microphone pict Alex Zanardi: I am Italian and I do eat a lot of pizza

©1997 SpeedCenter Internet Publishing, Inc.

CART Teleconference
April 15, 1997

Alex Zanardi At Long Beach This teleconference with Target/Chip Ganassi Reynard Honda driver Alex Zanardi and team owner Chip Ganassi unveiled both a very sincere, heart-felt side and a comical side of both personalities.

The interview addresses Zanardi's wishes regarding a return to racing in Italy, and what he thinks of his current situation. It also touches on the ongoing struggle between CART and the IRL, and Ganassi's commitment to the St. Jude's Children's Hospital.

The moderator was once again CART's own T.E. McHale.

The session was opened with a brief statement by Mike Knight of the Target Chip Ganassi team, and was followed by an opening statement by Zanardi.

Mike Knight: "Thanks Tom, on behalf of Target Chip Ganassi Racing we want to thank everyone for taking time to join us. We would also like to thank Tom and the CART people for the opportunity to be on the call this afternoon. I just wanted to make some brief introductory remarks, and then Alex had a little statement that he wanted to make before we get into the questioning.

Some statistics that I'd like to point out going back to last weekend. The victory was Alex's fourth of his Indy-car career, and put him second in the PPG Cup point standings with 41 points. That's three behind leader Scott Pruett.

I think that most of you are aware that Alex set a record of six consecutive pole positions, which was set when he won the pole at Surfer's Paradise a couple of weeks ago. What you may not be aware of is that three of those poles actually came in the last minute of qualifying. While that pole streak was ended in Long Beach by qualifying second, Alex did extend his CART record of consecutive starts on the front row to eleven. That is three more than the previous record of eight. Alex started that streak of eleven consecutive front rows last June at Portland where he won his first pole, and also went on to win his first career Indy-car event at the Budweiser GI Joe's 200. While there has been a lot of focus on the pole record and the front row streak, I'd also like to point out to you that in that eleven front row streak, that in addition to starting on the front row in all those eleven race span Alex has four victories, two second place finishes, one third place, one fourth place, and one seventh place finish. Alex also has set the fastest lap in each of the last two races, at Australia and also at Long Beach. In that same time frame, going back to the last nineteen races, in other words all of the races last year and the first three this year, Target Chip Ganassi has eight victories. Four by Alex and four by Jimmy Vasser. That is more than any other team in that nineteen race time span.

As some of you are probably aware, Target Chip Ganassi Racing has a very special relationship with St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, TN. This is the hospital that was originally founded by Danny Thomas. For every team victory this year the team is donating $5,000 toward the construction of Target House to be a home-away-from-home for the families of patients of St. Jude's. For every pole there is a $1,000 donation and for every lap lead there is a $25 donation. I mention it specifically due to the victory last weekend and the laps that he lead and the laps that Jimmy lead, there was a $6,300 donation by the team. That brings the season's total donation to $9,575.

With that I want to introduce the Long Beach winner and last season's Rookie of the Year and third place in the [PPG Cup] championship last year Alex Zanardi. Alex's remarks, just to put them into context, when Alex won the pole in Australia which set the record of six consecutive poles, and in the post qualifying interview, a couple of his remarks were misinterpreted. This has to do with a myth that he once drove a pizza delivery truck in Rome. The background on this is that the 1996 Target television commercial featured a scene incorporating this idea, and, of course, they don't see the Target TV commercials in Australia. Alex tried to clarify this last weekend in Long Beach, and we wanted him to have this opportunity to explain it to this group, then we'll get into the question and answer session. Alex, why don't you go ahead."

Alex Zanardi: "Thank you very much, Michael, and good afternoon to everybody. Michael Knight has said basically everything, so there's not much left for me to say. Basically, I am Italian and I do eat a lot of pizza, but this is about it. That was a little bit misinterpreted around the world, but the clarification was needed at this point, and that's it."

