It has been a very special weekend for Ferrari driver Felipe Massa who returned to the race track for the first time after a very long absence due to injuries sustained in his incredible accident at the Hungaroring in Budapest on the 25^th of July. The Brazilian was the highlight at the “International Champion Challenge”, a competition that has been organised by Massa himself in Florianopolis, Brazil, for several years.

Felipe, third in the first race after a beautiful performance from eleventh on the grid, won the second race, held on Sunday afternoon after starting from sixth place. After losing two positions at the start, he then closed the gap and passed the leader, fellow countryman Vitor Meira, on the final laps.

Meanwhile, his former Ferrari teammate, Michael Schumacher crossed the line second in the first race, winning a trophy with 42 points thanks to the overall result from both races. Michael was ahead of Felipe (36 points) and Meira (26) in the overall standings.

“This was a fantastic event, maybe the most important kart event in the world,” Felipe said after the race. “I demonstrated to be competitive like before the accident and that makes me happy. I think that if there were still any doubts, today I gave the answer. In the end I had a fierce fight with Michael, who was slightly faster, but I made it.”

Schumacher also dominated the event back in 2007 and repeated the result this time out….

“It was like in the old days, with Felipe and me on the highest places on the podium: I’m very happy and proud of him. It was a wonderful race and a beautiful day for all of us who took part.”