11/20/2008

Negri Competes in Brazilian Kart Enduro

Daytona Beach, FL - Oswaldo Negri is keeping busy over the offseason.

Last weekend, the native Brazilian of the No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley drove a kart in the Granja 500, one of the most important races in Brazil.

Negri co-drove with Raphael Matos in the race won by Rubens Barrichello and Tony Kanaan. Other top drivers in the all-star field included Felipe Massa, Nelson Piquet Jr. and Raul Boesel. Matos drove with Michael Shank Racing in the 2008 Rolex Series season finale, winning at Miller Motorsports Park with John Pew and Ian James in the team's No. 6 entry.

Negri and Matos started fourth on the 67-kart grid, and led the race for the opening two hours.

"That was before our problems started," Negri said. "We were running sixth with eight laps to go when we had a parts failure. It was a bit disappointing, especially after 11 hours of hard racing."

While disappointing, Negri was smiling after the race.

"I had lots of fun as I would have any day on a race track," he said. "It was very hard physically. My first and second stints were three hours and 45 minutes, and that's a pretty hard time on a go kart."

Negri flew to the race following the November Test Days at Daytona, and he found that many of the teams were already well prepared for the event.

"It is amazing how serious everybody takes this race," Negri said. "Most of the teams were testing a full week before the race weekend. I got on a plane on an overnight flight to Sao Paulo on Wednesday night after our test at Daytona. I got there the next morning and went straight to the track, where we tested until 10 p.m. That was an endurance test, for sure!"

Now, Negri is dividing his time, enjoying being with his family while training for the upcoming season.

"I will be in Brazil with my family until Nov. 28, and then will be back to Miami," Negri said. "I am training very hard at the gym in preparation for the Rolex 24. I really want to go from the pole this year to a Rolex 24 victory next year."

Negri and Mark Patterson have already announced plans to return to the Michael Shank Racing No. 60 Ford Riley for the full 2009 season. Their co-drivers for the Rolex 24 will be announced in the near future. This past season, the pair finished seventh in the Daytona Prototype team standings. They opened the season with Negri winning the pole for the Rolex 24 At Daytona, and Shank ended the season with back-to-back victories. Patterson and Negri won the inaugural event at New Jersey Motorsports Park, while teammates John Pew and Ian James captured the season finale at Miller Motorsports Park in the No. 6 Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley.

By J.J. O'Malley