"I thought Alex was going to do last year was help Jimmy win the championship. I think it turned out that way, and I think you're going to see the opposite happen in 1997."
Chip Ganassi

Joe Sciano - New York Times: "Chip, I'd like for to to sort of compare and contrast the styles of your two drivers."

Chip Ganassi: "Let's see Joe...I think if you go back to last year that I knew we had all the ingredients to have a good team last season. I thought it was going to take a couple to three to five races to sort of get the feel of the CART World Series last year. That's because something like five of the first seven races were on ovals last year. It was kind of a question mark with a driver coming from Europe. You always have that question 'is he going to adapt to the ovals?' So I knew that it was going to be about mid-season before he was actually very comfortable in the car. The guy could have been speaking French by the time we got to Detroit last year, which is where we were finally going to do some road racing, and then we were thwarted by rain. At one point I think I was quoted as saying that the one thing I thought Alex was going to do last year was help Jimmy win the championship. I think it turned out that way, and I think you're going to see the opposite happen in 1997. Between the two drivers, I think you have one that's very technical, and one that's very American if you will. By being very American, I mean that Jimmy grew up with the quarter midgets and came from a background of oval racing and then into road racing. Alex did the opposite, and was on an oval much, much later in his career if not 'til last season. Now you have to juxtapose against that in the engineering of the two cars. On one hand you have a very technical driver, and, for lack of a better term, a very American driver. You have to lay over top of that their engineers. I think their respective engineers are just the opposite of that. Morris Nun is, while not a college trained engineer, he's Alex' race engineer and is very much schooled from the seat of the pants I would say. Lynn Robinson, who is Jimmy's engineer, is the one I nicknamed 'the slide rule.' So you have opposites in terms of the drivers and their strong points. Then you have the engineers who are again opposites with their respective drivers. If that made any sense. I think the combination of those four pieces make our team the strength it is. At different circuits throughout the season you call upon those different talents throughout the organization. I can tell you that part of the reason for our success is because the two teams work as a team. When one's down the other one lifts him up, and when one's up he pulls the other guy up with him. It's working very well right now as a team."

Quinn Kleinfelter - BBC Radio: "Alex if I can start with you. I can remember talking to Michael before he went to Formula 1, and even if he wasn't winning every single race, he was the one to beat and everybody knew it. He was the fastest guy. I remember you talking year before last about you being behind the fence at Loudon or somewhere, and nobody would even talk to you. Now, all of a sudden it seems like you're in that same spot that Michael used to be in. Even if you're not winning every race like Mike [Knight] was saying, with your finishes and your points and qualifying and everything. Does it seem that way to you? Everybody's confident, but does it seem to you that you are the 'hot' two of the series now? Can you kind of compare that to when nobody would talk to you a couple of years ago."

"The Target/Chip Ganassi Racing team is a very strong team. Obviously, it's a big jump for me because, as you said, two years ago I went to the race at Loudon, and nobody would even talk to me."
Alex Zanardi

