Race No. 8
ITT Automotive Detroit Grand Prix
Detroit, MI
June 9, 1996
Sunday Quotes from drivers and managers at Belle Isle:
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#12 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda |
JIMMY VASSER | |
| "This was a long, hard day. I was hustling the car as hard as I could all race long. Even after the track dried out and we switched to slicks, we still had the rain settings on the car and we had big understeer. At the next stop, we cranked in a lot of front wing, but the car was still really difficult and I couldn't keep up with Alex [Zanardi]. There's still a long way to go in the season. We got a point today, but it was a tough point." | |
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#6 Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Lola Ford Cosworth XD |
MICHAEL ANDRETTI | |
| "It's not really
mine [the victory]. This was Christian's. I was fortunate to be in the right
place at the right time. I won in my hometown, Carl Haas' home track and
Kmart's hometown. We're running out of hometowns, though. I feel bad for
Christian because he did a great job. At that point, I was settling for
second and the points but then Christian had a problem. It was lucky for me
and unlucky for Christian. Christian made a little mistake -- I think it was
with the pickup – and I took advantage of it. [On the switch from wet to dry tires]: "It makes for an exciting race. I think the big difference was that the Goodyear tires were superior to the Firestone tires. They gave us the gap when it was wet and then when the track dried out the Firestone [drivers] couldn't do anything with us. … In three out of the first four races, we were in position to do what we did today. Unfortunately, we had a problems and never got to this position because of some bad luck. I think all but Long Beach we were in a position to do well. [On the yellow flag restarts]: "I'd say it helped me again. They [IndyCar] are doing everything they can to get me to support this thing." | |
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#11 Kmart/Budweiser Lola Ford Newman/Haas Racing |
CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI | |
| "It was a great race. The Newman-Haas team prepared a
good car . My car was flying since the start. I was driving to the limit, Michael beat me fair and square. "I'm happy for the team and for Mike. He was putting a lot of pressure on me and I made a small mistake. It's tough to dice against somebody who has won 33 races. I had my car setup a little more toward rain than dry so when it dried out, it was tougher for me. [On the incident that cost him the lead]: "I went on the marbles and there was no way for me to come back. He was three-quarters of a car length ahead of me so I backed off. It would have been silly for cars on the same team to take a chance." | |
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#2 Marlboro Penske Mercedes |
AL UNSER, Jr. | |
| "When the track started to dry out, my Marlboro car really came to life. I was turning faster lap times than Paul [Tracy] and tried to pass him lap after lap. When he almost hit the wall on the exit of Turn Three, it destroyed his momentum and allowed me to get beside him. But he carried me way through the corner and I had to lock up the brakes. I just couldn't turn it and wound up in the tires. It's a shame to be racing that hard with anyone in the middle of the race, especially when you are teammates." | |
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#3 Marlboro Penske Mercedes |
PAUL TRACY | |
| "We had a real good start and I
moved the Marlboro car right up to third place [after starting 11th] by Lap
4. I was running strong with Gil [deFerran] and Michael [Andretti], but
Christian [Fittipaldi] had too much for all of us in the wet. Once the track
dried, my handling deteriorated. I lost grip and had to drive as hard as I
could just to hold position. "I was racing hard with Al [Unser, Jr.] and left room for him [in Turn Three], but he locked up [the brakes] and slid past me into the tire barrier. "On Lap 65, Scott [Pruett] was behind me in sixth place, when he squeezed too close and hooked my wheel, sending me into the tire barrier. It took [the corner workers] a long time to pull me out, so we wound up one lap down, in 17th place. This is a real disappointment for everyone on the Marlboro Team Penske crew since we were looking at a top five finish." | |
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#21 PacWest Reynard Ford Cosworth |
MARK BLUNDELL | |
| "We went with a completely
wet set-up on the car and we were running quite well in the beginning. Then,
as the track dried up, it became greasy out there and we had a bit of
trouble. Actually, I was amazed the track dried out like it did. But after
it did, the Firestones were really hooked up and challenged us much more. "I'm very happy to get the points, though. That's what it's all about. Even though we struggled with the car, I'm very satisfied with the top 10 finish." | |
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#8 Pennzoil Special Reynard Honda Hall Racing |
GIL de FERRAN | |
| "They were just a little quicker than me. Third is very good. I'm very happy with the finish. It is a good result. When it was raining, there was no doubt that the Goodyears were better. I'm very happy. We were not fast enough to catch the first two. I'm quite pleased. Hopefully, this is a start of a comeback in the championship standings. It's nice to finish on the podium." | |
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#16 Bettenhaused Racing Alumax Aluminium Reynard Mercedes-Benz |
STEFAN JOHANSSON | |
| "It's good that we were finally able to keep it going to the end of the race after having so many DNF's lately. I think today we probably got the best finish we could have, although I have to say that I wish it could have kept raining the entire race. In the early laps, it seemed like we were passing a car a lap. Then, for the last third of the race, it started pushing real bad. I couldn't do anything, really. Still, it's nice to be finishing in the top 10 and scoring points again." | |
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#28 Shell Reynard Mercedes-Benz Team Rahal |
BRYAN HERTA | |
| "We made the right strategic move on the first pit stop and we missed it by about a car length. I was in position to gain a lot of spots. We had a good stop, and I made it to the [pit] blend line right when Christian was coming around the first turn. I thought I could pull in front of him and get the lap back in front of all the leaders, but we missed by about the length of a car. That's really frustrating; then I was a lap down the rest of the day." | |
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#32 Tecate Beer/Quaker State Lola Honda Tasman Motorsports Group |
ADRIAN FERNANDEZ | |
