Race No. 9
Medic Drug Grand Prix of Cleveland
Presented by Star Bank
Burke Lakefront Airport
Cleveland, Ohio
June 25-27, 1999
Friday Quotes from Celveland: |
Team Kool Green Reynard Honda Qualified 2nd |
| PAUL TRACY | |
| “Everything’s starting to click now for Team KOOL Green. There’s still a lot more in the car. We didn’t get a great lap in the session. The red flag came out when I was on my quickest lap, so we had to try again on the same set of tires. They seem to be holding up fairly well – I set my fast time six or seven laps into the set (of tires). Near the end of the session, I clipped some tires that were sticking out on the inside of the track and it spun me off. That’s okay. We were P1 most of the session. Tomorrow is going to be the important qualifying session. Today was just to establish a good baseline. The track conditions will be better tomorrow and I know we can go faster.” | |
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Team Kool Green Reynard Honda Qualified 10th |
| DARIO FRANCHITTI | |
| “The Team KOOL Green car isn’t that bad. I don’t think we’re struggling too much on pace. We have a little problem in the back; we need to settle the back end down. But traffic is just a nightmare. You’d think on a track this size we’d be able to stay out of each other’s way. I came up behind one guy on my fast lap there in one of the quicker corners and basically that took the air away from me and the result of that was the off (His car went off course and into a tire barrier). The car’s fine. We’ll be back to try again tomorrow. I’m just really frustrated with the way things are going out there with the traffic.” | |
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Kmart/Texaco Havoline Newman/Haas Racing Swift Ford Qualified 8th |
| CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI | |
| "During my best lap Dario went off and that hurt us because I had a great time going. I only needed twenty more seconds to complete the lap. My telemetry told me that up to that point I was going a tenth of a second quicker which would have put us up in the top three or four." WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS OF RACING IN CLEVELAND? "I really like racing here. It's a challenging place and the track setup really allows you to hang it all out and go for it." | |
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Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Swift Ford Qualified 4th |
| MICHAEL ANDRETTI | |
| "Today was a bit disappointing. I got into the turn a little too hot and spun the car." YOU HAD A VERY GOOD TIME GOING RIGHT BEFORE YOU SPUN AT THE END OF THE SESSION. WAS THAT A LAP THAT COULD HAVE PUT YOU ON THE POLE? "We had a car capable of the pole today. The car was really working well. It wouldn't have mattered much though because typically in Cleveland everyone goes a lot faster on Saturday anyway." | |
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Patrick Racing Visteon Swift Ford Qualified 6th |
| P.J. JONES | |
| "I am very happy with this time today. It's been a tough couple of weeks and this is a good way to start the weekend. This track really seems to suit the car. We just need to get the car a bit more consistent. The guys and I needed a shot in the arm and this helps. This is good for us." | |
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Tecate Beer/Quaker State Patrick Racing Reynard Ford Qualified 15th |
| ADRIAN FERNANDEZ | |
| "The track still doesn't have good grip. Last year we were very strong here but we have not found it yet this year but we are getting closer. We just have to work a little harder getting the car to work through the bumps. We need to qualify better tomorrow so we can get on the podium on Sunday. Last year I qualified 17th and ended up finishing 5th but we can't expect to make up that much ground again." MANY OF THE DRIVERS COMMENTED ON THE BUMPS. ARE THE BUMPS GIVING YOU PROBLEMS? "This is the bumpiest place we race. Even more so than some of the temporary street courses. But it is a fun place to race at the same time. The bumps just make it a bit more challenging to set the car up." | |
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Miller Lite Team Rahal Reynard Ford Qualified 20th |
| MAX PAPIS | |
| "It was a very difficult day for us today. The Miller Lite car wasn't what we wanted today. Early on in the session we had a big understeer and were sliding around a lot. Plus the session was broken up by quite a few red flags. Right now we are just looking for that middle ground for the setup. The track is not that good right now but that's no excuse. We have to improve our car for Saturday." | |
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Shell Team Rahal Reynard Ford Qualified 3rd |
| BRYAN HERTA | |
| "There is a lot more in the car than what we showed today. The red flags during the session couldn't have come at a worse time for us. Every time we had a good run going the red flag would come out." HOW IS THE TRACK SURFACE? "It's hard to get the car to work through the bumps, especially in the corners. It makes the car very twitchy. But at the same time it's kind of fun. When you come to Cleveland you expect that though. It's part of the challenge of the track. I think the track will improve overall as the weekend goes on. It was very dirty this morning and it's taking a little longer for the track to come too but each lap we put on it the better it gets." EARLY ON IN THE SEASON YOU STRUGGLED ON THE OVALS. AT ANY POINT DID THE LACK OF SUCCESS START TO GET TO YOU? "It was frustrating that's for sure. We spent a lot of time during the off season working on our oval package. But when we were not having success early on we started to loose confidence. We tried and tried to fix things and change the way we went about things but we ended up just getting lost. It was never a situation of loosing confidence. Everyone really stuck together. In a situation like that it is very easy to start pointing fingers but I give credit to Bobby Rahal for helping us all work through that. It's not a situation of the ovals not being as important as the road courses because it is very important for me to run good on ovals. But it is nice to be up front on the grid again. I guess I got my Mojo back." | |
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McDonald's
Forsythe Championship Racing Team Reynard Honda Qualified 17th |
| TONY KANAAN | |
| "The car doesn't feel bad to drive, but it's not making any speed. We weren't able to match our lap times from this morning. We should be farther up the grid than this and it's frustrating." | |
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Forsythe Player's/Indeck Reynard Mercedes Qualified 13th |
| PATRICK CARPENTIER | |
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"We're happy with this session, although we were losing quite a bit of time
in the hairpin," he declared. "In fact, that's the only place we're losing
time. When we solve this, we'll be very close to the pole." "On this track, if we qualify in the top 5 and have a good start, we're looking at a win," he stated. "This is our goal right now." | |
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Forsythe Player's/Indeck Reynard Mercedes Qualified 2nd |
| GREG MOORE | |
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"We're fairly happy with this first qualifying session," remarked Moore,
the Maple Ridge, B.C., driver who made it to the podium in his first CART
race at Cleveland, when he finished third in 1996. "We'll be in the fast
group tomorrow and that's what counts. We'll be going for the pole."
"When we went out on our second set of tires we couldn't get a clear lap," he explained. "Then there was a read flag, and then another. We just couldn't get the right timing. But the car was so much better in the afternoon session. We still have a bit of a problem in the first corner, but our Player's team will solve that." | |
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Herdez Competition Payton/Coyne Lola Ford Qualified 23rd |
| MICHEL JOURDAIN | |
| "We had quite a few problems with the rear of the car today. We are working hard to make the improvements that will help us tomorrow. My spin didn't help us either because we lost time because of that. The car has a lot of potential we just need to find it." | |
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Tang Payton/Coyne Reynard Ford Qualified 24th |
| LUIZ GARCIA JR. | |
| "We are making progress. We are getting faster but we couldn't make full use of our second set of tires. The bumps are not upsetting me that much though. Our major focus with the car is getting the oversteer problem we have fixed. But I am confident we can improve this weekend." | |