Granja Viana 500

500 Miles to Glory:

Kannan takes the win:
644 laps & 500 miles!

Brazil’s Granja Viana 500

N ext to the Brazilian Formula 1 Grand Prix, it’s the biggest race
in a country that’s mad about motorsports. And the best part, it’s a
kart race!
The “500 Milhas De Kart Granja Viana”, or Granja Viana 500
Miles of Karting, draws as one contender said, “everybody who’s
anybody in South American racing”: Rubens Barrichello, Juan Pablo
Montoya, Fellipe Massa, Antonio Pizzonia, Tony Kannan, Helio
Castroneves, Gil de Ferran, Christian Fittipaldi, Vitor Meira, and many
more. But it’s not for a million dollar check, just bragging rights.
It’s an event! Four days of intense practice build-up to Friday’s
group qualifying and “Super Pole” Rubens sprays the
sessions. Saturday features a four- photographers as
hour final “warm-up”, before the Kannan and Giaffone
prepare to soak the
midnight start underneath a laser
Ferrari driver.
light and fireworks show that rivals
any Super Bowl half-time show.
every possible combination of corners: fast, off-camber, slow hairpins,
Officially, the track is called the
downhill esses, high banking, and more. The overall length comes in
“Karto`dromo Internacional Granja
at .776 of a mile. From an abrasive standpoint, the surface is average.
Viana”. As you drive into the track
There are some interesting asphalt to concrete transitions and a couple
location, it somewhat appears to be
significant bumps. The most ‘influential’ bump is more of a true jump,
a prison camp with its control tower
which forces two to four wheels into the air. It comes at the end of the
and razor-wire fence. However, it
downhill esses before a hard-braking point for a left-hand hairpin.
is one of the finest and best-known
karting facilities in South America. The track is built on a cut-out hillside, which adds to the beauty
and challenges with many rapid elevation changes. It is not extremely
The multi-configuration track is
physical to drive, some drivers did almost 2.5-3 hour ‘triple fuel stints’,
owned by the family of IRL driver
and it does allow you to find a driving rhythm.
Felipe Giaffone. Granja Viana is an
industrial/lower-middle class suburb 2004 was the eighth year of Granja 500. The event is technically
of Sao` Paulo, a city of over 17 mil- a charity race, which supports a children’s charity. However, to the
lion people. average competitor it presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to race
side-by-side with current Formula 1 and Indycar stars. For the world
The layout chosen for the Granja
class drivers, it’s a chance to compete in your motorsports roots for
Viana 500 is used only once a year
nothing but fun and those all important bragging rights.
for this event. It comprises a sixteen-
turn layout that incorporates about “It’s such a great event,” said Kanaan, 2004 IRL champion and

52 NATIONAL KART NEWS

 The track almost looked like a prison camp.

four-time Granja 500 winner. “You might

not think a kart race would be a big deal, but
this gets live TV (in Brazil). It gets better
coverage than the entire IRL season gets in
Brazil.”
This was the second year of the cur-
rent one-class single engine format. The
karts are not what you would expect from
Formula 1 caliber drivers. The engines are
13HP Honda 4 cycles that run a shoe clutch.
Engine ‘blueprinting’ (with modifications) is
allowed; however, due to the rulebook being
in Portuguese, it is difficult to comment on
the extent of modifications, and most drivers
did not know to what extent the engines were
modified. The top speeds were in the mid-60
mph range, and most of the top teams had up
to ten engines for their two or three entries Felipe Massa checks to make
to choose from. sure his teammate is still there.
The trackside advertising was extensive.

