Inflammation Sidelines Fittipaldi In Seven-Day Bike Race

Christian Fittipaldi’s passion for racing carries over to two-wheeled competition.

Fittipaldi’s drive to repeat as champion for Action Express Racing also helped build his fitness level for his third attempt at the Brasil Ride, a competitive seven-day mountain biking event.Prototype victories in the classic Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida and Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda in the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Corvette DP helped Fittipaldi and co-driver Joao Barbosa retain their titles in both the IMSA TUDOR United Sports Car Championship and Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup.However, he was not quite as successful in the biking event in his native Brazil, with a painful inflammation sidelining him late in the 150-kilometer second stage of the race.“I was basically training the whole of this year to do this race,” Fittipaldi said. “While my race car season worked perfectly for me, unfortunately this one didn’t work so well.“I had a blood vessel burst, so I decided it would be better to go to a hospital to get it checked out,” said Fittipaldi. It was his third attempt at the event. He finished in his initial attempt, but broke a rib in the fifth stage on his second attempt.“Mountain biking is a very serious hobby of mine,” he explained. “But it’s not even close to being a profession. Now I want to do it again next year – I will go for it!“Brasil Ride is the Brazilian version of the Cape Epic (South Africa) – the most famous marathon mountain bike race in the world,” Fittipaldi said. “It’s a pretty big race, with riders coming from all over the world. This year there were 32 teams in my class, with around 500 riders overall.”Fittipaldi explained that competitors had to work as two-rider teams, due to the difficulty of the terrain and remote locations if a rescue was needed.Next up for Fittipaldi is the upcoming two-time IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship test at Daytona International Speedway on Nov. 17-18, where he will be reunited with Barbosa in the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Corvette DP.