fourfan
Posts: 43
(5/16/04 9:26 pm)
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Christian Fittipaldi
How It All Started
In 1981, at the age of 10, Christian Fittipaldi ran his first Go-Kart race. In the 6 years he remained in the so-called School of Auto Racing he competed in 51 races, of which he won 29, and was twice the Sao Paulo State champion, and Champion of the Le Mans Cup, in France.
At only 17 he made his debut in auto racing, and finished as runner-up in the 1988 Brazilian Formula Ford 2000 Championship. In the following years, still in South America, Christian won the Brazilian and South American Formula 3 Championships, and became the youngest driver in the world to receive FIA's Formula 1 Super licence.
In 1991 he revealed his talent to Europe, winning the Formula 3000 Intercontinental Championship in his first attempt. This victory led him to Formula 1 the next year, where, until 1994, driving for Teams Minardi and Arrows, he competed in 40 races and gathered a total of 12 points in the World Drivers championship.
The Courage to Change
In 1995, Christian Fittipaldi, 24 years old, surprised the world of motorsport. He became the first young driver on the rise to leave Formula 1 and to move to the closer competition of IndyCar racing.
The results obtained in his first season, driving for Team Walker, proved his decision to be correct - with special emphasis on his second place finish in the world's largest racing event, the Indianapolis 500.
The coverage of these achievements in the local and international media, and their positive impact on the Brazilian public, provided the sponsors who believed and supported Christian in this new stage of his career with a very favorable and compensating return on their investment.
The Road to Victory
Driving in 1996 for Newman/Haas Racing Team, undoubtedly one of the two top teams in the IndyCar World Championship, Christian Fittipaldi had the opportunity to win races and run for the Championship competing head to head with the best drivers in the Series.
His characteristic driving style, at the same time aggressive, daring and safe, insures that he is always competitive and finishes the races in the best possible position under prevailing circumstances. And these are precisely the qualities that are enhanced by the IndyCar rules, once they reward regularity and consistency on the different races of the Series, which includes ovals, superspeedways, permanent road courses, street tracks and even a race set up on the airport runways in Cleveland, Ohio.
The performance obtained by Christian Fittipaldi in his first year with the new team, when he was always in the position of a serious contender for the Championship Title, demonstrates that IndyCar and the fans of auto racing had gained a new star in the sport.
Another Surprising Change - NASCAR
Always looking for racing competition and challenges in his career Christian surprised the racing world once again by signing a three year contract with Petty Enterprises to run in the NASCAR Winston Cup series starting in 2003 on a limited basis. The move was preceded by a short schedule of NASCAR Busch series races in 2001 and 2002 that solidified his desire to compete in the most popular form of racing in the United States. Once again Christian blazed his own trail becoming the first international racing driver to compete in Winston Cup on a full-time basis.
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From www.feedstheneedracing.com
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