Race No. 5
Rio 400
Emerson Fittipaldi Speedway
at Nelson Piquet International Raceway Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
May 8-10, 1998
Friday Quotes from Rio:| MICHAEL ANDRETTI | ADRIAN FERNANDEZ | GIL DE FERRAN |
| CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI | TONY KANAAN | DARIO FRANCHITTI |
| PAUL TRACY | JIMMY VASSER | ALEX ZANARDI |
 | Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda |
| ALEX ZANARDI | |
| We had a very frustrating day. Every time we'd try to get a decent lap together it always went yellow. We tried a lot with both cars, but got little result. Sure, there's a lap time to be had out there, and we're looking for it. We just need to make the car better. | |
 | Valvoline/Cummins/Craftsman Special Walker Racing Reynard Ford |
| GIL de FERRAN | |
| It's been a great week for me. Iarrived [in Brazil] last Friday and went to seemy family in Sao Paulo. I arrived in Rioyesterday morning and it was good to see everyoneagain. It went even better today. The car isbehaving really well. It was a good sessionbecause obviously we have a good car straight outof the box. The tires are very good, withGoodyear in the top three. | |
 | Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Swift Ford |
| MICHAEL ANDRETTI | |
| The car was good. It unloaded very quickand it was good to be able to get the right setupright away. Now it's just a little bit here and alittle bit there. We're gonna have to find a fewmore things for sure [to win the pole]. If we cando that, I think we'll have a shot at it. It wasa good day, but today's Friday. Tomorrow and thenext day are the important days. | |
 | Kmart/Texaco Havoline Newman/Haas Racing Swift Ford |
| CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI | |
| Thecar was pretty good the whole session, but Ibasically got a little too excited at the end. Iwas out on my second set of tires and I spun, butnothing hurt. I'm happy to be here and happy tobe racing in Rio, but we definitely have a lotmore rock and roll left this weekend. | |
 | Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda |
| JIMMY VASSER | |
| The track is very slick and sandy. Overall, the car is difficult to drive with the lack of grip. When I spun exiting out of turn four, the car was pushing and then just jumped out on me. I was steering in the mirrors, to miss the wall going backwards, then locked up the brakes and popped three tires. | |
| LCI International Tasman Motorsports Group Lola Honda | |
| TONY KANAAN | |
| Sometimes things happen for the good. We had some small transmission problems in the session with the primary car.We brought out the t-car and were able to go faster. I think what happened to us in Japan is happeninghere © the t-car is better than the primary car. I'm happy. We have a pretty good setup and we saved a lot of tires, althoughI damaged one set when I spun in Turn Four. That was a big scare, but I'm okay.I'm very happy. Let's see what we can do tomorrow. | |
 | Team Kool Green Reynard Honda |
| DARIO FRANCHITTI | |
| We're working slowly on the set up since we got here. Every time we've been out we've improved the car. We'llmake another small change at the front end before qualifying, but I'm basically happy with the car. | |
 | Team Kool Green Reynard Honda |
| PAUL TRACY | |
| The car is different at each end of the track. I've got a big push in turn one and the car is loosein turn four. It's tough to make a big compromise. You fix one end and it gets worse at the other.We'll see what Dario did; he must have done something that worked. | |
 | Tecate Beer/Quaker State Patrick Racing Reynard Ford |
| ADRIAN FERNANDEZ | |
| The problem is the track is very dirty. You can see guys slipping in the sand. They sweep itbut, the sand is still there and it doesn't allow for any mistake. I was increasing my speed and I went to deep into the corner. I was a little off line but, Ifigured no problem I'll go into the gray a little. When I got into the gray the back end of the carjust snapped around in the sand. The primary Tecate/Quaker State car is a good car. The back-up car is slow. I don't like it.There is definitely something wrong with it. The gears are very stiff. There is somethingwrong, or something happened with the gear box. The Tecate/Quaker State guys don't knowwhat it is yet but I am confident they will figure it out by tomorrow. | |