CART: Blundell provides best result for Mercedes at Rio, Seventh Place
1 May 2000
Blundell Perseveres for Seventh at Rio 200
Mark Blundell survived a war of attrition to finish seventh for
Mercedes-Benz at the Rio 200 at the Emerson Fittipaldi Speedway in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil. Adrian Fernandez earned an anticlimactic victory in a race
that ended under caution.
Blundell, who ran as high as fourth in his PacWest/Motorola/Mercedes, had
to drive through a cloud of tire smoke on lap 99 of 108 when race leader
Alexandre Tagliani spun in front of the cars of Kenny Brack, Dario Franchitti
and Michael Andretti, who all spun as a result.
"I couldn't see a thing," said Blundell, who worked his way up from his
23rd starting position, earning him the Budweiser Hard Charger Award for his
efforts. "I had to come almost stationary because I didn't know where the
other cars were. I was a bit nervous."
The field was ready for the green flag again on lap 105 to sprint the
three laps to the finish, but Tagliani, who had rejoined the race with
minimal damage to his race car, spun again at the back of the pack to force
the race to finish under yellow.
Blundell was able to advance through the field despite enduring a severe
vibration in the steering wheel during the last 40 laps of the race. "It was
so bad it put my left hand to sleep," he said. "I had to keep taking it off
the wheel and massaging it."
Luiz Garcia Jr. drove his Arciero Project Racing/Hollywood/Mercedes from
the back of the field to finish 12th. Michel Jourdain Jr., who started 22nd
in his Bettenhausen Motorsports/Herdez/Mercedes, finished 15th after he had
climbed into the top 10 in a valiant effort to challenge the lead pack of
cars. A loss of oil pressure forced him to park his car on lap 91.
"I'm very happy. I feel very impressed with the car," said Jourdain.
"The engine was very good and the car was very good. We made a big change
for the race and the car was much better. The car was getting loose, so we
had to put in more and more front wing to make it better. I don't know what
happened at the end. Something broke because my seat was full of water."
Tony Kanaan finished 18th in his Mo Nunn Racing/Hollywood/Mercedes after
starting in ninth position. A broken gearbox ended his race on lap 69.
"I was trying to engage third for a long time," said Kanaan. "I was
trying to use fourth gear too. I lost third, then I lost fourth. You can't
drive without third or fourth gear here. Up to then the car was reasonable.
I had a bit too much downforce in the car for the straights. Unfortunately,
we gave points away today."
Mauricio Gugelmin finished in the same position he started, 21st, when he
suffered a mechanical problem with his PacWest/Nextel/Mercedes on lap 53.
"I'm wondering what went wrong," said Gugelmin. "It was a loss of power.
I don't know what it is yet, so we'll have to see what happened."
Race Results, Rio 200
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
April 30, 2000
Pos. Driver Engine Laps
1 Adrian Fernandez Ford 108
2 Jimmy Vasser Toyota 108
3 Paul Tracy Honda 108
4 Cristiano da Matta Toyota 108
5 Christian Fittipaldi Ford 108
6 Roberto Moreno Ford 108
7 Mark Blundell Mercedes-Benz 108
8 Memo Gidley Ford 108
9 Michael Andretti Ford 107
10 Kenny Brack Ford 107
12 Luiz Garcia Jr. Mercedes-Benz 104
15 Michel Jourdain Jr. Mercedes-Benz 90
18 Tony Kanaan Mercedes-Benz 69
21 Mauricio Gugelmin Mercedes-Benz 53
Driver's Championship Manufacturer's Championship
Paul Tracy 48 Ford 54
Jimmy Vasser 42 Honda 52
Roberto Moreno 28 Toyota 42
Max Papis 20 Mercedes-Benz 14
Adrian Fernandez 20