Race No. 8
ITT Automotive Detroit Grand Prix
Detroit, MI
June 9, 1996
Sunday Quotes from drivers and managers at Belle Isle: | #12 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda |
JIMMY VASSER | |
| "This was a long, hard day. I was hustling the car as hard as I could allrace long. Even after the track dried out and we switched to slicks, we still had the rain settings on the car and we had bigundersteer. At the next stop, we cranked in a lot of front wing, but the car was still really difficult and I couldn't keep up withAlex [Zanardi]. There's still a long way to go in the season. We got a point today, but it was a tough point." | |
 | #6 Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Lola Ford Cosworth XD |
MICHAEL ANDRETTI | |
| "It's not reallymine [the victory]. This was Christian's. I was fortunate to be in the rightplace at the right time. I won in my hometown, Carl Haas' home track andKmart's hometown. We're running out of hometowns, though. I feel bad forChristian because he did a great job. At that point, I was settling forsecond and the points but then Christian had a problem. It was lucky for meand unlucky for Christian. Christian made a little mistake -- I think it waswith the pickup – and I took advantage of it. [On the switch from wet to dry tires]: "It makes for an exciting race. Ithink the big difference was that the Goodyear tires were superior to theFirestone tires. They gave us the gap when it was wet and then when thetrack dried out the Firestone [drivers] couldn't do anything with us. … Inthree out of the first four races, we were in position to do what we didtoday. Unfortunately, we had a problems and never got to this positionbecause of some bad luck. I think all but Long Beach we were in a positionto do well. [On the yellow flag restarts]: "I'd say it helped me again. They [IndyCar]are doing everything they can to get me to support this thing." | |
 | #11 Kmart/Budweiser Lola Ford Newman/Haas Racing |
CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI | |
| "It was a great race. The Newman-Haas team prepared agood car . My car was flying since the start. I was driving to the limit, Michael beat me fair and square. "I'm happy for the team and for Mike. He was putting a lot ofpressure on me and I made a small mistake. It's tough to dice againstsomebody who has won 33 races. I had my car setup a little more toward rainthan dry so when it dried out, it was tougher for me. [On the incident that cost him the lead]: "I went on the marbles and therewas no way for me to come back. He was three-quarters of a car length aheadof me so I backed off. It would have been silly for cars on the same team totake a chance." | |
 | #2 Marlboro Penske Mercedes |
AL UNSER, Jr. | |
| "When the track started to dryout, my Marlboro car really came to life. I was turning faster lap timesthan Paul [Tracy] and tried to pass him lap after lap. When he almost hitthe wall on the exit of Turn Three, it destroyed his momentum and allowed meto get beside him. But he carried me way through the corner and I had tolock up the brakes. I just couldn't turn it and wound up in the tires. It'sa shame to be racing that hard with anyone in the middle of the race,especially when you are teammates." | |
 | #3 Marlboro Penske Mercedes |
PAUL TRACY | |
| "We had a real good start and Imoved the Marlboro car right up to third place [after starting 11th] by Lap4. I was running strong with Gil [deFerran] and Michael [Andretti], butChristian [Fittipaldi] had too much for all of us in the wet. Once the trackdried, my handling deteriorated. I lost grip and had to drive as hard as Icould just to hold position. "I was racing hard with Al [Unser, Jr.] and left room for him [in TurnThree], but he locked up [the brakes] and slid past me into the tirebarrier. "On Lap 65, Scott [Pruett] was behind me in sixth place, when he squeezedtoo close and hooked my wheel, sending me into the tire barrier. It took[the corner workers] a long time to pull me out, so we wound up one lapdown, in 17th place. This is a real disappointment for everyone on theMarlboro Team Penske crew since we were looking at a top five finish." | |
 | #21 PacWest Reynard Ford Cosworth |
MARK BLUNDELL | |
