Final Nextel Cup race in São Paulo
Marcos Gomes won a Nextel Cup race for the first time in the final round of the 2007 season. The Medley/ A. Mattheis (Chevrolet) team driver started in fourth, disputed positions with fellow Playoff Felipe Maluhy of Terra Racing (Mitsubishi) and pulled ahead when Maluhy and Rodrigo Sperafico of Genéricos Biosintética (Volkswagen) spun on track. Once he was in second place, all he had to do was wait. Cacá Bueno won the Nextel Cup championship one round earlier, in Rio de Janeiro, but was unlucky in São Paulo when a dispute led him to spin and crash into the tyre wall. The Safety Car interrupted the race and that was all it took for bad luck to reach race leader Thiago Camilo, Texaco Vogel (Chevrolet), who’s car broke down in the restart, giving Marcos Gomes the final lead.
“As you all saw, I was able to count a little bit on luck, but besides that my car was excellent on the turns. I’m very happy. I just came from the three worst races in my life so finishing the season with a victory was very important to boost our confidence for next yearâ€, commented Marcos during the press conference held with the winners in Interlagos.
Second to cross the finish line, Valdeno Brito of Neo QuÃmica Neosoro/ JF Racing (Peugeot), was not expecting such a positive result. His car was not efficient in the training sessions but on Sunday it “awoke well”. Valdeno stated that he is “really surprised with the result because we couldn’t tweak the car properly, but yesterday’s teamwork for today was perfectâ€.
Antonio Jorge Neto, Eurofarma RC (Mitsubishi), was in third place on the podium. Climbing from seventh to third in the race, Neto relied on the same luck due to minor accidents in the last half of the race. “We lucked out on this last round to make up for the rest of the season and getting to the podium is excellent. I needed a good resultâ€, he commented.
The Stock Car 2007 season has come to an end, and next year promises much more. The first race of the 2008 championship will take place in São Paulo on the 13th of April.