Zanardi: "Obviously, I know for myself that everybody considers me one of the main contenders for the championship. It pleases me a lot, but I know that's not what it is that will make me win races. In others words, I cannot leave on top of the glory if I don't work my way up to the winner's circle. I know that I have a strong team. I know that I have all of the ingredients, thankfully, to win races. But I know that it takes an awful lot of effort, and not just on Sunday afternoon when it is actually easy to drive a car if the car is performing well. I have to my effort before that, on the normal days when I go to the shop to try to catch that brain wave idea that will make the car perform better in the following race. All of these get built up much, much earlier than Sunday afternoon. I strongly believe that you don't win the race on Sunday afternoon. You win the race much earlier than that. On Sunday you can just lose a race like happened in Australia when you're facing the wrong driver. But basically it's all the preparation...all the team effort. It's the relationship with a teammate like Jimmy Vasser, who is always not only prepared to receive help from you, but also to give you help. In this point of view, the Target/Chip Ganassi Racing team is a very strong team. Obviously, it's a big jump for me because, as you said, two years ago I went to the race at Loudon, and nobody would even talk to me. People weren't avoiding me because I was ill, they were avoiding me because they didn't know who I was. Formula 1 [where I had been driving] was a completely different world. What we get over here are the names of the people who are winning races. Unfortunately, I won races in my career...I won a lot of races, in Gold Cup and in Formula 3 then in Formula 3000, but in Formula 1 I never had the right situation. Sometimes, in this kind of business, you need to be lucky also. I believe that I'm a very good driver, and I have a lot of faith in my capabilities, but I also believe that I'm not the best driver in the world. I have to believe that I'm as good as the best driver in the world, but I don't believe that I'm the best. I believe that there are a lot of young guys that, if they had had the same opportunity that I had in my career, they would have had maybe the same kind of results, and maybe even better. Hey, what can I say, it happened to me and now I'm here and I'm very successful, and I want to keep it that way. That's why I don't stop and enjoy the results for more than one day, but I try to build on the good results for the following races. The fact that everybody indicates me as one of the hottest drivers or a main contender for the championship, as I said, pleases me a lot, and I do believe that we have a very strong opportunity this year. I believe that our technical package with the Honda engine and the Reynard car, and the Firestone tires, is probably one of the best if not the best. Not because Honda itself or the Reynard or the Firestones are better than the opposition, in our technical package we don't have any weak points. We are maybe the only team that can say that. Our car, so far, has been very reliable. I have to give credit to my mechanics because they didn't simply give me a winning performance in the pits last weekend, but also because whenever we were testing in the winter, we always did a lot of running. We spent a lot of time on the track while others were spending time in the garage because they had some problems. We do a lot of running...we do a lot of testing. That's why, when we come on Saturday afternoon to put together the fast lap or we come on Sunday afternoon when it's time to race, our car goes and goes very well actually."

Kleinfelter: "Chip, I have a quick one for you. You may have gotten this before, but they've had these reports about Roger Penske going to Indy this year or in '98, and now they have [Al Unser] Jr. going with him. I guess number one: would you consider doing the same thing? And number two: do you think it's right that CART have this stance that they must combat the IRL from what I've heard. [It seems that CART] wants to make sure that they have all the good drivers and the IRL just has Indy? Is that the kind of stance that CART should continue to take?"

Ganassi: "I don't want to speak for CART Quinn, and let me clarify what I think Roger said there. Roger said that he would go back to Indy if he could build his own engine and build his own chassis. I think that was a little bit of jumping the gun on the part of the press. Certainly we would all like to be back at Indianapolis under the right set of circumstances. It's a travesty what's happened to that place. To what's happened to an American institution and to what the American institution of the Indianapolis 500 was. We feel that we would all go back there under that right set of circumstances. It's the rules that are keeping us out of there. I just think it was taken a little bit quick by the press as to what Rodger was actually saying there."

Kleinfelter: "On the other part then, in your view, and I think I recall Mario saying at the beginning of the split that 'we have to combat them' and 'we had to have the US500 right on the same day, and now that's dropped back to a day ahead. Do you see that that's the way that CART should continue to attack this beginning of the IRL? Saying that CART has all good drivers on this side and they just got Indy. That we must fight them at every point that we can."

Ganassi: "I think it's important for the fans of motorsports, that anytime there's a conflict, both sides have to come forward with some sort of idea. I just want the fans to know that we're doing everything we can to try to make something happen there. We're trying to make something happen to bring this back together and bring open-whell racing back under one roof. I think it's important to do everything we can to make that happen. Whether that involves Indianapolis or not is another discussion. I think it's important that it be under one roof...one set of rules. It obviously would be a lot stronger with both groups together as opposed to being appart."

Kleinfelter: "Are they still working on that? Are they still trying to get together?"

Ganassi: "Yeah. I don't know if fighting is the right word, but the two groups seem to be going off in different directions right now."

Laurie Matoya - The Albuquerque Tribune: " I was wondering if you would consider going back to Formula 1, Alex?"

