microphone pict ©1999 SpeedCenter
Greg Spotts interviews CART rookie Luiz Garcia Jr.

Finding the Limit between the Walls

Luiz in Tang colors
Luiz Garcia talks about his first road course experience in a champ car, negotiating the concrete walls at Long Beach
 


Introduction: Introduction: Speedcenter caught up with rookie driver Luiz Garcia Jr. moments after he qualified in last place at Long Beach on Saturday, over four seconds behind pole sitter and fellow Brazilian Tony Kanaan. Garcia, who is about to turn 28 years old, finished 12th in the final Indylights points standings in '98, winning from the pole at Cleveland and taking third at Portland.

Garcia moved up from Indylights due to a last-minute sponsorship agreement with Tang, the timing of which eliminated the possibility of significant preseason testing. He discussed the challenges of making the adjustment to the bigger more powerful Champ cars, staying motivated in the face of adversity and "finding the limits between the walls" of Long Beach. Garcia did not finish Sunday's race, spinning in turn 11 on lap 17 and then retiring on lap 28 after an off-course excursion.

Question: How's it going Luiz?

    Luiz Garcia Jr.: It's been a tough weekend. We lost the first session yesterday, the longest session, so we lost some important track time. Yesterday in the afternoon in the first qualifying I was only able to do ten laps. So each time I was going out I was just getting used to everything. This is also my first time on a road course with these cars.

Question: Have you raced here before in Indy Lights?

    Luiz Garcia Jr.: I raced here in Lights. It's a big jump. I have tested only for a day and a half at Homestead on an oval before the race. To be competitive, it would have been necessary to go to a road track and test for at least a couple of days. My first laps on a road course were here yesterday.

    Every time I go out it keeps getting better but we're still a bit far away from what we can do. We also had two problems with engines, engines and gearboxes which cost us important track time. I know it was going to be tough for the first five races when I got the deal. After Rio we're going to have time to test, so we're going to concentrate on getting everything better for the last fifteen races.

Question: What are the biggest adjustments moving up from Lights on the same track?

    Luiz Garcia Jr.: You have to get used to the speed. The engines are more sensitive on downshifting, it's a lot easier to wheelspin, you have to be a lot harder on the brakes, use the downforce. The problem is to find the limit here. You have walls all around, so you can go only this much past the limit. The ideal would be to go to an open road track like Button Willow to really find the limit. I'm having to find the limit between the walls. If I crash then I loose even more, and I need the track time.

    Japan was good experience to do the whole race there. I was eighteenth, and then we ran out of fuel and finished nineteenth. But I learned a lot, so the mileage was important. And that's what I believe I can get out of this race is the experience, the mileage. To see how the race develops, how is the start, how are the pit stops, how do we play with the tactics. When we finally have time to get a lot of testing, we can concentrate on trying to get points and good results.

    We can do it. We had a day and a half at Homestead and we did pretty decent times in testing. We had problems in the race but we did it. So we need testing and we'll get up there.

Question: Emotionally, even though you have a lot of obstacles to overcome, do you have moments of being thrilled, of being joyful in the car?

    Luiz Garcia Jr.: Yeah, the car is a lot of fun. If it wasn't for all the pressure of being a race weekend and having to perform, the fun would be hard to describe. It's a great feeling, the car is fantastic. I'm pushing hard and I'm still four seconds away right now. That's the fun of it. You're pushing hard, the car is so fast, and you're still miles away from the limit. It becomes a lot of fun when stop later on and think.