Brazilian Racing News

8 December 1997

This will be the last racing weekend of the Brazilian 
motorsports season.

STOCK-CAR

Brazilians Ingo Hoffmann and Xandi Negrao are battling to see who will
be the 1997 Brazilian Stock Car Champion.  Ingo (former F-1 driver) 
is favorite, as he needs only to finish 9th to be the champion, even
if Negrao wins the race.  If Xandi doesn't finish in the top 5, Ingo 
will be already champion. This would be Ingo's 10th Stock Car title, 
a record in Brazil, as this is only the 18th Stock Car season 
in Brazilian history.

Carlos Alves and Paulo Gomes are also favored to win this race. 
Qualifying and practice it Interlagos will take place on Saturday.  
The race will be on Sunday morning.

F-Chevrolet

Duda Pamplona, 1998 F-Chevrolet champion, is a favorite to win the race
in Interlagos, as it is the home track of Pamplona's team.  Duda, who 
has had the support of Brazilian Texaco since his karting days, is 
supposed to do F-3 or Indy-Lights next season. 

Other drivers to watch are Alex Bachega, Valdeno Brito Filho (who will 
probably race for Brian Stewart in the 1998 Indy-Lights Championship), 
and Marcelo Ventre.

F-3

Bruno Junqueira clinched the provisional pole for this weekend's race 
in Rio de Janeiro. Junqueira, already South American F-3 champion, 
is very satisfied with his settings. Qualifying will be on Saturday 
at 2 pm.

Marc Zimmermann -- The Auto Channel