"I always want to talk about the car because I like to do that. Not because I'm doing that I simply to try to win. I like to do that. It's a big passion for me, and cannot consider a better sacrifice."
Alex Zanardi

Zanardi: "Well, my dream when I was a little kid was obviously to succeed in my activity and to become a professional racing driver. Possibly at the top of motorsports. I consider what I'm doing now, really the top of motorsports. I'm very, very happy because I have a fantastic situation. I'm not simply getting great results, but I'm really enjoying myself. To that point, I have no thinking or any concern or any doubt to ask myself if I should go back to Formula 1 or do something else or anything like that. Nevertheless, you have to take opportunity in life, and maybe in the future I will find myself in a situation where I can't have the situation in CART. If I were to have another opportunity, and it doesn't necessarily have to be Formula 1, who knows, maybe in Touring Cars, or maybe in a different series, maybe I would consider something different. Right now, the way I'm enjoying myself in the CART series with my team and the way things are going for me at the moment, I keep my fingers crossed, but I am not expecting to find myself in a situation where I won't have a job offer. I believe that our series has a lot of strong points makes thing very challenging for a driver. I believe that it's a fact that if you win the championship or if you win races in our series, you know as a fact that there may be better drivers than you around the world, you've beaten a lot of very good drivers in a very fair situation where other people have the same kind of material and the same kind of technical achievement. They have the same kind of support from their team that you do. So, you know that the day you win a race, you know that for sure your team has put you in the right situation, but that you have done your part. This is very, very satisfying. In Formula 1, sometimes you find yourself in the wrong situation with no way you're going to win anything. If you find yourself in a good situation, you can feel good when you beat your teammate, but you can't feel good when you beat all the other drivers because you just did what you were supposed to do. In other words, today, if you're driving a Williams and you beat your teammate, you know you've done a good job. You don't know what kind of job you've done beating all the other drivers because they don't have the same car you do. At this moment of my career, this is my attitude...this is my understanding, but we all change in life and there are different things that come into play. Maybe one day I will want to have a family, or I will want to go back and live in Italy because this is where I'm from. Maybe I will consider to move closer to home. That might be a reason that I would quit to find a job that gives me the opportunity to spend more time at home. I believe that if you want to be the best at what you're doing, you can't be simply committed to what you're doing. It has to be a passion for you and it has to stay that way. Chip knows that as a fact because he sees me, and when I'm at the shop whenever I have an occasion I always want to talk about the car because I like to do that. Not because I'm doing that I simply to try to win. I like to do that. It's a big passion for me, and cannot consider a better sacrifice. The fact that I cannot see my friends and that I'm living over here in the United States, and that I cannot spend time with my family. I have a lot of motivation, and this is probably why things are going well for me right now. If that were to someday become a sacrifice that I couldn't do as naturally as I am doing today, I may decide something different for my future. It would never be that I rate Formula 1 better than CART. To me, the two series are at the top of motorsports and I am delighted to be driving for one of the best teams of the CART series, and be in the condition to not simply win races, but to be considered as one of the main contenders for the championship.

Matoya: "I visited Italy this summer and I understand why you would want to move back. Now I'm from the home of Al Unser. Do you consider Al Unser, Jr. Someone that you've got to beat?"

"When you believe that you've killed the guy, he comes back. He's like a cat that has [nine] lives. It's a fact that Al Unser, Jr is one of the strongest challengers"
Alex Zanardi

Zanardi: "Yes. I mean when you believe that you've killed the guy, he comes back. He's like a cat that has [nine] lives. It's a fact that Al Unser, Jr is one of the strongest challengers, not simply for me but also for Michael and all of the other guys that are hoping not only to win races this year, but also succeed in winning the championship. So far he's been facing some problems. It looks like he's being made to have a quicker understanding of the new Penske takes in order of setups and that kind of regulation to make it work. I believe that this year the Penske car is a competitive car. I wouldn't be surprised to see Al Unser, Jr not simply scoring top five results as he did last weekend, but fighting for the win for the next race. Al Unser, Jr has the capability, and everybody knows that he can be very strong also when you're not expecting him to be that way. He has proved in the past that he can start in the back of the grid and actually win races. You always keep an eye on a guy like that. I wouldn't be surprised to see him in the position to win the championship with three or four races to go. Also because he always reaches the checkered flag. He seems to be more like a championship man than a single race man. I believe that he's going to be very strong, and I just hope we're going to be stronger than him."

