Race No. 8
ITT Automotive Grand Prix of Detroit
Detroit — Michigan
June 6 — June 8, 1997
Sunday Quotes from drivers and managers at Detroit: | Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda Finished: 4th |
| Photo: Scott Hughes JIMMY VASSER | |
| "We had a good car. I picked off some spots early and then got stuck behind some slow cars. You could pass on the first lap after restarts. We didn't change (Firestone) tires on the last stop and I'm not sure if that was the right thing to do. I almost passed Gil (de Ferran) one time and then got through the hole he made when he passed (Roberto) Moreno. We got some good points and moved up in the standings." | |
 | Forsythe Player's/Indeck Reynard Mercedes-Benz Finished: 1st |
| GREG MOORE | |
| "The guys gave me unreal pit stops today. We've worked awfully hard on our pit stops. This is their win. I didn't think they [Gugelmin and Blundell] were going to run out of fuel. First, I saw Mauricio run out on the backstraight, and I said 'I'm gonna finish second, that's pretty good.' Then, I saw Mark run out, and I said 'Wow! I'm in first place.'" "That last stop is probably what won us this race. I'm glad the race didn't end one lap sooner, that's for sure." | |
 | Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Swift Ford Cosworth XD Finished: 2nd |
| MICHAEL ANDRETTI | |
| "Gil was coming up on me pretty hard. I almost got into a couple of accidents. When Zanardi and Franchitti made contact I narrowly missed it. I almost got into it when Ritchie Hearn spun. Two close calls but we made it to the podium." [On Tracy not competing] "It's unfortunate for him. It's a tough break not being able to run here when you're in the lead. Winning championships take a lot of luck. My first thought was I've got to be able to take advantage. I didn't take any chances and tried to get track position and leave it to the guys in the pits to do it for me. They did on the second pit stop. I moved from fourth to second and that's why I'm here today. Next weekend I'll be racing in LeMans. I hope we'll be this lucky there." | |
 | Brahma Sports Team Reynard Ford Finished: 24th |
| SCOTT PRUETT | |
| "We had some sort of engine failure. We don't know what it is, but it was terminal. It's unfortunate because the Brahma guys did a great job. The car was running terrific. We were just sitting there, biding our time letting the laps go by. It's just tough on the whole team. We were just hanging back there running with Gil (de Ferran). We put a little bit of pressure on him, but we were pulling away from everybody else. We had to conserve tires a bit, so we were in the mode of just waiting and letting the laps go by."" | |
 | Kmart/Budweiser Swift Ford Newman/Haas Racing Finished: 5th |
| ROBERTO MORENO | |
| [On pass made by de Ferran] "He just got by me out of the corner. He was quicker than me in that corner. I'm not the type of guy that blocks big time. He put his nose there and I gave him room to try to make sure we didn't crash. I certainly didn't want to end this race and stint with Newman/Haas with a crash so I gave him extra room. I was off line so Vasser got by me as well. My tires were going away at the end so I couldn't challenge for a podium position. The grip was bad. De Ferran took a chance and it worked for him. To finish fifth here is very good. I think that Newman/Haas has helped me a lot to put me in the situation to challenge for a podium position. Now I'm ready to race competitively with Newman/Haas as today shows. I've had enough time to get comfortable in the car. This is the most competitive racing position I've ever been in. The equipment and the team are the best. It's a shame I have to leave. I'm glad that Christian is coming back because it's good for him. I've made a lot of friends here. These people will always be my friends." | |
 | Herdez Competition Payton/Coyne Lola Ford Cosworth Finished: 22nd |
| MICHEL JOURDAIN | |
| "We lost the rear brakes -- the rear master cylinder. So I only had front brakes and with that I went straight through a turn and into the tires. In the beginning the car was pushing very bad, but we made a change and it got better. We had made another change just a couple of laps before the crash, which we didn't get to really see. There was a lot of marbles on the track from the tires." | |
 | MCI Arciero Wells Reynard Toyota Finished: 11th |
| MAX PAPIS | |
| "It was a really hard race. Unfortunately on the first stop we pit just before the yellow came out (Juan Fangio pit under the yellow and passed Papis). It was very hard and after the pit stop I had to be very careful because I had a high temperature in the engine. It has been a great weekend for the MCI Racing team and Toyota. It is the first time we have run the 3.2 Toyota engine in a race and both cars finished in the points. We had a hell of a run in the end. I almost got by Juan on the last lap, but I could not really make it. I am very proud of my guys. They did fantastic pit stops both times. I think this is the first step on our way to the winner's circle." | |
 | Pennzoil Special Reynard Ford Davis/Craig Racing Finished: 21st |
| GUALTER SALLES | |
| "We tried some different strategy today to see if we would be able to pick up positions on pit stops, which may have paid off but we won't know. The car was understating a bit on the exit of turns 13 and 14. I was right behind (Christian) Danner and the car just tapped the left rear at the exit of 14 and I broke the wishbone. This is such a tough place to make up any ground. I was keeping up with the guys ahead, but it is difficult to overtake them." | |
