Long Beach 1996 PPG Indy Car World Series

Race No. 4

Long Beach, California
April 14, 1996

Saturday Quotes from drivers and managers at Long Beach:
Index of Quotes available
MICHAEL ANDRETTI TEO FABI JUAN MANUEL FANGIO II
GIL DE FERRAN CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI EMERSON FITTIPALDI
ROBBY GORDON MAURICIO GUGELMIN BRYAN HERTA
RICHIE HEARN JEFF KROSNOFF EDDIE LAWSON
GREG MOORE BOBBY RAHAL PAUL TRACY
AL UNSER JR JIMMY VASSER ALEX ZANARDI
LEE DYKSTRA STU GRANT DAN GURNEY
Al SPEYER DERRICK WALKER

Vasser Pict #12 Target
Chip Ganassi Racing
Reynard Honda

JIMMY VASSER

"We showed yesterday [Friday] that we could run a good time. We were right behind Robby [when Gordon lost an engine] and maybe the track got a little better at the end, but it was not good enough to get the pole. "

Moore Pict #99 Forsythe
Player's/Indeck
Reynard Mercedes-Benz

GREG MOORE

"Although it's not a must to start on the front row here in Long Beach, like everybody, I would rather be there. Our Player's team really did a good job, and I have an excellent car for tomorrow's race, which is going to be long and I'd even say a question of survival. Surely, the traffic will be an important factor. All things considered, I'm confident that we have a very good chance of finishing well. "

Tracy Pict #3 Marlboro
Penske Mercedes

PAUL TRACY

"We're in good shape for tomorrow. We qualified well, I feel we could [have] moved up the grid a little more if we had one more run, but once Robbie's engine went and there was oil on the track, we decided to end our session. But it's going to be a long day tomorrow. There's always a lot of traffic here, so we're just going to run a conservative race and try to get some points. "

Andretti Pict #6 Kmart/Texaco/Havoline
Lola Ford Cosworth XD

MICHAEL ANDRETTI

"I had to run the backup car because there is definitely something wrong with the other. Actually, I never got a clean lap. I was blocked almost the whole time, in the early part on the first set of tires, and then when I got the new set, there was oil all over from Robby Gordon's motor. I believe I could have had a 52.5 [second lap]. The car was much better than 12th, and then it felt like the motor was going south at the end. "

Unser Pict #2 Marlboro
Penske Mercedes

AL UNSER, Jr.

"We need a little better package for tomorrow. It's going to be tough starting in ninth position, especially with how competitive the PPG Indy Car World Series is right now. When I put more grip in the car (to get around the corners), I was slow down the straightaways and I was slipping and sliding if I didn't have enough grip. It's going to be a long race tomorrow, and we're going to keep our patience to get my Marlboro car to the front.

[On having comedian Jerry Seinfeld as a Marlboro Team Penske guest at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach] "I'm a big fan of Jerry's and watch his show every chance I get. I couldn't help but notice that the famous Seinfeld refrigerator sports the logo of the Skip Barber Racing School. Then when I learned Jerry had taken one of their racing courses, I decided to send him a letter inviting him to the race. It's great having him here. "


Emmo Pict #9 Marlboro
Hogan Penske Mercedes-Benz

EMERSON FITTIPALDI

"I'm much happier with my car. This morning it was very loose. We cured that, and I'm looking for a good race. "

Fabi Pict #21 Visa PacWest
Reynard Ford

TEO FABI

" I have a lot of understeer in the car. It's a little better than yesterday, but not much. We lost most of the morning practice session because of brushing the wall, and that really hurt our chances to work on the car before qualifying. "

C. Fittipaldi Pict #11 Kmart/Budweiser
Lola Ford
Newman/Haas Racing

CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI

"The track improved from yesterday. We found some things out with the car that we didn't expect. We picked up about two-tenths of a second. The engineers are working hard to see what else we can do for qualifying. Too bad this wasn't qualifying. It would be nice to start in second place tomorrow. I could pick up where I left off last year [Fittipaldi ran in second place in the 1995 Long Beach race before gear box problems ended his day]. "

Hearn Pict #44 Ralphs/Food 4 Less
Della Penna Racing
Reynard Ford
photo Mike Levitt

RICHIE HEARN

" We lost a session yesterday, and considering that, I am very happy with today. The 1995 car is a bit off, but we are working it out. Considering the company around us, we are happy. This is all a new experience. Qualifying is harder than the race. We would be happy with a top 10 finish. "

