Blundell aims to beat Rio bogey.

Mark Blundell heads for the CART Rio 200 this weekend hoping that his Brazilian jinx stays away.

The English driver suffered a massive crash there in his rookie season, which ruled him out of a string of races while he recovered from injury, and was then forced to miss last year's event because of another crash - this time at Gateway. In between, however, he has managed enough laps to form an opinion of the Emerson Fittipaldi Speedway, and how it feels to hit the wall.

''It hurt,'' said Mark of his 1996 shunt, ''but, as far as I am concerned, that was a long time ago and you can never let things like that affect you.

''The track is really challenging, a combination of road course and oval, and when you get a good lap there, you know it. Hopefully, I'll get that feeling this weekend.''

For PacWest team-mate Mauricio Gugelmin, the event has different connotations. Not only is it his home event - one where he can expect a lot of attention from the fans - but it is one which has yet to yield a decent finish. He has qualified on the pole in the past, but has yet to finish any higher than ninth, something he attributes to the difficulties in arriving at a good set-up.

''Driving at this circuit is all about late braking and good acceleration,'' he says, ''You are trying to get this balance for the car, creating as little drag as possible, but this is still possibly the circuit where you get the most fun in the entire season. The down shifts, lines out of the turns and the long straights usually mean there are plenty of opportunities for passing.''