Desafio Internacional das Estrelas 2009: Tonio finishes 4th

The fifth edition of Desafio Internacional das Estrelas go-kart race took place this weekend in Florianópolis, Brazil. After a promising start on Friday during free practice 1 (7th place) and free practice 2 (5th place), Tonio had a bad start on Saturday when he finished free practice 3 on the last spot. In the afternoon he fought his way back to the front by securing the 5th spot on the grid. During race 1, he missed victory by just 2,7 seconds, after a intense battle with race winner Michael Schumacher.

On Sunday, the luck seemed to be on Tonio’s side again, when he was 5th during the warm-up session. Unfortunately, Tonio had a collision with Di Grassi during race 2, which cost Tonio a lot of time and a chance to become the overall winner. He came home 12th, 20,8 seconds after race winner Felipe Massa. Michael Schumacher was the overall winner of the event, followed by Felipe Massa, Vitor Meira and Tonio.

Watch the first race on YouTube from Brazilian SporTV: part 1, part 2 and part 3. You can also watch Tonio during the press conference of race 1 (Tonio starts at 0:50).