Adrian Fernandez won from 16th after Alex Tagliani led 76 laps, in the last CART race held in Rio de Janeiro.
The 2000 Rio 200 was a CART race held on 30 April 2000 at the Autodromo de Jacarepagua. Adrian Fernandez won from 16th on the grid, and Alex Tagliani led the most laps before spinning out of contention. The race was also the last CART event held in Rio.
The 2000 Rio 200 was a CART race run on 30 April 2000 at the Autodromo de Jacarepagua in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Adrian Fernandez took the win after starting 16th, while Alex Tagliani led 76 laps before two spins ended his chances. It was the third of twenty scheduled rounds and the last CART race held in Rio.
Why was the 2000 Rio 200 important?
The race was the third of twenty scheduled CART rounds in 2000 and the first held outside the United States. It was also the fifth and final running of the Rio 200, and the first of four straight oval events on the calendar.
CART had confirmed the Rio round for 2000 by November 1999. The race had by then been on the schedule for five years in succession.
The track was a trapezoid-shaped four-turn layout measuring 1.864 miles (3.000 km). Drivers found its braking zones demanding, particularly for turns one and three, which is why CART made every team run the high-downforce Handford MkII wings for the weekend.
Tagliani led 76 laps and still left Rio without the win, while Fernandez took the flag from 16th.
What was the championship picture before Rio?
Paul Tracy of Team Green led the Drivers' Championship on 34 points, eight points clear of Jimmy Vasser of Chip Ganassi Racing. Roberto Moreno of Patrick Racing and Max Papis of Team Rahal were level on 20 points, and Moreno was placed ahead because he had won the opening round of the year at Homestead-Miami Speedway. De Ferran, of Team Penske, was fifth on 18 points.
Honda led the manufacturers on 38 points, six clear of Ford Cosworth, while Toyota had 26 points and Mercedes-Benz had eight. In the constructors' table Reynard topped the standings with 44 points, ahead of Lola on 26 and Swift on 10.
Tracy had won the 1997 race and was careful about his title prospects. He planned to take things one race at a time and hoped to keep the lead through to the California Speedway finale.
The build-up also included a driver change. Memo Gidley stood in for Patrick Carpentier at Forsythe Racing after Carpentier hurt his left wrist at home in Las Vegas.
How did practice go in Rio?
Practice ran over three sessions, two on Friday and one on Saturday, with the sessions lasting 90, 60 and 75 minutes. Juan Pablo Montoya set the fastest time of the second session at 38.922 seconds, the only driver under 39 seconds in that session.
The first session was topped by de Ferran with a time of 39.610 seconds. Five yellow flags came out in it.
Montoya was almost three-tenths of a second quicker than Kenny Brack in that second session. Debris and fluids on the surface forced several stoppages.
Saturday morning's session was just as hot. Tagliani set the best time at 38.694 seconds, with Montoya one-tenth slower. Five cautions came out in that session, and Moreno broke a wheel during one of them.
The Sunday warm-up saw de Ferran set the fastest time at 39.289 seconds, with Vasser 0.002 seconds slower.
Who took pole position for the 2000 Rio 200?
Alex Tagliani took pole position with a lap of 38.587 seconds, the first pole of his career. Juan Pablo Montoya was second, 0.109 seconds slower after oversteer in the first corner, and Paul Tracy started third with Kenny Brack fourth on the grid.
Saturday afternoon's qualifying session lasted 135 minutes. Drivers went out in reverse order of their practice pace, each was limited to two timed laps, and the pole winner earned one championship point.
Tracy lost the rear of his car as he accelerated out of turn one, but still took third. Christian Fittipaldi was the fastest Brazilian in fifth, and Jimmy Vasser changed his set-up before taking sixth. Helio Castroneves was seventh, with Dario Franchitti eighth.
Tony Kanaan and Max Papis rounded out the top ten. Memo Gidley was quickest of those outside it, at 39.246 seconds, nearly seven-tenths of a second behind Tagliani.
Moreno switched to his back-up car and qualified 12th. De Ferran was 13th after a set-up fault, and Oriol Servia, Michael Andretti and Adrian Fernandez took 14th to 16th. Da Matta and Norberto Fontana were 17th and 18th after mechanical issues.
Garcia Jr. was 24th on the timesheet, but his best lap was annulled after his car failed the post-race minimum weight check. He was sent to the back of the grid.
How did the 2000 Rio 200 unfold?
The start came at 1:37 p.m. BRT in hot, dry and sunny weather, and two-time Formula One champion Emerson Fittipaldi got the field under way. Tagliani pulled away from Montoya as the cars went past the line, which brought out the first caution, and green-flag racing resumed on lap 5 with Tagliani leading.
Air temperature stayed between 85 and 88 degrees Fahrenheit (29 to 31 degrees Celsius), while the track ranged from 112 to 121 degrees Fahrenheit (44 to 49 degrees Celsius).
Oriol Servia went off after turn four and hit the inside barrier at the start of the main straight, retiring at once. Brack made a move for third at turn three, lost the place at the next corner, and then made the pass stick on the main straight.
