Nilton 'Niltinho' Rossoni (

Curitiba Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Brazil. The city's population was 1,948,626 , making it the List of cities in Brazil by population, eighth most populous city in Brazil and the largest in ...

, April 21, 1981) is a former Brazilian racing driver who won the

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

Barber Dodge Pro Series The Barber Dodge Pro Series was a professional open-wheel auto racing series from 1986 to 2003. It was one of the first professional spec series for open-wheel racecars in North America. The races were primarily on road and street courses in Nor ...

championship.

Racing career

After winning karting championships in the Paraná and

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

regions the young driver graduated into single-seaters in 1997. The sixteen-year-old raced in the Formula Chevrolet Brazil, a support series to the highly popular

Stock Car Brasil Stock Car Pro Series, formerly known as Stock Car Brasil, is a touring car auto racing series based in Brazil organized by Vicar. It is considered the major Brazilian and South American motorsports series. Starting in 1979 with Chevrolet as the ...

. He won the rookie of the year title in his inaugural season. Near the end of the racing season the Brazilian made his debut in the

. He qualified twelfth out of 27 but had to retire after one lap due to a

clutch A clutch is a mechanical device that engages and disengages power transmission, especially from a drive shaft to a driven shaft. In the simplest application, clutches connect and disconnect two rotating shafts (drive shafts or line shafts). ...

failure. He returned the following year winning races at

Road America Road America is a motorsport road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, United States on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, WeatherTech SportsCar Champ ...

and Homestead-Miami Speedway finishing sixth in the standings. The 1999 season was a season in which Rossoni failed to finish six times. At Homestead-Miami Speedway the Brazilian won pole-position but had to retire due to a mechanical issue. The young driver got his revenge in the 2000 season of the Barber Dodge Pro Series. Rossoni won six out of twelve races. Before the final round only

Jon Fogarty Jon Fogarty (born May 23, 1975 in Palo Alto, California) is an American racing driver, who competes in the United SportsCar Championship for GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing. He won the 2007 and 2009 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Proto ...

had a mathematical chance to win the championship. Rossoni won his title in style by winning the final round of the season. After his success the Brazilian graduated into the

Indy Lights Indy NXT, previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as Firestone Indy NXT Series for sponsorship reasons. Indy Lights is the highest step on the Road to Indy, a program ...

. But as the economic crisis hit Brazil, his longtime sponsor Fox Distribuidora de Petróleo (owned by the Rossoni family) almost went bankrupt. Rossoni could only compete one race, at

Fundidora park Fundidora Park (''Parque Fundidora'' in Spanish) is an urban park located in the Mexican city of Monterrey, built in what once were the grounds of the Monterrey Foundry, the first steel and iron foundry in Latin America, and, for many years, th ...

supporting the

Tecate/Telmex Grand Prix of Monterrey The Tecate/Telmex Grand Prix of Monterrey was a round of the Champ Car World Series held on a street circuit at Fundidora park in Monterrey, Mexico. It was first held in 2001, and it was held for the last time in 2006 File:2006 Events Collag ...

. His weekend started well as he qualified in second place. Rossoni had a poor start of the race as he was passed by

Townsend Bell Townsend Bell (born April 19, 1975) is an American professional motor racing driver competing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and also as a motorsports commentator for NBC Sports’ IndyCar Series coverage. Early career He spent ...

and passed the finish line in seventh place after the first lap. Rossoni failed to finish as he wrecked his car after four laps. After his nightmare 2001 season Rossoni decided to return to the Barber Dodge Pro Series in 2002 for two races. After two fourth place finishes he retired from professional racing.

Motorsports results

American Open-Wheel racing results

(

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) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in ''italics'' indicate fastest race lap)

Barber Dodge Pro Series

Indy Lights

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rossoni, Nilton 1981 births Brazilian racing drivers Brazilian people of Italian descent Barber Pro Series drivers Indy Lights drivers Sportspeople from Curitiba Living people Conquest Racing drivers