Preparations For Australian CART Race in Full Swing For Newman/Haas

Check out the latest Sports Guides from Starting Blocks Int'l
Preparations For Australian CART Race in Full Swing For Newman/Haas
©1997 SpeedCenter Internet Publishing, Inc.
Successful testing at Sebring before the big trip to Surfer's Paradise
On Friday, KMart/Texaco/Havoline driver Michael Andretti was in theprocess of completing the second day of a three day test in preparationfor the next two races in Surfer's Paradise, Goldcoast, Australia and LongBeach, California. After running 110 miles on the first day (3/20) of thethree day test session at the road course in Sebring, FL., Andretti hadthe following to say during a break on the second day.
"We've come a long way since we started this test," said Andretti, "We'velearned quite a bit so far. I think right now, we have the basic car thatcould be the best out there (at Australia and Long Beach.) We're not asquick as we would like to be, but I think we are starting to understand thecar a little better. We've made improvements in the gear-box and areworking on the handling. With each hour, we learn more and more about theSwift. Each minute really counts since we didn't get as much testing as wewould have liked before the season started. The car I won with in Homestead(Swift chassis 001) is now our test car. Christian tested at Firebirdafter the Homestead race and we learned a lot about the car then. We cameto Sebring to build on that knowledge for the next two street races."
"Surfers is a tight course like all street courses, but I think there ismore room to pass. I'm glad to hear they are moving the wall back 20 feetin the back chicane. I know they have constantly been looking at ways toimprove the track each year. I think Surfers is one of the best streetcourses we race on all year. I've led many races at Surfers but have onlywon it once. You definitely need luck there since it's such a tough raceon the equipment. The Surfers track suits my driving style. If you attackit and drive it aggressively, it pays you back in lap speed. I think youhave to attack the track in order to go fast there."
I'm looking forward to getting back to racing. I think we showed inHomestead how much hard work Ford Cosworth and Goodyear did over theoff-season. The entire package has improved. We finished second in thechampionship last year after not finishing six races. The key isconsistency and just finishing races. We definitely have a good shot at itthis year."
[On jet lag]: "When I get to Australia, I feel like I could drive that day.Jet lag doesn't affect me going west as much as it does going east. I'mreally worried about Long Beach though. The jet lag is going to kill mebefore that race. It's the same for everybody though. I'm going to keep upmy workouts and stay as fit as possible to minimize the jet lag."
Team Manager Lee White explains why Sebring is such a good place to testfor Australia and Long Beach...
"Sebring is an ideal place to test for any street course race, butespecially for Surfer's Paradise and Long Beach. The track has roughpavement and there are transitions between old and new pavement much likeon city street courses. The track has a chicane and hairpin turns muchlike the ones in Australia and Long Beach. Sebring has a couple of longstraights and you can actually tune the car for low downforce and low dragwhich is what we run at Surfer's and Long Beach. We usually leave theSebring test with a lot of data. We don't really run there to set a fasttime and compare ourselves with the times set by other team. We usually gothere with our own agenda and test specific areas of the car that we aredeveloping."


		Check out the latest Sports Guides from Starting Blocks Int'l

		Preparations For Australian CART Race in Full Swing For Newman/Haas ©1997 SpeedCenter Internet Publishing, Inc. Successful testing at Sebring before the big trip to Surfer's Paradise On Friday, KMart/Texaco/Havoline driver Michael Andretti was in theprocess of completing the second day of a three day test in preparationfor the next two races in Surfer's Paradise, Goldcoast, Australia and LongBeach, California. After running 110 miles on the first day (3/20) of thethree day test session at the road course in Sebring, FL., Andretti hadthe following to say during a break on the second day. "We've come a long way since we started this test," said Andretti, "We'velearned quite a bit so far. I think right now, we have the basic car thatcould be the best out there (at Australia and Long Beach.) We're not asquick as we would like to be, but I think we are starting to understand thecar a little better. We've made improvements in the gear-box and areworking on the handling. With each hour, we learn more and more about theSwift. Each minute really counts since we didn't get as much testing as wewould have liked before the season started. The car I won with in Homestead(Swift chassis 001) is now our test car. Christian tested at Firebirdafter the Homestead race and we learned a lot about the car then. We cameto Sebring to build on that knowledge for the next two street races." "Surfers is a tight course like all street courses, but I think there ismore room to pass. I'm glad to hear they are moving the wall back 20 feetin the back chicane. I know they have constantly been looking at ways toimprove the track each year. I think Surfers is one of the best streetcourses we race on all year. I've led many races at Surfers but have onlywon it once. You definitely need luck there since it's such a tough raceon the equipment. The Surfers track suits my driving style. If you attackit and drive it aggressively, it pays you back in lap speed. I think youhave to attack the track in order to go fast there." I'm looking forward to getting back to racing. I think we showed inHomestead how much hard work Ford Cosworth and Goodyear did over theoff-season. The entire package has improved. We finished second in thechampionship last year after not finishing six races. The key isconsistency and just finishing races. We definitely have a good shot at itthis year." [On jet lag]: "When I get to Australia, I feel like I could drive that day.Jet lag doesn't affect me going west as much as it does going east. I'mreally worried about Long Beach though. The jet lag is going to kill mebefore that race. It's the same for everybody though. I'm going to keep upmy workouts and stay as fit as possible to minimize the jet lag." Team Manager Lee White explains why Sebring is such a good place to testfor Australia and Long Beach... "Sebring is an ideal place to test for any street course race, butespecially for Surfer's Paradise and Long Beach. The track has roughpavement and there are transitions between old and new pavement much likeon city street courses. The track has a chicane and hairpin turns muchlike the ones in Australia and Long Beach. Sebring has a couple of longstraights and you can actually tune the car for low downforce and low dragwhich is what we run at Surfer's and Long Beach. We usually leave theSebring test with a lot of data. We don't really run there to set a fasttime and compare ourselves with the times set by other team. We usually gothere with our own agenda and test specific areas of the car that we aredeveloping."