Chuck Givler - Express Times: "Hello gentlemen. I have sort of a complex question about oval racing, Alex, and specifically about Nazareth. To win this championship and the way CART has this championship designed, you're going to have to do well on oval tracks. What will it take to break through the win column and to be consistent on oval tracks? What do you expect and what will be your approach to Nazareth?"

"Unfortunately, we haven't done much testing on the short ovals. Personally speaking, I haven't done a single mile yet, but we hope to find some good weather in Milwaukee"
Alex Zanardi

Zanardi: "Obviously, we have indications from last year. I feel we were very, very competitive in the super-speedways like Michigan or even Rio de Janeiro...a sort of super-speedway...we had a fantastic car there. We know for a fact that there were some fundamental problems in the Reynard Honda package. Especially on short ovals where, in the corners, you're normally traveling at a speed of 130-140mph. We do believe that the new car is different and we believe that the '97 Reynard is a big step forward. As we put the wheels down on the ground, our motivation, we hope, will be ranked on the performance of the car. Unfortunately, we haven't done much testing on the short ovals. Personally speaking, I haven't done a single mile yet, but we hope to find some good weather in Milwaukee, as we'll be testing for two days on Monday and Tuesday before Nazareth. I hope we can find a good set-up for that race. Once again, I never go to a racetrack with a particular expectation. For example, when we went to Long Beach last week, we knew that last year Goodyear was very, very strong there. We expected Goodyear drivers to be really competitive. We kind of said 'ok if we can grab onto some points that's going to be good.' But then as we put the wheels down on the ground, we realized that we were competitive. We didn't race for a second place. We raced for a win. This is what's going to happen in Nazareth. Again, for sure right now I don't feel very, very confident. I don't expect to go to Nazareth and put a lap on everybody and win the race. You never know. We'll have to wait 'til we can put the wheels down on the ground, and we'll see what we can do. I don't think I need to say that Michael and Al Unser, Jr are going to be very strong down there. If we cannot compete for the win down there, then we'll try to bring [home] points. It's very important. I believe that in Rio de Janeiro we will be very strong. We have a strong engine and the Firestone tires were performing very well down there last year. But again, nevertheless, I believe we have a team that is capable of trying to solve problems. We had problems last year and we're going to be testing on a short oval next week. We'll be working hard to try to reach a good setup. Then we go to Nazareth and do what we can. This is the only thing we can do. Try to bring points home, and if possible, win the race. I mean I'm not going to Nazareth thinking 'Oh boy, no way can I win the race' because if you then find yourself in the situation to win, you may get scared to win the race. You have to clean your mind and go and try to do your best no matter what that is. If you do so and you come home with a tenth place, then you're going to be happy anyway because at that rate it was your best. So that's what we're going to do.

Givler: "Is there anything in particularly difficult for you about short ovals?"

