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Gil de Ferran has some unfinishedbusiness
©1997 SpeedCenterInternet Publishing, Inc.
A chance to erase themisery of 1996
Gil de Ferran is looking to complete some unfinished business as he returns to the Toyota Grand Prixof Long Beach this weekend. The Grand Prix takes the green flag Sunday (ABC-TV, 4 p.m. ET, live) onthe streets of downtown Long Beach for the third of 17 events in the 1997 PPG CART WorldSeries. A field of 28 drivers is expected to take to the 1.59-mile temporary streetcircuit as the series makes its second consecutive stop in the shadow of the PacificOcean, following last SundayÕs Sunbelt IndyCarnival Australia at Surfers Paradise.
For De Ferran (Valvoline/Cummins Special Reynard Honda), itÕs a chance to erase themisery of 1996. He turned in an utterly dominant performance, setting a newqualifying record of 109.639 mph, then led 100 of the first 101 laps, only to have itall come undone when an exhaust hose disconnected from his turbocharger, leavinghim virtually without power en route to a fifth-place finish. HeÕll be looking to turnthat misfortune around this weekend.
While De Ferran was the dominant driver at last yearÕs Grand Prix, Al Unser Jr.(Marlboro Penske Mercedes) owns a career of dominant performances at LongBeach, including two pole positions and six race victories. He comes back to theStates without a point in the PPG Cup standings, and hoping that the friendlysurroundings will be the tonic to propel him back into the race.
At the top of the standings are the seasonÕs two winners to date: Michael Andretti(Swift Ford Cosworth) and Scott Pruett (Brahma Reynard Ford). Andretti won theseason opener at Homestead, Fla. and leads the points race with 35. With Unser, heis one of four previous Long Beach winners on the entry list, having won the 1986event.
Pruett picked up career victory number two last Sunday in Australia and is fivepoints behind Andretti in the drivers standings, with 30. Other previous winners inthe field include Paul Tracy (Marlboro Penske Mercedes, 1994) and defending PPGCup champion Jimmy Vasser (Target Reynard Honda), who benefited from deFerranÕs misfortune last year.
VasserÕs teammate Alex Zanardi (Target Reynard Honda) has made the MarlboroPole Award his personal bank account of late. Zanardi set a series record by claiminghis sixth consecutive pole position Ð and another $10,000 from Marlboro Ð atSurfers Paradise. During his streak, he has earned $145,000 from Marlboro,including rollover bonuses of $60,000 and $45,000 for winning races from the poleat Mid-Ohio and Laguna Seca, Calif. last year.
Parker Johnstone (KOOL Reynard Honda) collected the best finish of his PPG Cupcareer with a runner-up effort at Long Beach last year. Greg Moore(PlayerÕs/Indeck Reynard Mercedes) looks to continue a torrid stretch of earlyseason success which has seen him finish fourth at Homestead and second atSurfers Paradise to move into third place in the PPG Cup points race.
Mauricio Gugelmin (Hollywood PacWest Mercedes) comes to Long Beach looking totranslate recent qualifying success (six consecutive top-eight efforts) into race dayresults, while teammate Mark Blundell (Motorola PacWest Mercedes) debuts atLong Beach after missing the 1996 Grand Prix with a broken foot suffered at anaccident in Rio de Janeiro.
Newman/Haas Racing will enter a new teammate for Andretti at Long Beach. Hereplaces Christian Fittipaldi, who sustained a broken tibia during an accident inAustralia and is expected to be sidelined for two to three months.
Andre Ribiero (LCI/Marlboro Lola Honda) and Raul Boesel (Brahma Reynard Ford)come to Long Beach off momentum-building performances. Ribeiro finished sixth, hisbest road course finish since mid-1995, while Boesel took seventh to match his topperformance of 1996.