 | Shell Reynard Ford Team Rahal Finished: 7th |
| BRYAN HERTA | |
| "We had a good car today, but I couldn't get a run on the people in front of me. The track was very tricky, so many marbles. It was like tip-toeing around the corners to stay in the groove. I had a lot of tire spin. I made a run on Bobby to pass him but the STS shut off the engine. (stuck throttle sensor.) Luckily, I hit the ignition to restart the car. But I lost eight or nine seconds to Bobby and, when I finally got by him, the leaders were gone. Without that problem we might have picked up a few more spots at the finish." | |
 | Team Kool Green Reynard Honda Finished: 20th |
| PARKER JOHNSTONE | |
| "This is the first time I've ever had this kind of problem with the engine. I startedgetting oil pressure alarms, and normally that's oil-temperature related. But it just dipped until itwent down to zero. When it got to zero and the engine was still producing power and it hadn't tightenedup yet, I thought it was the sensor. I came off of Turn 7 and felt it start to tighten up, and then shutit off. It smoked because the insides were cooking, but they weren't actually on fire. I wanted to try to preserve the race and prevent a full-course yellow, and I knew where there was a turnworkers' station where I could pull in and get pulled back behind the tires. I didn't want to be anywherethat could stop the race because it was so close to the end." | |
 | Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda Finished: 26th |
| ALEX ZANARDI | |
| "I don't know exactly (what happened). It looks like Dario (Franchitti) was trying to squeeze his nose inside me. (Said as Alex watched TV replay on jumbo screen across from his pits.) I know it wasn't my fault. To go out on the first lap of the race is very bad. I can understand someone being aggressive to make a position. I won a race last year (Laguna Seca with last-lap pass of Bryan Herta) doing that on the last lap, not the first lap. It is not only disappointing, but devastating for the whole Target/Ganassi team. We are going for a championship." | |
 | LCI International Lola Honda Tasman Motorsports Group Finished: 25th |
| ANDRE RIBEIRO | |
| "I tried to overtake Richie Hearn inside Turn 4. I got into the dirty part of the track, lost grip and spun. There was damage to the suspension. The car was running well and I was in a good rhythm. I had two successful passes the lap before. I had to try (to pass him)." | |
 | Tecate Beer/Quaker State Lola Honda Tasman Motorsports Group Finished: 27th |
| ADRIAN FERNANDEZ | |
| "I got tapped from behind when I was passing another car. I can't blame anyone. It was a racing incident. There wasn't enough room for both of us. It's always a problem when you start this far back. It's very crowded. The first lap is really your only chance to make up several positions on this track because passing is very difficult. It is so important to start at the front here." | |
 | Valvoline/Cummins/Craftsman Special Reynard Ford Finished: 3rd |
| GIL de FERRAN | |
| "I think we had a fantastic car this weekend. It was actually a tough race all the way to the end. All credit goes to the team. They did a fantastic job preparing the car. We were quite competitive, and that's a positive outlook for the entire weekend." | |
 | Miller Lite Reynard Ford Team Rahal Finished: 9th |
| BOBBY RAHAL | |
| "Driving on this track was one of the hardest races I've had in quite awhile. The marbles on the edge of the track were the worst that I have seen. You couldn't move off the line the littlest bit or you'd slide into the wall. I think that's what happened to Richie Hearn. You just had to wait for someone to make a mistake. But you had to be precise too. Plus, there was quite a bit of blocking today. It was getting ridiculous. I'd make a run on someone and get chopped off in the corner. That happened with four or five guys I was chasing today." | |
 | Brahma Sports Team Reynard Ford Cosworth Finished: 6th |
| RAUL BOESEL | |
| "I just tried to do my own race. Everybody was running hard, and you needed to be careful with the tires and brake points. I really went well through the pit stops and our overall strategy was good. The car ran well, especially on the second set of tires. I think we were faster than most of them, but there was no way to go around them without trying a bonsai move at great risk to everyone. We were just limited by the course. There was so much marbles that if you went up high you lost all your grip. We had enough fuel to run full rich. We keep hanging in there. We just need to keep developing all the time to move from the middle of the points to the front." | |
| Hasseroder Project Indy Lola Ford Cosworth Finished: 15th | |
| ARND MEIER | |
| "I like this track very much. It is the best track that I have driven to date. But to overtake there are only two possibilities. I'm a bit disappointed to finish so far out, but happy with the overall effort. The car was bottoming out all the time, so it was very difficult to control. The results were not the best, but we were also a bit unlucky this weekend." | |
 | Team Kool Green Team manager |
| BARRY GREEN | |
| "It's too bad we had to drop out, because for sure I think we would have finishedseventh. Parker drove a good race. We've just got to unload in better shape and qualify up frontin Portland, which will make Sunday a lot easier." | |