1999 Grand Prix Telemar Rio 200

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.

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)

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 pitstops, 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
PosNoDriverTeamLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
1 4 Juan Pablo Montoya Chip Ganassi Racing 108 1:36:32.233 3 20+1
2 27 Dario Franchitti Team Green 108 +1.736 2 16
3 11 Christian Fittipaldi Newman-Haas Racing 108 +3.954 1 14+1
4 7 Max Papis Team Rahal 108 +4.930 13 12
5 44 Tony Kanaan Forsythe Racing 108 +7.036 7 10
6 33 Patrick Carpentier Forsythe Racing 108 +7.618 9 8
7 20 P. J. Jones Patrick Racing 108 +8.057 16 6
8 99 Greg Moore Forsythe Racing 108 +8.304 10 5
9 3 Tarso Marques Team Penske 108 +10.688 8 4
10 5 Gil de Ferran Walker Racing 108 +11.241 4 3
11 18 Roberto Moreno PacWest Racing 108 +11.717 23 2
12 2 Al Unser, Jr. Team Penske 108 +12.215 19 1
13 8 Bryan Herta Team Rahal 108 +14.138 5
14 22 Robby Gordon Team Gordon 108 +17.470 26
15 26 Paul Tracy Team Green 108 +20.214 12
16 19 Michel Jourdain, Jr. Payton/Coyne Racing 107 +1 Lap 24
17 16 Gualter Salles Bettenhausen Racing 107 +1 Lap 21
18 71 Luiz Garcia, Jr. Payton/Coyne Racing 102 +6 Laps 27
19 10 Richie Hearn Della Penna Motorsports 101 Cooling 18
20 40 Adrián Fernández Patrick Racing 83 Contact 17
21 25 Cristiano da Matta Arciero-Wells Racing 81 Turbo 14
22 17 Maurício Gugelmin PacWest Racing 61 Cooling 25
23 36 Alex Barron All American Racing 58 Overheating 22
24 24 Scott Pruett Arciero-Wells Racing 49 Turbo 20
25 9 Hélio Castro-Neves Hogan Racing 32 Turbo 11
26 6 Michael Andretti Newman-Haas Racing 28 Engine 15
27 12 Jimmy Vasser Chip Ganassi Racing 23 Electrical 6

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

Lap Leaders
LapsLeader
1Christian Fittipaldi
2-72Juan Pablo Montoya
73Christian Fittipaldi
74-76Dario Franchitti
77-86Al Unser, Jr.
87-108Juan Pablo Montoya
  
DriverLaps led
Juan Pablo Montoya93
Al Unser, Jr.10
Dario Franchitti3
Christian Fittipaldi2

Point standings after race
Pos Driver Points
1 Juan Pablo Montoya 66
2 Dario Franchitti 51
3 Christian Fittipaldi 49
4 Greg Moore 45
5 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
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