Race No. 9
Budweiser/G.I. Joe's 200
Portland — Oregon
June 20 — June 22, 1997
Saturday Quotes from drivers and managers at Portland: | Forsythe Player's/Indeck Reynard Mercedes-Benz |
| GREG MOORE | |
| "The rainwashed a lot of the rubber off the track so it was difficult tobe faster but then it got faster and faster. We knew that thecar was better than yesterday but we didn't know about thetrack." | |
 | Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Swift Ford Cosworth XD |
| MICHAEL ANDRETTI | |
| "I'm pretty disappointed with myqualifying position. We had engine problems the entire sessionso I couldn't improve on my position. It wouldn't make adifference if I didn't think we could have gone quicker. Ithink we could have been on the first two rows though. The caris good but I think we could have gone quicker. The race is adifferent story though. That's the great thing about our series- anything can happen in the race. I'm just going to hang inthere and hopefully be around at the end of the race." | |
 | Marlboro Penske Mercedes |
| AL UNSER, Jr. | |
| "The balance on mycar is much better than it was yesterday. We also improved thegrip, especially in the rear. It's hard to tell how much wehelped the car, because we obviously weren't able to run ashard in wet conditions. The main thing is that no matter whatthe weather is for the race, we know we've got the Marlboro carworking better than where we were one day ago. I'm off toCalifornia Speedway for the IROC (International Race ofChampions) race and now I have to start thinking about runninga car with a fender." | |
 | PacWest Motorola Reynard Mercedes |
| MARK BLUNDELL | |
| "We improved ourtime, but not as much as some of the others. We're still withinsniffing distance of the front, and I feel we have a very goodcar for the race. Of course, it's all up to the weather. If itrains, it's going to be a bit of a crapshoot. I have a lot ofconfidence that Firestone have produced a good rain tire, and Ithink everyone knows how competitive their dry tires are.Overall we're in good shape for the race." | |
 | Kmart/Budweiser Swift Ford Newman/Haas Racing |
| CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI | |
| "Things went very well for me at the test (before coming toPortland). I pushed it to the limit and then went home for fivedays before testing again this past Monday. I did more laps inone days than I did both days of the first test. I felt great.I came here very confident even though my leg is broke. I haveto admit, I left Mid-Ohio very confident. At the same time, therace tomorrow is a very big question mark for me. The first 40or 50 minutes won't be that bad but the rest might. It will beharder for me if it doesn't rain. I'm praying for rain. Iapologize to the local people that would have to watch the racein the rain. It's [rain] bad for the fans but good forChristian. I'm taking a minimum amount of pain killers for asafety margin. I wanted to run in the rain without them to geta read on the level of pain. But I had a little pain one hourbefore qualifying so I took one. (On running a lot of lapstoday) I wanted to run in all types of conditions - wet, damp,dry. The team gave me a very good car and I'm very happy withit in the wet settings. [On learning to brake with the leftfoot] It's not a problem. This is obviously the first time I'vehad to left-foot-brake. I think I've learned it pretty quick.The team moved the throttle as far back as they can. Thethrottle doesn't come back as quick as it should because of theway [mobility] my foot is. I'll have to make the best of it.[On the pressure to come back] It's good to be back racing inCART. I think that, at the moment, the series is so competitivethat you not only feel the pressure on the track but also whenyou go to bed at night." | |
 | MCI Arciero Wells Reynard Toyota |
| MAX PAPIS | |
| "[Saturday Morning:] I hitthe only place where there are no tires. I hit pretty slow, butenough to take out the suspension on the right side." | [Saturday Afternoon:] We have a very good car for rainconditions, very strong. I think if it rains tomorrow it will be good,if it is dry we will try to take the car to the end as usual. I thinktoday was a very positive day for us. We showed that MCI Racing andArciero-Wells, under a more equal situation, could be in the topthree. [About not going out in the final qualifying session:] "We sawthat it was a rainy situation so we decided to change the engine andmake the repairs to the car [Caused from the morning practiceincident.] It [the incident] happened at a very slow speed. We justhit the wall at 10 to 20 mph where there was no tire barrier. Therewas damage to the suspension on the right side but not in a bigway. |
 | Pennzoil Special Reynard Ford Davis/Craig Racing |
| GUALTER SALLES | |
| "[Saturday Morning:] I've never reallyraced in the rain before, but if I'm going to go this fast,then maybe I won't mind so much if it's wet tomorrow. TheINDUSVAL-Marlboro Reynard -Ford Cosworth did very well outthere in the wet and after the track dried and we switched toslicks, we found out the car responded well to the changes wemade overnight. Things are looking a lot better for qualifyingthis afternoon. If it's dry, I think we'll move up a fewspots." | |
| "[Saturday Afternoon:] The car feelsbetter than yesterday, although our final time was slowerbecause of the wet conditions. I'm glad to know that we have afast car if the track is wet. Today was the first time that Idrove an Indy car in wet conditions and it's an experience.That's a lot of horsepower, there isn't anyplace here where youcan use all the power when the conditions aren't right. I wasprepared for the wheel-spin, but it seemed like you could slidethe car all the way down the straights. We're ready fortomorrow, rain or sun." | |
 | Shell Reynard Ford Team Rahal |
| BRYAN HERTA | |
| "We just weren't able toget back to the setup we had yesterday [Friday] We tried a lotof different things but the car never really felt comfortable.It was loose in several places on the track Thenwe'd make a correction and the car would act differently onanother portion of the track. It's frustrating because we cameoff a good test at Mid-Ohio and I felt we'd be in the hunt fora good starting position. Now we have to work on getting thecar right for the race. Plus you never know if rain will befactor." | |
