Portland a Winning Venue for Salles

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Portland a Winning Venue for Salles
©1997 SpeedCenter Internet Publishing, Inc.
Rookie returns to site of first Indy Lights victory
Davis Racing driver Gualter Salles returns to the site of his first NorthAmerican victory, the nine-turn permanent road course at PortlandInternational Raceway. One year ago, Salles started the Firestone Indy Lightsrace from the outside front row spot and grabbed the lead in the tightFestival Turn. He never relinquished the top spot throughout the race andcaptured his first win in the series.
GUALTER SALLES:

"Portland became my favorite North American track veryquickly last year. It's very much like some of the Brazilian and Europeantracks I started on, in that it has good straights followed by excellentpassing areas. The complexes at either end of the circuit are very importantto a good lap time and they are an excellent mix of slow, medium and fastcorners. There's even a couple of places in the complexes where you couldmake a pass in Indy Lights, although I don't know if that will translate tothe CART cars.
"Of course, because I did well last year in Indy Lights doesn't mean a thingwhere CART is concerned, just like winning a race doesn't guarantee you'll dowell the next week. The driver and the team have to come back and provethemselves all over again. CART is another league-a major league-and thecompetition is always tougher as you advance."
"Before Portland I was stillgrowing as a driver and still learning about the series and racing inAmerica. But after Portland I was able to think that I could race in the PPGCART World Series in 1997. With my wins in the next two races (at Clevelandand Toronto), I made the Indy Lights championship a priority and getting aCART ride a goal for 1997.
"The Indy Lights series is the best training ground a driver could have if hewants to move up to CART. It teaches a driver to race because all the carsare equal, to fine tune a car's setup and what the North American tracks areall about. Before I came to America I had never driven on an oval, a streetcircuit or an airport circuit like Cleveland, all of which are part of theIndy Lights championship."
MID-OHIO TEST: Davis Racing participated in a two-day open test at Mid-Ohio,June 10-11.

"For Davis Racing, it was a very important test. The test was alot of hard work and we're starting to see where we are gaining back some ofthe time we lost at the beginning of the season. I think we found some thingsabout the INDUSVAL-Marlboro Reynard-Ford Cosworth that will help us atPortland and down the road."


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		Portland a Winning Venue for Salles ©1997 SpeedCenter Internet Publishing, Inc. Rookie returns to site of first Indy Lights victory Davis Racing driver Gualter Salles returns to the site of his first NorthAmerican victory, the nine-turn permanent road course at PortlandInternational Raceway. One year ago, Salles started the Firestone Indy Lightsrace from the outside front row spot and grabbed the lead in the tightFestival Turn. He never relinquished the top spot throughout the race andcaptured his first win in the series. GUALTER SALLES: "Portland became my favorite North American track veryquickly last year. It's very much like some of the Brazilian and Europeantracks I started on, in that it has good straights followed by excellentpassing areas. The complexes at either end of the circuit are very importantto a good lap time and they are an excellent mix of slow, medium and fastcorners. There's even a couple of places in the complexes where you couldmake a pass in Indy Lights, although I don't know if that will translate tothe CART cars. "Of course, because I did well last year in Indy Lights doesn't mean a thingwhere CART is concerned, just like winning a race doesn't guarantee you'll dowell the next week. The driver and the team have to come back and provethemselves all over again. CART is another league-a major league-and thecompetition is always tougher as you advance." "Before Portland I was stillgrowing as a driver and still learning about the series and racing inAmerica. But after Portland I was able to think that I could race in the PPGCART World Series in 1997. With my wins in the next two races (at Clevelandand Toronto), I made the Indy Lights championship a priority and getting aCART ride a goal for 1997. "The Indy Lights series is the best training ground a driver could have if hewants to move up to CART. It teaches a driver to race because all the carsare equal, to fine tune a car's setup and what the North American tracks areall about. Before I came to America I had never driven on an oval, a streetcircuit or an airport circuit like Cleveland, all of which are part of theIndy Lights championship." MID-OHIO TEST: Davis Racing participated in a two-day open test at Mid-Ohio,June 10-11. "For Davis Racing, it was a very important test. The test was alot of hard work and we're starting to see where we are gaining back some ofthe time we lost at the beginning of the season. I think we found some thingsabout the INDUSVAL-Marlboro Reynard-Ford Cosworth that will help us atPortland and down the road."