©2001 SpeedCenter Publishing
Newman/Haas
Texaco/Havoline Newman/Haas driver Cristiano da Matta completed a two day test at Laguna Seca Raceway late yesterday and was among the fastest at the test the majority of the two day session that was attended by approx. one-half of the CART field. Two more tests are scheduled for Newman/Haas Racing prior to the CART FedEx Championship Series 2001 season-opener on March 11 in Monterrey, Mexico.
Cristiano da Matta at the Laguna Seca test (Photo Dan Boyd)
"There were 13 cars running on Wednesday and it was almost like an open test," said da Matta. "We ran 75 laps (170 miles) in sunny conditions although it was pretty cool especially for the Brazilians. We were right on the pace on Wednesday and were pretty happy. On Thursday we tested all different types of things and were again among the fastest most of the day, especially during the heat of the day. At the end of the day everyone treated it like we were qualifying but we were still trying new things and were not in our fastest trim so we dropped down in the rank. Helio (Castroneves) pretty much set the pace. We completed almost 350 miles over the two days and did an 8.0 and are pretty happy with the things we learned."
"The car ran reliably during the test and the team continued to get more practice at hot pit stops with the new rules," added Brian Lisles, who was promoted from Senior Race Engineer to General Manager in January 2001. "At the end of the day on Thursday when everyone was posting their fastest times, we were not in our best configuration so we dropped down in the order. We could not compare ourselves to the others at the end of the day but we learned quite a bit from the test. A number of the other teams were practicing their pit stops and we looked very good in comparison to them as well. Overall the test served its purpose."
After Christian Fittipaldi returns from his honeymoon on Sunday, February 18 he will travel to Sebring International Raceway for a two-day day test between February 20-22 before heading west for Phoenix International Raceway to test on Feb. 26-27. Da Matta will run on Wednesday, February 28 in Phoenix before both drivers travel to Torrance, Calif. for the annual Motorsports Day at Toyota's U.S. base in Torrance, Calif. on Friday, March 2.
"I like driving the racecar in testing but I am ready to start the season and see how we stack up with the other teams," said da Matta, who was leaving from California to spend one last week in his home country of Brazil before the start of the season. "It's like the feeling you would get when you were starting at a new school. I am looking forward to getting my season with Newman/Haas started."
Arciero/Brooke Racing
Max Wilson tested on the 2.238-mile road course of Laguna Seca, beginning his test program with Arciero Brooke RacingTeam, during a two-day session (February 14-15).
"We ran 98 laps overall. I am happy with the team (Arciero Brooke Racing) and now we are working at Arciero's workshop in California, in preparation for our first test session on an oval at Phoenix, on February 21 and 22," Max Wilson said.
"I am pleased with our test, Max was improving his times consistently despite having a limited track-time. This was his first test with us, since in Putnam Park we only did a systems' check, to sort out any mechanical issues that might occur in the future. The testing overall went well and the Phoenix engine performed flawlessly. Now, we areworking hard on the car, looking forward to test in Phoenix. There is a lot of work to do yet, but we will be ready for Phoenix, before our debut in the FedEx Championship Series on March 11, during the opening race in Monterrey, Mexico," said Barry Brooke, President of Arciero Brooke Racing.
Team Rahal
Team Rahal continued preparations for the 2001 CART FedEx Championship Series by completing yesterday two-days of testing for drivers Max Papis and Kenny Brack at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, CA. The informative sessions at the historic northern-California track wrapped up a busy first half of February.
In addition to the test at Laguna Seca, the team also tested at Sebring International Raceway in Florida working on engine development for Ford-Cosworth and gaining a better understanding of the team's new Lola B1/00 Champ Car chassis. Team Rahal is making the switch to Lola for 2001 after having run a Reynard chassis since 1996.
Following a very successful test at Phoenix International Raceway in late January the team decided to focus it's remaining test days on the road and street courses which comprise the first two events of the 2001 season.
"We have made significant progress in the understanding of the car in the last ten days," said Team Rahal director of operations Mark Johnson. "Our drivers, engineers and mechanics are developing a confidence in the new package, a confidence that shows we are making great strides in learning the Lola chassis and what it's capabilities are. We ran competitively with the other cars and teams at the test. For a team that is changing chassis that to me is an encouraging sign. "
"Things are beginning to fall into place for us," said Miller Lite driver Max Papis. "Yesterday afternoon we really saw the fruits of our labor begin to pay dividends. The Lola/Ford package is going to be combination to be reckoned with all season. I really feel like pieces are here for the team to make a run at the championship."
With the busy test schedule preparations have been aided by the expanded the team's expanded fleet of Champ Cars. In past seasons Team Rahal has fielded five cars but in 2001 the team purchased an extra chassis allowing the shop based mechanics to have a Miller and Shell car in house for preparations for the test or in season race. Last week while Brack and Papis were testing at Sebring the cars for the Laguna test were being prepped.
"With the short turnaround having the extra cars simply gives us additional time needed to properly inspect and find problems," said Team Rahal Shop Manager and veteran Champ Car mechanic Jim Prescott. "While it certainly helped to have the extra time to prep the cars last week, the real payoff will come during the season. We feel strongly that this will enable us to increase the reliability of our cars and limit the DNF's due to mechanical failures."
Team Rahal will continue final preparations for the 2001 CART FedEx Championship Series with a test on the road course at Homestead Miami Speedway. The 2001 season opens with the inaugural Monterrey Grand Prix in Monterrey, Mexico March 9-11.
Bettenhausen
Herdez Bettenhausen driver Michel Jourdain, Jr. completed two successful days of testing at Laguna Seca Raceway on Thursday with encouraging results.
