Nilton 'Niltinho' Rossoni (

Curitiba Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Southern Brazil. The city's population was 1,773,718 , making it the List of cities in Brazil by population, eighth most populous city in Brazil and the larg ...

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

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

Barber Dodge Pro Series The Barber Dodge Pro Series was an American open-wheel auto racing series promoted by the Skip Barber Racing School from 1986 to 2003. It was one of the first professional spec series for open-wheel racecars in North America. The races were prima ...

championship.

Racing career

After winning karting championships in the

Paraná Paraná, Paranã or Parana may refer to: Geology * Paraná Basin, a sedimentary basin in South America Places In Argentina *Paraná, Entre Ríos, a city * Paraná Department, a part of Entre Ríos Province In Brazil *Paraná (state), a state ...

and

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

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

. 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 allows an output shaft to be disconnected from a rotating input shaft. The clutch's input shaft is typically attached to a motor, while the clutch's output shaft is connected to the mechanism that does th ...

failure. He returned the following year winning races at

Road America Road America is a motorsport Road racing, road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the IndyCar Series, IMSA SportsCar Championship, Sports Car Club ...

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 Jonathon David 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 Da ...

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 (pronounced "Indy Next"), previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as INDY NXT by Firestone for sponsorship reasons. Indy NXT is the highest step on the Roa ...

. 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, the ...

supporting the

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. 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 Lorenz Bell (born April 19, 1975) is an American professional motor racing driver competing in the International Motor Sports Association, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and also as a motorsports commentator for FOX Sports’ I ...

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

( key) (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 Racing drivers from Paraná (state) Living people Conquest Racing drivers