"I actually consider it more difficult to race on a short oval where the rhythm is more important, especially in a race situation than the performance of a single lap."
Alex Zanardi

Zanardi: "Well, obviously, it's not easy. I had a big question mark in my head last year because, as Chip said, I had never raced on ovals before 1996. I didn't know how I was going to do in ovals from a driver's point of view. I was a little bit concerned, especially for the super speedways because I thought that because of you were traveling at very high speeds, I thought it was going to be more difficult from the driver's point of view. It didn't work that way for me. I actually consider it more difficult to race on a short oval where the rhythm is more important, especially in a race situation than the performance of a single lap. I think that in five or six years time, I'll know more about how to set up a car for a short oval, or how to deal with traffic on a short oval. I don't have this experience, and I can't go to a supermarket and buy it. I believe that I just have to the best with what I've got. Once again, I think we [as a team] have enough to score more than a few points. I want to go to Nazareth and do well, and if we come home after all of the oval racing with an average of 10 points, I'll be happy right now. Who knows, I may come back with that and then regret that maybe I should have done something more. Who would have expected, including me, that last year I could have challenged Jimmy for the championship. For sure, last year was a fantastic season. Now, looking back, I regret that we missed some opportunities to score points. If we would have done so, maybe we would have won the championship. You never know in life, and you always have to do whatever you can, and be happy with it."

John Sondervager - St. Louis Post: "Chip, it seems like you said earlier, and I want to clarify this, that last year you said that Alex helped Jimmy win the championship, and that the reverse may true this year. Does that mean that you think Alex is going to win the championship, and how is Jimmy going to help?"

Ganassi: "Obviously, both guys are trying to win the championship. I said that I think that in 1996 you saw Alex help Jimmy win the championship, and that you may see the opposite this year. I certainly think that Jimmy's trying to win the championship too. I said that I think that the two of them going back and forth makes for a strong package. I think they help each other."

Sondervager: "Could you put it into layman's terms the difference between a technical driver and an American driver?"

Ganassi: "I don't think that that is signify good, bad, or right or wrong. What I'm saying is that I think the apprentice program, if you will, in Europe is much more technical than it is here in the United States in open-wheel racing. I don't think that's any big secret. So, they're generating guys that are much more technically oriented out of Europe. Where I think Americans have a different demeanor, if you will, in the car. Whereas, I think a European would work much harder and longer to get his car to work. I think an American would sort of drive around particular problems. Again, that's not to say good, bad, or right or wrong...just different."

Glen Weisman - Sports Ticker: "Alex, I'd like to know something about the mental preparation that you go through for qualifying. Particularly with the streak of eleven consecutive front row [starts.] Is there something special you do. Some kind of mind set that put yourself into before you head out on Saturday?"

"With this attitude that I have, I'm never happy with the car. I'm never going to be totally satisfied with the way the car is running."
Alex Zanardi

Zanardi: "Well, it's not much. I go out and if somebody beats me, I eat some spinach like Popeye and I go out again. No, really, there is nothing special. It a little bit in relation to the previous question with regards to the difference between me and Jimmy. Jimmy always has the desire to go fast, but at this point he's learning a little bit from me about being patient. To try to make the car better before he can actually go fast. This is his desire. Sometimes he tends to adapt himself and change his driving style to suit the car and go around the problems that way. I always like to try to make the car better because this is my desire. This comes from not simply my it's my technical background, but simply because it's my passion. I really like to follow the development of the car close. That's why I believe that I've developed, in my career, some quality that I have, and that all the drivers have. I have the possibility to develop those qualities because of the passion that I have. It comes natural for me because I really like the technical aspect. I like sometimes to interfere, sometimes even too much, with the works of the engineers adjusting technical solutions for the car. With this attitude that I have, I'm never happy with the car. I'm never going to be totally satisfied with the way the car is running. If you have some understeer and you cure it by making a technical change to the car, then you're going to try to travel faster around the corners. Doing this, you may push a different problem into the car. You always drive the car to the limits. What is the limit? Is the limit something that can be moved further? In other words, can you change something in the car to try to use the grip that comes from the tire 100%? I always ask myself this question. Until the last means of qualifying, I keep trying with Morris Nun, who is actually one of the more experienced engineers in the CART series, to make the car better. At least while I have time. When the car is ok...when I'm pretty satisfied with the car, I just put on a new set of tires and I [qualify] the time that is in the car. It doesn't come from me, it's in the car. You just need to drive the car around the circuit one time. That's all it takes. It may sound difficult, but it's easy. It may sound easy, but it's difficult. It's something that you learn through your career, and when you find the right situation, you have everything it takes. When you have the right tools, then you can show how good you are at playing with those tools. Right now, things are going very, very well, so I'm very happy.

