©1999 SpeedCenter Publishing
By Greg Spotts
Photos by Dave Gallegos
Laguna Seca, Feburary 24th 1999: Bryan Herta continued his string of memorable performances at Laguna Seca by leaving the rest of the seven-car field in the dust over the two-day open test. Teammate Max Papis was the only driver remotely nipping at Herta's heels throughout the four sessions.
Click on thumbnails for large scans
Nine drivers were originally slated to attend the CART-sanctioned event, which was the first such test since Spring Training at Homestead three weeks earlier. Michael Andretti's unexpected absence made it an all-Firestone field, and Cristiano daMatta's missing Reynard prevented a direct Ford vs. Toyota comparison. The drivers who did attend were the Team Rahal duo of Herta and Papis driving Ford-Reynards, the Patrick Racing team of Adrian Fernandez and PJ Jones in Ford-Swifts, Richie Hearn and Robby Gordon driving Toyota-Swifts for their single-car teams, and half of the three-peating Ganassi Racing team, represented by rookie Juan Pablo Montoya in Alex Zanardi's abandoned Honda-Reynard.
Herta threw down the gauntlet early in the Tuesday morning session with a blistering 1.07.853. Although official track records cannot be set in test sessions, the electronic scoring duly noted that Herta had bested his own track record of 1.07.895 set in 1997 qualifying. The most exciting aspect of the test proved to be the friendly competition that ensued between Herta and his new teammate Papis, who by all accounts is determined to show the world his true talent now that he rides in top-quality equipment.
Herta surely was enjoying his new position as senior driver at Team Rahal, who's owner and namesake retired from driving four months ago and hired the young Papis to carry the torch in 1999. Papis did his new mentor proud by closing out the Tuesday morning session in second place, albeit trailing Herta by a half-second. Richie Hearn amused the crowd by losing control of the car on cold tires, pitting, and then doing the same thing a second time.
Throughout the Tuesday afternoon session the other teams failed to approach the quickness of the Rahal drivers, with Herta improving to a 1.07.728 and Papis in second at 1.08.286. Juan Pablo Montoya was still getting acclimated at 1.08.512, and the four Swifts at least a second behind Montoya.
The Wednesday morning session began amidst a paddock buzzing with questions. Why was Zanardi's supposedly retired engineer Mo Nunn hard at work in the Ganassi pit? Did that mean Mo was impressed enough with Montoya's potential to reconsider his retirement? And why were the Ford powered Swifts of the Patrick team lagging behind the Toyota powered Swifts of teams Gordon and Della Penna? Was Swift testing specific components rather than aiming for all out speed, or was the new Reynard simply way ahead on road courses? Did Willy T. Ribbs' surprise appearance in the paddock portend a CART return sometime in the future? And what was the meaning of the early morning arrival and quick departure of an Arciero-Wells semi?
At the lunch break, Papis had impressed all concerned with lap of 1.07.722, six-thousandths of a second faster than Herta, who couldn't beat his best time posted in the Tuesday afternoon session. Montoya had significantly improved to a 1.08.168, and Adrian Fernandez and Robby Gordon took their Swifts into the 1.08's with a 1.08.626 and a 1.08.667 respectively. Hearn and PJ Jones was still a touch over 1.09.
While most of the paddock loyally supported new CART sponsor McDonalds by purchasing their second consecutive combo meal, the Della Penna team were treated to another catered barbecue delight. If only they could have washed down those ribs with some of their sponsor's beer. But there was still plenty of work to do and a prominently posted warning of "no drinking, no smoking, no glass" at the entrance to pit row.
Herta started off the afternoon session by running off the course. He quickly reappeared sporting a Miller Lite wing borrowed from his teammate's transporter, and in this hybrid Shell/Miller car Herta threw down an absolutely mind-blowing 1.07.181. So much for Papis' hopes of leaving town with the fastest time on the board. Still, Papis improved his morning time by another tenth, closing out the day at 1.07.612, a half-second ahead of the improving but still green Montoya, who's best effort was a 1.08.124.
The Swifts finally showed signs of life with all four drivers in the 1.08's, this time logically grouped together by equipment package. Fernandez drove his Ford-powered Patrick car to a Swift-best of 1.08.346, and his new teammate PJ Jones kept right up with a 1.08.409, quite impressive for a driver, like Papis, who is new to a truly competitive ride. The Della Penna team finally caught up to Robby Gordon's morning best with a 1.08.721, only six-hundredths behind Gordon's identical Toyota-Swift-Firestone package. Gordon's posting of the best Toyota-Swift lap was all the more impressive considering that his new team had only received their first Swift chassis within the last few weeks, and were allegedly running a basic, out-of-the-box setup.
What was learned? The results of the Homestead and Laguna Tests strongly suggest that Reynard-Firestone has a distinct edge on the rest of the field. If the Reynard-Firestone teams start the season ahead, expect them to increase their lead as the season progresses and the two companies share data gathered from their thirteen drivers. Success in CART is definitely a moving target. Toyota drivers picked up three tenths on the fastest Toyota in the '98 qualifying (ironically recorded by Papis.) The Ford-Swifts picked up four tenths on their best of '98 (Andretti.) However, Herta's Ford-Reynard beat his own '98 Laguna pole-qualification lap by almost a full second. If this week's test results can be replicated, and Reynard-Firestone has moved the goalposts, then the Toyota engine and the Swift, Eagle and Lola chassis will have to show drastic improvement in order to contend for the 1998 PPG Cup.
