Race No. 13
Miller Genuine Draft 200
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Lexington, Ohio
August 9-11, 1996
Friday Quotes from drivers and managers at Mid Ohio Sports Car Course: | #12 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda |
JIMMY VASSER | |
| "We had a good test here; we learned what the car likes. This isthe first time in my career Ive been in a situation where we aredoing a lot of testing. Today was okay; the car is working well.Obviously, the pole is important; it's a [championship] point.But its not as important as the large clumps of points up forgrabs in the race. So, were going to be working to get that[pole] point tomorrow, but not at the cost of preparing for therace." | |
 | #99 Forsythe Player's/Indeck Reynard Mercedes-Benz |
GREG MOORE | |
| "We hadboost problems all day long. I am quite disappointed, but westill have another session tomorrow. During the qualifyingsession, the car got loose and I spun. I hit the tire wall andwe bent the suspension and the right front wing. This is a nicetrack to race on. We did well a couple of weeks ago duringtesting. I know we can find some speed. We will do bettertomorrow." | |
 | #25 MCI Arciero Wells Reynard Toyota |
MAX PAPIS | |
| [On filling theseat of the late Jeff Krosnoff] "IndyCar is something that I'vealways wanted to do, together with Formula One. But, the way Icame into IndyCar is not the way I wanted. When I had to make adecision, I put myself in Jeff's shoes and I thought if thatwould happen to me what I would do. I would want the team tocontinue with even more anger. Thats why I am here. You justhave to do what your heart tells you to do." [On the input Papis received from Alex Zanardi before hisrookie test] "First, he told me to be careful; to switch on mybrain and be careful because it is a heavy car. Then, when Istarted out, I thought 'WOW! This is really fast.' After that,Alex told me to keep your right foot down. And actually, I didthat, and I kept on doing better and better." [On his relationship with fellow Italian Zanardi] "Alex andme, we are almost like brothers. We have known each other forover 10 years. I am very happy that he is so popular in theUnited States now. He works very hard and he deserves it." | |
 | #6 Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Lola Ford Cosworth XD |
MICHAEL ANDRETTI | |
| "You're never pleased unless youre the quickest but qualifyingwent okay. I was on a fast lap that, at the time, would have putme second quickest when the red for Moore came out. Theresalways the one that got away. The car is good but there's roomfor improvement. It's always encouraging when the engineers stillhave something up their sleeve. There were a lot of red flagsduring this session. A lot of guys went off. These Indy cars arelike wild bucking broncos sometimes." | |
 | #2 Marlboro Penske Mercedes |
AL UNSER, Jr. | |
| "We had abetter balance in qualifying than we did this morning inpractice, but were still way off. The Marlboro car was reallyloose this morning and the cars understeering, so obviously weneed to do a lot of work before race day. The most importantthing for us is to win the war for the championship. At the endof the day, it's not how many races you've won, it's who's going towear the #1 on the car next year. Obviously, we'd like to win arace, but Marlboro Team Penske is not going to jeopardize thePPG Cup for trying to fight for a win." | |
 | #11 Kmart/Budweiser Lola Ford Newman/Haas Racing |
CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI | |
| "The car is very good but for some reason the engine cut out inturn seven. It only happened once, but unfortunately it wasduring my last shot at a fast lap. It was very frustrating. Iset my fastest qualifying lap on my first hot lap my last timeout. There were so many red flags that it was hard to put acouple of good laps together." "Its good to have [Jan] Magnussen here. I think hell do agood job. I think its also a good thing for the series." | |
 | #8 Pennzoil Special Reynard Honda Hall Racing |
GIL de FERRAN | |
| "We triedsomething different with the car and it was a little more stablethan this morning. I was out on a very good lap when the redflag came out, so I lost the edge on the tires and that was it.Maybe we could have done a high 67 [-second time], which wouldhave put us a couple of positions further up the grid. We shouldimprove our times tomorrow." | |
 | #28 Shell Reynard Mercedes-Benz Team Rahal |
BRYAN HERTA | |
| "We had a few problems with the Shell car this morning inpractice, and we had to go to the backup car. Were using adifferent tire from Goodyear this weekend. Its not the same tireas when we tested here a few weeks ago. So, were gettingadjusted to the new compound. We were sliding the rear end ofthe car a little too much today. But Bobby [Rahal, Hertasteammate and owner] tried some new settings, that I think welluse on Saturday. This track is so tough on the driver from aphysical standpoint that I want to get a comfortable car,too." | |
 | #49 Motorola Reynard Honda Brix Comptech Racing |
PARKER JOHNSTONE | |
| "The caris not working very well in the bumps, the car pogos too much. Ijust cant put the power down. Were heading in the rightdirection, and know where we need to go. Now, we just have tofigure out how to get there." | |
 | #4 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda |
ALEX ZANARDI | |
| "This is a good track; I like the circuit very much. Its nice tobe running on a proper circuit again. Everything is O.K., just a[low] fuel alarm right at the end, nothing to worry about. Nowthat I know the circuit [after testing here last month], I canmake better suggestions on how to change the car for qualifyingand the race." | |
 | #31 LCI International Lola Honda Tasman Motorsports Group |
ANDRE RIBEIRO | |
| "Ourlap times were good; we went a lot better this afternoon.Tomorrow, we hope to do even better, because the track should beeven faster. This track is very demanding. There are a lot ofcorners, and if you gain even a little bit in each corner, itcan quickly become a second per lap. You must concentrate 110percent all the time." | |
 | #32 Tecate Beer/Quaker State Lola Honda Tasman Motorsports Group |
ADRIAN FERNANDEZ | |
| "The run was very successful compared to what we hadthis morning. The car is much better and I felt more confident.I had a little trouble with traffic on my fast laps, so I amvery optimistic for tomorrow. I went off in Turn Ten. I wastrying hard for a good lap and I just lost it. There was alittle damage to the front and rear wing but the suspensionlooks fine." | |
 | #5 Valvoline/Cummins/Craftsman Special Reynard Ford |
ROBBY GORDON | |
| "We did our quick lap and then came in and dida camber change. I went through Turn One on my next lap and Ihad some understeer so I put more rear bar into it, which makesit stiffer. I went up to the top and spun because of the stifferrear bar. It was my choice to put more rear bar in it because Iwas the one to move the lever. I guess I probably went a coupleof notches too many. The penalty [eight minutes in the pits forthe red flag] definitely hurt us. I figure we should have beenin the 68's. Well work at it and see if we can get it fortomorrow. We gained about 1.5 seconds between practice andqualifying. If we can do that again overnight, well be in goodshape." | |
 | #98 Eagle Mk-V Toyota |
| photo Mike Levitt | |
P.J. JONES | |
| "We ran all right inqualifying. We had a couple of problems, the motor quit once andthe we drove off one time because we bottomed really hard and itupset the car. Hopefully our changes tonight will make the EagleToyota a little better tomorrow." | |
 | #36 Eagle Mk-V Toyota |
JUAN MANUEL FANGIO II | |
| "It was agood day. We improved the car, but we need to keep working asusual. The latest version of the Toyota engine definitely has alittle bit more power. From the test we had here earlier thisyear, weve already gained more than a second and a half. That isnot bad." | |
 | #1 Brahma Sports Team Reynard Ford Cosworth |
RAUL BOESEL | |
| "Wecouldnt improve from our morning practice time. I think thetrack was a bit slower in our qualifying session. We were thefastest in the second session, but my car wasnt as good as itwas this morning." | |