Race No. 6
Brooklin
April 28, 1996
Saturday Quotes from drivers and managers at Michigan:| Index of Quotes available | ||
|---|---|---|
| GIL DE FERRAN | ADRIAN FERNANDEZ | ROBBY GORDON |
| BRYAN HERTA | PARKER JOHNSTONE | SCOTT PRUETT |
| ANDRE RIBEIRO | PAUL TRACY | AL UNSER JR |
| JIMMY VASSER | ALEX ZANARDI | |
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#8 Pennzoil Special Reynard Honda Hall Racing |
GIL de FERRAN | |
| "I ran a 229.8 in practice and I thought 'Hey, I'm going for the pole.' So we loosened it up and it backfired. I was correcting all the time with massive oversteer. We tried to free it up and we freed it up too much" | |
 |
#28 Shell Reynard Mercedes-Benz Team Rahal |
BRYAN HERTA | |
| "When we tested here it was very cold. Maybe the
track conditions came back to us a little bit. The car was on
rails out there. I don't know that I would've done anything
differently to make the car faster. "Our big failing this year has been in qualifying. We haven't qualified well and we've had to start in the back of the pack. This is a big boost for the guys who've worked so hard on the car all year" | |
 |
#5 Valvoline/Cummins/Craftsman Special Reynard Ford |
ROBBY GORDON | |
| "I was flat out the whole time. I guess that's all she'll do. I come off Turn Two doing 221 mph and go into Turn Three doing 221 mph. How do you not gain any speed on the straightaway? I don't know - it takes someone smarter than me." | |
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#49 Motorola Reynard Honda Brix Comptech Racing |
PARKER JOHNSTONE | |
| "The chassis was really working well, but some changes we made to the engine limited us and we weren't pulling all the revs we had available" | |
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#31 LCI International Lola Honda Tasman Motorsports Group |
ANDRE RIBEIRO | |
| "We tried something a little different for qualifying. We were very conservative on the aerodynamics, maybe too conservative. We had maybe a little too much downforce." | |
 |
#12 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda |
JIMMY VASSER | |
| "You always think you can do better, but I'm not complaining.
The Honda engine has a lot of power. I think the run could have been faster. The track's in great
shape. It's as good as anytime since I've been running at Michigan." "It shows our team has worked hard. We tested a lot in the off-season and we ran 600 miles here after we came back from Australia, and it shows the hard work that our team, Honda and Firestone have done has paid off. [about the simutaneous qualifying weekend with the Indy 500]:"My rookie year, Rick Mears was in the race, and Al Unser and Mario Andretti. And those guys down there [at Indy] are missing all that. And that's something that can never be replaced. "Memorial Day weekend is traditionally a big weekend. So that's always going to be. But we're not going to be there. We had to pack up and move on." | |
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#3 Marlboro Penske Mercedes |
PAUL TRACY | |
| "It was neutral but slow. It was like somebody put a parachute on the the car. I ran 234 this morning with boost problems, then we can't hit our ass in qualifying. We had a full 40" and I was flat the whole way around. It was just a sled." | |
 |
#2 Marlboro Penske Mercedes |
AL UNSER, Jr. | |
| "Something happened with the electrics in the engine.
The boost went crazy. No matter what I did the [pop-
off] valve was popping open. Other than that the car was great;
I'm real happy with the way the car is handling. "I miss it down there [at Indy] very much. But this is what we have to do. So, given the choice of driving at Indy or driving the best car in the world, I'm going to drive the best car in the world." | |
 |
#20 Firestone Lola Ford Patrick Racing |
SCOTT PRUETT | |
| "It was a very disappointing day. In practice, we had a problem with the crank trigger in the primary
car. That took a long time to find and we didn't get a chance to fix it
until after qualifying. "We ended up qualifying in the back-up car. It really is a shame. We had one problem after another today. "We felt the primary car was a good two, maybe three or four miles per hour faster, but we had a good run in the back-up and got it in the field. We blew up going for the green flag last year [at the Michigan 500], so maybe this is a good omen." | |
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#32 Tecate Beer/Quaker State Lola Honda Tasman Motorsports Group |
ADRIAN FERNANDEZ | |
| "To be honest, we thought we could beat that 232. Conditions
changed from the first time we were out. This morning, we were
driving 233's on our own. But this afternoon, we couldn't get any more
speed. We did our best. "I thought I had a shot at the pole, but since Jimmy ran there's been a little change in temperature and these cars are very sensitive. I was flat out all the time. "I'm happy. This is the best I've ever done in qualifying. But I felt I had a chance to get to the pole." | |
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#4 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda |
ALEX ZANARDI | |
| "I'm happy but not completely. The car is safe and nice to drive, but I blame myself for not making a braver decision to trim the car more. But the car is very good and nice to drive, and I have two weeks to think about it and come back stronger." | |