I don't have any mental preparation. My mental preparation is knowing that I'm doing everything I can to develop my car. When I know that my car is doing what I want...when I know that I can drive the car without having to change my driving style, then I then I know that I can drive the car in the way that I know is the fastest. When I know all of those things, it gives me inner peace to go out and say to myself that it's going to be easy to go out and to that [fast] lap. I go out and the times come from the car. I don't have to push the car. I have an engine that is strong enough to do that. To answer your question, I don't do any kind of special mental preparation. I'm just working in a team where I have a lot of friends, and that helps a lot. I know that everybody on my team is fully committed. And, as we proved last weekend, everybody works to do his best, to do his part. With that, the results are no surprise. You know that you've done everything that was possible to achieve that kind of result."

Weisman: "One other quick question that I wanted to ask was about a couple of things that may be good about Formula 1 and with Jaques Villeneuve and his ability to set up a car, coming from Indy-car setup to the Williams car. Are you finding more freedom to deal with the setup of the car in CART than you did in Formula 1?"

"In Indy-cars, anyone can go to Chip Ganassi because he is the importer of the Reynard cars, and buy a Reynard which is a competitive car, and start from a very good point"
Alex Zanardi

Zanardi: "No, not really. Actually, in Formula 1 there was more space, more things to play with, especially at the time I was involved with Formula1. I race with the Lotus team in '93, and at that time we used to have the active suspension system. To briefly explain what it is...it's a pump driven by the engine that generates oil pressure. Instead of having the four shock absorber setup with springs, you have four hydraulic actuators. The way the pressure goes to these activators is controlled by the computer. By simply changing the computer data, you can make the car handle completely different. You can make unbelievable things happen. The system was very unreliable, so sometimes the car would sit down on the ground and you would have a big, big problem like I had in Spa in 1995 when I had my huge accident. That was an active suspension problem. But I learned a lot, even though the car was not competitive, I enjoyed that year as one my best seasons in my racing career. I learned so much by being able to 'talk' to the computer all the time that I learned a lot of things. After that, when active suspension was banned, the engineers and myself asked...now 'what did we learn. What can we do with a passive car with springs and shock absorbers...how can we re-create with a sort of stupid car the same kind of advantages we had with the other car?' It becomes a new scenario. You try to go around the problems and re-create the same sort of advantages you had previously. The bad thing about Formula 1 is that sometimes the basic project of the car is so different from one team to the other that everybody's running their own car. Especially, everybody has different budgets. Sometimes teams spend a lot of their budget in just the design of their car. Then, when they go to the circuit and realize that it is a joke, and there is nothing they can do because they cannot afford to start from [scratch] again. They have to stick with it, and that's it. In Indy-cars, anyone can go to Chip Ganassi because he is the importer of the Reynard cars, and buy a Reynard which is a competitive car, and start from a very good point straight-away. That may sound like a limit. It may sound like good people cannot develop their own idea. But it's actually more difficult because you can just play with setups. In other words, you can have your own development programs, but, in fact, when you come to the race weekend, to succeed, you have to develop a better setup. You have less room to work, and if you fail to gain the perfection, you then stay behind other people. So you have less room to work, less tools in other words, so it's more challenging. You know that the opposition has the same kind of opportunity to start with. If you stay in front of them, it's just because you did a better job. In the human point of view, I believe it's much better."

Mike Hollander - Racing Information Systems: "Alex, you've talked about going back to Italy at some point in the game. Would you like to see an oval track built in Italy?"

