Race No. 11
Molson Indy Toronto
Toronto, Ontario
July 17-19, 1998
Raceday Quotes from Toronto: | Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda Finished: 1st |
| ALEX ZANARDI | |
| I have to say very honestly that a lot of things didn't go right today. I spun, I got stuck in an accident and I had problems with my tires. Nevertheless, I'm here in the middle of these two guys [in the winner's seat in the post-race interview] and that's unbelievable. [Passing Andretti] It wasn't me going super fast as much as Michael having nothing left to compete with me. I came up in the turn and saw his car go a little wide and it left me with and opening. I said 'I'm gonna try it,' and that's the way I got the position. [On his duel for position with Vasser] I wasn't expecting any favors from my teammate. The only thing I'm disappointed in is that we had a chat before the race and I told him in advance what I was going to do in that situation, then I was wondering 'Why the hell did I tell him?' I never found anybody so difficult to pass. I cannot feel sorry for how much luck I'm having right now. Obviously, I can't complain. Things are going right for me and obviously I'm very happy because I'm able to take advantage. | |
 | Marlboro Penske Mercedes Finished: 17th |
| AL UNSER, Jr. | |
| It was just a bad day for us. The whole team did a great job getting ready for the race today, but we couldn't get a break. We had a good first pit stop, but unfortunately, I got caught up in the incident in turn three after Jourdain spun and had to come in for a new front wing. We were working our way back up when car 34 (Salles) ran over the right side of my car. Hopefully, next week in Michigan we can turn our luck around. | |
 | Marlboro Penske Mercedes Finished: 23rd |
| ANDRE RIBEIRO | |
| The gearbox was working fine. Then, on that last lap, as I was going down through the gears at the end of the back straight, and it just let go. It's a shame because we're really improving the performance of the car. It's getting better and better with every race. We'll just have to work hard and concentrate on making the gearbox more reliable. I'm sure when we start finishing races, we'll have good results. | |
 | Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Swift Ford Finished: 2nd |
| MICHAEL ANDRETTI | |
| It was an interesting day. In the beginning, Dario [Franchitti] just took over. Poor Dario. He was in a class of his own today. I don't think anybody had anything for him. After the last restart, the car got so loose, I could barely keep it straight, especially under braking. I was just a sitting duck for Alex. I didn't know how I was gonna hold him off without taking him out. If I would have moved over any more, I think we would have crashed, which I wasn't about to do. Alex just took advantage. It was very disappointing. | |
 | Miller Lite Team Rahal Reynard Ford Finished: 4th |
| BOBBY RAHAL | |
| We had a good race car today. This morning we had a mediocre race car at best, we made some changes and they were the right ones. In the race we made a few more changes, and they were the right ones as we were catching the leaders. But after that last yellow, I couldn't get any more grip in the tires. But we'll take fourth. | |
 | Shell Team Rahal Reynard Ford Finished: 5th |
| BRYAN HERTA | |
| It makes things a little more difficult when you start 17th, but we went into this race thinking that if we could get a top five today we would be happy. We needed to put ourselves a little farther up on the grid to start the race but I'm happy to get a top five and we will go on to Michigan. | |
 | Hogan Truck Leasing Reynard Mercedes Finished: 24th |
| JJ LEHTO | |
| When I came in for my first pit stop, we checked the car over because somebody, I think it was Unser, had hit the back of my car early in the race. When we went back out the car felt okay, but something at the back went down all of a sudden. I didn't have any steering at all and went into the wall. | |
 | Budweiser/Ralph's Della Penna Racing Swift Ford Finished: 7th |
| RICHIE HEARN | |
| Today's finish is better than last week's. (18th) We'll take this. We collected some points today and earned another top-10 finish, so that's not a bad day. I'm looking forward to moving on to Michigan next week. We tested the new wing there before Cleveland, and the car was great. I think it's going to be a good race for us. | |
 | Kmart/Texaco Havoline Newman/Haas Racing Swift Ford Finished: 16th |
| CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI | |
| I had no idea that de Ferran had run into my left rear tire. The jacks went down and I took off and noticed a vibration immediately in the rear of the car. Then I noticed my crew waving at me which is when I stopped and they pulled me back into my stall. It was very frustrating because I had to make an additional stop on the very next lap to make certain everything was fine. That cost us a chance at a good finish. | |
 | Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda Finished: 3rd |
| JIMMY VASSER | |
| It was pretty uneventful in the first half. I lost my rear tires toward the end of the first stint, so I came in and we made an adjustment and the car was pretty good. It wasn't fantastic like Dario's car, but I didn't have any complaints. The thing with Dario ... I saw the yellows, but I was carrying too much speed on the concrete. I couldn't make it to the inside, which is where I thought you needed to go. I ran over his nose, and after that I had a vibration. It was good to get two Target cars on the podium and move into second in the championship. | |