JANUARY 2005 53
 Carrapatoso (73) and Meira
Granja Viana 500 (18) show the effects of 11 hours
The field of seventy-four teams consist- of racing.
ed essentially of three chassis models: Kart
Mini (a 100% Brazilian manufacturer) was
the most popular choice, Birel (of Brazil),
and Fittipaldi Racing Karts. versus karts
typically used in the U.S. There were
some minor differences; however, the
most significant difference was the large
one-piece fiberglass bodies. These bulky
bodies, primarily used to expose the
major corporate sponsors of
most teams, require some
additional mounts
and modifica-
tions to nerf bars
and bumpers to
mount.
MG was the (reds) tires were the spec rubber for the
official tire and a event. This 60 durometer rated tire, which
major sponsor of is promoted on MG’s website as consistent,
the event. MG AZ durable, and economic provided an appropri-
ate median between grip and endur-
ance. Most teams were using only
one set for two days of practice, a
new set for qualifying, and only two
to two-and-a-half of sets in the 500
Kannan leads the
pack to the pits mile race: a true testament to the
after qualifying. durability of the MG’s.
The first seventy-four entries
paid $3,500 US each to be part of
the spectacle. After that, entries are
sold on the “karting black-market”
for up to a rumored $17,000 US. On
an average, a team budget would be

54 NATIONAL KART NEWS

JANUARY 2005 55
Granja Viana 500
approximately $11,000 US to run the event
(this did not include capital assets such as
engines).
Most teams had four to six drivers,
and aside from the fifteen or so teams with
“superstars”, average karters made up the
majority of the teams. The top and most
experienced drivers, such as the team leader
of the defending champion’s team: Christian
Fittipaldi, drove in both of the team’s entries
throughout the course of the event.
At the invitation of WR Motorsports, the
U.S. importer for MG tires, NKN attended
the Granja 500 to see this spectacle of
karting firsthand. This was my first trip
to Brazil and my first overseas exposure
to karting. Needless to say, there were a
thousand questions I had about the event,
karting in Brazil, and most of all: why are
there so many darn good drivers from Sao`
Paulo, Brazil?
I arrived on Wednesday morning a little
after 8 am. After spending an hour and a
half clearing customs, it was straight to the
track via a driver Wagner Rossi, owner of
WR Motorsports, had arranged.
After spending nearly two hours in the
car, we arrived at the track just about lunch
time. For any doubters, there is a God; the
track has a sit-down restaurant with cheese-
burgers, french-fries, and Pepsi.
While sitting on the restaurant’s deck
overlooking turn 1 of the track, I received
my first exposure to practice for the 500.
The sound was that of over-grown rental/
fun karts; somewhat disappointing consid-
ering the hours of European racing I’ve
watched with ICAs. But then again, they did
need to use motors that would last 500 miles
and keep the cost under control.
Turn one was a flat-out hard right that
swoops downhill, about a 50-55mph corner.
This was the third day of practice, so an
obvious groove was starting to appear. As
the karts went through that first turn, they
seemed quite ‘bound-up’. However, this was
the heat of the day, and the race would run
throughout the night.
Following lunch, it was off to the pits
to meet up with Wagner and the rest of the
MG team. Their team, kart number 204,
consisted of six drivers including Texan
Tommy Muth who was taking Wednesday’s
practice off to sight see (after all, in the first
two days Tommy had seen more practice, 16
hours, than he would have in two years of
karting stateside).
Quickly, I observed the first major dif-
ference in U.S. and Brazilian karting. None
of these drivers were touching the kart. They
had a “professional” team, GTPP Racing,
doing all the preparation and tuning. These
guys drove, got out, talked about it, and
watched the next guy. The three mechanics
and a crew chief did all the tuning (or lack
56 NATIONAL KART NEWS
A sea of karts fight
for position to go 6 am wakeup call.
onto the track for Thursday marked my first full day of
qualifying.
exposure to Brazilian karting’s true inten-
sity. While enjoying a light breakfast in the
hotel restaurant, I noticed that inside the
garage across the street were two karts on
the wall. Awesome! Does every house and
business here come with a kart? Actually,
only about 2,500 people nationwide I was
told.
Demian Borba, the ‘young gun’ of the
MG soon arrived in the hotel’s restaurant for
breakfast in his kart suit. Thursday was eight
more hours of practice, plenty of time, and
this guy was wearing his suit to breakfast.
Was he trying to impress the waitress? No.
Upon arriving at the track, Demian
wasted no time (literally) in getting onto
the track. By the time we walked to the
pit, Demian had his suit pulled up, helmet
and gloves on, and was ready to drive. The
mechanics had the kart on the ground and
warming up. Less than two minutes from
stopping in the parking lot, Demian was on
the track: talk about intensity and prepara-
tion!
On Thursday, most of the big names
began to arrive and practice. How cool is it
to walk through the pits, at a kart race, and
see Montoya, Barrichello, Kannan, and other
hot shoes?
IRL driver for Rahal-Letterman Racing,
Vitor Meira, stopped by the MG Team garage
briefly. I had met Vitor a couple of years ago
there of) to the karts. when working in the IRL, and many of my
close friends had worked with him at Team
For the next four hours, I observed all
the teams practice, probably 30 to 35 teams
on Wednesday. Christian Fittipaldi was the
‘biggest’ name driver there on Wednesday.
And on that day, Fittipaldi’s crew earned
their real money; Christian tested all ten
of the team’s engines. Engine changes
were the only maintenance I saw any team
do. For four hours, I never saw a chassis
change on any kart! Were these guys that
dialed in?
Following practice, I returned to the
MG garage where their drivers were in
a lengthy debrief, in Portuguese. While
waiting on them (as we were all staying at
the same hotel), I watched the mechanics
almost completely strip down the kart to
clean and inspect every part.
This was somewhat surprising, as most
of us Americans would be on a beer run
now. In a matter of an hour and a half, the
karts were disassembled, cleaned (with
gasoline I might add), and re-assembled.
With no chassis changes either.
After an hour plus ride to the hotel,
check-in, and shower it was about 10 pm;
dinner time in Brazil. By midnight, my
stomach was full of rather bland, but good,
Italian food, and it was off to bed before a

