2000 Rio 200

There were three practice sessions preceding Sunday's race: two on Friday and one on Saturday. The first session ran for 90 minutes, the second 60 minutes, and the third 75 minutes.{{cite web|title=Rio 200 Pit Notes|url=http://www.cart.com:80/R04/news/CAR2000042900003WFC.html|publisher=Championship Auto Racing Teams|date=April 28, 2000|access-date=September 5, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000918132742/http://www.cart.com/R04/news/CAR2000042900003WFC.html|archive-date=September 18, 2000|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}{{cite web|title=Rio 200 Saturday Pit Notes|url=http://www.cart.com:80/R04/news/CAR2000050100001WFC.html|publisher=Championship Auto Racing Teams|date=April 29, 2000|access-date=September 5, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000918132557/http://www.cart.com/R04/news/CAR2000050100001WFC.html|archive-date=September 18, 2000|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} Conditions during the Friday practice sessions were hot and sunny. De Ferran set the first practice session's fastest [[Glossary of motorsport terms#L|lap]] at 39.610 seconds, followed by Tagliani, Tracy, [[Hélio Castroneves]], [[Kenny Bräck]], Vasser, Papis, [[Cristiano da Matta]], Moreno, and [[Christian Fittipaldi]].{{Cite web|url=http://www.speedvision.com:80/pub/articles/racing/03CART/000428a.html|title=De Ferran Quick Off the Truck|last=Phillips|first=David|date=April 28, 2000|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000824155215/http://www.speedvision.com/pub/articles/racing/03CART/000428a.html|publisher=Speedvision|archive-date=August 24, 2000|url-status=dead|access-date=September 5, 2018|df=mdy-all}} Five [[Racing flags#Yellow flag|yellow flags]] were waved. The first was for [[Takuya Kurosawa]] whose engine failed on the exit of turn four. He turned left to leave the main [[Straight (racing)|straight]] and allow safety officials to extinguish a fire in the engine compartment. The next two cautions were necessitated when [[Luiz Garcia Jr.]] and [[Mark Blundell]] [[Stall (engine)|stalled]] on the track separately. Both were towed back to [[Pit stop|pit road]] by circuit officials. [[Gualter Salles]] caused the fourth yellow flag with a heavily crash against the right-hand barrier at the first corner. Salles was not injured but his car sustained heavy damage to its right-side [[Car suspension|suspension]]. He stopped in the centre of the circuit in turn two. The last caution was activated for Fittipaldi who stalled on track.

There were three practice sessions preceding Sunday's race: two on Friday and one on Saturday. The first session ran for 90 minutes, the second 60 minutes, and the third 75 minutes.{{cite web|title=Rio 200 Pit Notes|url=http://www.cart.com:80/R04/news/CAR2000042900003WFC.html|publisher=Championship Auto Racing Teams|date=April 28, 2000|access-date=September 5, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000918132742/http://www.cart.com/R04/news/CAR2000042900003WFC.html|archive-date=September 18, 2000|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}{{cite web|title=Rio 200 Saturday Pit Notes|url=http://www.cart.com:80/R04/news/CAR2000050100001WFC.html|publisher=Championship Auto Racing Teams|date=April 29, 2000|access-date=September 5, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000918132557/http://www.cart.com/R04/news/CAR2000050100001WFC.html|archive-date=September 18, 2000|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} Conditions during the Friday practice sessions were hot and sunny. De Ferran set the first practice session's fastest [[Glossary of motorsport terms#L|lap]] at 39.610 seconds, followed by Tagliani, Tracy, [[Hélio Castroneves]], [[Kenny Bräck]], Vasser, Papis, [[Cristiano da Matta]], Moreno, and [[Christian Fittipaldi]].{{Cite web|url=http://www.speedvision.com:80/pub/articles/racing/03CART/000428a.html|title=De Ferran Quick Off the Truck|last=Phillips|first=David|date=April 28, 2000|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000824155215/http://www.speedvision.com/pub/articles/racing/03CART/000428a.html|publisher=Speedvision|archive-date=August 24, 2000|url-status=dead|access-date=September 5, 2018|df=mdy-all}} Five [[Racing flags#Yellow flag|yellow flags]] were waved. The first was for [[Takuya Kurosawa]] whose engine failed on the exit of turn four. He turned left to leave the main [[Straight (racing)|straight]] and allow safety officials to extinguish a fire in the engine compartment. The next two cautions were necessitated when [[Luiz Garcia Jr.]] and [[Mark Blundell]] [[Stall (engine)|stalled]] on the track separately. Both were towed back to [[Pit stop|pit road]] by circuit officials. [[Gualter Salles]] caused the fourth yellow flag with a heavily crash against the right-hand barrier at the first corner. Salles was not injured but his car sustained heavy damage to its right-side [[Car suspension|suspension]]. He stopped in the centre of the circuit in turn two. The last caution was activated for Fittipaldi who stalled on track.

