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Sudam F-3 Round 17 held in Heavy Rain

17 November 1999

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

The 17th round of the Sudam F-3 Championship was held in Interlagos, this saturday, under heavy rain.

The pole position was with Hoover Orsi, the reigning champion and Ricardo Sperafico was starting second. The second row was with Luis Fernando Uva and Vitor Meira, followed by Rodrigo Sperafico and Nestor Gabriel Furlan.

At the start, Ricardo got a better start and jumped ahead of Orsi and Uva also got ahead of team mate Orsi.

All 3 came through the S but at the "Curva do Sol" Orsi accelerated too early and spun, almost hitting Vitor Meira. Hoover came back but the engine stalled after he came back to the track.

The rain was getting stronger and on the second lap Furlan spun on the main straight, hitting the wall with great impact. "The conditions were impossible. It was a big mistake to let the race start" said Furlan, afterwards.

In the same moment, Thiago Medeiros spun just before the Laranjinha and let the engine die. Three cars almost hit him but Srgio Koffes Jr. didnt saw him and crashed into his car.

After this, the race was red flagged and officials waited 45 minutes to annouce the race was finished with only 3 laps and the points countedhalf. "The race should have been stopped before" said Ricardo Sperafico. "The conditions were dangerous" added his brother, Rodrigo, both from Amir Nasr Racing.

With this result, Amir Nasr clinched the constructors title with a record of 305 points in 17 races.

1)Ricardo SPERAFICO, Bra Dallara/Honda, 5min46s467 (Amir Nasr);
2)Luiz Fernando UVA, Bra Dallara/Honda, + 2s488, (Cesario Formula);
3) Vitor MEIRA, Bra Dallara/Honda, + 7s041 (Brasilia Amir Nasr);
4) Gabriel FURLAN, Arg Dallara/Mitsubi, + 9s838 (GF Motorsport);
5) Leonardo NIENKOTTER, Bra Dallara/Opel, + 11s215 (Petrobras Prop Car);
6)Rodrigo SPERAFICO, Bra Dallara/Honda, + 15s876 (Amir Nasr Racing);
7)Jaime MELO Jr., Bra Dallara/Honda + 16s679 (Petrobras Avallone Motorsport)
8)Paulo PIZZONI, B Bra Dallara, 21s624, (LagartoMotorsport);
9)Thiago MEDEIROS, Bra Dallara/Honda + 23s020 (Avallone Motorsport);
10)Rodrigo YUNGH, Bra Dallara/Honda, a 24s393, (Cesario Yungh).

Championship Standings:

1) Hoover Orsi (BRA), 215 points;
2) Jaime Melo (BRA), 161;
3) Rodrigo Sperafico (BRA), 161;
4) Leonardo Nienkotter (BRA), 151;
5) Ricardo Sperafico (BRA), 149;
6) Vtor Meira (BRA), 123,5;
7) Duda Pamplona (BRA), 100;
8) Martin Basso (ARG), 64;
9) Tom Stefani (BRA), 42;
10) Thiago Medeiros (BRA), 3

5Class "B":

1) Joo Paulo de Oliveira (BRA), 234,
2) Fernando Rama (URU), 204;
3) Srgio Koffes (BRA), 190,5;

--Marc Zimmermann

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