Menard. He’s the real deal. Vitor has a quiet confidence that is dis-
played in his awesome on track abilities, much like a Rick Mears. In
the karts, he looked the equal of any of the F1 drivers.
Vitor is an avid karter in the U.S. when time permits. He saw
a September issue of NKN I had lying out in the MG garage,
and spied the kart on the cover he just bought (the one
Derek Daly was driving in the Jordan F1 vs. an ICC
story).
Practice continued until 5 pm, and once again
I observed very few changes to the karts except
“cockpit spacers” (drivers). When I asked
one of the members of the MG team
about this I was told that Felipe
Massa’s kart was also prepared by
GTPP Motorsports, and they would
simply use his setup. Fair enough
I guess, after all he’s an F1 driver,
but qualifying was tomorrow and the
answers would come then.
As I said, most of the big names
began to arrive for practice on Thursday:
Montoya via helicopter, Barrichello via
Porsche (ironic for a Ferrari driver). Now
we’d see the seas part, and drivers walk
on water!
Unfortunately, that comment about the
seas parting would soon become literal.
The skies opened up for the majority of
Thursday’s practice. Perfect! Let’s see how The large bodywork
good these Brazilians really are. did nothing to lessen
the spray!
Granja Viana 500
Okay, I’ll quickly end the suspense: they’re really
good in the wet! I was shocked at how long they
stayed out on slicks (again without chang-
ing the chassis). It was not until a down-
pour that would halt all activities at an
American track did the majority of the
Brazilian teams switch to rain tires and a
rain chassis setup.
In conclusion, I would guess it rained
three or four inches that day: hard rain,
consistently for hours. Aside from a four-
minute red flag to recover a few stalled karts,
the action never stopped. And even at the heaviest
point of the downpour, racing legends like de Ferran
and Castroneves continued to practice.
This was practice! Two days before the race when
moisture wasn’t even predicted. No whining or swear-
ing, just hard, cold, and wet work. And these guys:
Indy 500 winners, F1 drivers, and CART cham-
pions all kept practicing at a relentless pace.
This is what separates them from most
American karters.
Thursday ended just as the previ-
ous day: debriefings/strategy meetings
among the drivers and a complete tear-
down, cleaning, and inspection of the
karts by the crews. I even observed one
crew member hooking an air blower
directly to the kart’s fuel tank to spray
a mist of gasoline to clean the frame and
other parts: no smoking, please!
JANUARY 2005 57
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NATIONAL KART NEWS
 Granja Viana 500
As we returned to the hotel, again about In the first session, current IRL
9 pm, Wagner said Friday would be a short, Champion Tony Kannan and Ferrari F1 pilot
but intense day. As was the case with most Rubens Barrichello exemplified teamwork!
teams, the only driver to practice on Friday The two Brazilian drivers worked as one,
would be the driver slated to qualify. For and posted the top two times of the day at
the MG team, this would be Demian, the 56.992 and 56.994, respectively. With an
youngest driver on the team and the one who identical time to Kannan in third was the #28
karted most often. Petrobras kart of Juan Pablo Montoya; the
Friday dawned with beautiful weather, younger Montoya, Federico, was only one
much to everyone’s relief versus the mon- thousandth of a second slower. Amazing, the
soon on Thursday. It was easy to see the top four were separated by only three thou-
intensity level was escalated a little more sandths of a second!
due to the pending qualifying sessions. All Fifth fast-
the ‘guns’ were out: the qualifiers, the team est were the
captains, or whatever you want to call the first ‘normal
fastest guys on the team. humans’
Christian Fittipaldi gets a of the #82
For the non-qualifying drivers, Friday
push to his pit! team; post-
provided a day to recover and relax. I talked
with some other American drivers who had ing a time
been enjoying the nightlife and extensive of 57.079.
party scene Sao` Paulo offers. But at the Sixth was the
track, it was serious business. second Felipe
Massa Team at
Practice was intensified with more teams
57.252. Just out-
adding sticker tires and making last minute
side the top ten, and
changes. Focusing on one driver seemed to
therefore eliminated
make the changes more prominent on most
from the “Super Pole”
teams.
round was the defend-
For the qualifying session, the field was ing race cham-
divided into two groups: One of 34 and the pion Christian
second of 38. Drafting, or bump drafting, Fittipaldi.
is an essential part of a good lap at Granja
Viana. Finding a teammate, friend, or com-
petitor that you were about equal with
made the difference between a top
20 or bottom 25 start.

