He remained in the championship for 1998, driving an ADR-run Dallara chassis, and improved to seventh place overall, with two podium finishes, well ahead of teammates Yudai Igarashi and Miku Santavirta. However, his performance was overshadowed by his compatriots Mario Haberfeld, Enrique Bernoldi and Luciano Burti, who dominated the championship between them, taking the top three positions in the drivers' standings.[1] He switched to champion team Paul Stewart Racing for the Macau Grand Prix, and finished the race in second place behind Peter Dumbreck.
He stayed with the team alongside Bernoldi for 2000, making up for a seven-race run of retirements at the start of the season by securing his first podium finish in the category at the Hungaroring, improving his final championship position to 17th. He was, however, overshadowed somewhat by Bernoldi, who scored just one more point but lost the lead in two races due to mechanical problems.[2]
Maurício began the 2001 season without a drive, despite initially being reconfirmed at the Red Bull Junior Team alongside Patrick Friesacher, who replaced the Formula One-bound Bernoldi.[3] The seat was taken by Antonio García for the first four rounds of the championship, but Maurício resumed it thereafter, becoming a consistent points-scorer on his way to eighth in the championship, including two more podium finishes.[4]
Maurício remained at the team for 2002, but it was a disappointing season for him as he dropped to ninth in the championship, and was consistently outperformed by Friesacher. The highlight of the year was a podium finish in front of his home fans at the Interlagos circuit, where he completed a Brazilian 1-2-3-4 finish with Rodrigo Sperafico, Haberfeld and Antônio Pizzonia. However, he was best remembered for his large crash at Monza, in which his car was launched into a series of aerial rolls after running into the back of Rob Nguyen.[5]
Spanish Formula Three
Dropped by the Red Bull Junior Team and unable to find an F3000 drive, Maurício stepped back to the Spanish Formula Three Championship, where he drove for the Racing Engineering team, initially sponsored by Marlboro. He won the championship, winning six of the thirteen races, ahead of local drivers Daniel Martin, Borja García and Andy Soucek, and comfortably ahead of a succession of six teammates. However, this series was less prestigious than the F3 championships in other countries, and was not enough to advance his formula racing career any further, despite topping a World Series by Renault test session during the winter off-season period.
For 2004, Maurício returned to Brazil to take part in the Stock Car Brasil championship, a common location for Brazilian ex-single seater drivers. He took part in five races for the Katálogo Racing and Andreas Mattheis Motorsport teams, finishing 23rd in the championship driving a Chevrolet Astra, taking a podium finish and fastest lap in the process. The following year he committed to a full season in the series, driving a similar car run by the L&M Racing team. Another podium finish and fastest lap saw him improve to 16th in the championship.
Maurício returned to Katálogo for 2006, for whom he drove a Mitsubishi Lancer. He took his first pole position in the series and broke into the top ten in the drivers' standings for the first time. In 2007 he returned to Andreas Mattheis and the Chevrolet Astra in the form of the WA Mattheis team, a new outfit formed by the association of Mattheis and William Lube. He improved to ninth in the championship, taking his first win in the process.
For 2008, WA Mattheis switched cars to the Peugeot 307, which Maurício took to championship victory with five wins from the twelve races, narrowly beating the Astras of Marcos Gomes and Thiago Camilo in the process. It was Peugeot's first championship win in Stock Car Brasil history. In 2009, he moved to the RC Competições team, and once again raced an Astra. He was unable to successfully defend his championship, losing it to Cacá Bueno.
He remained with RC Competições for 2010, driving a Chevrolet Vectra. He won two races and finished third in the championship, behind teammate Max Wilson and Bueno.
^Holder, Jim (1998). "Formula 3 Review: Super Mario Pick of the Crop". Autocourse 1998-99. Hazleton Publishing. pp. 250–251. ISBN1-874557-43-8.
^Arron, Simon (2000). "Formula 3000 Review: Bruno Shades it over Ten Rounds". Autocourse 2000-2001. Hazleton Publishing. pp. 266–269. ISBN1-874557-79-9.
