©1997 SpeedCenter Internet Publishing, Inc.
By Dave Gallegos (davidg@axonet.com)
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Unlike the search for Nicole's "real killers," you can easilyfind real race fans 'cause we're the ones who take a day off work anddrive 70 miles just to see some guys practice driving theirIndy..err..Champ cars. Four CART teams scheduled a three-day test atLaguna Seca for December 16-18, so at the last minute (Tuesdayafternoon) I told my boss that I needed to take Wednesday off. Apparently there are only about 20 real race fans in the Bay Areabecause that's about how many people were scattered around the trackall day. Just an intimate gathering with Mike and Al zooming aroundthe track, and with me and a few other wannabes standing aroundwondering why our dads didn't give us a Skip Barber 3-day race coursefor our 16th birthday to help us start our racing careers.
This early in the pre-season is a prime opportunity to getunusual pictures, and it certainly paid off with early looks at a newunpainted '98 Reynard and the radical new '98 Penske. In fact, allof the pictures here could not have been taken on a race weekend. Some pictures are obvious (unpainted bodies), but others are moresubtle; try to guess why each picture must have come from a non-raceevent before reading the description.
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| Al Unser Jr. Slides into the Penske-owned '97 Reynard for comparison testing |
At first glance, this picture might not seem unusual, but whenwas the last time you saw a driver get into a car without the carbeing surrounded by the pit crew? Certainly not on a race weekend. Even during the test I never saw a driver get into a car unassisted. I just happened to catch a moment before someone walked up to help Alstrap in. The shot I missed: right before Al got into the car, Irealized that he was smoking in the pits just as he blew a cloud ofsmoke, dropped his cigarette and stepped on it. The Marlboro manstanding near his car with a cigarette in his mouth, now that wouldhave been an interesting shot we never get to see. My first thoughtwas "at least he's not a hypocrite." On the other hand, it seemslike an old-school attitude towards a physically demanding sport.
Both Al and Mike put in many hard laps in their old cars, so I'mguessing that they were primarily there to help develop new Goodyearrubber.
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| Mike scratches his head, why so many laps in the old car? |
Only a Real Race Fan™ would know why this picture could nothave been taken on a race weekend. Does it immediately pop out atyou (or should I say "pop-off")?
A CART testing day has none of the excitement of a race weekend -no crowds, no noise, no slicing, no dicing, no Tecate girls to lookat. Just a deserted track and a peaceful silence broken every fewseconds by the roar of an 800 HP engine flying by. I like going totest days because of the opportunity to get unusual pictures, but atest day also allows you to more closely observe what each drivergoes through as he tests new equipment or just tries differentsetups. I have no idea what changes are made in the pits, and Idon't bother to time laps, but sometimes I can tell if a driver is doint wellor if he's struggling. For instance, at the official CART testat Laguna Seca last February I noticed that Zanardi was flying aroundthe track all day while other drivers were going to the pits muchmore often for adjustments. Zanardi was obviously comfortable anddrove hard all day, setting an unofficial track record. On WednesdayI had some similar observations. While standing at the Turn 11 andTurn 2 hairpins, I noticed that Mike was the only driver toconsistently work the throttle through these corners, lap after lap. I must say I was impressed because on a quiet test day it's easier tocompare drivers at the individual corners, and I thought Mike was theonly driver to drive consistently hard all day.
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| Alex Barron, entering just his third year ofauto racing, accellerates in car #36 |
Well, the unusual thing about this photo may be too subtle. Ifthis were taken in the summer or fall, a low morning or lateafternoon sun would not have hit the pit lane at this angle. This isa warm low winter sun that popped out after a mostly cloudy day. Reminds me of the early morning practice shots I got at Fontana. OnWednesday, I didn't see the AAR boys go out until after lunch (maybethey were out before I got there in the late morning).
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| Alex in Turn 9, trying to keep up with Mikey |
If you've attended races here, or you've seen the TV coverage,you know that Laguna Seca is nestled in the golden hills of theMonterey area. What you never see at a Laguna Indy race is greengrass, 'cause the race takes place in September, well after the grasshas dried up for the summer.