Defending champ
Christian Fittipaldi
worked hard all
week.

Agecom was a large

team and race sponsor.

JANUARY 2005 59
Granja Viana 500
Wagner Rossi and his
MG team persevered for
a 16th place finish.

Everyday, Barrichello
seemed to have a freshly
painted body.

Demian Borba of the MG Tires team.

A rare sight: A Ferrari F1 driver

working on his own ride!

Marco Andretti in practice

(note the old body).

Rubens calms his son after taking

him for a lap in the 2-seater.
…And they just kept
practicing, no matter
how hard it rained.

Turning a lap
without traffic
was difficult.
2004 IRL Champion,
Tony Kannan.

60 NATIONAL KART NEWS

 Granja Viana 500
Wheldon didnʼt want to get This guyʼs got an NKN visor
his helmet wet, so he wore strip; he gets his pic in
Kannanʼs spare. Vegasʼs Matt Jaskol in practice. the Mag! (Hint)

Fittipaldi. Dan Wheldon.

Moreno and a teammate
drafting in qualifying.

The “Paddock” was a fully catered

hospitality suite for race sponsors. Red Bull Sauber F1 driver,
Felipe Massa.

Demian Borba
in the spec ICA
“support” race finished 4th.

Yes, the only color

duct tape sold in
Brazil is silver.

Kannan takes the Negre and

win: 644 laps & Barrichello
500 miles! discuss the Kart
Miniʼs setup.

Ferrari F1 Pilot and hometown

hero, Rubens Barrichello.

