1999 Firestone Firehawk 500K
# 1999 Firestone Firehawk 500K

The 1999 Firestone Firehawk 500K was the second round of the 1999 CART FedEx Champ Car World Series season, held on April 9, 1999, on the Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi, Tochigi, Japan.

This was the first Champ Car race since the 1995 Indianapolis 500, in which Al Unser Jr. is absent on the starting grid.

## Report

### Race

There was drama at the start when polesitter Gil de Ferran spun while taking the green flag. As a result, the start was delayed, and de Ferran was able to take back his starting position: pole. He led the early stages but then began to drop back with tire problems and Maurício Gugelmin took the lead. Gugelmin led comfortably until the first round of stops, when he overshot his pitlane, losing time. He was also given a black flag for running over pit equipment, which put him a lap down and out of contention. Adrián Fernández took the lead and led comfortably until Juan Pablo Montoya closed right up to him. Fernández held him off, and Montoya's challenge was ended when he lost three laps due to a fuel pick-up problem. In the final stages of the race, it seemed clear that everyone had to pit for fuel, and a caution brought out by Max Papis's spin was ideal. All the leaders pitted, except Fernández who for some reason stayed out. It seemed to be a mistake, as the race went green with 4 laps left, and he did not have enough fuel for 4 green-flag laps. However, Greg Moore, running second, spun while lapping backmarkers, which resulted in Richie Hearn crashing, and the caution came out again. Whereas the spin dropped Moore to fourth, the caution was till the end of the race, which meant that Fernández did not have to stop, and thus won the race. de Ferran recovered to finish second, and Christian Fittipaldi completed the podium.

## Classification

### Race

| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 40 | Adrián Fernández | Patrick Racing | 201 | 1:46:01.463 | 4 | 20+1 |
| 2 | 5 | Gil de Ferran | Walker Racing | 201 | +6.347 | 1 | 16+1 |
| 3 | 11 | Christian Fittipaldi | Newman-Haas Racing | 201 | +7.669 | 7 | 14 |
| 4 | 99 | Greg Moore | Forsythe Racing | 201 | +38.027 | 6 | 12 |
| 5 | 6 | Michael Andretti | Newman-Haas Racing | 200 | +1 Lap | 5 | 10 |
| 6 | 44 | Tony Kanaan | Forsythe Racing | 200 | +1 Lap | 17 | 8 |
| 7 | 17 | Maurício Gugelmin | PacWest Racing | 200 | +1 Lap | 2 | 6 |
| 8 | 22 | Robby Gordon | Team Gordon | 200 | +1 Lap | 14 | 5 |
| 9 | 9 | Hélio Castro-Neves | Hogan Racing | 199 | +2 Laps | 18 | 4 |
| 10 | 10 | Richie Hearn | Della Penna Motorsports | 198 | Contact | 21 | 3 |
| 11 | 26 | Paul Tracy | Team Green | 198 | +3 Laps | 10 | 2 |
| 12 | 12 | Jimmy Vasser | Chip Ganassi Racing | 198 | +3 Laps | 12 | 1 |
| 13 | 4 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Chip Ganassi Racing | 197 | +4 Laps | 15 | |
| 14 | 2 | Tarso Marques | Team Penske | 197 | +4 Laps | 22 | |
| 15 | 20 | P. J. Jones | Patrick Racing | 196 | +5 Laps | 9 | |
| 16 | 7 | Max Papis | Team Rahal | 196 | +5 Laps | 3 | |
| 17 | 36 | Alex Barron | All American Racing | 195 | +6 Laps | 19 | |
| 18 | 19 | Michel Jourdain Jr. | Payton/Coyne Racing | 188 | +13 Laps | 26 | |
| 19 | 71 | Luiz Garcia Jr. | Payton/Coyne Racing | 184 | Engine | 25 | |
| 20 | 16 | Shigeaki Hattori | Bettenhausen Racing | 140 | Clutch | 24 | |
| 21 | 24 | Scott Pruett | Arciero-Wells Racing | 106 | Fire | 20 | |
| 22 | 27 | Dario Franchitti | Team Green | 91 | Contact | 11 | |
| 23 | 8 | Bryan Herta | Team Rahal | 84 | Electrical | 8 | |
| 24 | 18 | Mark Blundell | PacWest Racing | 78 | Handling | 16 | |
| 25 | 25 | Cristiano da Matta | Arciero-Wells Racing | 39 | Transmission | 23 | |
| 26 | 33 | Patrick Carpentier | Forsythe Racing | 10 | Fuel pressure | 13 | |

## Caution flags

| Laps | Cause |
| - | - |
| 1-4 | de Ferran (5) spin |
| 89-96 | Franchitti (27) contact |
| 140-148 | Debris on track |
| 194-198 | Papis (7) spin |
| 200-201 | Moore (99) spin |

## Lap Leaders

| Laps | Leader |
| - | - |
| 1 | Maurício Gugelmin |
| 2-26 | Gil de Ferran |
| 27-46 | Maurício Gugelmin |
| 47-50 | Adrián Fernández |
| 51-52 | Scott Pruett |
| 53-201 | Adrián Fernández |
| Driver | Laps led |
| Adrián Fernández | 153 |
| Gil de Ferran | 25 |
| Maurício Gugelmin | 21 |
| Scott Pruett | 2 |

## Point standings after race

| Pos | Driver | Points |
| - | - | - |
| 1 | Greg Moore | 34 |
| 2 | Michael Andretti | 26 |
| 3 | Gil de Ferran | 25 |
| 4 | Adrián Fernández | 21 |
| 5 | Christian Fittipaldi | 18 |
