source: cart.com Mario Haberfeld spent a couple of days last week at Conquest Racing's Indianapolis headquarters. The 26-year old Brazilian was in learning mode, preparing with his team for the upcoming Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach and getting acquainted with new engineer Andy Borme. Haberfeld started his rookie Champ Car season with a confident fourth place finish at St. Petersburg, and he reckons he was on his way to sixth place in Monterrey, Mexico before his Reynard-Ford's right rear suspension gave way late in the race. "That's a shame because the points would have really helped," said the native of Sao Paulo. "Winning the Rookie of the Year award will be tough against Sebastien (Bourdais), so our main goal for the season is to be the top Reynard. I think that's a real possibility." Most Brazilians cite Emerson Fittipaldi or Ayrton Senna as their chief influence, but Nelson Piquet played that role for Haberfeld. Piquet, a champion tennis player in his youth, used to hit balls with Haberfeld's father, and when Nelson began racing, he often invited his new friend out to the track. "They used to have Formula One tire testing in January at Rio and Nelson would invite my father and me out to watch," Haberfeld said. "I've loved motor racing since then. My father built a little kart track on a farm we had. That was good for a while, but eventually I asked if I could go down to Interlagos and race for real. He said sure, as long as I kept up my grades. My dad was there when Nelson won the British Formula 3 championship in 1978 and he was there 20 years later when I did the same thing!" His competition in karts and South American racing included Luciano Burti, Enrique Bernoldi and Ricardo Mauricio. Then came the pilgrimage to England so many young Brazilian racers make.
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