| "We went with a completelywet set-up on the car and we were running quite well in the beginning. Then,as the track dried up, it became greasy out there and we had a bit oftrouble. Actually, I was amazed the track dried out like it did. But afterit did, the Firestones were really hooked up and challenged us much more. "I'm very happy to get the points, though. That's what it's all about. Eventhough we struggled with the car, I'm very satisfied with the top 10finish." | |
 | #8 Pennzoil Special Reynard Honda Hall Racing |
GIL de FERRAN | |
| "They were just a little quicker than me. Third is very good. I'm very happywith the finish. It is a good result. When it was raining, there was no doubt that the Goodyears were better. I'm very happy.We were not fast enough to catch the first two. I'm quite pleased. Hopefully, this is a start of a comeback in thechampionship standings. It's nice to finish on the podium." | |
 | #16 Bettenhaused Racing Alumax Aluminium Reynard Mercedes-Benz |
STEFAN JOHANSSON | |
| "It's good that wewere finally able to keep it going to the end of the race after having somany DNF's lately. I think today we probably got the best finish we couldhave, although I have to say that I wish it could have kept raining theentire race. In the early laps, it seemed like we were passing a car a lap.Then, for the last third of the race, it started pushing real bad. Icouldn't do anything, really. Still, it's nice to be finishing in the top 10and scoring points again." | |
 | #28 Shell Reynard Mercedes-Benz Team Rahal |
BRYAN HERTA | |
| "We made the right strategic move on the first pit stop and we missed it by about a car length. I was in position to gain a lot of spots. We had a good stop, and I made it to the [pit] blend line rightwhen Christian was coming around the first turn. I thought I could pull in front of him and get the lap back in front of all theleaders, but we missed by about the length of a car. That's really frustrating; then I was a lap down the rest of the day." | |
 | #32 Tecate Beer/Quaker State Lola Honda Tasman Motorsports Group |
ADRIAN FERNANDEZ | |
| "Our hopes were not very good at the beginningbecause of the rain. It was very tricky and we had to be cautious. For a long time, I could not pass. When the track started todry, there were still wet spots and you had to drive very carefully. I did not have the momentum to pass Scott [Pruett] at theend of the race. The only thing I could do was keep the pressure on as best I could. Physically, this was not a tough race, but it was tough not to make a mistake. Our goal was to keep pace, keep the pressureon and try not to make a mistake." | |
 | #31 LCI International Lola Honda Tasman Motorsports Group |
ANDRE RIBEIRO | |
| "This was a tough day. Wemanaged to hold on somewhat at the beginning of the race in the rain. Thecar was good. We were touching a little in the rear, but it was notupsetting the car. "At the midpoint of the race, Greg Moore tried to overtake me and lost hisbraking point. He crashed into my front wheel. We both spun. I ended up twolaps down. We came in for new tires and my car was too positive so I was alittle worried about pushing too hard. The front was too good for the rearand the rear was moving all the time. I ended up touching the wall in TurnSeven and damaging the rear suspension, which put us out of the race." | |
 | #4 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda |
ALEX ZANARDI | |
| "We put the dry tireson at just the right time [Zanardi was the first car in the field to switchto slicks today]. But the next yellow hurt us. If you get lapped here, itjust kills you. At least today, we brought it home for some points, which isbetter than nothing." | |
 | #49 Motorola Reynard Honda Brix Comptech Racing |
PARKER JOHNSTONE | |
| "The car was much fasterthan we could display. This was a typical Detroit race. The guys in frontwere just fast enough that you couldn't pass safely without banging wheels.The car got better and better as the track dried out, but we couldn't showthat today." | |
 | #25 Arciero-Wells Racing Reynard Toyota |
JEFF KROSNOFF | |
| "It's nice to finally finish betterthan 18th [which Krosnoff has done four times this season]. I drove as hardas I could in the wet. I just couldn't get the tires warmed up, so at thestart, I went wide and everybody got by me. I started to come back and pickup on them a little bit but I really couldn't do much until it dried up. Thecar wasn't that bad in the dry. I was able to hang in there and the guys didgreat on the final pit stop and we moved up a spot there." | |