Wednesday, the first day of testing, saw Jourdain complete approximately 90 laps on two sets of tires, posting a fast time of 1 minute, 9.0 seconds. Thursday, on a faster track and having worked their way through a rigorous engineering schedule, the team made considerable progress, lopping a full second from their time (1:08.048) and the second fastest for a Ford-Cosworth powered car.
Managing Director Keith Wiggins was encouraged but not surprised by the progress.
"The car had a fair amount of understeer in it on Wednesday but we made some pretty significant changes to the set up during the afternoon and Michel reacted well to the increased balance. Thursday was a good day for evaluation against our competitors and we were happy with the result. As I've said before, there are no points awarded for pre-season testing so the goal was not to go out and set the fastest time, but it's good to be in the right ball park."
Crew Chief Vince Kremer was pleased as well. "I'm really happy with how things are coming together. With just under one thousand miles of testing under our belts for the off-season, a new engine package, and some new personnel in key positions, the team is gelling well. Michel is getting more comfortable every day with this crew and we feel confident that we're going to be able to support him to the fullest this year."
The team's second Lola chassis has been in preparation for the past week and will be the chassis of choice at the team's next test in Sebring, Fla. on February 22nd and 23rd. The team's third Lola chassis arrived from England this week. The test days scheduled for Firebird and Phoenix International Raceway at the end of the month have been cancelled.
Wiggins commented on the test venue change, "We feel that we have much more to gain in road course testing. Sebring is more convenient for us and better for our schedule in terms of being prepared to leave for the first race in Monterrey. There is always good competition there and we feel that we have a good baseline of our performance on that track. It just makes good sense."
Team Player's
With less than a month to go before the first race on the 2001 FedEx CART Championship schedule, Team Player's continues to build momentum - as the latest testing session by driver Patrick Carpentier demonstrates.
Driving on the 2.238-mile Laguna Seca road course on February 14-15, Carpentier was consistently among the top two in unofficial timing during the sessions that most of the CART teams attended. Carpentier put in about 300 miles over the two-day period, which the Team Player's driver described as productive and flawless from a technical standpoint.
"What really pleases me about our off-season testing is that everything has functioned so smoothly," said Carpentier. "I think the big difference is that after each of our testing sessions, we've been able to go back to the race shop and build on what we've learned from that session.
"(Team Player's technical director) Bruce Ashmore is just brilliant. He's been working with (chief engineer) Michael Cannon and (development engineer) Alex Timmermans and together they have developed a great relationship. You can see the improvement from session to session because they've been able to take what they've learned and make the necessary changes that have led to improvements each time out."
At Laguna Seca, Carpentier tested two cars, both of which are updated versions of the 2000 Player's Reynard. The team conducted extensive testing on the suspension system and worked with a new and improved Ford engine. A significant amount of time was also devoted to working on differential changes in the gearbox.
"There's still a fair amount of work we can do on road-course set-ups, but we're trying out new things every day," remarked Phil LePan, the Canadian native who is the Team Player's manager. "There is more engine development to come, and that will occur next week (February 21-22) when (Carpentier's teammate) Alex Tagliani tests at Sebring."
Carpentier said the sessions at Laguna Seca, combined with two days of testing he has scheduled on Phoenix's Firebird road course on February 26-27, should have him well prepared for the start of the season. The first two races are road-course events in Monterrey, Mexico on March 11 and in Long Beach, California on April 8.
Zakspeed
Day two at Laguna Seca proved to be much more successful for Bryan Herta, driver of the #77 Zakspeed/Forsythe/Ford-Reynard and his crew. The team was sidelined with mechanical problems throughout much of the day on Wednesday, and returned Thursday with a full work schedule, looking for the ideal car set-up. Logging over 205 miles on Thursday, and 320 miles during the two-day test, the team headed east on a positive note.
With a best lap of 67.8 Herta ran consistently among the top five drivers, with as many as twelve cars present for the test. The crew worked throughout the day, and accomplished most of what they intended.
Team manager Steve Dickson was pleased with the overall outcome of the test. "Today was definitely better than yesterday. The guys did a great job, they maximized the track time, and we worked through a fair amount of the test plan." Dickson continued, "With about ten minutes left at the end of the test session, the track was cool and several cars went out. We were second quick in that group and everyone had the same track conditions. We were on older tires, I am not sure what everyone else was using, so I feel fairly positive with where we are at."
Herta, one of three American drivers preparing for the 2001Champ Car season was also pleased with the progress he and his team made testing at his favorite track on the CART circuit. "We had a real good second day. We were able to work with the car a lot more, we put in a lot of miles, and definitely made progress. I am looking forward to heading to Sebring next week, and working toward our march to the first race in Monterey."
The Zakspeed/Forsythe crew will spend the next two weeks in Florida and Arizona, continuing their preparations for the 2001 CART Fed Ex Championship season.
PacWest
Scott Dixon took the reigns from Mauricio Gugelmin for the second day of PacWest's two-day test session Thursday at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California.
The twenty-year-old Kiwi and 2000 Dayton Indy Lights Champion completed approximately 250 miles on the 2.2-mile road course and posted a quick time of 68.2 seconds. His time was faster than the quickest runner (Cristiano da Matta 68.6s) from Wednesday's session and confirmed PacWest’s notion that they have the right package heading into the 2001 season.
Thursday brought cooler weather to Monterey, and nearly every other team was in attendance for the session. CART regulated six cars on the track at a time Thursday, compared to only four on Wednesday, but this did not preclude PacWest from conducting a very positive test. Helio Castroneves posted the fastest time of the day, 67.1 seconds, during an early morning run.
Next up for Gugelmin and Dixon is an oval test on the high banks of the Texas Motor Speedway on February 21-22.
