Race No. 6
Motorola 300
Gateway International Raceway — Madison, Illinois
May 22-24, 1997
Thursday Quotes from drivers and managers at Gateway:| Index of Quotes available | ||
|---|---|---|
| MARK BLUNDELL | MAURICIO GUGELMIN | BRYAN HERTA |
| MAX PAPIS | BOBBY RAHAL | PARKER JOHNSTONE |
| GUALTER SALLES | AL UNSER JR | PAUL TRACY |
| GREG MOORE | DARIO FRANCHITTI | BARRY GREEN |
 | Marlboro Penske Mercedes |
| AL UNSER, Jr. | |
| "The track is a very fast racetrack. Chris Pook has done a wonderful job with this facility, considering how much pressure time-wise he was under to get the job done. There are very few bumps and the transitions from straight-aways to corners are very good. It's going to be a great track to race on. If the groove gets wide enough we'll be able to run two abreast which will make for some great racing on Saturday. Coming off of turn four should be a really good passing area and so should turns one and two up high if the groove widens." "There's still quite a bit of lime on the track, especially when some of the guys got outside of the groove--the lime was incredible. I feel the times will get quicker and quicker once the track gets cleaned off. I would like to see the lime disappear. My biggest concern today was to make sure I didn't step out of the groove. If I would have, I would have lost the car instantly." Comparison to Phoenix International Raceway: "Turns 3 and 4 are like Phoenix, but Turn 2 here at Gateway remains tight and stays tight on exit, where Phoenix more or less opens up. You feel like you're dropping in a bowl in Turn 1 here which is more aggressive than Phoenix." | |
 | PacWest Motorola Reynard Mercedes |
| MARK BLUNDELL | |
| "Obviously it was a thrill to run the first ever lap of Gateway International Raceway. I'm proud to be driving the Motorola PacWest in the Motorola 300. A huge amount of effort has been put in to make this event a reality, and everyone has done a fantastic job." | |
 | MCI Arciero Wells Reynard Toyota |
| MAX PAPIS | |
| "There was fire everywhere. I don't know what it was; the car just died and the fire came from the back of me. I hit the extinguisher and got out of the car." | |
 | Pennzoil Special Reynard Ford Davis/Craig Racing |
| GUALTER SALLES | |
| "It's a very nice track. It's going to be a very fast track by the end of the weekend. Chris Pook and his staff have done an excellent job building this track. Really, there's only two turns here. There's no difference between Turns 1 and 2 or between Turns 3 and 4, although there is a bump coming out of Turn 4. The track is very fast and there's a lot of sideload in the corners." | |
 | Shell Reynard Ford Team Rahal |
| BRYAN HERTA | |
| "Gee, I thought I was dirt tracking in that first half-hour of practice. There was dust everywhere. But there was some rubber finally getting down on the asphalt towards the end of the session." | |
 | Team Kool Green Reynard Honda |
| PARKER JOHNSTONE | |
| "This track will definitely be very, very fast. Going from nine degrees toeleven defrees of banking sounds relatively flat - it makes me think of Indy. But here,it is quick. It almost reminds me of racing at Phoenix. I think the banking leaninginto long runs will definitely be quick, no doubt." | |
 | Miller Lite Reynard Ford Team Rahal |
| BOBBY RAHAL | |
| "This place is fast and its fun. It's very similar to Phoenix in that we'll be flat out through Turns 3 and 4. I'm shifting in Turn 1 and I know I will in the race, too. Unfortunately, with the track being so fast, passing is much harder. But we always seem to find a way around people on the ovals." | |
 | Hollywood Reynard Ford |
| MAURICIO GUGELMIN | |
| (on Wednesday's test session) "It's going to be good once the circuit comes in. The first few laps I thought I was in a sandstorm!" It's pretty dusty at the moment, but then today was the first day it was ever used by racing cars. There are a couple of bumps which upset the car a little bit, but nothing too major." | |
 | Team Kool Green Team manager |
| BARRY GREEN | |
| "Certainly racing at a brand new facility like the one in St. Louis is atremendous boost for the series. It's a real step forward and a sign that we are continuingto grow toward where the fans want to see us." | |
 | Marlboro Penske Mercedes |
| PAUL TRACY | |
| "The power's good. I'm real happy with everything. We've got lots of RPMs, and it's pulling strong throughout the rev band. We've still got a little bit of work to do on the handling, but I'm looking forward to tomorrow." | |
 | Forsythe Player's/Indeck Reynard Mercedes-Benz |
| GREG MOORE | |
| "I would've liked to have been fastest overall, but we were second quickest (overall) today, and we're happy. I really enjoy this track. It's fun, and it's a good track. It's difficult to get the last little bit of speed out of the car because it's such fast track, you don't want to take too many chances. The team is in good spirits. We're quite confident for qualifying and the race. We'll be right there." | |
 | Hogan Racing Reynard Mercedes |
| DARIO FRANCHITTI | |
| "The guys got the car working quite well. I'm happy because the development is working: we tried some things that worked and some things that didn't, but we made progress. We'll try to find a bit more speed tomorrow, but those last four laps (today) were quite good -- each a tenth of a second quicker than the last. And the car is quite consistent." | |