Race No. 11
Molson Indy Toronto
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
July 14, 1996
Sunday Quotes from drivers and managers at Toronto:
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#12 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda |
JIMMY VASSER | |
| [finished eighth]: "It was a mediocre run at best; we had problems all day. At one point, I was working on [passing] Christian [Fittipaldi] and he drove me into the wall. I decided that I didn't want to sacrifice five points to get [another] two. Something's just not clicking right now, we're running further back than we ought to be. We need to get back on track. But, having said all that, we did manage to increase our points lead today [when second-place Al Unser, Jr. finished 13th]. We're still in control of the situation and we're going back to Michigan [where Vasser won the U.S. 500 in May]." | |
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#99 Forsythe Player's/Indeck Reynard Mercedes-Benz |
GREG MOORE | |
| "I'm very
happy with that fourth-place finish as an IndyCar rookie racing
in Canada for the first time. The whole Player's Team did a
great job." [About passing Tracy at the end]: "He [Tracy] gave me a lot of room. I locked the wheel a little bit but that was, for sure, my fastest move of the weekend in Corner One." [Regarding catching Rahal] "I was catching Rahal on the braking, so maybe I could have passed him, with three or four more laps into the race." | |
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#3 Marlboro Penske Mercedes |
PAUL TRACY | |
| "We had a great
start and were able to move from 13th to sixth on the first lap.
My Marlboro crew did a great job on the first pit stop and we
were able to move up to fourth. Towards the end of the race, I
started to get a lot of pickup on the tires, and was sliding
around a lot. Greg [Moore] was able to get by me at the end, we
were just trying to hang in there and not have an incident. We
had a great finish. We really needed this." "But all of this seems immaterial in light of the seriousness surrounding Jeff's [Krosnoff's] accident. All we can do is hope for the best. Our prayers are with Jeff and Tracy and the whole Arciero/Wells team." | |
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#6 Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Lola Ford Cosworth XD |
MICHAEL ANDRETTI | |
| "It wasn't my day. Something hit me early, right at the start, and I went up in the air and came down on Parker Johnstone. The car didn't run too well after that, but it was O.K. My second set of tires were undriveable. I was just hanging on. Under braking, the thing [car] was all over the place. I screwed up when I spun, but was still in the hunt for some points, then it all didn't make any difference because the engine went. It felt like something electrical. Maybe the trigger. Actually, I'm more concerned about Jeff than any of this right now." | |
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#2 Marlboro Penske Mercedes |
AL UNSER, Jr. | |
| "I have nothing to say about what happened in this race with Marlboro Team Penske. When you have an incident like what happened today with Jeff Krosnoff, it makes a driver — or for that matter, any human being — realize what's most important. It's winning the race of life that we should all think about, and that's what the entire IndyCar community is thinking about right now. Our thoughts and prayers are with Tracy and Jeff's family." | |
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#21 PacWest Reynard Ford Cosworth |
MARK BLUNDELL | |
| "We ran best on the prime tires we put on after our first pit stop [Lap 30]. We started on the optional Goodyears but they went away very quickly. Unfortunately, we only had one set of prime tires available for the race, so after our second stop [on Lap 69], we had to return to the optionals and had a rough go of it at the end of the race." | |
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#44 Ralphs/Food 4 Less Della Penna Racing Reynard Ford |
RICHIE HEARN | |
| "I'm pretty wiped out. It's not good. I'm very stiff and sore it's my neck. It was hard to hang on. I was O.K. for the first 30 laps, and then at that point, my back got so sore that I couldn't hold on. My injury isn't permanent, but I'm sore. Maybe I shouldn't have tried to drive today, but I thought I could make it through. I haven't driven on a road course for a long time, and it takes more out of you." | |
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#9 Marlboro Hogan Penske Mercedes-Benz |
EMERSON FITTIPALDI | |
| "This was a
strange day. We started well, but had very little grip. The
engine developed an intermittent misfire, too, and while we were
able to gain positions here and there, we would lose them just
as easily." "On Lap 90, I was running closely with Jeff Krosnoff and Stefan Johansson. Andre Ribeiro had recovered from his spin on Lap 84, and was there with us, all fighting for position. I went to brake for Turn 3 and suddenly, saw an engine and transmission deposited in my right front suspension. It was from Krosnoff's car, which was upside-down in the barrier. I pulled into the escape road and retired there. The scene at Turn 3 was chaotic. It is very sad." | |
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#11 Kmart/Budweiser Lola Ford Newman/Haas Racing |
CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI | |
| "My first stint was absolutely horrible. I'm not sure why. On the second and third stints, the car was very good. On the last pit stop, I overtook Vasser in the pits and was able to hold him off. My car got better as the race went on. We were just basically holding on for the points. We decreased the gap between third and fourth place, which is very good." | |
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#1 Delco Electronics High Tech Team Galles Lola Mercedes |
EDDIE LAWSON | |
| "Well, the car stayed the same all day long, but it didn't have any power. They were going by me like I was standing still. I'm not sure why we were down on power, but the car was consistent. The black flag also hurt us. I thought the rev limiter [speed control] wasn't on, so I hit the button again and must have turned it off. And if that wasn't enough, I thought I had cut a tire on the last restart, and had to make another stop with only a few laps left in the race." | |