Team Rahal drivers Bobby Rahal (Miller Lite Reynard Ford) and Bryan Herta (ShellReynard Ford) are hoping to improve on finishes of 14th and 12th, respectively atlast yearÕs Grand Prix. Adrian FernandezÕ (Tecate/Quaker State Lola Honda)sixth-place finish at Long Beach in Õ96 started a run which has seen him earn ninepoints-producing finishes in the past 10 PPG CART World Series road course events.
Max Papis (MCI Reynard Toyota) turned in the second-best finish of his brief (fiveraces) PPG Cup career with a 14th at Surfers Paradise. Meanwhile, All AmericanRacers teammates Juan Fangio II (Castrol-Jockey Reynard Toyota) and PJ Jones(Castrol-Jockey Reynard Toyota) are hoping to put together strong performancesfor the Grand PrixÕs title sponsor.
Richie Hearn (Ralphs/Food 4 Less Lola Ford) made a major splash at Long Beach lastyear when he finished 10th in his PPG Cup debut. It remains his best finish in fivecareer starts. Hiro Matsushita (Panasonic/Duskin Reynard Toyota) wants to share asa driver the success he has enjoyed as the president of Swift Engineering,constructors of AndrettiÕs series-leading car.
Michel Jourdain Jr. (Herdez/Mexlub/Viva Mexico) improved seven spots to finish18th after starting 25th at Australia. Dennis Vitolo (SmithKline Beecham Lola Ford)returns to the cockpit for the Project Indy team after turning the wheel over toteammate Arnd Meier in Australia.
The Jim Trueman Rookie of the Year race is expanding, with Meier and Paul Jasper(Hype Lola Ford) joining the field in Australia. Patrick Carpentier (Alumax ReynardMercedes) and Dario Franchitti (Hogan Racing Reynard Mercedes) are tied in theearly going with four points each, while Gualter Salles (Indusval Reynard Ford)seeks his first PPG Cup points.
Following the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, the PPG CART World Seriesjourneys cross-country for its fourth event of the season, the Bosch Spark PlugGrand Prix Presented by Toyota, on Sunday, April 27 at Nazareth (Pa.) Speedway.
Source: CART News Service


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

		Gil de Ferran has some unfinishedbusiness ©1997 SpeedCenterInternet Publishing, Inc. A chance to erase themisery of 1996 Gil de Ferran is looking to complete some unfinished business as he returns to the Toyota Grand Prixof Long Beach this weekend. The Grand Prix takes the green flag Sunday (ABC-TV, 4 p.m. ET, live) onthe streets of downtown Long Beach for the third of 17 events in the 1997 PPG CART WorldSeries. A field of 28 drivers is expected to take to the 1.59-mile temporary streetcircuit as the series makes its second consecutive stop in the shadow of the PacificOcean, following last SundayÕs Sunbelt IndyCarnival Australia at Surfers Paradise. For De Ferran (Valvoline/Cummins Special Reynard Honda), itÕs a chance to erase themisery of 1996. He turned in an utterly dominant performance, setting a newqualifying record of 109.639 mph, then led 100 of the first 101 laps, only to have itall come undone when an exhaust hose disconnected from his turbocharger, leavinghim virtually without power en route to a fifth-place finish. HeÕll be looking to turnthat misfortune around this weekend. While De Ferran was the dominant driver at last yearÕs Grand Prix, Al Unser Jr.(Marlboro Penske Mercedes) owns a career of dominant performances at LongBeach, including two pole positions and six race victories. He comes back to theStates without a point in the PPG Cup standings, and hoping that the friendlysurroundings will be the tonic to propel him back into the race. At the top of the standings are the seasonÕs two winners to date: Michael Andretti(Swift Ford Cosworth) and Scott Pruett (Brahma Reynard Ford). Andretti won theseason opener at Homestead, Fla. and leads the points race with 35. With Unser, heis one of four previous Long Beach winners on the entry list, having won the 1986event. Pruett picked up career victory number two last Sunday