Laguna Seca Feb. 15 — Alex Zanardi, who used an incredible last-lap pass to win the final PPG CART World Series event of 1996 here last September, was the fastest of 14 drivers who participated in Saturday's CART open test session at Laguna Seca Raceway.

Zanardi rounded the 2.238-mile, 11-turn road course at 117.740 mph (68.429 seconds) in his Target Reynard Honda. Paul Tracy was second-fastest in a Penske Mercedes-Benz at 115.979 mph (69.468 seconds) while Zanardi teammate Jimmy Vasser was third-quickest at 115.604 mph (69.693 seconds) in his Target Reynard Honda

Fewer than four miles per hour separated the top-10 race cars attending the two-day session.

Zanardi won the pole for last September's Toyota Grand Prix of Monterey at Laguna Seca with a lap of 118.475 mph (68.004 seconds).

Testing continues on Sunday, February 16.

PPG CART World Series Laguna Seca Open Test; Saturday Practice Times:

Pos	Driver	Car	Laptime	mph	km/h
1	Alex Zanardi	Target Reynard-Honda HRR	68.429	117.740	189.444
2	Paul Tracy	Marlboro Penske-Mercedes	69.468	115.979	186.610
3	Jimmy Vasser	Target Reynard-Honda HRR	69.693	115.604	186.007
4	Richie Hearn	Ralph's/Food 4 Less Lola-Ford Cosworth XD	69.816	115.400	185.679
5	Mark Blundell	Motorola Reynard-Mercedes-Benz	70.101	114.931	184.924
6	Andre Ribeiro	LCI Lola-Honda HRR	70.397	114.448	184.147
7	Bobby Rahal	Miller Lite Reynard-Ford Cosworth XD	70.408	114.430	184.118
8	Mauricio Gugelmin	Hollywood Reynard-Mercedes	70.490	114.297	183.904
9	Gil de Ferran	Valvoline/Cummins Reynard-Honda HRR	70.561	114.182	183.719
10	Al Unser Jr.	Marlboro Penske-Mercedes	70.838	113.736	183.001
11	Adrian Fernandez	Tecate/Quaker State Lola-Honda HRR	71.193	113.168	182.087
12	Bryan Herta	Shell Reynard-Ford Cosworth XD	71.288	113.018	181.846
13	Patrick Carpentier	Alumax Reynard-Mercedes	71.586	112.547	181.088
14	Max Papis	MCI Reynard-Toyota	73.876	109.058	175.474

Source: CART News Service