1999 Grand Prix Telemar Rio 200

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Brazil 1999 Rio
Race details
Race 5 of 20 in the 1999 CART season
DateMay 15, 1999
Official name1999 Grand Prix Telemar Rio 200
LocationEmerson Fittipaldi Speedway, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
CoursePermanent racing facility
1.864 mi / 3.000 km
Distance108 laps
201.312 mi / 323.978 km
WeatherLight rain
Pole position
DriverChristian Fittipaldi (Newman-Haas Racing)
Time38.565
Fastest lap
DriverJuan Pablo Montoya (Chip Ganassi Racing)
Time38.891 (on lap 107 of 108)
Podium
FirstJuan Pablo Montoya (Chip Ganassi Racing)
SecondDario Franchitti (Team KOOL Green)
ThirdChristian Fittipaldi (Newman-Haas Racing)

The 1999 Grand Prix Telemar Rio 200 was the fifth round of the 1999 CART World Series Season, held on May 15, 1999, on the Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Christian Fittipaldi won his first and only Pole Position of his career.

Report

Race

The race was delayed due to rain, and the drivers had to wait for the track to dry out. On the second attempt to start, Juan Pablo Montoya dived past front-row starters Christian Fittipaldi and Dario Franchitti to take the lead. The trio quickly pulled away from the rest of the field with Franchitti taking second from Fittipaldi at the first round of pit stops, only for Fittipaldi to reverse the order a few laps later by passing Franchitti on the track. Neither, despite staying within two seconds of Montoya, were able to give a serious challenge to him, the Colombian taking his third successive win. The battle for second eventually went to Franchitti who beat Fittipaldi with a quicker second pitstop.

Classification

Race

Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 4 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Chip Ganassi Racing 108 1:36:32.233 3 20+1
2 27 United Kingdom Dario Franchitti Team Green 108 +1.736 2 16
3 11 Brazil Christian Fittipaldi Newman-Haas Racing 108 +3.954 1 14+1
4 7 Italy Max Papis Team Rahal 108 +4.930 13 12
5 44 Brazil Tony Kanaan Forsythe Racing 108 +7.036 7 10
6 33 Canada Patrick Carpentier Forsythe Racing 108 +7.618 9 8
7 20 United States P. J. Jones Patrick Racing 108 +8.057 16 6
8 99 Canada Greg Moore Forsythe Racing 108 +8.304 10 5
9 3 Brazil Tarso Marques Team Penske 108 +10.688 8 4
10 5 Brazil Gil de Ferran Walker Racing 108 +11.241 4 3
11 18 Brazil Roberto Moreno PacWest Racing 108 +11.717 23 2
12 2 United States Al Unser Jr. Team Penske 108 +12.215 19 1
13 8 United States Bryan Herta Team Rahal 108 +14.138 5
14 22 United States Robby Gordon Team Gordon 108 +17.470 26
15 26 Canada Paul Tracy Team Green 108 +20.214 12
16 19 Mexico Michel Jourdain Jr. Payton/Coyne Racing 107 +1 Lap 24
17 16 Brazil Gualter Salles Bettenhausen Racing 107 +1 Lap 21
18 71 Brazil Luiz Garcia Jr. Payton/Coyne Racing 102 +6 Laps 27
19 10 United States Richie Hearn Della Penna Motorsports 101 Cooling 18
20 40 Mexico Adrián Fernández Patrick Racing 83 Contact 17
21 25 Brazil Cristiano da Matta Arciero-Wells Racing 81 Turbo 14
22 17 Brazil Maurício Gugelmin PacWest Racing 61 Cooling 25
23 36 United States Alex Barron All American Racing 58 Overheating 22
24 24 United States Scott Pruett Arciero-Wells Racing 49 Turbo 20
25 9 Brazil Hélio Castro-Neves Hogan Racing 32 Turbo 11
26 6 United States Michael Andretti Newman-Haas Racing 28 Engine 15
27 12 United States Jimmy Vasser Chip Ganassi Racing 23 Electrical 6

Caution flags

Laps Cause
1 Field not aligned
30-36 Andretti (6) engine blow-up
50-55 Pruett (24) engine blow-up
85-90 Fernández (40) contact
91-95 Rain
98-102 Gordon (22), Jourdain Jr. (19) contact

Lap Leaders

Laps Leader
1 Christian Fittipaldi
2-72 Juan Pablo Montoya
73 Christian Fittipaldi
74-76 Dario Franchitti
77-86 Al Unser Jr.
87-108 Juan Pablo Montoya
 
Driver Laps led
Juan Pablo Montoya 93
Al Unser Jr. 10
Dario Franchitti 3
Christian Fittipaldi 2

Point standings after race

Pos Driver Points
1 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya 66
2 United Kingdom Dario Franchitti 51
3 Brazil Christian Fittipaldi 49
4 Canada Greg Moore 45
5 Mexico Adrián Fernández 43

References

Previous race:
1999 Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix
CART FedEx Championship Series
1999 season
Next race:
1999 Motorola 300

Previous race:
1998 Rio 400
Rio 200 Next race:
2000 Rio 200