in Australia and is fivepoints behind Andretti in the drivers standings, with 30. Other previous winners inthe field include Paul Tracy (Marlboro Penske Mercedes, 1994) and defending PPGCup champion Jimmy Vasser (Target Reynard Honda), who benefited from deFerranÕs misfortune last year. VasserÕs teammate Alex Zanardi (Target Reynard Honda) has made the MarlboroPole Award his personal bank account of late. Zanardi set a series record by claiminghis sixth consecutive pole position Ð and another $10,000 from Marlboro Ð atSurfers Paradise. During his streak, he has earned $145,000 from Marlboro,including rollover bonuses of $60,000 and $45,000 for winning races from the poleat Mid-Ohio and Laguna Seca, Calif. last year. Parker Johnstone (KOOL Reynard Honda) collected the best finish of his PPG Cupcareer with a runner-up effort at Long Beach last year. Greg Moore(PlayerÕs/Indeck Reynard Mercedes) looks to continue a torrid stretch of earlyseason success which has seen him finish fourth at Homestead and second atSurfers Paradise to move into third place in the PPG Cup points race. Mauricio Gugelmin (Hollywood PacWest Mercedes) comes to Long Beach looking totranslate recent qualifying success (six consecutive top-eight efforts) into race dayresults, while teammate Mark Blundell (Motorola PacWest Mercedes) debuts atLong Beach after missing the 1996 Grand Prix with a broken foot suffered at anaccident in Rio de Janeiro. Newman/Haas Racing will enter a new teammate for Andretti at Long Beach. Hereplaces Christian Fittipaldi, who sustained a broken tibia during an accident inAustralia and is expected to be sidelined for two to three months. Andre Ribiero (LCI/Marlboro Lola Honda) and Raul Boesel (Brahma Reynard Ford)come to Long Beach off momentum-building performances. Ribeiro finished sixth, hisbest road course finish since mid-1995, while Boesel took seventh to match his topperformance of 1996. Team Rahal drivers Bobby Rahal (Miller Lite Reynard Ford) and Bryan Herta (ShellReynard Ford) are hoping to improve on finishes of 14th and 12th, respectively atlast yearÕs Grand Prix. Adrian FernandezÕ (Tecate/Quaker State Lola Honda)sixth-place finish at Long Beach in Õ96 started a run which has seen him earn ninepoints-producing finishes in the past 10 PPG CART World Series road course events. Max Papis (MCI Reynard Toyota) turned in the second-best finish of his brief (fiveraces) PPG Cup career with a 14th at Surfers Paradise. Meanwhile, All AmericanRacers teammates Juan Fangio II (Castrol-Jockey Reynard Toyota) and PJ Jones(Castrol-Jockey Reynard Toyota) are hoping to put together strong performancesfor the Grand PrixÕs title sponsor. Richie Hearn (Ralphs/Food 4 Less Lola Ford) made a major splash at Long Beach lastyear when he finished 10th in his PPG Cup debut. It remains his best finish in fivecareer starts. Hiro Matsushita (Panasonic/Duskin Reynard Toyota) wants to share asa driver the success he has enjoyed as the president of Swift Engineering,constructors of AndrettiÕs series-leading car. Michel Jourdain Jr. (Herdez/Mexlub/Viva Mexico) improved seven spots to finish18th after starting 25th at Australia. Dennis Vitolo (SmithKline Beecham Lola Ford)returns to the cockpit for the Project Indy team after turning the wheel over toteammate Arnd Meier in Australia. The Jim Trueman Rookie of the Year race is expanding, with Meier and Paul Jasper(Hype Lola Ford) joining the field in Australia. Patrick Carpentier (Alumax ReynardMercedes) and Dario Franchitti (Hogan Racing Reynard Mercedes) are tied in theearly going with four points each, while Gualter Salles (Indusval Reynard Ford)seeks his first PPG Cup points. Following the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, the PPG CART World Seriesjourneys cross-country for its fourth event of the season, the Bosch Spark PlugGrand Prix Presented by Toyota, on Sunday, April 27 at Nazareth (Pa.) Speedway. Source: CART News Service