Defending PPG Cup champion Jimmy Vasser set the pace all three days of CART’s second-annual Spring Training at the Metro-Dade Homestead Motorsports Complex. Saturday, his Target/Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, Alex Zanardi stepped up to join him.

The Target duo, the most successful in CART last season, made it clear that the competition could be in for a repeat performance of its successful 1996 season that saw them win seven races, 10 poles, the $1 million PPG Cup championship (Vasser) and the Jim Trueman Rookie of the Year Award (Zanardi). The 1997 PPG CART World Series begins here at the Homestead track on March 2 with the Grand Prix of Miami, presented by Toyota.

Vasser, wearing the champion’s No. 1 on his Reynard Honda HHR/Firestone, posted the top time of the entire three-day Spring Training session earlier Saturday with a lap of 195.467 mph (27.943 seconds) in the morning practice. He had been on the top of the time sheets each day of CART’s second annual Spring Training event while his Italian teammate toured the 1.517-mile oval at a much more conservative pace. Heading into Saturday afternoon’s final practice, Zanardi barely cracked the top 10 in three of the four sessions and was ranked 12th in the other.

That all changed only seven minutes from the end of Spring Training. Zanardi turned his fastest lap of the three days, a 195.174 mph tour of the track in 27.985 seconds. He and Vasser were the only drivers of the 25 participating in Spring Training to break the 28-second barrier.

PacWest Racing’s Mauricio Gugelmin was the third fastest driver of Spring Training with a lap of 194.853 mph (28.031 seconds) in the Hollywood/ Reynard Mercedes-Benz. The time was set Saturday morning.

Complete Saturday Afternoon Testing Result