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