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 Brazilians dominate at Indianapolis and finish 1, 2, 5, 8 and 10.
Five Brazilians, a record, were entered in the 33-car field
of the 2001 Indianapolis 500.
By Phillip Wagner
Never in the history of the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing" have
Brazilians performed as brilliantly as at the 85th running of the Indianapolis
500. Indianapolis hosts, by attendance, the three largest sporting events in the world in
the Indianapolis 500, the US Grand Prix and the NASCAR Brickyard 400; all at the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway. And, in recent years, Brazilians have become a fixture at the
500, both as participants and as spectators. Brazilian flags have become increasingly
recognizable there. In Brazil, of course, Formula One is really what racing is about; but
even there Indy car racing has been making inroads, albeit slowly, among the fan base of
racing enthusiasts.
Five Brazilians, a record, were entered in the 33-car field of the 2001 Indianapolis
500, but only Paulistas Gil de Ferran and Helio Castroneves appeared to be serious
contenders. De Ferran qualified in the 5th starting position, row 2, with a
pre-race qualification speed of 224.006 miles per hour (mph). Castroneves was only a shade
slower at 224.406, placing him at 11th in row 4. Reverse the order of those two
and you have the top two finishers as Castroneves and de Ferran lit up the brickyard with
Brazilian fireworks in a thrilling final laps finish that almost no one would have
predicted. But even more surprising is the fact that Brazilians also finished 5th,
8th and 10th to provide 5 finishers in the Indy top 10, a feat
almost beyond comprehension!
Perhaps the stage was set when the pole sitter (top qualifier) exited before completing
the 1st lap. Perhaps the weather, credited with contributing to early race
struggles that eliminated Scott Goodyear, Al Unser Jr. and the heralded young woman driver
Sarah Fisher, played a role. Race announcers focused on the fact that cold tires made it
difficult for anxious drivers to maintain control in the early going. The Brazilians, to a
man, showed extraordinary patience and persistence as they moved up the field and avoided
elimination by maintaining focus and control of their "rockets on wheels".
Well behind de Ferran and Castroneves in qualifications were Bruno Junqueira of Belo
Horizonte, Airton Dare of Bauru and Felipe Giaffone, another Paulista. They had qualified
for the race in the 20th, 30th and 33rd (last) positions
respectively although their qualifying speeds of 224.208, 222.236 and 221.879 had
underscored the fact that the entire field was competitive. Everyone was expecting a
"tight race", although the odds makers were making it clear that a limited
number of drivers were likely to emerge with any real chance of winning. De Ferran and
Castroneves were among the favorites at pre race odds of 6:1 and 7:1, respectively.
Junqueira, although only able to qualify at the 20th position was granted 40:1
odds. But Dare and Giaffone were coming in at 200:1 and 600:1. De Ferran, in his only
previous race at Indianapolis in 1995, had finished 29th. Dare was 25th
last year. Castroneves, Junqueira and Giaffone were all Indianapolis 500
"rookies". A cousin of Giaffone, Affonso, was in Indianapolis in 1987 and
finished next to last. So what were the odds, then, that these five would finish 2nd,
1st, 5th, 8th and 10th in that order?
The story of the day for most Indianapolis racing fans was not that Brazilians finished
1-2, however, or even that Brazilians took 5 places in the top 10. For real Indy fans the
story of the day was Roger Penske's triumphant return to Indianapolis as owner of the cars
driven by Castroneves and de Ferran. In 1995 Penske, who had previously all but owned
Indianapolis, failed to qualify a driver for the race. A subsequent highly publicized
break between the Indy Racing League (IRL) and Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), with
which Penske is affiliated, left Indianapolis largely vacated by CART drivers. Brazilians
often make no distinction between CART and IRL, which they refer to simply as
"Formula Indy". Junqueira, like Castroneves and de Ferran, is a CART driver.
Giaffone and Dare race in the IRL. But in the United States the CART-IRL debate among
racing fans has been heated and the distinction is clearly drawn.
The infusion of Brazilian talent into "Formula Indy" racing is becoming more
and more apparent. Brazilian drivers are greatly respected and highly competitive.
Brazilians may remember Castroneves and Junqueira for having competed in Brazilian Formula
Three. De Ferran, who also drove in Formula 3000, competed in Formula Three in Great
Britain. The colorful Dare began racing on jet skis and was last year's IRL "rookie
of the year". Giaffone got his start in Brazilian Karting, which Junqueira once
dominated with six championships. Notably absent from this year's race was Curitiba's Raul
Boesel, who has competed in several previous Indianapolis 500s and finished 16th
last year.
Brazilian drivers, even in the United States, are characteristically, well, Brazilian.
Who can forget that Emerson Fittipaldi once performed the sacrilegious act of refusing the
post victory bottle of milk in favor of orange juice, the "milk of Brazil."
Castroneves revealed his Brazilian-ness in a different, but typically Brazilian way;
through emotion. Helio caught Indianapolis race fans completely off guard when he brought
his car to a full stop before completing a traditional victory lap. Exiting the car, he
leaped onto a steel mesh fence and exuberantly pumped his fist into the air. Large
Brazilian flags could be seen waving among the crowd. Castroneves was signaling his race
team to join him in the victory circle. He might just as well have been signaling all
Brazil because, like Castroneves and the Roger Penske racing team, Brazil came up a big
winner at the 2001 Indianapolis 500.
About the author: Phillip Wagner is a resident of Indianapolis and a
long time contributor to Brazzil Magazine. Visit Phillip's web-site at http://www.iei.net/~pwagner/brazilhome.htm
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