| Race details | |
|---|---|
| Race 5 of 19 in the1998 CART season | |
 | |
| Date | May 10, 1998 |
| Official name | Rio 400 |
| Location | Emerson Fittipaldi Speedway,Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Course | Permanent racing facility 1.864 mi / 3.000 km |
| Distance | 133 laps 247.912 mi / 398.976 km |
| Pole position | |
| Driver | Dario Franchitti (Team KOOL Green) |
| Time | 39.005[1] |
| Fastest lap | |
| Driver | Alex Zanardi (Chip Ganassi Racing) |
| Time | 39.328 (on lap 131 of 133) |
| Podium | |
| First | Greg Moore (Forsythe Racing) |
| Second | Alex Zanardi (Chip Ganassi Racing) |
| Third | Adrian Fernández (Patrick Racing) |
The1998 Rio 400 was the fifth round of the1998 CART World Series Season, held on May 10, 1998, on theAutódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet,Rio de Janeiro,Brazil.
TheScottish driverDario Franchitti, fromTeam Green set the pole.
At the start, theItalian driverAlex Zanardi, fromChip Ganassi Racing took the lead. At lap 19, fellow Italian driverMax Papis, fromArciero-Wells Racing retired due to a broken engine. After 21 laps, the top six was:Alex Zanardi,Gil de Ferran,Dario Franchitti,Tony Kanaan,Christian Fittipaldi andMichael Andretti. At lap 30, Kanaan, fromTasman Motorsports, retired due to an engine fire, bringing out the first caution of the race. The lead lap cars went to pit stop at the same lap.Newman-Haas Racing driverMichael Andretti hit a tire in the pits, then he suffered a penalty. The restart came out at lap 37. A few laps later,Team Green driverPaul Tracy was hit byGil de Ferran, fromWalker Racing. 2nd caution. The restart was out at lap 47. Lap 54, theMexican driverMichel Jourdain Jr., fromPayton/Coyne Racing hit the wall, bringing out the third caution. The restart came out at lap 60.Michael Andretti did an overtaking show. He was one lap down in 24th. After some laps, he was in sixth.
With 65 laps to go, Zanardi,Bryan Herta,Adrian Fernández andGreg Moore did their pit stops during green flag. At that time, Fittipaldi,André Ribeiro andHélio Castroneves were out of the race. Only twoBrazilian drivers were in the race at that moment:Maurício Gugelmin andGualter Salles. At lap 91, Salles retired due to a crash at turn one, bringing out the fourth caution. At the same lap, polesitter Dario Franchitti retired due an engine issue. The restart happened at lap 98. After this lap,Scott Pruett, fromPatrick Racing, retired.Player'sForsythe Racing driverPatrick Carpentier, suffered a tire problem at lap 102, and retired. At lap 108, the top 10 was: Zanardi, Moore, Fernandez,Richie Hearn, Herta,Jimmy Vasser,Al Unser Jr., Andretti,Bobby Rahal andMark Blundell. From lap 116-onwards, the battle for the win was between theItalianAlex Zanardi and theCanadianGreg Moore. At lap 120, Moore almost lost the control of his car, after he went sideways at turn four. With five laps to go, Moore did an amazing overtake manoeuvre on Zanardi, and took the lead. TheGerman driverArnd Meier, was in front of both. Moore won the race, his first win of the season, the third win of hisChamp Car career.
| Laps | Cause |
|---|---|
| 29-35 | Kanaan (21) engine blow-up |
| 39-45 | Tracy (26),de Ferran (5) contact |
| 54-58 | Jourdain Jr. (19) contact |
| 90-96 | Salles (34) contact |
|
|
| Pos | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Greg Moore | 71 |
| 2 |  Alex Zanardi | 67 |
| 3 |  Adrián Fernández | 55 |
| 4 |  Jimmy Vasser | 39 |
| 5 | Bryan Herta | 37 |
Fast facts on Franchitti: Won the pole at Rio in 1998, setting a track record with a lap of 172.039 mph / 39.005 seconds.
| Previous race: 1998 Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix | CART FedEx Championship Series 1998 season | Next race: 1998 Motorola 300 |
| Previous race: 1997 Hollywood Rio 400k | Rio 400 | Next race: 1999 Grand Prix Telemar Rio 200 |