JANUARY 2005
Roberto Moreno.
62 NATIONAL KART NEWS
 Granja Viana 500
The pits were crowded
and wet on Thursday. Also, in the first round of qualifying
was the MG Tires team. This team was the NKN getting some visor strip love!
perfect example of having to find a drafting
partner. On a solo lap, Demian was for sure a
top ten contender; however, in the 30 minute
qualifying session, he struggled to hook up
with someone of the appropriate speed to put
together a serious run for the top ten.
Following the chaos of the two rounds
of qualifying, all karts were impounded
for inspection. The top ten
were set aside, and less
An overview of part of the than 20 minutes later were
track and the “Monza” corner.
wheeled back out to the
grid for “Super Pole”: A
one lap on the clock quali-
fying run that would set the
top ten for the Granja 500.
Starting with the tenth
place driver and ending
with Kannan, each of the
top ten karts set a mark
in single lap qualifying.
The suspense built as the
times dropped, until it was
memorabilia from this remarkable driver’s
Barrichello’s turn. As was
career from karts to Formula 1.
the case with the Brazilian
Turn 12 (center) in the wet. Grand Prix two weeks We got back from the Senna Experience
earlier, the Brazilian set a just in time to pack a quick bag and leave for
quick time to secure the the track. After all, we were going to be at
pole and the first bragging the track for about the next 24 hours.
point for the event. The goal of the four-hour warm-up was
Following Barrichello simple for the teams: get every driver some
were the two Montoya time in the kart and get the crew a chance to
brothers and the Felipe practice pit stops. Unfortunately, this plan
Massa Team kart. At this did not work out for the MG team we were
point, the top ten karts following.
would report to post tech Tommy Muth, from Texas Karting, was
and the questions would entering the hairpin after the “jump” when
begin.
It was rumored that
Barrichello’s kart did not pass tech.
However, no one who spoke English could
(or would) confirm this. A couple of other
karts that didn’t pass were penalized
between 10-20 starting positions. There
are some perks to being the most popular
athlete in your country.
The race was all that was left.
Well, the race and a four-hour warm-
Engines couldnʼt be started before the yellow tires.
up. Saturday was like a day-off since
we weren’t leaving for the track until
“Follow the F1 driver”: Massa leads 1 pm This left a little time for sight
a gaggle of karts in qualifying. seeing.
The local mall, which was about
the size of the Mall of America,
housed a museum called “The Senna
Experience”. The late world cham-
pion is a god in Brazil. There
are still murals, posters, and
graffiti displays honoring
Senna all over Sao` Paulo.
If visiting Sao` Paulo, and Ted Tackett and I
you are a race fan the Senna were happy to get
Experience is a must see. It has driverʼs meeting
instructions in English.