 | Team Kool Green Reynard Honda |
| PARKER JOHNSTONE | |
| "The most difficult conditions are half-wet andhalf-dry. We waited and watched the track through the firstpart of the session. Then I went out there with about fifteenminutes to go on rain tires, and choked the time because thetrack was really too dry for rain tires. When the track's inthat condition (not completely dry], you have to be verycareful about being out on sticker tires, too. So you have toconcede sometimes and do the smart thing and wait it out. We wanted tomake sure that if the track was dry enough with a few minutesto go, the tires would be ready, I would be ready, and the carwould be ready. But the track wasn't ready. ft would have beena huge risk and would probably have taken the edge off a set ofrace tires if I had pushed it in order to do a good time - onethat wouldn't have been quicker anyway. If it rains, Ithink that's a good thing. I think it levels the playing fieldsomewhat. I think if you have a really good car; it's goodwhether it's wet or dry. But the guys with somewhat moredifficult cars might have more of a fighting chance. It reallycomes down to a matter of who makes the fewest mistakes,because the rain exaggerates any lapse in braking,concentration, power down - and if you miss on any of those,you can lose huge amounts of time. For us, where we are, we just have to stay clean and try tomake up position in the pit stops. I finished fifth fromfifteenth here last year, so making up some spots is definitelydo-able." | |
 | Tecate Beer/Quaker State Lola Honda Tasman Motorsports Group |
| ADRIAN FERNANDEZ | |
| "The trackwas never really dry enough to improve the times fromyesterday. We learned how the car handles under semi- wet/dryconditions which hopefully will help tomorrow depending uponthe weather." | |
 | Valvoline/Cummins/Craftsman Special Reynard Ford |
| GIL de FERRAN | |
| "[Saturday Morning:] The car wasOK this morning, but with the weather conditions the way theyare, it's difficult to get an accurate read on how the car isworking overall. I'm happy with the rain tires. Goodyear hasdone a great job-. They're pretty similar to last year.[On the weather:] I like to run in the rain because itchallenges you more. It takes totally different skills andtechniques to run well in the wet. The one big drawback withthe rain is safety. If you're running out in front, it's great,but if you're back in the line-up you're going to have a verydifficult time seeing, and therefore racing safely andcompetitively." | |
| "[Saturday Afternoon:] Wow! What an exciting session. I was hoping to do a better timeand hold on to it but unfortunately, Scott beat me right atthat last minute. I think that this a preview of what the fanswill see tomorrow, a great head-to-head battle." | |
 | Bettenhaused Racing Alumax Aluminium Reynard Mercedes-Benz |
| PATRICK CARPENTIER | |
| "The car wasgood in the wet. I think we ended up being the quickest in ourgroup when the track was wet. Then it dried out and we putslick tires on. I couldn't tell if the changes made to the carworked because we really didn't get to run that many laps.Basically, we were just able to scrub tires to use for thestart of the race if it's dry tomorrow. Since the changeshelped the car in the wet, I won't be disappointed if it rainsfor the race." | |
 | Miller Lite Reynard Ford Team Rahal |
| BOBBY RAHAL | |
| "We picked up fourspots today and I'm pretty pleased with the progress of thecar. With the competitiveness of the series, just a couple oftenths of a second can give you four, five or sometimes morepositions on the grid. Conditions were a little tough early inthe session but the track got dry and faster. Of course, wehave to be prepared for all conditions. In recent years, rainhas played a major factor in the race. Each time, I stayed outon slicks (tires) as long as possible and we really gain a lotof spots and track position. But you can't count on the raineither. You have to be prepared as if it will be dry for theentire race and then make the adjustments if the rain hits." | |
 | Hollywood Reynard Mercedes |
| MAURICIO GUGELMIN | |
| "Thankgoodness the rain held off just long enough. The weather wastough for everyone today, but we got just enough time runningin the dry to make a difference. I think we have a reasonablecar for the race. We improved the car enough to bring us backup to a respectable starting position. I drove my tail off outthere today. On my next to last lap [a 59.927 second lap whichmoved Mo from 14th to 5th]. I nearly spun in the double righthander. I put in as much opposite lock as the car would takeand somehow got away with it. Then on the last lap I got heldup a bit which cost me a couple of tenths. But after yesterday,I'm thrilled." | |
 | Castrol/Jockey AAR Racing Reynard Toyota |
| JUAN MANUEL FANGIO II | |
| "I was going around the track withnew tires, under wet conditions and unfortunately I spun andhit the wall. I was being extremely careful and I wascompletely straight leaving the chicane heading into Turn 1. Iwas just trying to clean the tires a little bit in order toremove some of the oil, and just lost the back. It's a veryunfortunate situation because I wasn't trying to get a laptime, I was just trying to put a few laps on the tires fortomorrow's race." | |
 | Hogan Racing Reynard Mercedes |
| DARIO FRANCHITTI | |
| "I'mactually a little disappointed. We had our heart set on a frontrow qualifying position. We didn't get the car working wellenough. We expected to be a little quicker today but we alsoexpected other people to be quicker, too. We just didn't getthe advantage we were hoping to gain. Funny, though, isn't it,the fact that we're disappointed by starting fifth." | |
 | Team Kool Green Team manager |
| BARRY GREEN | |
| "Playing golf has taughtme a lot about auto racing. It's all in the way the damn thingbounces sometimes. It was that in-between track, where it wasn't wet,but it certainly wasn't dry enough. We were hoping the sunwould come out a bit earlier and dry it off. There's no pointin going out there and risking running the car off the road,because the track is very slippery in those conditions. We werehoping it would get dry enough quick enough so we could get outthere and put in a good time on the dry tires." | |