Felipe Massa finished third in the opening leg of his charity karting event in Brazil today, as he made his first competitive appearance since sustaining serious head injuries in his Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying crash.
His former Ferrari teammate Michael Schumacher took victory in part one of the annual International Challenge of Go-Kart Champions in Florianapolis, with Force India driver Vitantonio Liuzzi second. Massa came through from 11th on the grid to beat Renault test driver Lucas di Grassi to third with a last lap pass.
The high-caliber field also included past and present Formula 1 racers Christian Fittipaldi, Rubens Barrichello, Nelson Piquet, Antonio Pizzonia, Enrique Bernoldi, Tarso Marques, Ricardo Zonta and Luciano Burti, plus IndyCar stars Tony Kanaan, Mario Moraes and Raphael Matos.
The event continues with a second race on Sunday, after which an overall winner is crowned.