Grapevine: Barrichello Wins Karting Race in Brazil

Rubens Barrichello has won the Granja Viana 500 Miles race, a traditional event on the Brazilian karting calendar. The Ferrari man was driving for the Tic-Tac team and his co-drivers were Tony Kanaan and Mario Haberfeld. It is Barrichello's third win in this event, having previously taken top honours in 1998 and 2000.

When the race got underway at the stroke of midnight, there were no less than 58 karts on the track, in front of a big and noisy crowd. Around three hundred drivers were taking part and other refugees from this year's Formula One grid were Enrique Bernoldi and Ricardo Zonta.

At around half distance it began to rain and that signalled the start of the Barrichello show. Despite staying on slicks, Rubens was lapping around two seconds quicker than the rest, thus making up several places to take the lead. The team asked Rubens to stay out as long as possible to make the most of his wet weather skills. In the end, the Ferrari man was at the wheel for no less than six and a half hours. As he crossed the line, Barrichello had completed a total of 707 laps, eight more than the second placed man.

"This is a very important win for all three of us, as none of us managed a win in our own disciplines this season," said Barrichello after the race. "I had driven on this track a few days earlier and I knew there was a chance of rain today. We therefore set up the kart to be good in these conditions. Despite this, we did not have the quickest machine on the track as it lacked a bit of straight line speed, but the rain wiped out the difference with the other karts.

"Our team worked very well, putting all our plans into operation. After three hours, I started to feel a bit tired and, at the end, my hands were hurting a lot because of all the driving I had done. Now, I want to have a rest, but there's a problem with that. My son, Eduardo stays awake in the night and sleeps in the day, but I am sure that today, when we could both fall asleep in the day, he will change his mind and stay awake!"