JANUARY 2005 63

MGʼs presence
was huge:
teams and
tires! Weʼre definitely not in the U.S.!
the driver in front of him lost control. Tommy
had nowhere to go, crashed, and bent the spin-
dle, tie rod, and broke the steering wheel hub.
To make matters worse, as the mechanics
were pushing the damaged kart (on its stand)
into the pits, a driver lost control and crashed
into them! Luckily, both of the mechanics only
sustained minor injuries; in fact, within 40
minutes they were both back at work!
At first, I was very impressed with the
safety personnel on the scene. The track had
two doctors ready at all times. There was
adequate fire, ambulance, and emergency per-
sonnel on hand. Additionally, the track had a
permanent “Infirmary” for first-aid.
At 8 pm practice concluded, and the next
four hours were spent with final preparations
and all the pageantry of a major auto race.
A spec ICA style race preceded the main
event. This ‘rent-a-ride’ race, about $475 US,
used an older Birel chassis (with cable brakes)
and a Brazilian made copy of the Sudam 125cc
engine. This 25 lap sprint race was exactly
what one would expect from “foreign” karting.
It had jeopardous passes, a flip, and
every driver was driving as if they
were auditioning for a Formula 1
ride.
Shortly after the conclusion of
the Spec ICA race, the 74 starters
for the Granja 500 were wheeled
onto the main straight. As a 15-
minute flurry of fireworks went off,
the drivers practiced running and
jumping into their karts for the Le
Mans style start.
The grid had the atmosphere
of an Indianapolis 500 or a Grand
Prix pre-race. When the grid girls
gave the “3 minute notice” the grid
cleared except for the drivers, and exactly at
midnight, 74
Above: The top ten qualifiers in the
impound area. drivers raced
This Photo: The twin Biland 2-seater to their karts
was a popular ride for sponsors & for the start.
media.
64 NATIONAL KART NEWS
2003 Indy 500
Champion Gil de Ferran.
To the delight of the approximately 2,000
spectators on hand, Rubens Barrichello (72)
took the early lead. Less than 20 minutes into
the race, a light mist began to fall.
At the end of the second hour (lap 120),
the #28 Petrobras kart of Juan Montoya was
leading over the #102 of Allatere Racing (an
unknown team who was strong all weekend).
By this point of the race, Barrichello and the
#72 team had lost a lap due to pit stops.
American Matt Jascal
drew a lot of attention
with his well deserved
podium finish.
While getting coffee with another fellow
American at about 2 am, we heard this enor-
mous crashing sound on the mainstretch. Two
drivers had crashed, hard. One had spun com-
ing onto the fast long straight, and the other t-
boned the spinner. The man doing the t-boning
was severely injured.
The injuries were at the moment life threat-
ening. The driver had a severely broken right
leg, and worst of all a collapsed airway. The
doctor and medical personnel were rather quick
to respond; however, as competitors continued
to race by at 60+ mph, one could only pray
another driver would not end up crashing into
the rescuers.
About 20 minutes later after the driver was
stabilized, a MASH 4077 style stretcher was
brought out to haul the driver to the waiting
ambulance.
It’s 2 am, there’s trash all across the
straightaway, and a driver is injured. This
situation only called for a local yellow that was
half-heartedly observed by most of the drivers.
This situation was idiotic in my opinion. A full
course yellow or red flag should have been
instituted.
Fortunately, the medical crew performed
their job flawlessly and saved the injured

Barrichello
and Kannan
joke for the
Brazilian TV.
driver’s life. The race resumed, but I guess it
never really slowed down.
When the second 120 lap stint ended
at around 3 am, the #73 and #72 karts of
Castroneves and Barrichello, respectively,
had a lap advantage on the field. Our friends
from MG had recovered from a first-lap
crash and were running 38th, 12 laps down.
Kannan nears the finish,
and it shows…
Fortunately, at this point (and after being
totally surprised by the accident scene), it was
my shift to sleep. When I rejoined the living a
little after 6 am., the top three had remained
somewhat stagnant: #73 Mobil (Castroneves,
De Ferran, Negre, Carrapatoso) was still
leading, the #1 Fittipaldi was second, and the
#72 Shell (Barrichello, Kannan, Giaffone,
Wheldon) was third. However, the most
significant thing to happen during my nap
was attrition.
By the leader’s lap 360, only 55 karts
were active on the track. Engines, chains,
clutches, and brains began to fail during
the late night. Many of the karts in the pits
would rejoin the race; however, the most
notable kart out of contention was that of
Juan Montoya. Montoya officially withdrew
from the race shortly thereafter, and exited
in his chopper.
Also at around this hour, many pitstops
for tires were occurring. The MG AZ tires
had worked superbly through the night, as
this was most teams’ first tire change.
For the next four hours or 240 laps, very
little changed. The most inspiring drive for
the “Old Glory” waivers was the driver of
Wagner
Rossi and
Helio
Castroneves.
Las Vegas’s Matt Jaskol. Jaskol showed true
American spirit driving five or six stints
straight while his teammates were asleep or
fatigued. Jaskol brought the #91 Loctite kart
up to fourth place!
When the final 100 laps started,
Castroneves and the #73 Mobil team held
a lap lead until what should have been their
final pitstop. With De Ferran in the car for
only 15 laps, the 2003 Indy 500 champ, was
forced to pit with extremely sore ribs. The
lead was relinquished to Kannan in the team
car #72.
American Matt Jaskol, was forced to Heavy traffic was evident
even in the last 50 laps.
hand over the #91 to local hero and longtime
F1/CART driver Roberto Moreno to take
the checkered. Moreno fell to seventh, but
due to attrition, moved to the sixth and final
Barrichello in early race traffic.
podium spot.
Nothing changed among the leaders in
the last hour as the #72 Shell kart of Rubens
Barrichello, Tony Kannan, Felipe Giaffone,
and Dan Wheldon won the Granja 500. The
team kart #73 of Castroneves, De Ferran,
Osvaldo Negre, and Rubens Carrapatoso
was second only 23 seconds behind. Third
was the #1 of Christian Fittipaldi, Mario
Haberfeld, and Charles Fonseca.
“We faced initial problems, but we could
manage to overcome them,” said Barrichello.
“I have to thank my fellow drivers. They The Felipe Massa (seated in #19) Team.
did a very good job and achieved a well-
deserved victory. I think we had two great
moments this weekend. Sitting on the pole
on a single lap for each of the top 10 quali-
fiers was also superb.”
Sneaking on to the podium in sixth
(after Jaskol was running 4th) was the #91
Loctite team of Roberto Moreno, Allan
Helmelster, Nono Figueiredo, Jader David,
and American Matt Jaskol!
(L to R): Wheldon, Giaffone, de Ferran,
Negre, Barrichello, Carrapatoso,
Castroneves, and Kannan in kart.
JANUARY 2005 65

