Race No. 5
Rio 200
Emerson Fittipaldi Speedway
at Nelson Piquet International Raceway Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
May 13-15, 1999
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Can Moore Repeat?
The race in Rio has seen three different winners and even more strong runners over the past three years. Greg Moore, who won the season opener at Homestead appears to be in a position to become the first repeat winner at this rather unique oval. But as usual, the competition is tough. Can anyone stop Juan Montoya from underlining his back-to-back wins?After all, Montoya comes with a 3-peat championship team to back him up, and the track should suit this road course graduatemore than the oval at Nazareth.
Brazilians have been traditionally strong at their home race. This year, they need this boost in pride and confidence morethan in recent years. So far, Christian Fittipaldi is the highest ranking Brazilian in the points chase for the PPG Cup. A position he has not been in for along time. He is closely followed by Gil de Ferran, who looked very strong in Motegi andshould be among the favorites in Brazil.
Franchitti was very fast in '98 and hopes to get a first win to stay competitive in the points race, while Fernandez andAndretti have similar motives to finish on the podium. All of them are only a few points behind the rookie Montoya who is leading the championship after only 4 races.
At another front of the battle, it will be interesting to see if Helio Castro-Neves can again run at the front of thepack, like he did at the other ovals this season. The competition among chassis manufacturers remains one of thetop stories to follow. Fernandez should be back in a Reynard at Rio, while PJ Jones is very likely to pick the Swift again.Lola has Castro-Neves showing off their technology, while the '99 Reynard is the chassis preferred by Moore, Montoya andsome of the other front runners. At Rio, only Reynard and Penske have won races or been on pole in the past. Will Al UnserJr. put Penske back into the spotlight? There is talk that Penske will have two cars at Rio, with Tarso Marques drivingthe other entry.
Some Pre-Rio Quotes:
Greg Moore:
Last year's race in Rio is still etched in my mind. It was a greatfeeling to be able to make the passing move in the last laps, with everything onthe line. I enjoy racing on the Rio oval. I've had pretty good success there,because I managed to finish second in the 1997 race. Our Player's crew has beenextremelysuccessful in finding the right setup for this track, so I think that augurswell going into this year's race.
Patrick Carpentier:
With Greg's win at Rio last year, the Player's team was able to build up asolid information base that should serve us well for this year's event. While we'vehad a few problems so far this season, our speed on the track has never been put intodoubt. The times we have clocked are comparable to anyone. Hopefully, we can turn thatasset into a win this weekend.It would be especially gratifying because this is a race where our sponsor can displayits name on our cars again
Christian Fittipaldi:
It [winning]would mean a lot, there's no doubt about it. We are definitely capable ofwinning there and we ran very strong last year. We were as high as secondbefore I had to stop (with fuel system problems). The first year we ran inRio was another good showing for us. I was not able to qualify there andhad to start the race dead last and we ended up finishing fifth. Definitelywe are all pumped up for the race, no doubt about it, and I am definitelylooking forward to it.
Robby Gordon:
I've got my passport ready and we're ready to roll. We keeplearning things every time we take to the track, and this weekend willbe no different. The greatest lesson has been the reality that you haveto have patience when you're a first-year team. You take a little timeto celebrate your successes along the way, and try to get somethingpositive out of even the negative situations.
They call it an oval, but it's not your typical oval. You have to have a verywell-balanced package. It's got a combination of long straightaways andvery tight left-hand turns, mixed with some high-speed left-handers. It's a real driver's track.
Christiano da Matta:
Rio is one of the races I'm most excited about, because it will be thefirst time I will race a champ car in my home country. The town I grew upin, Belo Horizonte, is not far from Rio. All my friends and family will beat the race, so I really want to do well for them. I am very close to myfamily. I will be able to spend a little extra time with them before andafter the race, so I am really looking forward to the trip.
The momentum of the MCI WorldCom team going into Rio is better than ever.After finishing fourth in Nazareth and qualifying sixth in Miami, we know wehave what it takes from the beginning to the end of a race. This is only myfifth race in a champ car, and already the team is working great together.
Rio will be a challenge for me because I have never raced there. It lookslike the kind of track I like, though, because it requires a lot of skill onthe part of the driver. Turn One and Turn Four are hard turns at the end ofthe long front straight, so we'll be doing a lot of shifting before andafter the fastest part of the track. I like tracks that make you work hardbehind the wheel. They are much more interesting, and there are morechances for the guy in front of you to make a mistake."
Scott Pruett:
Rio is a driver's oval. You can't really compare it to Nazareth, becauseneither of them are true ovals. Rio has one long straight where we'll findthe most speed, and very different corners. It's not really round at all.Set-up is usually key on ovals, but it's trickier in Rio because you have toprepare the car in a very segmented way. Rather than focusing on onesweeping, flat-out run, we have to look at the car's performance throughdecreasing and increasing radius turns and down one long straightaway.
Rio is also tough because, like Japan, none of the teams are able to testthere prior to race weekend. In some ways, all bets are off. Fridaypractice takes on a whole new level of importance.
From a team standpoint, we had a great weekend in Nazareth. We made a lotof progress with the car. The time I was able to spend with John (Dick,Pruett's new race engineer) was incredibly valuable. I'm pleased that wehave a fairly aggressive testing schedule over the next six weeks, becausethat will give us even more time to get into a good working rhythm. John'sgreat to work with because he's very calming. He balances out the toughspots and keeps everyone focused on the job at hand. He's a great additionto our team.