Lawson Pict #1 Delco Electronics
High Tech Team Galles
Lola Mercedes

EDDIE LAWSON

"We need to find some more grip, but the balance is definitely better. We just need to pick up the overall grip  We're starting to understand what the car needs. The track has definitely changed since the last time I raced here. This has been a big learning curve for me, but I'll get there. "

de Ferran Pict #8 Pennzoil Special
Reynard Honda
Hall Racing

GIL de FERRAN

"In the morning [practice], I thought the track was fast but this afternoon [in qualifying] it was not quite as fast and I struggled to improve my time. I think it had to do with the [warm] temperature. Maybe it [the track] was a little quicker than yesterday [Friday], but not as much as I expected. "

Herta Pict #28 Shell
Reynard Mercedes-Benz
Team Rahal

BRYAN HERTA

"We rolled the dice on a completely different chassis setup today. It helped a little bit, but we're still off the pace. With the harder tire compound, we'll hope it will last longer during the race. "

Zanardi Pict #4 Target
Chip Ganassi Racing
Reynard Honda

ALEX ZANARDI

"We improved the car quite a lot with some used tires - well, not used but ones with laps on them. We improved the lap time by quite a lot and took second place."

Gordon Pict #5 Valvoline/Cummins/Craftsman Special
Reynard Ford

ROBBY GORDON

[after morning practice]"I was a lot looser yesterday. We made some changes and that really helped with the handling. We're a tenth quicker than yesterday, but there's still more in the car."

[after qualifying]"I wasn't worried about the 16th position. I knew that we were making changes on the car and that we would be quick. It's unfortunate. We had just put on a new set of tires and I was on my second lap of warming them up. The next lap would have been my quick lap. But, seventh is better than 11th [where Gordon qualified in the Friday session]".


Krosnoff Pict #25 Arciero-Wells Racing
Reynard Toyota

JEFF KROSNOFF

"Going into the first corner, the car completely died in every way. There was no warning or indication that anything was wrong. It cost us a lot of time on the track, almost the entire session. Fortunately, we ran a quick enough lap yesterday in provisional qualifying to keep us out of the very back. Now, we'll work on setting the car up for the race. "

Rahal Pict #18 Miller Racing
Reynard Mercedes-Benz
Team Rahal

BOBBY RAHAL

"It hasn't been a good weekend. The chassis has been too soft since Friday morning. That setup worked well at Australia, but not here. We are the only team running the harder Goodyear tires to start, and that might give us an advantage as the race goes on. "

Gugelmin Pict #17 Hollywood
Reynard Ford
photo Mike Levitt

MAURICIO GUGELMIN

[On being quickest in the first qualifying session on Saturday]"We were so lost yesterday that anything would have been an improvement. Unfortunately, I think we needed one more day to solve all of the problems with the car. The track is usually a little better here on the second day, more rubber down and everything, and I think a lot of the improvement is because of that. "

Fangio Pict #36 Eagle Mk-V Toyota

JUAN MANUEL FANGIO II

"We improved the car in this qualifying session. Like always, we need an extra day to keep doing changes. It will always take longer for us, because we don't have any initial settings for the car. But, we made some improvement and we went in a good direction. "

#36 All American Racers
Team owner

DAN GURNEY

[celebrating his 65th birthday today] "As a birthday present, the fact that we are third is good. I would rather have been third from the front as opposed to third from the rear. Anyway, it's a happy birthday. "

#5 Valvoline/Cummins/Craftsman Special
Walker Racing Team Owner

DERRICK WALKER

[after qualifying]"Obviously, we had a problem with the engine. It's unfortunate, but these things happen. The good news is that we've got a good race set-up. "

#5 Valvoline/Cummins/Craftsman Special
Walker Racing Chief Engineer

LEE DYKSTRA

[after morning practice]"We tried a little more downforce. Before, we had sort of a minimum rear wing. So, we just put on more downforce and that helped the car. We made some changes last night as far as springs and bars and that helped the car. We're getting there. We're about halfway there, but we still need a little more. "

AL SPEYER

Bridgestone/Firestone Motorsports Manager
"It's so competitive now. Firestone and Goodyear each have five cars in the top 10. The parity makes for excitement and is entertaining. We're thrilled a variety of our cars are in a position to win the race. "

General Manager of Racing
Goodyear Tire

STU GRANT

[On Goodyear's new option Eagle claiming five of the top 10 spots on the starting grid] "This tire originally was to be introduced in the Detroit race, but we decided to accelerate our development program for the street course tire following the Australian race. No question, we are moving ahead, and we expect much more improvement as our teams continue to tune their cars to our new construction."