Race details | |
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Race 3 of 20 in the 2000 CART season | |
Date | April 30, 2000 |
Location | Emerson Fittipaldi Speedway, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
Course | Permanent racing facility 1.864 mi / 3.000 km |
Distance | 108 laps 201.312 mi / 323.980 km |
Weather | Hot and sunny |
Pole position | |
Driver | Alex Tagliani (Forsythe Racing) |
Time | 38.587 (173.91 mph) |
Fastest lap | |
Driver | Alex Tagliani (Forsythe Racing) |
Time | 39.445 (on lap 70 of 108) |
Podium | |
First | Adrián Fernández (Patrick Racing) |
Second | Jimmy Vasser (Chip Ganassi Racing) |
Third | Paul Tracy (Team Green) |
The 2000 Rio 200 was a Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) auto race held at the trapezoid-shaped Emerson Fittipaldi Speedway , Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on April 30, 2000. It was the third race of the 2000 CART season, the fifth (and last) running of the event, and the first round of the year to be held outside of the United States. The 108-lap race was won by Patrick Racing driver Adrián Fernández after he started from sixteenth. Jimmy Vasser of Chip Ganassi Racing finished second with Team Green's Paul Tracy third.
Tagliani set the fastest overall lap time in qualifying to start the race from pole position. He led for a total of 76 laps, more than any driver. However, Tagliani lost traction in his car on the 100th lap and spun in the second corner, promoting Fernández to the lead. The race ended under caution and no overtaking was permitted after Tagliani spun for a second time at the end of lap 105. Fernández thus won the race, his first of the season, and the sixth of his career. There were five cautions and eight lead changes among five different drivers during the course of the event.
The result of the race reduced Tracy's lead the Drivers' Championship to six points over Vasser. Roberto Moreno moved clear of Max Papis in their early season duel for third and Fernández's victory promoted him to fifth place. Ford Cosworth took the Manufacturers' Championship lead from Honda, with Toyota and Mercedes-Benz third and fourth with seventeen races left in the season.