CarpentierUninjured in Testing Accident

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CarpentierUninjured in Testing Accident©1997 SpeedCenterInternet Publishing, Inc.
Incident duringtire tests at Road America
Patrick Carpentier ran nearly 300 miles of tire testing for Goodyear Monday,June 30, and Tuesday, July 1, at Road America, but had to call it a dayafter crashing in Turn 1 at the Road America circuit. Fortunately,Carpentier was unhurt following the Tuesday afternoon incident. The TeamAlumax Reynard/Mercedes-Benz was not heavily damaged but sustained enoughdamage to preclude any more testing.
"Wehad made a change to the car to make the rear hook up. I could tell therewas an improvement, but I went into the turn faster than I had the previouslap because I wasn't sure if it was on the limit. Unfortunately, it wasthe limit and the car swapped ends. It went over the speed bump and thatmade the car spin into the wall."
Prior to the accident, Carpentier had recorded a time of 1:45.4, his bestin two days of testing. He had logged 192 miles in 48 laps Tuesday aroundthe wood-lined, 4-mile circuit.
Tom Brown, the chief engineer and managing director of the team:
"Itwas unfortunate, but Patrick is OK and that's what's important. We gothalfway through the Goodyear test and despite the accident, it was a productivetest. Patrick's best time came on old tires and we never ran a qualifyingsetup so That's good."
"But more importantly, Patrick feels more confident about the car than he hadprior to the test. This was a good test to get us away from (Position)23."
Carpentier agreed with the assessment.
"We'recreeping up on it," Carpentier added. "My own feeling is that the car ismore to my liking. There are some areas where we still need to find a compromise,but this test was nothing like Portland and the car was better than itwas at Mid-Ohio. I feel happier now because I feel I know more about whatthe car is doing. I think we should be more competitive at future roadcourse events."
Although rain delayed Monday's proceedings, the track did dry out and Carpentierwas able to log 27 laps for 108 miles of testing. His best time on Mondaywas 1:47.8.
Next on the agenda for Team Alumax will be the July 13 Medic Drug GrandPrix of Cleveland.
Source: CART News Service


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		CarpentierUninjured in Testing Accident©1997 SpeedCenterInternet Publishing, Inc. Incident duringtire tests at Road America Patrick Carpentier ran nearly 300 miles of tire testing for Goodyear Monday,June 30, and Tuesday, July 1, at Road America, but had to call it a dayafter crashing in Turn 1 at the Road America circuit. Fortunately,Carpentier was unhurt following the Tuesday afternoon incident. The TeamAlumax Reynard/Mercedes-Benz was not heavily damaged but sustained enoughdamage to preclude any more testing. "Wehad made a change to the car to make the rear hook up. I could tell therewas an improvement, but I went into the turn faster than I had the previouslap because I wasn't sure if it was on the limit. Unfortunately, it wasthe limit and the car swapped ends. It went over the speed bump and thatmade the car spin into the wall." Prior to the accident, Carpentier had recorded a time of 1:45.4, his bestin two days of testing. He had logged 192 miles in 48 laps Tuesday aroundthe wood-lined, 4-mile circuit. Tom Brown, the chief engineer and managing director of the team: "Itwas unfortunate, but Patrick is OK and that's what's important. We gothalfway through the Goodyear test and despite the accident, it was a productivetest. Patrick's best time came on old tires and we never ran a qualifyingsetup so That's good." "But more importantly, Patrick feels more confident about the car than he hadprior to the test. This was a good test to get us away from (Position)23." Carpentier agreed with the assessment. "We'recreeping up on it," Carpentier added. "My own feeling is that the car ismore to my liking. There are some areas where we still need to find a compromise,but this test was nothing like Portland and the car was better than itwas at Mid-Ohio. I feel happier now because I feel I know more about whatthe car is doing. I think we should be more competitive at future roadcourse events." Although rain delayed Monday's proceedings, the track did dry out and Carpentierwas able to log 27 laps for 108 miles of testing. His best time on Mondaywas 1:47.8. Next on the agenda for Team Alumax will be the July 13 Medic Drug GrandPrix of Cleveland. Source: CART News Service