It is not only for the chance to start ahead in the race towards the prize offered by the Corrida do Milhão (“The Million Race”) that the Stock Car qualifying training this Saturday in Goiânia became considerably more relevant. According to Júlio Campos from the State of Paraná and vice-leader of the championship the simple round format - as opposed to the two race per Sunday system used on 9 of the 12 races in the year - will force the drivers and teams to redouble their efforts in order to get the pole. “On the two race rounds you could consider a 10th place in the first race as a good result because it ensures a pole in the second race due to the grid reversion and that allows you end up with a good amount of points. Not here. Here we have a fight for the victory. And taking off in the first positions is a great start,” says the Prati-Donaduzzi Team driver.
While acknowledging the weight of a victory in the Corrida do Milhão, Campos keeps saying what he has been saying since the beginning of the year: always put the title as the goal and accumulate as many points as possible. “This race is special, because the winner will have his name etched in history. Of course everyone would like to win this alluring prize, but in the end what really matters is the championship. Let's see if we can end this phase closer to Marcos Gomes. And if I win the one million reais check in the meantime, all the better.” he jokes. There is a 25 points difference between them - 141 to 116 - in favor of the Voxx Racing driver from São Paulo.
The qualifying session that will set the grid is expected to begin at noon and the weather forecast estimates a temperature close to 35 degrees. The cars enter the track in groups of four according to the ascending classification order. Thus, Campos, Gomes and the partners from Team Red Bull, Daniel Serra and Caca Bueno will be the last to set their times. So far, Friday practices were always used by Campos and his partner Antonio Pizzonia from Amazonas, the 15th in the league, to work on their racing positioning. This time, however, technical director Juan Carlo “Mico” Lopez expressed a change of plans. “So far, up to the 10th was a good starting position because there was always the chance of earning point favorably in both races. And a radical adjustment aiming only to qualifying resulted in the risk of losing when changing the settings as to reduce tire wear during the races. Right now, it will all be set in a single try.”
According to the Regulation during the window yet to be informed to the teams the cars will be required to make at least one stop for refueling and replace at least one tire. Prati-Donaduzzi team thoroughly trained pit stop simulations for the entire previous week and early this week at the base in Curitiba. “The work in the pit stop can decide the race. It is a moment of extreme tension for the mechanics involved in the operation, since they spend the race waiting for their moment to act,” concludes “Mico” Lopez.