Race No. 5

Rio 200
Emerson Fittipaldi Speedway
at Nelson Piquet International Raceway Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
May 13-15, 1999

	Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda finished: 1st
JUAN MONTOYA
Chip[Ganassi] said to take it easy at the start, but I sawa chance and I just went for it. After that, it waspretty close. We were all running at the same pace andafter the second pit stop, it got a bit exciting. Onthe last restart, I think we were all pushing our carsto limit, but I got a good restart and was able to stayahead.

	Kmart/Texaco Havoline Newman/Haas Racing Swift Ford finished: 3rd
CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI
I wantedto be as quick as these two guys [Franchitti andMontoya], but you can't have everything. I wasdefinitely quicker on the straights, but not in thecorners. The car was good, and it took a long time forthe tires to come in, especially after the restarts.I'm happy for the points - no doubt Juan had a verygood race. I'm lying third, now I'm hoping I can keepthis up.

	Forsythe Player's/Indeck Reynard Mercedes finished: 8th
GREG MOORE
I had a very good start to the race, but about 10 laps into it I wasslowed down by Jimmy Vasser, who was having problems with his car.I lost a few positionsright there. It was a little disappointing not being able to move up in thestandings, but it's still early in the season and I'm not that far out ofsecond. We'll take aim at that spot and then see what we can do aboutcatching Juan (Montoya).

	MCI Worldcom Arciero-Wells Reynard Toyota finished: 21st
CHRISTIANO DA MATTA
The car was great today. We moved up a lot of positions at the beginning,and then we had a good first pit stop that helped us to. After our secondpit stop, I was in a good position to move up again but the car just wentaway from me. I had to come in, which was hard to do. I'm disappointedthat I could not finish my first Champ car race in Brazil. But now I havegood experience here, and I am looking forward already to coming back herenext year.

	Pioneer Arciero-Wells Reynard Toyota finished: 24th
SCOTT PRUETT
This was shaping up to be a great day for the Pioneer Electronics/MCIWorldCom team. We were steadily moving up through the field, and both thecar and the track were coming around. The guys did a great job in the pittoday. After our first pit stop, the team sent me back out four positionsahead of where I was when I came in (from P17 to P13). It's adisappointment, but one we just have to put behind us so we can focus on St.Louis. We were getting there, but it just wasn't our day today.

	Herdez Competition Payton/Coyne Lola Ford finished: 16th
MICHEL JOURDAIN
We hadelectrical problems. Sometimes the car was ok. and sometimes not. Thisaffected the performance of the engine, which was losing power. Regardingthe balance of the car, we never could get a good one. The car developedloose entering the turns and was push exiting.

	Team Kool Green Reynard Honda finished: 2nd
DARIO FRANCHITTI
It's another podium finish for Team KOOL Green. From the start wehad a little problem because Juan passed both of us (he and ChristianFittipaldi). I was trying to pass Christian around the outside and Juan gotup behind Christian and got a tow off of him to get both of us. After thefirst stop I got back by Juan, but his tires were warmer and he gotaround me. I'm a little disappointed we still didn't get that first win of theyear. The Team KOOL Green guys gave me a great car - the fastest carout there at times. But track position was the most important thing today. The Brazilian drivers did a great job today and the crowd was fantastic.They really supported their drivers. Christian was pushing me and I couldsee Tony back there charging. It's great for the event that Christianended up on the podium, but I'd have been happier to be on the top stepof the podium.

	Team Kool Green Reynard Honda finished: 15th
PAUL TRACY
First thing I've got to say is what a great job the Team KOOL Greenguys did all weekend. They had a tough couple of days here in Brazil,starting with having to get the spare car ready in just one hour forqualifying. They gave me a great car today, but I kind of let them down.We had one of the fastest cars out there for a while. But track position iseverything and after that first stop, we were playing catch-up the rest ofthe race. On the first stop, I put the car in gear and started revving it, thenthe car started creeping away on me. It was my mistake. I think my footslipped off the clutch. I'm just glad nobody got hurt. We'll bounce backat the next race in St. Louis.

	McDonald'sForsythe Championship Racing Team Reynard Honda finished: 5th
TONY KANAAN
It was a good weekend overall. Last year, if I was top five, I wouldbe celebrating. This year, it is not good enough. My car wasconsistent all day but it wasn't the fastest car. I think the otherguys maybe had a little less downforce than us. I was looking forwardto today, not just because it is in Brazil but I wanted to finish andmake some points. I am working for the championship and I think we madea big step today. We cannot say that we are having a bad year so far because if it wasn'tor Long Beach, we would be top five in the championship right now. Sowe have to work hard for St. Louis and Milwaukee. The fun is going tostart after Milwaukee with the road and street courses. I am lookingforward to going back to the left and right turns.

	Forsythe Player's/Indeck Reynard Mercedes finished: 6th
PATRICK CARPENTIER
It's not quite a podium yet but it's a good start.This is my best result with the Player's team, and I'm happy about itbecause I think we're making good progress.The Player's team gave me a great car today, and thankfully, I had a racewhere I didn't encounter any misfortune. Everything went well from start tofinish.

	Team Gordon Reynard Toyota finished: 14th
ROBBY GORDON
I'm pleased that we ran all day and had astrong finish. I would've liked some points, but that just didn't workout. I tried! At the end, on cold tires, I made a run on Al Jr., butthe grip wasn't there yet and I spun, sending me backwards through TurnOne. Somehow, I kept it off the wall, but that was it. The tires wereflat-spotted. We threw new tires on right away for the last six lapsand got Tracy with them, but we were too far back to get "Junior." Bottom line: In this series, you've got to be "spot on" to run upfront. We've got a ways to go, but today is encouraging." On theteam's excellent pit stops - "It's been a tough weekend on the guys,having to fix the car last night after the crash yesterday. But theguys were awesome today, I'll have to crash on Friday more often!! Wegained six spots on the first pit stop! The rest of the stops wereflawless, as well. That's a big deal to me. They've come a long way. And really, that's what it's all about ... everybody coming together andgetting better each weekend.