Mo breaks 240mph in Practice

NOW AVAILABLE! — The Official Directory for CART Racing
Mo breaks 240mph in Practice
©1997 SpeedCenter Internet Publishing, Inc.
Many hard crashes; Carpentier, Zanardi out for Weekend
The first day of practice at the new oval in Fontana was marked byhigh speeds and high speed accidents. In the morning session,Mauricio Gugelmin was clocked with the fastest speed of the day for alap at 240.150mph (386.401km/h). Second fastest for the day wasdefending PPG Cup Champion and winner of the most recent race atLaguna Seca, Jimmy Vasser at 239.968mph (386.109mph). In third afterthe first day is the 1998 Cup Champion, Alex Zanardi at 239.081mph(384.681km/h).
Zanardi had a close call in the morning session when he made hardcontact with the wall after hitting a wheel that came off PatrickCarpentier's car who had crashed just in front of him in turn 4 athigh speed. Zanardi was able to walk away from the crash, whilePatrick Carpentier was unconscious when the CART Safety Team arrivedon the scene following the accident. regained consciousness shortlythereafter and was removed from the car. Dr. Steve Olvey, CARTDirector of Medical Affairs, said that Carpentier reported pain inhis cervical spine. Carpentier was airlifted to Loma Linda UniversityMedical Center for precautionary x-rays and a CAT scan. Carpentierwill not be allowed to compete this weekend because he lostconsciousness (does that mean Roberto Moreno will once again climbinto a vacant cockpit? We'll know tomorrow morning).
The other big accident of the morning session was Richie Hearn'scontact in turn 4, in which he destroyed the only Swift chassis hehad available for the weekend. Hearn made hard contact with theoutside wall in Turn 4. He slid to the bottom of the track with noleft front wheel and serious damage to the left side of the car. Hewas uninjured in the incident. At that point of the practice session,Hearn was up to 12th-fastest.
Robby Gordon, in his first appearance of the season, finished thefirst day of practice in an impressive 5th position at 237.928mph(382.827km/h).
In the afternoon session, Zanardi once again had an incident with the wall in turn 4. In spite of initial reports that he was cleared for driving andrunning second fastest during the session, he will have to sit out the race on Sunday — not because he destroyed 2 cars, but becausehe is suffering from "dizzyness from extreme motion," and wouldneed 5-7 days to recover from this condition. His accidents recorded 50g and 88g impact forces on the rear of his cars respectively.
Initially, Zanardi was scheduled to run the 1X car of Jimmy Vasser, but now will have to wait until 1998 to runa #1 car.
Further back in the field, Arnd Meier returns for another (unscheduled) run in the ProjectIndy Lola, because Dennis Vitolo decided to race the #34 Payton/Coyne entry once again,after finishing a career best 7th at Michigan earlier this year in that car.Meier had little track time today, because his engine failed in themorning session.


		NOW AVAILABLE! — The Official Directory for CART Racing

		Mo breaks 240mph in Practice ©1997 SpeedCenter Internet Publishing, Inc. Many hard crashes; Carpentier, Zanardi out for Weekend The first day of practice at the new oval in Fontana was marked byhigh speeds and high speed accidents. In the morning session,Mauricio Gugelmin was clocked with the fastest speed of the day for alap at 240.150mph (386.401km/h). Second fastest for the day wasdefending PPG Cup Champion and winner of the most recent race atLaguna Seca, Jimmy Vasser at 239.968mph (386.109mph). In third afterthe first day is the 1998 Cup Champion, Alex Zanardi at 239.081mph(384.681km/h). Zanardi had a close call in the morning session when he made hardcontact with the wall after hitting a wheel that came off PatrickCarpentier's car who had crashed just in front of him in turn 4 athigh speed. Zanardi was able to walk away from the crash, whilePatrick Carpentier was unconscious when the CART Safety Team arrivedon the scene following the accident. regained consciousness shortlythereafter and was removed from the car. Dr. Steve Olvey, CARTDirector of Medical Affairs, said that Carpentier reported pain inhis cervical spine. Carpentier was airlifted to Loma Linda UniversityMedical Center for precautionary x-rays and a CAT scan. Carpentierwill not be allowed to compete this weekend because he lostconsciousness (does that mean Roberto Moreno will once again climbinto a vacant cockpit? We'll know tomorrow morning). The other big accident of the morning session was Richie Hearn'scontact in turn 4, in which he destroyed the only Swift chassis hehad available for the weekend. Hearn made hard contact with theoutside wall in Turn 4. He slid to the bottom of the track with noleft front wheel and serious damage to the left side of the car. Hewas uninjured in the incident. At that point of the practice session,Hearn was up to 12th-fastest. Robby Gordon, in his first appearance of the season, finished thefirst day of practice in an impressive 5th position at 237.928mph(382.827km/h). In the afternoon session, Zanardi once again had an incident with the wall in turn 4. In spite of initial reports that he was cleared for driving andrunning second fastest during the session, he will have to sit out the race on Sunday — not because he destroyed 2 cars, but becausehe is suffering from "dizzyness from extreme motion," and wouldneed 5-7 days to recover from this condition. His accidents recorded 50g and 88g impact forces on the rear of his cars respectively. Initially, Zanardi was scheduled to run the 1X car of Jimmy Vasser, but now will have to wait until 1998 to runa #1 car. Further back in the field, Arnd Meier returns for another (unscheduled) run in the ProjectIndy Lola, because Dennis Vitolo decided to race the #34 Payton/Coyne entry once again,after finishing a career best 7th at Michigan earlier this year in that car.Meier had little track time today, because his engine failed in themorning session.