Normally the drivers stay away from each other because they'rebusy testing and not competing with each other. However at one pointAlex came out of the pits just after Mike, and for several laps hetried to keep up; a good test for a new guy with very few laps inhyper-G machinery. After several laps Alex lost some ground to Mike,but I was impressed that he was hanging as well as he did. However,considering his Toyota power, there are several possibleexplanations: 1) Alex is a reeeally fast driver; 2) Fangio pulled aRahal and got out just as a Japanese engine company found power; 3)Mike was testing the rumored Goodyear 500-mile "economy" tire forteams with tight budgets; 4) Mike was busy testing and not trying tooutrun the young punk.
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| Max Papis in the unpainted '98 Reynard under the Firestone bridge |
Arciero-Wells knows how to please its sponsors. They tookdelivery of a '98 Reynard, and although they didn't have time topaint it, they took the time to apply all the sponsor decals, knowingthat people will be interested in taking pictures of the new car. Boy, carbon-fiber is hard to photograph. Without bright sun hittingit, it's hard to see all the subtle detail.
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| Max between Turn 8 and 9 |
Max was not a happy camper. Coming out of Turn 8 he got on thegas and the car twitched in a major way. Coming out of Turn 2 he goton the gas and the car twitched in a major way. In Turn 3 he hit thegas at the apex, but he had to back out. The car was obviously nothooking up the way he wanted. These are just the moments I witnessedas I wandered around the track. I'm sure he had many more as theystruggled to set up the new car.
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| The classic Laguna shot - Max dropping down the Corkscrew |
Look at the tire marks on the curb and on the white advertisingspaces. If you think Zanardi is entertaining to watch at theCorkscrew, those Skip Barber students must be a riot. After seeingthis, I realized how hard the track workers must work to clean up andprepare the track for a major race weekend.
When I got to the track I immediately walked to the paddock,where the guy at the gate said "no photographs." He didn't want tolet me into the paddock. Actually, I could have easily entered thepaddock through an unattended gate, but since I knew Roger would nothave been pleased to see my camera, I didn't bother. However, sinceLaguna Seca is a county park, Roger couldn't close the entire trackto the public, so no big deal.
From the front straight I saw that there were actually a coupleof photographers in the Penske pit area, perhaps to document Penske'santicipated return to glory. Maybe they were from monthlies likeRacer magazine, where Roger knows the pictures won't show up forseveral weeks. Racer has nice pictures and technical articles, butthe news is old and useless by the time it gets to your doorstep. The web rules!
So anyways, it looks like one of the photographers walked downthe pit lane to take close-ups of Al and Andre's helmets. The guyholding up the board is probably just blocking the sun from hittingthe front of the lens. The photographer seems oblivious to the factthat there is a possibility a driver coming out of the pits on coldtires could lose control and take his right leg off. Remember, atthis point Barron had only driven one of these cars for three or fourdays. Hey look, those houses in the hills have a good view of thetrack.
Speedcenter's Firebird testing news page shows a Penske nose withan apparently self-supporting front wing. Take a look at theclose-up detail picture above. Now they have cables supporting thewing! Perhaps they discovered a lack of torsional stiffness thatbecame obvious while taking fast corners (but not detectable in thewind tunnel). That's just a wild guess, I have no idea how pressureon the wing changes in a corner.
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| Andre in the Stealth Penske - click on image for extreme nose detail |
Unlike the conscientious Arciero-Wells team, Penske apparentlywas confident that the new car would not be photographed. What'sthis? A completely black car? Marlboro can't be pleased. Roger isa powerful, successful businessman. This seems like quite a slip foran old pro. He must have known that the new nose would show up inthe media. He should have at least put "Marlboro" on the side of thenose.
 One sleek looking car! |
Here's a good shot in the sun that reveals a lot of detail - especially the shape of the winglets in front of the rear wheels.
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| Oh, this car is sponsored by Marlboro! |
I guess Roger wasn't quite as confident as I thought about hiscar not being photographed. It is now confirmed that Marlboro willcontinue to sponsor Team Penske for the '98 season.
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| Undressing the new Penske - you don't need to wait until spring training for this stuff here on SpeedCenter! |
I even got a glimpse of the new lightweight compactMercedes/Ilmor motor and a little bit of the rear suspension.
Hey, this spy stuff is fun. So when do I get paid?