Race control ruled that Fontana had passed Fernandez before the line. He was shown a black flag on lap 17 and served a drive-through penalty. Castroneves retired on the 23rd lap, and Montoya's race ended on lap 30 with a broken shifter cable.
Pit stops for fuel and tyres began on lap 33, with Tagliani and Brack among the first to come in and hand Tracy the lead. Vasser took over when Tracy pitted four laps later, and Franchitti slid into the pit wall and damaged the right-front wing endplate of his car. Fernandez led laps 38 and 39 before his first stop, and Tagliani regained the lead after the stops.
Herta stalled between the first and second turns on lap 55, bringing out the second caution, and he could not restart. Yellow flags returned on lap 60 while Garcia Jr. delayed the field, and every lead-lap car except Tagliani pitted under those conditions.
Papis cut a tyre on lap 63 and lost a lap changing the wheel, and Kanaan's race ended six laps later with mechanical trouble. Andretti then took the lead on lap 75 when Tagliani pitted, and Brack moved ahead two laps later when Andretti stopped.
Andretti's stop then went wrong. Todd Tice and John Littlefield, two of his crew, were clearing away from the car when he was told to leave his stall, and the fuelling hose Tice was trying to unhook was yanked out of his hands. Tice was caught in Andretti's right-rear wheel and broke his right ankle and leg. CART physician Terry Trammell attended him on the spot, and he was moved to Indianapolis on 1 May, where surgery followed. John Littlefield was bruised on his left leg.
Andretti took a drive-through penalty on the 81st lap. The third caution came out when Jourdain stalled at the bottom of turn two, and Brack's 9.144-second lead disappeared under yellow. Several drivers, Brack among them, pitted for tyres and fuel, but Tagliani stayed out, and the restart on lap 98 found him still in front.
Two laps after that restart the fourth caution appeared, as Tagliani lost traction in turn one and spun at the second corner. Franchitti and Andretti had to dodge him and touched each other in the process, and all three flat-spotted their tyres but stayed out rather than pitting.
Green returned on lap 105, but Tagliani spun again at turn four and stalled. The race finished under yellow, with no passing allowed, and Fernandez took the flag.
Who won the 2000 Rio 200?
Adrian Fernandez won the 2000 Rio 200 for Patrick Racing from 16th on the grid. It was his first win of the year and his sixth in total, and the result lifted him to fifth in the championship. Jimmy Vasser and Paul Tracy completed the podium.
| Finish | Driver | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Adrian Fernandez | Patrick Racing; started 16th; first win of 2000 and sixth of his career |
| 2nd | Jimmy Vasser | Chip Ganassi Racing; 0.931 seconds behind the winner |
| 3rd | Paul Tracy | Team Green; kept the championship lead by six points |
| 4th | Cristiano da Matta | Brazilian trio finished fourth to sixth |
| 5th | Christian Fittipaldi | Brazilian trio finished fourth to sixth |
| 6th | Roberto Moreno | Patrick Racing; Brazilian trio finished fourth to sixth |
Off the podium, the three Brazilians of da Matta, Fittipaldi and Moreno finished fourth to sixth. Blundell, Gidley, Andretti, Brack, Franchitti and Garcia Jr. closed the order, and the race produced eight lead changes among five drivers.
Fernandez said the win meant a lot because he had not finished a race earlier that season. He had tried a new set-up in warm-up and was frustrated behind da Matta for a spell before deciding patience was the answer. He led twice, for 11 laps in all.
Tagliani led 76 laps, more than any other driver, yet two spins cost him the first win of his career. He described his race as strong apart from his mistake, and said the team had been on course for a near-perfect weekend until then.
What were the penalties and aftermath for Andretti?
Twelve days after the race, the series' chief steward, Kirk Russell, removed four of the points Andretti had scored and ordered him to repay $17,500, the ninth-place prize money he had earned. Russell cited the rulebook's provision on unsafe acts, which says such acts will be penalised.
Russell did not disqualify Andretti, and no points or prize money were redistributed. He explained that the car would have been excluded from the rest of the event had the information available at the time supported that action.
How did the result change the championship?
Tracy kept the Drivers' Championship lead, but his margin over Vasser fell to six points. Moreno moved clear of Papis for third place, and Fernandez rose to fifth. Ford Cosworth took the manufacturers' lead with 54 points.
Honda dropped to second with two fewer points, Toyota were ten points further back in third, and Mercedes-Benz stayed fourth. In the constructors' table, Reynard extended its lead with 66 points, Lola was twenty points behind in second, and Swift held third with seventeen races still to run.
Why was the 2000 Rio 200 the last race in Rio?
The planned 2001 round was cancelled after the Rio municipal government missed the deadline to guarantee payment of sanctioning fees. The city also kept promoter Emerson Fittipaldi from entering the facility to prepare. The 2000 event was therefore the last race held in Rio.
The circuit was demanding for drivers, and braking and downshifting were concentrated into the first and third turns. CART therefore required every team to run the high-downforce Handford MkII wings, which added drag to slow the cars and eased stress on brakes and gearboxes.
The 2000 running closed a sequence of five consecutive appearances on the calendar, and no later round took its place in Rio.