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#4 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda |
ALEX ZANARDI | |
| "[finished second]: "Second place is great. We led the most laps and scored 17 points, so I'm happy. This wasn't going to be a great day anyway because we had to leave [ill crew chief] at home, and I hope Jeff [Krosnoff] will be O.K., too." | |
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#32 Tecate Beer/Quaker State Lola Honda Tasman Motorsports Group |
ADRIAN FERNANDEZ | |
| [finished first]: "I've been waiting for this for a long time. I owe it to all the guys. They did a great job. I love the guys from Tasman, without them I wouldn't be here. I just hope everybody's fine. I just pray for everybody on the track. I want everybody to be O.K." | |
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#5 Valvoline/Cummins/Craftsman Special Reynard Ford |
ROBBY GORDON | |
| [On his start] "We passed about nine cars on the first
lap on a street circuit. That's great. The guys did a really
good job in the pits today. Both stops were really good. That's
probably the best place' car we had. We're finally getting some
points again. Hopefully, we can get into the top 10 before the
end of the year." [On his 12.06 second pit stop] "I pitted early. We chose to start on the option tires, which were a little softer. We thought that was the right thing to do. We pitted early to change tires. Once I got off of the option tires, I was okay. The car was much better and driveable for a longer period of time." "It looks like we're starting to head in the direction where the car is definitely a little more competitive. We finished right behind Christian [Fittipaldi] and Jimmy [Vasser]." | |
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#18 Miller Racing Reynard Mercedes-Benz Team Rahal |
BOBBY RAHAL | |
| [finished third]: "It's been a long season. For us, it's our best finish of the year, so we're pretty happy. This track has always been very, very, good to me. Good things always seem to happen for us here. I want to thank my crew for a great day." | |
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#17 Hollywood Reynard Ford |
MAURICIO GUGELMIN | |
| "I was on the Goodyear prime tires the entire race. We had to make our first stop early [Lap 25], because I had locked up the tires a few times, gotten wide, and was never able to clean up the debris that I picked up off the tires. Other than that, the car was pretty good the rest of the race, although we still had a push-to-oversteer condition which was difficult to handle." | |
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#19 Panasonic/DUSKIN Lola Ford Cosworth |
HIRO MATSUSHITA | |
| "About Lap 18, I noticed the car started to lose horsepower on the two fast straights. Then the rear end began to get loose under braking going into those corners. We were running well until the water started spraying." | |
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#15 Valvoline DuraBlend Special Reynard Ford |
SCOTT GOODYEAR | |
| "It was a pretty tough race. The car was pretty hard
throughout most of the turns where the cement patches were.
There was absolutely no grip, and I was sliding." [On the condition of his back] "I think that all the training that I've done has been worth it. My back feels well. I'm not tired. I have no complaints." | |
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#98 Eagle Mk-V Toyota |
| photo Mike Levitt | |
P.J. JONES | |
| "Our pit speed control didn't work, so I got two drive-through penalties for pit violations of speed. I don't know what happened on the last pit; I guess the crew had a problem fueling it. It was just a bad day, but it was good for the AAR Eagle Toyota to finish the race, despite everything that happened. I hope to God that Jeff [Krosnoff] is all right. It was a bad accident, and we just pray for him and hope that he is all right" | |
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#36 Eagle Mk-V Toyota |
JUAN MANUEL FANGIO II | |
| "Everything was looking good in the beginning. I passed PJ on the inside of Turn 3 and the inside was a little bit more dirty. I was very safe on the inside after the turn, but I put a little bit of extra power and the car spun around and I couldn't do anything about it. The AAR Eagle Toyota was running better, and I was very happy with it. I think it was possible to keep pushing, but that's the way it goes. We will try to do better in Michigan." | |
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#1 Brahma Sports Team Reynard Ford Cosworth |
RAUL BOESEL | |
| "It's the same problem we had before, the crank trigger. The car just started misfiring, not on every lap, but on some laps it would misfire two or three times. Then, something related to the electronics began to disengage the gears. I couldn't engage fifth or sixth gear." | |
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#1 Brahma Sports Team Team manager |
BARRY GREEN | |
| "Probably this weekend pretty much just sums up how our season's gone. It's just very, very disappointing. But everyone on the team has still got their chin up and we've still got some races left and we still have a chance to prove ourselves." | |
AL SPEYER |
Bridgestone/Firestone Motorsports Manager |
| "This was a great victory for Adrian and Firestone. It was evident that Adrian and Alex had the race in control. It's nice to be back in the winner's circle, very nice." | |
STEVE MYERS |
Goodyear Director of Racing Tire Sales and Marketing |
| "Our congratulations to Bobby Rahal on his strong run today that took him to a podium finish on Goodyear Eagles. Goodyear continues aggressive development of its street circuit tires, with an improved version scheduled to run at Vancouver." | |
| IndyCar President and Chief Executive | |
ANDREW CRAIG | |
| "Everyone within the IndyCar community is deeply
saddened by the tragic loss of Jeff Krosnoff and Gary Avrin
during the Molson Indy Toronto." "Jeff was an immensely talented race driver, respected and liked by everyone who knew him. He will be greatly missed by us all." "Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to Jeff's wife, Tracy, to his parents, Jack and Jeanne, and to his family and many friends." "Additionally, our thoughts are with the Avrin family on the tragic loss of Gary." | |