 | #98 Eagle Mk-V Toyota |
| photo Mike Levitt | |
P.J. JONES | |
| "This was definitely abig ride. The AAR Eagle Toyota ran awesome all day long. The motor rangreat; the chassis handled great in wet conditions. I wish it was the wholeway, because I think we could have done a little bit better. The car wasfast early and that's what helped us. The guys did a great job in the pits,and the Goodyear tires were fantastic in the rain. The rain was where we hadan advantage After that, we really didn't have much of an advantage. We justtried to hold our own, and the yellows definitely helped us." | |
 | #1 Brahma Sports Team Reynard Ford Cosworth |
RAUL BOESEL | |
| "It was adifficult race, especially at the beginning, so to finish and got somepoints was good for the team -- help get the spirit up. The car wasreasonable. We need to find some more speed and improve the grip. I wasquicker than Stefan [Johansson] and Eddie Lawson, but couldn't get by." | |
 | #1 Delco Electronics High Tech Team Galles Lola Mercedes |
EDDIE LAWSON | |
| [On his best IndyCar finish of the season] "I just hung onto her out there!There was some good racing going on between Stefan, Blundell and myselftowards the end of the race. There were some spots where I hung up Stefanand others where Blundell hung me up. We seemed to have better power off thebottom than the other guys. The car pushed on the slow corners, but it wasgreat on the fast ones. I'm really proud of the guys. They did an awesomejob today in the pits." | |
 | #5 Valvoline/Cummins/Craftsman Special Reynard Ford |
ROBBY GORDON | |
| [Of his fourth lap incident with the Turn 8 tire wall]: "Going down the back straight, I didn't think I was running very hard, but obviously, I ran off the track. So, I must have been running fairly hard. I locked up the fronts [tires]. I tried to get them unlocked, but once I locked them, I couldn'tget them unlocked. They stayed locked, all the way to the tires. I really like running in the rain a lot and was looking forward to this day. The crew was up for our pit stops. We were ready.It's just unfortunate. The car was working beautifully. It was really handling well." | |
 | #18 Miller Racing Reynard Mercedes-Benz Team Rahal |
BOBBY RAHAL | |
| "We had a good car today. I was trying to catch [Gil] de Ferran, and get a good run on him on the front straight. But as I came around the fountain turns and hit the paint on the outsidesurface of the track [Turn 13], the front end went straight into the tire barrier. I feel bad. Because the team gave me a strongcar, and they deserve better than this. We had a golden opportunity to score some important points." | |
STEVE MYERS | Goodyear Director of Racing Tire Sales and Marketing |
| "Ourcongratulations go to winner Michael Andretti in his third first-placefinish this season, and to Christian Fittipaldi and Gil de Ferran, whoshared the podium. We are also proud that our tires were the commondenominator in bringing the top finishes to engine suppliers Ford, Honda,Mercedes and Toyota, which registered its first points-paying finish." | |
AL SPEYER | Bridgestone/Firestone Motorsports Manager |
| "Today demonstratesthe contribution tires do make in racing. Congratulations to Goodyear, butwe will be right back after them in Portland, and you can bet we'll soonfield a Grade-A rain tire. Looking at it positively, this was a greatdevelopment day for us." | |
TONY TRIANO | Bridgestone/Firestone Motorsports PR Manager |
| "We have had rain tires available and on-site at testing for the last two years. However, these tires have not been utilized due to a lack of inclementweather. We do know work is needed in this area, and we have been developing a new wet tire which will be introduced inthe near future." "Firestone has always maintained it would do everything it could to provide its family of teams the best possible product.Following this morning's practice session, it was decided steps were needed to assist our teams in today's race. Firestoneofficials contacted IndyCar and obtained permission to groove its rain tires for today's event. One set of grooved tires will beavailable to each team in the Firestone family." | |