Saturday, May 15, 1999

Fittipaldi steals show,
pole for Rio 200

The Brazilian broke the
1998 record by speeding around
the 1.864-mile oval at
174.515 miles per hour

Associated Press

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- There's no place like home. Just ask Christian Fittipaldi.

The 28-year-old Brazilian driver yesterday stole the show and the pole position for today's Rio 200 Grand Prix, setting a track qualifying record in the process.

When the rain finally let up, Fittipaldi clocked a flying lap of 174.515 mph around the 1.864-mile modified oval at Nelson Piquet Raceway. Fittipaldi's lap time of 38.565 seconds was .44 faster than Dario Franchitti's 1998 record.

The pit crew of his Newman-Haas team hoisted Fittipaldi on their shoulders, to the cheers of hometown supporters who braved the drizzle.

"It's a great reward for me to win this," said Fittipaldi, the nephew of former Formula One and CART champion Emerson Fittipaldi. "I think I had the edge because I went out on tires which I had already been around on twice."

Fittipaldi, driving a Ford Cosworth, barely beat Franchitti, the Scot whose Reynard-Honda lapped at 174.470 mph.

"We're all going quicker all the time," said Franchitti, one of seven drivers to beat his previous best track time. "I think we might see a more realistic pace tomorrow and see what people are really made of."

Colombian sensation Juan Montoya, bidding to be the first rookie to win three consecutive CART races, was third at 174.122 in a Target-Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard-Honda.

Gil de Ferran, another of the 10 Brazilian drivers in the field of 27, was fourth in a Reynard-Honda at 173.974, just ahead of Californian Bryan Herta in a Ford-Cosworth at 173.852.

Rain that forced cancellation of Thursday's free practice delayed the qualifying session an hour.

Adrian Fernandez was one of several drivers who missed the extra practice time. The Mexican, who trails Montoya in the driver standings by two points, placed a disappointing 17th at 170.626.