| "Our hopes were not very good at the beginning because of the rain. It was very tricky and we had to be cautious. For a long time, I could not pass. When the track started to dry, there were still wet spots and you had to drive very carefully. I did not have the momentum to pass Scott [Pruett] at the end of the race. The only thing I could do was keep the pressure on as best I could. Physically, this was not a tough race, but it was tough not to make a mistake. Our goal was to keep pace, keep the pressure on and try not to make a mistake." | |
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#31 LCI International Lola Honda Tasman Motorsports Group |
ANDRE RIBEIRO | |
| "This was a tough day. We
managed to hold on somewhat at the beginning of the race in the rain. The
car was good. We were touching a little in the rear, but it was not
upsetting the car. "At the midpoint of the race, Greg Moore tried to overtake me and lost his braking point. He crashed into my front wheel. We both spun. I ended up two laps down. We came in for new tires and my car was too positive so I was a little worried about pushing too hard. The front was too good for the rear and the rear was moving all the time. I ended up touching the wall in Turn Seven and damaging the rear suspension, which put us out of the race." | |
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#4 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda |
ALEX ZANARDI | |
| "We put the dry tires on at just the right time [Zanardi was the first car in the field to switch to slicks today]. But the next yellow hurt us. If you get lapped here, it just kills you. At least today, we brought it home for some points, which is better than nothing." | |
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#49 Motorola Reynard Honda Brix Comptech Racing |
PARKER JOHNSTONE | |
| "The car was much faster than we could display. This was a typical Detroit race. The guys in front were just fast enough that you couldn't pass safely without banging wheels. The car got better and better as the track dried out, but we couldn't show that today." | |
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#25 Arciero-Wells Racing Reynard Toyota |
JEFF KROSNOFF | |
| "It's nice to finally finish better than 18th [which Krosnoff has done four times this season]. I drove as hard as I could in the wet. I just couldn't get the tires warmed up, so at the start, I went wide and everybody got by me. I started to come back and pick up on them a little bit but I really couldn't do much until it dried up. The car wasn't that bad in the dry. I was able to hang in there and the guys did great on the final pit stop and we moved up a spot there." | |
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#98 Eagle Mk-V Toyota |
| photo Mike Levitt | |
P.J. JONES | |
| "This was definitely a big ride. The AAR Eagle Toyota ran awesome all day long. The motor ran great; the chassis handled great in wet conditions. I wish it was the whole way, because I think we could have done a little bit better. The car was fast early and that's what helped us. The guys did a great job in the pits, and the Goodyear tires were fantastic in the rain. The rain was where we had an advantage After that, we really didn't have much of an advantage. We just tried to hold our own, and the yellows definitely helped us." | |
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#1 Brahma Sports Team Reynard Ford Cosworth |
RAUL BOESEL | |
| "It was a difficult race, especially at the beginning, so to finish and got some points was good for the team -- help get the spirit up. The car was reasonable. We need to find some more speed and improve the grip. I was quicker than Stefan [Johansson] and Eddie Lawson, but couldn't get by." | |
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#1 Delco Electronics High Tech Team Galles Lola Mercedes |
EDDIE LAWSON | |
| [On his best IndyCar finish of the season] "I just hung onto her out there! There was some good racing going on between Stefan, Blundell and myself towards the end of the race. There were some spots where I hung up Stefan and others where Blundell hung me up. We seemed to have better power off the bottom than the other guys. The car pushed on the slow corners, but it was great on the fast ones. I'm really proud of the guys. They did an awesome job today in the pits." | |
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#5 Valvoline/Cummins/Craftsman Special Reynard Ford |
ROBBY GORDON | |
| [Of his fourth lap incident with the Turn 8 tire wall]: "Going down the back straight, I didn't think I was running very hard, but obviously, I ran off the track. So, I must have been running fairly hard. I locked up the fronts [tires]. I tried to get them unlocked, but once I locked them, I couldn't get them unlocked. They stayed locked, all the way to the tires. I really like running in the rain a lot and was looking forward to this day. The crew was up for our pit stops. We were ready. It's just unfortunate. The car was working beautifully. It was really handling well." | |
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#18 Miller Racing Reynard Mercedes-Benz Team Rahal |
BOBBY RAHAL | |
| "We had a good car today. I was trying to catch [Gil] de Ferran, and get a good run on him on the front straight. But as I came around the fountain turns and hit the paint on the outside surface of the track [Turn 13], the front end went straight into the tire barrier. I feel bad. Because the team gave me a strong car, and they deserve better than this. We had a golden opportunity to score some important points." | |
STEVE MYERS |
Goodyear Director of Racing Tire Sales and Marketing |
| "Our congratulations go to winner Michael Andretti in his third first-place finish this season, and to Christian Fittipaldi and Gil de Ferran, who shared the podium. We are also proud that our tires were the common denominator in bringing the top finishes to engine suppliers Ford, Honda, Mercedes and Toyota, which registered its first points-paying finish." | |
AL SPEYER |
Bridgestone/Firestone Motorsports Manager |
| "Today demonstrates the contribution tires do make in racing. Congratulations to Goodyear, but we will be right back after them in Portland, and you can bet we'll soon field a Grade-A rain tire. Looking at it positively, this was a great development day for us." | |
TONY TRIANO |
Bridgestone/Firestone Motorsports PR Manager |
| "We have had rain tires available and on-site at testing for the last two years. However, these tires have not been utilized due to a lack of inclement
weather. We do know work is needed in this area, and we have been developing a new wet tire which will be introduced in
the near future." "Firestone has always maintained it would do everything it could to provide its family of teams the best possible product. Following this morning's practice session, it was decided steps were needed to assist our teams in today's race. Firestone officials contacted IndyCar and obtained permission to groove its rain tires for today's event. One set of grooved tires will be available to each team in the Firestone family." | |