 | Bettenhausen Racing Alumax Aluminium Reynard Mercedes Finished: 10th |
| HELIO CASTRO-NEVES | |
| We were running pretty good, racing hard. But, unfortunately, the car wasn't the best, so I just tried to hang on, stay out of trouble, not make a lot of mistakes. I knew a lot of mistakes would happen, and we would be able to move up as the other guys dropped out. In the middle of the race, I lost first gear, but I was still hanging on. I'm very happy to be in the top 10 and get the points for the team. | |
 | Hollywood Reynard Mercedes Finished: 12th |
| MAURICIO GUGELMIN | |
| We had a lot of rubber buildup on the brake ducts, and the brakes overheated. That caused a vibration and a really soft pedal, so I couldn't really race too much. Then the rotor started to vibrate, and when it does that it knocks the pads away from the rotor. Eventually, the rotor just broke. | |
 | PacWest Motorola Reynard Mercedes Finished: 26th |
| MARK BLUNDELL | |
| The throttle assembly gave up on us. It was the same problem we had during the warmup this morning. Once that the throttle started sticking, there was no way to control it, no way to actuate the pedal, and that's what put me into the wall at Detroit, so that was the end of our day. | |
 | Visteon Reynard Ford Finished: 6th |
| SCOTT PRUETT | |
| Overall we're pleased with our finish. We had a good car today, not a great car.I battled a loose car all day today and in fact all weekend. We made some changes on our first stop that didn't seem to help. Toronto is a difficult track to pass on, so we ran a patient race and maintained our position on the track. I am happy that we came away with as many points as we did. | |
 | Team Kool Green Reynard Honda Finished: 20th |
| DARIO FRANCHITTI | |
| What can I say? I just can't believe it. The brakes were a worry all day. We had similar problems in qualifying yesterday. We thought the pads were low, so we swapped rotors and discs on the car. The brake pedal was going long in the longer runs. When I spun in Turn 1, I caught the throttle as I was braking. It's really disappointing because the Team KOOL Green guys did a great job in the pits. | |
 | Team Kool Green Reynard Honda Finished: 14th |
| PAUL TRACY | |
| Team KOOL Green qualified on the pole yesterday and we experienced the highest of all highs. And today, we were snake-bit again. I can't describe how disappointed the whole team is; nothing seems to go right for us. We had a car today that was definitely top-five material. It was taking me quite a bit of time to get my tires up to temperature and I was getting passed on the re-starts. You know it's just bad luck with what happened to Dario. The marshalls weren't really giving me an indication of what was going on in Turn 1. When I got there, Dario was lying across the track sideways and I had nowhere to go. It's a frustrating day because Dario had the race locked up and we could have been in the top-five. We were able to make up a couple of positions after what happened to Dario. I got together with (Adrian) Fernandez and I spun. I was on the inside of him and I don't think he saw me. It was a real frustrating day for Team KOOL Green. | |
 | Forsythe Player's/Indeck Reynard Mercedes Finished: 25th |
| PATRICK CARPENTIER | |
| I got hit from behind, and the contact toed one of the wheels out. After that, the car rotated very easily. We pitted and went back out. But when the green flag waved again, I went back to the throttle and spun and hit the wall. It was partly cold tires, but I think mostly the problem with the rear suspension from before. | |
 | Tecate Beer/Quaker State Patrick Racing Reynard Ford Finished: 9th |
| ADRIAN FERNANDEZ | |
| It was rough out there. The conditions were not very good and the track was very slippery. We had an incident with (Paul) Tracy as he was trying to pass me in turn one and he hit my side pod. Fortunately I didn't go off and then after that it was just trying to stay alive. We didn't have such a good car but it was good to just finish the race. We need to concentrate on the next race now. Hopefully our bad days are behind us. We cannot afford them if we are going to fight for the championship. | |
 | Baan Software Davis Racing Lola Ford>br> Finished: 15th |
| ARND MEIER | |
| I was ready to overtake Salles but he was blocking me. But then he broke much too late and he couldn't make the corner and went into Unser. Unser had nothing to do with the incident. | |
 | Forsythe Player's-Indeck Reynard Mercedes Finished: 11th |
| GREG MOORE | |
| We were running according to plan, just running consistent 61-second laps and staying out of trouble. We figured we'd just run as quick as we could, be consistent and see where we could end up. But somewhere around lap 25 or 30, the popoff valve broke. Once that happened, we had no boost and no power. It was worse than driving a Toyota. [Well done Greg -- I rather suspect you have just shot yourself in the foot in terms of your future options -- WSD, ed.]. | |
 | Team Kool Green Team manager |
| BARRY GREEN | |
| I feel like jumping off the CN Tower. The brake pedal went to the floor and Dario spun in Turn 1. We were fantastic in the pits. I guess the satisfaction is that we were competitive and we know it's only a matter of time before we win. | |