INDIANAPOLIS — The Brahma Sports Team has been in high gear since the middle of October and there is no let-up in sight.

Brahma Brewery Corporation, the leading Latin American brewery and the fifth largest in the world, joined Patrick Racing in October to form the Brahma Sports Team. The team is a two-car effort with drivers Scott Pruett and Raul Boesel.

Beginning with a tire test on October 14 and 15, the team has been operating at full capacity. New personnel have been hired including Chief Engineer John Ward, the shop has been expanded, tire testing with the '96 car has proceeded and the new Lola T9700 has been delivered and had a shakedown run.

"I am very pleased with the way the team has responded to the demands we have place on them over the past month," said Brahma Sports Team General Manager Jim McGee. "We received the new car on November 10 and spent the next eight days getting it ready. We took it apart, checked everything and then reassemble it. While one crew was working on the new car the other was at Homestead doing a tire test with last year's car. In addition the expansion at the Brahma Sports Facility, which will double our square footage, was continuing. It is almost completed and we will be fully operational by December 1st" noted McGee.

"We ran a lot of miles in Memphis with no mechanical problems. The car felt good. Everything was solid," said Pruett. "This is a tremendous advantage for us to get the car early. Last year we didn't get the car until January so we have a two-month jump this year. It give us an opportunity to do more work with the new car which is a big plus especially as far as our Firestone tire testing program. It puts us a step ahead," continued Pruett.

Source: IndyCar News Service