates." Source: PacWest Racing Group |
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