# 1999 Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami

The 1999 Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami was the first and opening round of the 1999 CART FedEx Champ Car World Series season, held March 21, 1999, on the Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida.

## Report
### Report

The race was less than a lap old when Naoki Hattori and Al Unser Jr. crashed in turns 1 and 2, collecting Raul Boesel. Boesel was substituting for Paul Tracy, who was suspended for the race due to multiple rough-driving incidents during the 1998 season. Boesel was unhurt, but Unser and Hattori both suffered leg injuries. Richie Hearn dropped out of the race due to suspension problems. In an interview with ABC pit reporter Gary Gerould, Hearn noted he and the team had been having problems with the car all weekend, deciding to retire as to not impede other drivers.
Scott Pruett crashed in turns one and two to bring out the second yellow flag on lap 81. He was trying to pass Mauricio Gugelmin for 16th place, but lost control and spun into the wall, though he was unhurt in the crash. Several drivers took advantage of the caution to make pit stops. Helio Castro-Neves inherited the lead when they did not pit under caution. Patrick Carpentier and Robby Gordon served drive-through penalties for not using the access road to properly enter the pits during the caution. For Gordon, it was insult added to injury, since he dealt with mechanical problems during the race, already several laps down. He later retired from the race after the third caution.
The third caution came out on lap 111, when Adrian Fernandez crashed in turn four. Despite a strong start and race, Fernandez's engine blew, and he slid into the turn four wall. Castroneves pitted from the lead, ceding the lead back to Moore.
Greg Moore won the opening race of the season from pole, leading 96 out of the 150 laps, winning comfortably ahead of Michael Andretti and Dario Franchitti before a crowd of roughly 40,000. Moore capitalized on a mistake Andretti made in the pits. Andretti had won the race the previous two years, but accidentally shut off his engine during his pit stop under the 2nd caution. It would turn out to be Moore's final pole and win. Coincidentally it was also Mercedes Benz final pole and win before they left the sport altogether at the end of the 2000 season.
Shigeaki Hattori crashed during practice on Friday, the impact measured at 140 Gs. Although he was removed from the car by track personnel, he only suffered a concussion and, despite withdrawing from the race, was at the track during the race on Sunday. This was the first Champ Car race since the 1993 Indianapolis 500 without 3-time champion Bobby Rahal, who retired after the 1998 season.

## Classification
### Qualifying

| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Speed |
| 1 | 99 | Greg Moore | Forsythe Racing | 217.279 |
| 2 | 40 | Adrián Fernández | Patrick Racing | 216.861 |
| 3 | 33 | Patrick Carpentier | Forsythe Racing | 215.701 |
| 4 | 9 | Hélio Castro-Neves | Hogan Racing | 215.581 |
| 5 | 6 | Michael Andretti | Newman-Haas Racing | 215.358 |
| 6 | 25 | Cristiano da Matta | Arciero-Wells Racing | 214.631 |
| 7 | 27 | Dario Franchitti | Team Green | 215.554 |
| 8 | 4 | Juan Montoya | Chip Ganassi Racing | 213.850 |
| 9 | 12 | Jimmy Vasser | Chip Ganassi Racing | 213.774 |
| 10 | 17 | Mauricio Gugelmin | PacWest Racing | 213.757 |
| 11 | 8 | Bryan Herta | Team Rahal | 213.757 |
| 12 | 15 | Naoki Hattori | Walker Racing | 213.479 |
| 13 | 18 | Mark Blundell | PacWest Racing | 213.184 |
| 14 | 2 | Al Unser Jr. | Team Penske | 212.731 |
| 15 | 7 | Max Papis | Team Rahal | 212.656 |
| 16 | 11 | Christian Fittipaldi | Newman-Haas Racing | 212.439 |
| 17 | 44 | Tony Kanaan | Forsythe Racing | 211.566 |
| 18 | 22 | Robby Gordon | Team Gordon | 211.533 |
| 19 | 10 | Richie Hearn | Della Penna Motorsports | 210.201 |
| 20 | 31 | Raul Boesel | Team Green | 208.877 |
| 21 | 20 | P. J. Jones | Patrick Racing | 208.531 |
| 22 | 24 | Scott Pruett | Arciero-Wells Racing | 206.484 |
| 23 | 36 | Alex Barron | All American Racers | 206.429 |
| 24 | 71 | Luiz Garcia Jr. | Payton/Coyne Racing | 196.020 |
| 25 | 5 | Gil de Ferran | Walker Racing | No Time |
| 26 | 34 | Dennis Vitolo | Payton/Coyne Racing | No Time |
| 27 | 19 | Michel Jourdain Jr. | Payton/Coyne Racing | No Time |
| Withdrew |||||
| | 16 | Shigeaki Hattori | Bettenhausen Racing | Crash during practice |

