Rubens Barrichello won a charity karting event in Brazil yesterday, beating drivers including Felipe Massa, Michael Schumacher and Jeff Gordon.
Barrichello edged Brazilian countryman Lucas Di Grassi in the first race of the “International Challenge of the Stars,” then finished fifth in the second to clinch the overall title with 36 points.
In its fourth edition, the event organized by Massa in southern Brazil will aid local charities and the victims of recent flooding in the region.
Massa, the runner-up to Lewis Hamilton in this year’s Formula One championship, won the second 25-minute race in the Kartodromo dos Ingleses track in Florianopolis, finishing third overall with 31 points. Di Grassi ended one point behind Barrichello after a third place in the last race.
Barrichello and Di Grassi are two of the drivers fighting for a spot in Honda’s F1 team next year. Barrichello raced with Honda this year, while Di Grassi was a test driver for Renault.
“Can we quickly send this tape to Honda?” Barrichello said after the first race.
Barrichello later complained of Di Grassi’s aggressive style during the races.
“Everybody wants to win this,” Barrichello said. “But we can’t go around hitting other people on the track, this is a charity event.”
This year there was quite a sad atmosphere during the race. Just a couple of days ago the state of Santa Catarina was hit by devastating floods with hundreds of victims destroying the houses of more than 50 000 people.
“Some critics said before the race, that we should cancel the event as a sign of mourning,” Felipe said.
“But I think that we did the right thing by going ahead. It was a great opportunity to show our solidarity, raising money to help the victims of this devastating flood. We tried to bring a little bit of happiness for those who suffer.”
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