---

Brazilian Racing News: Sudam F-3

23 March 1998

Temuco (Chile): Argentinian Nestor Gabriel Furlan won the first round of
the 1998 South American F-3 Championship. Furlan dominated all weekend
and had a Sunday drive at the race: he started on the pole, drove the  
fastest lap, and won with a great margin over Brazilian Tom
Stefani.

Stefani has raced in F-3 since 1990 (Furlan has raced since 1987), and was
already in Italian F-3, Brazilian F-3, South American F-3 and is for
sure the most experienced Brazilian driver in the field.

He used this experience to finish second, while new comers like Duda
Pamplona, Alex Bachega had trouble finding the right set-up all
weekend.  The Argentine driver Belli placed third, using the same car 
as Furlan.

It was a great race for Rodrigo Sperafico in his F-3 Debut, after 
winning British F-Ford last year.  Sperafico finished 4th, but showed
that he will be a hard fighter this season.

Fifth place finisher Brazilian Leonardo Nienkotter, who is in his
second season, is disappointing all people who have something to do with
racing in Brazil. Leonardo used to race karts and dominated brazilian
karting for 3 years. He was considered one of the new great drivers of
Brazil.  In his second season in F-3, we should be able to expect more 
than a 5th place finish on a track he already knows, with the best 
equipment.

Next Race - Parana (Argentina)

Marc Zimmermann -- The Auto Channel