Zanardi: "That would be fantastic. Really, that's a dream. It would be fantastic to go and race with CART in Italy. I believe we could make people understand what a real show is. In Italy, everybody just sees red. You say motor racing and they understand Ferrari. It's very difficult, maybe a little bit crazy sometimes. Right now I believe I'm doing good results for my country. Motor racing is very, very popular in Italy. It's quite easy for a young kid to start and play with cars or little Formulas. But then it is very difficult to find the funds and the sponsor to succeed in your career because we have this big cloud that it's Ferrari that's covering everything and is putting everything under a big shadow. It's very difficult to find a sponsor where the sun shines. I would love to see that happening."

Ron Martin - Focus on Racing Radio: "Chip, the St. Jude's Research Hospital is located here in Memphis. Tell us about that relationship the team has with the research center."

"You really don't understand what's going on in the world of children's medicine until you go to a St. Jude's Hospital and see what they're doing down there. It was an eye-opener for me to be a part of that."
Chip Ganassi

Ganassi: "Basically, what the layman doesn't know is that St. Jude's is more than just a hospital. It's a research facility. Some of the research going on there in Memphis with children is obviously second to none throughout the world. What got our attention is the children aspect. I guess it's an old cliché` to say that children are our future, but having a new child myself, I can tell you, it brings a whole new meaning to things. Our affiliation there is really through Target. They announced that they were doing the Target House. Being a partner with Target, we stepped up and said 'hey, we want to be a part of this thing.' That's really the long and the short of it. As Michael [Knight] said earlier, they're building a Target House there that is basically like a hotel for the families. We're going to have a room in the facility in the racing decor of the team, that will be in the team name. We're proud to help out one of our partners as well as to help out a good cause. You really don't understand what's going on in the world of children's medicine until you go to a St. Jude's Hospital and see what they're doing down there. It was an eye-opener for me to be a part of that. I certainly can remember those commercials on television with Danny Thomas when I was a child. Once again, we're just proud to be a part of it."

Martin: "Alex, you were the first Italian to win a CART race since Teo Fabi. Was that a special meaning for you?"

Zanardi: "Very egotistically speaking, it was a very special meaning for myself and for my country. It's obviously nice then when you read the magazines and the news papers and you see that they are taking good care of you. They say in all of Italy that he is doing well, but for me it was important in my career to finally find another opportunity to change the direction of my career in these previous two years of my agreement with Mr. Chip Ganassi. Which I take the occaision once again to thank him for the opportunity. Obviously it was an unbelievable sensation because, when you win a go-kart race in your first years, you kind of have the same feeling, but it's not in front of the same crowd. Like, for example, Sunday in Long Beach was amazing when we took that victory lap. It was amazing to see and hear all these people cheering for you. It's a moment in life that you really have to experience to understand what it means."

Nathan Levine - Fan Play Radio: "Alex, first of all congratulations on your victory at Long Beach. A question for both of you. How do you feel that the current tire war in CART is going to affect the outcome of the season ultimately?"

"I'm pleased that there is more than one tire manufacturer that is involved in our series. I think that is a big plus."
Alex Zanardi

Zanardi: "I believe that it's a constructive war for both companies. The reason they spend so much money in racing is to develop on their products. If they don't have a reference point, it's difficult to judge the value of what you've been doing. The battle has reached a pretty equal level. Personally, I believe we have an excellent tire, especially for the racing situation, with Firestone. We are very, very proud and please to be associated with them. We do a lot of development for them. We did a lot of development over the winter, and I look forward to doing some more. I don't think that is something that is going to degenerate and take the series to a lower level. It's a productive war. I'm pleased that there is more than one tire manufacturer that is involved in our series. I think that is a big plus. I would like to make a point about the previous question regarding the St. Jude's Hospital. Chip was very good about what he said. If I can just add one little thing. I believe that the teams feels the association with the St. Jude's Hospital very strongly. It was very emotional when, after the race, Chip Ganassi didn't simply say on the radio 'congratulations for the race,' but he went on to say 'this is the first $5,000 that we are donating to St. Jude's Hospital.' Nobody else was listening to the radio, so that was very sincere. That tells you how much we feel about that program, and how much we are proud of it."