Excited About '99
©1998 SpeedCenter Internet Publishing, Inc.
Photos Courtesy Sutton/USA
SEBRING, FL - November 20, 1998 - Mauricio Gugelmin wrapped up a productive three-dayshakedown of PacWest Racing Group's first Reynard 99I chassis today at Sebring InternationalRaceway. The 35-year old Brazilian lowered his lap time to 51.6 seconds and left Sebringin a confident frame of mind.
"It's very encouraging to have such a successful first test," Gugelmin stated. "We didaround 600 miles overall and had no problems whatsoever. The car was really reliable."
"We're basically learning what it likes," he continued. "We kept it simple, but lookedat a lot of things. There's potentially a lot more to come. At least I know I have acar that I can use the brakes to attack corners rather than a car that wants to attack me!"
Gugelmin and the PacWest team are looking to rebound from a disappointing 1998 campaignthat produced a top finish of fourth at Mid-Ohio. After claiming three poles and hisfirst CART win on his way to fourth place in the PPG Cup standings in 1997, Mauricio andteammate Mark Blundell never got to grips with the 1998 Reynard, finishing 14th and17th respectively in the season points chase.
"One of the keys to our success in 1997 was getting the new car early and puttingin a lot of miles to learn what it liked and didn't like," said Gugelmin. "It's atremendous advantage for us to be the first team out testing our '99 package."
Source: PacWest Racing Group
