1999 Grand Prix Telemar Rio 200
# 1999 Grand Prix Telemar Rio 200

The 1999 Grand Prix Telemar Rio 200 was the fifth round of the 1999 CART World Series Season, held on May 15, 1999, on the Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Christian Fittipaldi won his first and only Pole Position of his career.

## Report

### Race

The race was delayed due to rain, and the drivers had to wait for the track to dry out. On the second attempt to start, Juan Pablo Montoya dived past front-row starters Christian Fittipaldi and Dario Franchitti to take the lead. The trio quickly pulled away from the rest of the field with Franchitti taking second from Fittipaldi at the first round of pit stops, only for Fittipaldi to reverse the order a few laps later by passing Franchitti on the track. Neither, despite staying within two seconds of Montoya, were able to give a serious challenge to him, the Colombian taking his third successive win. The battle for second eventually went to Franchitti who beat Fittipaldi with a quicker second pitstop.

## Classification

### Race

| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 4 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Chip Ganassi Racing | 108 | 1:36:32.233 | 3 | 20+1 |
| 2 | 27 | Dario Franchitti | Team Green | 108 | +1.736 | 2 | 16 |
| 3 | 11 | Christian Fittipaldi | Newman-Haas Racing | 108 | +3.954 | 1 | 14+1 |
| 4 | 7 | Max Papis | Team Rahal | 108 | +4.930 | 13 | 12 |
| 5 | 44 | Tony Kanaan | Forsythe Racing | 108 | +7.036 | 7 | 10 |
| 6 | 33 | Patrick Carpentier | Forsythe Racing | 108 | +7.618 | 9 | 8 |
| 7 | 20 | P. J. Jones | Patrick Racing | 108 | +8.057 | 16 | 6 |
| 8 | 99 | Greg Moore | Forsythe Racing | 108 | +8.304 | 10 | 5 |
| 9 | 3 | Tarso Marques | Team Penske | 108 | +10.688 | 8 | 4 |
| 10 | 5 | Gil de Ferran | Walker Racing | 108 | +11.241 | 4 | 3 |
| 11 | 18 | Roberto Moreno | PacWest Racing | 108 | +11.717 | 23 | 2 |
| 12 | 2 | Al Unser Jr. | Team Penske | 108 | +12.215 | 19 | 1 |
| 13 | 8 | Bryan Herta | Team Rahal | 108 | +14.138 | 5 | |
| 14 | 22 | Robby Gordon | Team Gordon | 108 | +17.470 | 26 | |
| 15 | 26 | Paul Tracy | Team Green | 108 | +20.214 | 12 | |
| 16 | 19 | Michel Jourdain Jr. | Payton/Coyne Racing | 107 | +1 Lap | 24 | |
| 17 | 16 | Gualter Salles | Bettenhausen Racing | 107 | +1 Lap | 21 | |
| 18 | 71 | Luiz Garcia Jr. | Payton/Coyne Racing | 102 | +6 Laps | 27 | |
| 19 | 10 | Richie Hearn | Della Penna Motorsports | 101 | Cooling | 18 | |
| 20 | 40 | Adrián Fernández | Patrick Racing | 83 | Contact | 17 | |
| 21 | 25 | Cristiano da Matta | Arciero-Wells Racing | 81 | Turbo | 14 | |
| 22 | 17 | Maurício Gugelmin | PacWest Racing | 61 | Cooling | 25 | |
| 23 | 36 | Alex Barron | All American Racing | 58 | Overheating | 22 | |
| 24 | 24 | Scott Pruett | Arciero-Wells Racing | 49 | Turbo | 20 | |
| 25 | 9 | Hélio Castro-Neves | Hogan Racing | 32 | Turbo | 11 | |
| 26 | 6 | Michael Andretti | Newman-Haas Racing | 28 | Engine | 15 | |
| 27 | 12 | Jimmy Vasser | Chip Ganassi Racing | 23 | Electrical | 6 | |

## Caution flags

| Laps | Cause |
| - | - |
| 1 | Field not aligned |
| 30-36 | Andretti (6) engine blow-up |
| 50-55 | Pruett (24) engine blow-up |
| 85-90 | Fernández (40) contact |
| 91-95 | Rain |
| 98-102 | Gordon (22), Jourdain Jr. (19) contact |

## Lap Leaders

| Laps | Leader |
| - | - |
| 1 | Christian Fittipaldi |
| 2-72 | Juan Pablo Montoya |
| 73 | Christian Fittipaldi |
| 74-76 | Dario Franchitti |
| 77-86 | Al Unser Jr. |
| 87-108 | Juan Pablo Montoya |
| Driver | Laps led |
| Juan Pablo Montoya | 93 |
| Al Unser Jr. | 10 |
| Dario Franchitti | 3 |
| Christian Fittipaldi | 2 |

## Point standings after race

| Pos | Driver | Points |
| - | - | - |
| 1 | Juan Pablo Montoya | 66 |
| 2 | Dario Franchitti | 51 |
| 3 | Christian Fittipaldi | 49 |
| 4 | Greg Moore | 45 |
| 5 | Adrián Fernández | 43 |