In the second practice session, [[Juan Pablo Montoya]] set the day's fastest lap with a time of 38.922 seconds and was the only driver to go below 39 seconds. He was almost three-tenths of a second faster than Bräck in second and Tagliani was third. Fittipaldi, Castroneves, Vasser, Da Matta, Papis, de Ferran, and [[Michael Andretti]] were in positions four through ten.{{Cite web|url=http://classic.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/9372|title=Montoya hot in Brazil|date=April 28, 2000|website=Autosport|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906124910/http://classic.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/9372|archive-date=September 6, 2018|url-status=live|access-date=September 5, 2018|df=mdy-all}} The first three cautions came within half an hour of each other because debris and fluids were observed lying on the track and separate track inspections were needed to inspect and clean it. De Ferran caused the fourth caution by spinning in the third turn but avoided car damage. The final caution came out after [[Maurício Gugelmin]] spun in turn four and collided against a left-hand tire barrier with the rear of his car. Gugelmin was unhurt.

In the second practice session, [[Juan Pablo Montoya]] set the day's fastest lap with a time of 38.922 seconds and was the only driver to go below 39 seconds. He was almost three-tenths of a second faster than Bräck in second and Tagliani was third. Fittipaldi, Castroneves, Vasser, Da Matta, Papis, de Ferran, and [[Michael Andretti]] were in positions four through ten.{{Cite web|url=http://classic.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/9372|title=Montoya hot in Brazil|date=April 28, 2000|website=Autosport|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906124910/http://classic.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/9372|archive-date=September 6, 2018|url-status=live|access-date=September 5, 2018|df=mdy-all}} The first three cautions came within half an hour of each other because debris and fluids were observed lying on the track and separate track inspections were needed to inspect and clean it. De Ferran caused the fourth caution by spinning in the third turn but avoided car damage. The final caution came out after [[Maurício Gugelmin]] spun in turn four and collided against a left-hand [[Tyre wall|tire barrier]] with the rear of his car. Gugelmin was unhurt.

Conditions remained hot and sunny during Saturday morning's practice session. The first caution came out for debris on the backstraight that needed clearing. Montoya prompted the second caution when he spun 360 degrees in turn four but did not damage his car. Bräck caused a third yellow flag after he stalled on the exit of pit road. Six minutes later, a fourth caution was waved for debris leaving the pit lane that course officials removed. The fifth yellow flags were necessitated after Moreno broke his right-front wheel and wing endplate in a collision with the turn one outside barrier. [[Bryan Herta]] stalled on the backstraight and triggered the final caution with 14 minutes to go. Tagliani continued to perform well with the fastest lap of the session at 38.694 seconds. Montoya was one-tenth of a second slower in second, and Tracy replicated his first practice result in third. Bräck, Fittipaldi, Papis, [[Tony Kanaan]], Castroneves, Vasser, and [[Adrián Fernández]] completed the top ten ahead of qualifying.{{Cite web|url=https://www.crash.net/indycar/news/11646/1/tagliani-quickest-in-rio-saturday-practice|title=Tagliani quickest in Rio Saturday practice|date=April 29, 2000|publisher=Crash|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906124857/https://www.crash.net/indycar/news/11646/1/tagliani-quickest-in-rio-saturday-practice|archive-date=September 6, 2018|url-status=live|access-date=September 5, 2018|df=mdy-all}}

Conditions remained hot and sunny during Saturday morning's practice session. The first caution came out for debris on the backstraight that needed clearing. Montoya prompted the second caution when he spun 360 degrees in turn four but did not damage his car. Bräck caused a third yellow flag after he stalled on the exit of pit road. Six minutes later, a fourth caution was waved for debris leaving the pit lane that course officials removed. The fifth yellow flags were necessitated after Moreno broke his right-front wheel and wing endplate in a collision with the turn one outside barrier. [[Bryan Herta]] stalled on the backstraight and triggered the final caution with 14 minutes to go. Tagliani continued to perform well with the fastest lap of the session at 38.694 seconds. Montoya was one-tenth of a second slower in second, and Tracy replicated his first practice result in third. Bräck, Fittipaldi, Papis, [[Tony Kanaan]], Castroneves, Vasser, and [[Adrián Fernández]] completed the top ten ahead of qualifying.{{Cite web|url=https://www.crash.net/indycar/news/11646/1/tagliani-quickest-in-rio-saturday-practice|title=Tagliani quickest in Rio Saturday practice|date=April 29, 2000|publisher=Crash|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906124857/https://www.crash.net/indycar/news/11646/1/tagliani-quickest-in-rio-saturday-practice|archive-date=September 6, 2018|url-status=live|access-date=September 5, 2018|df=mdy-all}}