Brazilian Racing News: Duda Pamplona, Stock Cars
21 October 1997
DUDA PAMPLONA BRAZILIAN F-CHEVROLET CHAMPION Taruma, Porto Alegre--Duda Pamplona won the 8th round of the brazilian F-Chevrolet in Taruma. This was his 4th win in 8 races, and it gave him the title with 2 races to go. Duda started second but at the start he overtook Alex Bachega, second in points, and lead the 28 laps to the finish. As the Rio de Janeiro driver was leading, there was a lot of action in the back of the field. Douglas Pitoli started 8th, but had moved up to 4th by the 13th lap. The fastest lap of the race was from Alex Bachega, 1:04.128, giving him a 169.311 km/h average speed. Alex followed Duda for the whole race, but had to retire with a puncture in the left rear tire. Duda Pamplona is 19 years old, was born in Rio de Janeiro, and is one of the shining Brazilian stars, at the moment. He had great support from his team, the best of the championship. Other drivers--like Bachega, Valdeno Brito Filho, Marcelo Carneiro, and Karlos Fernandes--are promising drivers, but had bad luck with their teams this season. Duda only retired once this season, when he was involved in an accident. Karlos Fernandes made his debut in racing cars after 9 seasons of kart, started 19th in Taruma and arrived 8th, making some impressive overtakings. STOCK CARS Paulo Gomes was the star of the day in Taruma. He lead the field from the start to the finish line, driving really hard, and is now in the fight for the title. Ingo Hoffman (former F-1 driver) and Xandi Negrao had problems this race and lost the chance to leave Taruma with a great points lead. Ingo Hoffman, who started 4th alongside Xandi in 3rd, started very good and was second in the first lap. On the second lap his car had gearbox problems and he went to the pits, to fix it. He returned in 20th position and made a great race to arrive fourth. Chico Serra (former F-1 driver) arrived second followed by Flavio Trindade. Ingo is making a great season. He is struggling with his car, which isn't the best car this season, but is giving a show to the spectators at every race. Paulo Gomes, who raced in Europe in the late 70's, is also showing the best of his form at the last three races. Xandi Negrao who had a great season start, is now having a lot of problems and seems to have lost his confidence. Caca Bueno, son of the brazilian F-1 TV speaker, Galvao Bueno, won the race in Taruma and is now leading the Class "B" championship. Bueno, who races for the best team in Stock Car, the Brahma Sports Team (sponsors of Raul Boesel and Scott Pruett in CART), is having a season with up and downs. Fausto Bessa, the second in points, is just 4 points behind Bueno. Next round in Rio de Janeiro - november 16th. STOCK CAR STANDINGS 1.INGO HOFFMAN, XANDI NEGRAO 226 points 3.Alessandro Weiss 192 points 4.Paulo Gomes 186 points 5.Carlos Alves 158 points 6.Chico Serra 136 points Class "B" 1.Caca Bueno 230 points 2.Fausto Bessa 226 points 3.Ricardo Etchenique 180 points
