Massa returns to action in charity karting event
November 28, 2009
FLORIANOPOLIS, Brazil (AP)—Formula One driver Felipe Massa returned tocompetition for the first time since his life-threatening accident four monthsago, finishing third in a charity karting event won by Michael Schumacher onSaturday.
Massa started 11th at the “International Challenge of the Stars” race insouthern Brazil, which he is hosting for the fifth straight year to aid localcharities.
“It was a great return to racing,” Massa said. “I felt 100 percent andI’m ready for the next one. I wish I could’ve won the race, but it was a victoryto come from the back and finish where I finished.”
It was the first time Massa had raced competitively since sustainingmultiple skull fractures in a crash with his Ferrari in qualifying for theHungarian Grand Prix on July 25. The Brazilian driver missed the rest of theseason because of the accident but will be back in F1 next year.
Schumacher, Massa’s former teammate at Ferrari, started from sixth place andwas running third until the final laps of the 30-minute race on Saturday, butIndy Racing League driver Vitor Meira and F1 driver Vitantonio Liuzzi touchedtheir karts while fighting for the lead, allowing Schumacher to easily move pastthem and secure the victory.
Schumacher, the event winner in 2007, also clocked the best lap at the brandnew track designed by Massa and Renault test driver Lucas Di Grassi, whofinished fourth. Liuzzi was second and Meira fifth.
Nelson Piquet Jr., involved in an F1 scandal after crashing on purpose inlast year’s Singapore GP to help former Renault teammate Fernando Alonso win therace, started from the pole and led most of the race before getting into a crashand falling to ninth in the 25-driver event.
Veteran F1 driver Rubens Barrichello finished sixth, while IRL’s Tony Kanaanwas seventh.
Another race will be held at the same track on Sunday, and an overall winnerwill be crowned with points added after both races.
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