### Race

| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| 1 | 99 | Greg Moore | Forsythe Racing | 150 | 1:38:54.535 | 1 | 20+1+1 |
| 2 | 6 | Michael Andretti | Newman-Haas Racing | 150 | +1.110 | 5 | 16 |
| 3 | 27 | Dario Franchitti | Team Green | 150 | +2.146 | 7 | 14 |
| 4 | 12 | Jimmy Vasser | Chip Ganassi Racing | 150 | +9.178 | 9 | 12 |
| 5 | 7 | Max Papis | Team Rahal | 150 | +21.411 | 15 | 10 |
| 6 | 5 | Gil de Ferran | Walker Racing | 150 | +21.700 | 24 | 8 |
| 7 | 33 | Patrick Carpentier | Forsythe Racing | 150 | +21.922 | 3 | 6 |
| 8 | 18 | Mark Blundell | PacWest Racing | 150 | +24.862 | 13 | 5 |
| 9 | 11 | Christian Fittipaldi | Newman-Haas Racing | 150 | +25.467 | 16 | 4 |
| 10 | 4 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Chip Ganassi Racing | 149 | +1 Lap | 8 | 3 |
| 11 | 17 | Maurício Gugelmin | PacWest Racing | 149 | +1 Lap | 10 | 2 |
| 12 | 8 | Bryan Herta | Team Rahal | 149 | +1 Lap | 11 | 1 |
| 13 | 20 | P. J. Jones | Patrick Racing | 149 | +1 Lap | 19 | |
| 14 | 25 | Cristiano da Matta | Arciero-Wells Racing | 148 | +2 Laps | 6 | |
| 15 | 36 | Alex Barron | All American Racers | 148 | +2 Laps | 23 | |
| 16 | 34 | Dennis Vitolo | Payton/Coyne Racing | 142 | +8 Laps | 26 | |
| 17 | 9 | Hélio Castro-Neves | Hogan Racing | 138 | Electrical | 4 | |
| 18 | 19 | Michel Jourdain Jr. | Payton/Coyne Racing | 136 | +14 Laps | 27 | |
| 19 | 22 | Robby Gordon | Team Gordon | 112 | Engine | 18 | |
| 20 | 40 | Adrián Fernández | Patrick Racing | 110 | Contact | 2 | |
| 21 | 44 | Tony Kanaan | Forsythe Racing | 98 | Fuel system | 17 | |
| 22 | 24 | Scott Pruett | Arciero-Wells Racing | 79 | Contact | 22 | |
| 23 | 10 | Richie Hearn | Della Penna Motorsports | 36 | Suspension | 19 | |
| 24 | 71 | Luiz Garcia Jr. | Payton/Coyne Racing | 1 | Contact | 25 | |
| 25 | 15 | Naoki Hattori | Walker Racing | 0 | Contact | 12 | |
| 26 | 2 | Al Unser Jr. | Team Penske | 0 | Contact | 14 | |
| 27 | 26 | Raul Boesel | Team Green | 0 | Contact | 20 | |
| DNS | 16 | Shigeaki Hattori | Bettenhausen Racing | | Injury | | |

## Caution flags

| Laps | Cause |
| 2-17 | Hattori (15), Unser Jr. (2), Hearn (10), Boesel (26), Garcia Jr. (71) contact |
| 82-92 | Pruett (24) contact |
| 111-121 | Fernández (40) contact |

## Lap Leaders

| Laps | Leader |
| 1-59 | Greg Moore |
| 60 | Patrick Carpentier |
| 61-62 | Adrián Fernández |
| 63-64 | Michael Andretti |
| 65-66 | Gil de Ferran |
| 67-84 | Dario Franchitti |
| 85-113 | Hélio Castro-Neves |
| 114-150 | Greg Moore |
| Driver | Laps led |
| Greg Moore | 96 |
| Hélio Castro-Neves | 29 |
| Dario Franchitti | 18 |
| Michael Andretti | 2 |
| Gil de Ferran | 2 |
| Adrián Fernández | 2 |
| Patrick Carpentier | 1 |

## Point standings after race

| Pos | Driver | Points |
| 1 | Greg Moore | 22 |
| 2 | Michael Andretti | 16 |
| 3 | Dario Franchitti | 14 |
| 4 | Jimmy Vasser | 12 |
| 5 | Max Papis | 10 |