©1997 SpeedCenter Internet Publishing, Inc.
Roberto Moreno will substitute for the injured Patrick Carpentier in the Team Alumax Reynard/Mercedes-Benz for Sunday's Molson Indy Vancouver race (ESPN, 5 p.m. ET) at the Pacific Place circuit.
Carpentier will sit out this race after breaking his left collarbone in a cycling accident near his home last weekend. The 26-year-old driver of the Team Alumax Reynard/Mercedes-Benz is hoping to return to the cockpit for next week's Texaco/Havoline 300 at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, Calif.
"It's obviously hard to think about missing any race, and it will be especially hard on me since I am missing a race in Canada," Carpentier said. "But my doctor told me that I needed to take it easy. It's a shame because I felt we had made some gains and I learned some things from Roberto in the test at Gingerman. In the meantime, I want to wish the best of luck to Roberto and my team."
Moreno, a veteran of Formula One and CART, was a natural choice, having recently signed on with Team Alumax as driver consultant/advisor. The 38-year-old Brazilian shared the cockpit with Carpentier in a test last week at Gingerman Raceway in South Haven, Mich., and earlier this season took over for the injured Christian Fittipaldi for six races with a top finish of fifth at Detroit.
"I am very pleased to get another break this year," Moreno said. "Unfortunately, it's still the same situation as it was with Christian — as a temporary replacement. I am still looking for a full-time ride next year.
"I'm happy to have a relationship with the Bettenhausen team and I appreciate the fact that Patrick has been so supportive. After our test (at Gingerman), I found the team very professional with the aim to win races. I am sure I will be able to work well with Tom Brown and the whole team. I know it's another situation — a last minute thing — but I'm sure the team will help me to fit in and progress as soon as possible."
"The test at Gingerman was primarily a get-acquainted session, but we did gain some valuable and interesting information from Roberto," said Brown, chief engineer and managing director for the team. "It's too bad that Patrick has to miss this race, but Roberto is a very accomplished race driver. Our thoughts will be with Patrick, however our focus will be on Roberto this weekend."
Team Alumax will have two cars for the Vancouver race. The team has acquired another Reynard tub after one of its original tubs was heavily damaged in Carpentier's qualifying accident at Elkhart Lake.
Historically, Vancouver has been one of the better tracks for Bettenhausen Motorsports. Stefan Johansson scored podium finishes there in 1992 and 1993 and finished fourth in 1995 for the team, nearly passing third-place finisher Robby Gordon at the end of the race. Brown was Johansson's engineer for both of the podium finishes. Johansson also has the team's best Vancouver start (seventh in 1994) and was quickest in the Friday and Saturday practice sessions the same year.
Source: CART News Service