Heavy rain in Sao Paulo causes serious problems for the Brazilian Formula Indy Race

Scott Dixon, trying to keep the car on (a wet) track [photo: guilherme lara campos / fotoarena]

The rain that hit the city of Sao Paulo on Sunday (May 1st) changed the Sao Paulo F-Indy race to Monday (May 2nd). The decision was agreed upon at a meeting between CET (Traffic Engineering Company) representatives and the Formula Indy Organization. This isn't the first time that the rain has caused problems for the circuit at the Sambadrome. Last year, the track had to be rebuilt because of drainage problems. This year, one of the reasons the race date was moved to May was because of possible problems with rain. Unfortunately, the rain started few laps after the race did.

According to the mayor of São Paulo, Gilberto Kassab, the possibility of changing the racetrack is ruled out for next year. The mayor said that the current circuit set is considered the most appropriate place for the race. "It is the more appropriate [place], and therefore, its contract has been set for ten years", said Kassab.

Bia Figueiredo, who left the race at the end, reminded the media that she has faced more serious problems than a rainy day in other circuits. "In a race in Kansas, we got a tornado warning and did not know what to do. In Japan, there are earthquakes. If we get worried about what might happen everywhere we go, the race will never happen. We must be proud of the Sao Paulo race track."

Check out the final classification
1. Will Power (AUS / Penske) 2h00min51s
2. Graham Rahal (USA / Ganassi), 4s672
3. Ryan Briscoe (AUS / Penske), 7s903
4. Dario Franchitti (ESC / Ganassi), 10s147
5. Oriol Servia (ESP / Newman-Haas), 15s818
6. Mike Conway (ING / Andretti Autosport), 16s677
7. Justin Wilson (ENG / Dreyer & Reinbold), 20s013
8. Takuma Sato (JAP / KV), 23s068
9. James Hinchcliffe (CAN / Newman-Haas), 25s292
10. JR Hildebrand (USA / Panther), 31s317
11. Sebastian Saavedra (COL / Conquest), 36s426
12. Scott Dixon (NZL / Ganassi), 42s197
13. Ernesto Viso (VEN / KV), 45s826
14. Marco Andretti (USA / Andretti Autosport), 1min14s563
15. James Jakes (ING / Dale Coyne), 1min16s278
16. Charlie Kimball (USA / Ganassi) 1 lap
17. Vitor Meira (BRA / Foyt), 2 laps
18. Ryan Hunter-Reay (USA / Andretti Autosport), 5 laps
19. Alex Tagliani (CAN / Sam Schmidt), 7 laps
20. Simona De Silvestro (SUI / HVM), 9 laps
21. Helio Castroneves (BRA / Penske), 9 laps
22. Tony Kanaan (BRA / KV), 9 laps
23. Danica Patrick (USA / Andretti Autosport), 9 laps
24. Bia Figueiredo (BRA / Dreyer & Reinbold), left the race
25. Raphael Matos (BRA / AFS), left the race