“This was awesome, to fight all night
side-by-side with these guys, and then to
go up on the podium with Barrichello,
Kanaan, Fittipaldi,” exclaimed Jaskol.
“This was definitely a life moment, and
I want to come back next year to climb
even higher on the podium.”
The podium celebration looked like
Le Mans with about 20 drivers searching
for a place to stand for photos, and a place
to hide from the champagne. Following
the presentation of the beautiful trophies
and the shower of bubbly, there was a
sense of “what do we do now?”
Castroneves had the best answer,
“This was really awesome, but right now
all I want is a shower and to stay away
from the kart for a while. “My IRL team
(Penske) was not very happy with my
decision to race here, and asked me to
only talk about it if I had a good result. I
think they will be happy with my second
place”.
It’s an unequaled event in karting;
unequaled in “star power”, endurance,
and strategy. For the past week, the
MARCH
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66 NATIONAL KART NEWS
Granja 500 had consumed the lives of
these drivers, teams, and media. For the
next week, we all would recall our memo-
ries. These feelings are similar for drivers
and crews at another 500 mile race, about
5000 miles north in Indianapolis.
THE RACE’S TOP TEN:
1 – Rubens Barrichello-Tony Kanaan-
Felipe Giaffone-Dan Wheldon, 644 laps in
10h36min53s431;
2 – Hélio Castroneves-Gil de Ferran-Osvaldo
Negri Jr-Ruben Carrapatoso, at 15s639
3 – Christian Fittipaldi-Mário Haberfeld-Charlie
Fonseca, 637 laps
4 – Clemente de Faria-Felipe Guimarães-
Rodrigo Piquet, 637 laps
5 – Wagner Ebrahim-Nathan Silva-Bruno Bari,
634 laps
6 – Matt Jaskol-Roberto Pupo Moreno-Alan
Hellmeister-Nonô Figueiredo-Renato Jader
David, 632 laps
7 – Rogério Raucci-Paulo Navarro-João Viseti-
Munir Aboissa-Michel Aboissa-Átila Abreu, 631
laps
8 – Marcello Dias-Rafael Daniel-Thiago Camilo-
Norberto Gresse, 630 laps
9 – José França-Renan Goffredo-Hermes
Moreira-José Raul Girondi, 630 laps
10 – Osvaldo Badula-Mário Maia-Rogério Matt Jaskol turned some fast laps to
Garcia-Eduardo Abrantes-Bruno Miloni-Rafael bring the 91 to the podium!
Frigeri