Race No. 10
Medic Drug Cleveland Grand Prix
Cleveland — Ohio
July 11 — July 13, 1997
Saturday Quotes from drivers and managers at Cleveland: | Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Swift Ford Cosworth XD Qualified: 4th |
| MICHAEL ANDRETTI | |
| "I ran out of fuel on my last lap. There was a little more in the car. It was looking good until I ran out of fuel on the last corner. I'll have to look at the telemetry to see what kind of lap it was time-wise. Fourth is a good starting spot although I wish I was starting on the outside. Starting on the outside is important here because of the challenge of going into Turn 1 with everyone else. Third place is actually the best place to start here. Mark Blundell actually has the best starting spot. Both he and Mauricio (teammate) have been running pretty good lately. The race will be very exciting. It always is in Cleveland." | |
 | Marlboro Penske Mercedes Qualified: 18th |
| AL UNSER, Jr. | |
| "We definitely helped the car today and made it much more consistent and more driveable. We also made some gains with more grip, which was one of our biggest problems yesterday. There's a lot of racing left this season and our goal for tomorrow is to finish the race. We've had five races this season (out of nine) when we didn't finish a race and that's hurt us in points. If we can have a good, long string of strong finishes our momentum should pick up and put us closer to the front, which is where the #2 Marlboro car belongs." | |
 | PacWest Motorola Reynard Mercedes Qualified: 3rd |
| MARK BLUNDELL | |
| "It's nice to see that we can have a good day on Saturday. So far this year, our luck hasn't been the best in qualifying. We got the car handling very well, and the track improved. We could tell from the times in the first [qualifying] group [Friday's slower cars] that we'd have to go faster just to maintain our [11th] position from yesterday, and fortunately, we made a bigger improvement than most people." | |
 | Kmart/Budweiser Swift Ford Newman/Haas Racing Qualified: 5th |
| CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI | |
| "The session went pretty good but we expected a little bit more. I have confidence in the car. We are still working on making the car good on all parts of the track, especially in the entry into corners. It should be an exciting race. One of the great things about racing in Cleveland is that the race is always exciting because of the layout of the track. It makes it great for the spectators because they can see the entire track. The start is always interesting because everyone is fighting going into the first corner. In my opinion, it's a long race and it's crazy to take unnecessary chances at the beginning of the race. Still, some people try to win the race in the first corner." | |
 | Pennzoil Special Reynard Ford Davis/Craig Racing Qualified: 12th |
| GUALTER SALLES | |
| "What a run! I like this place. We picked up a second and a half on our qualifying time from yesterday. I knew that I could do it and I knew that the team could do it. That's a result of the Davis Racing team, the engineers and the driver working together and coming up with the total package. We kept improving the car, we kept improving the time each session. We're a first-year team and I'm a first-year driver; we're growing up together and we're getting better and better together. I led the Indy Lights race here from the first lap to the last lap a year ago, and Gerald Davis won the CART race last year with Gil as part of Hall Racing, so we have the experience and knowledge; we have to put it together and you're seeing that this weekend." | |
 | Shell Reynard Ford Team Rahal Qualified: 7th |
| BRYAN HERTA | |
| "Sure, I'm disappointed that we fell back today (from second on Friday). I had a good car in the early part of qualifying. But we may have made a few too many adjustments for the second set of tires in that session. The car started to slide in the rear too much. We'll be the middle of the mess at the start. The last two years I've started third, but starting seventh means there will be cars everywhere around me. We'll have to pick our way through the first turn. That's always interesting." | |
 | Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda Qualified: 1st |
| ALEX ZANARDI | |
| "Our time was safe at the beginning of the session. Obviously, as everybody kept getting closer and closer, it was not so safe. I was lucky enough to cross the start/finish line with one second left and that was it. I had nobody in front of me and was able to turn a good lap." | |
 | LCI International Lola Honda Tasman Motorsports Group Qualified: 8th |
| ANDRE RIBEIRO | |
| "It was good but unfortunately I had only one set of tires because, with the first set, Gil (de Ferran) blocked me and I had to get on the brakes hard and damaged the tires. Basically, we did the session on one set of tires. For the race, I think the car is getting more and more consistent and our confidence is high." | |
 | Tecate Beer/Quaker State Lola Honda Tasman Motorsports Group Qualified: 25th |
| ADRIAN FERNANDEZ | |
| "The car was a little bit better. We had a problem with the CV boot and did not have a chance to put on our second set of tires. The balance and grip are still lacking. We need to find seconds at this point, not tenths. It is difficult really to say how the new changes are to the car because the track is so bumpy." | |
 | Valvoline/Cummins/Craftsman Special Reynard Ford Qualified: 2nd |
| GIL de FERRAN | |
| (On Saturday Practice)"The car is a little nervous. It's what I call a knife-edge balance. The car snaps one way and then snaps another way. It's really quite difficult in that sense. It's really exercising my reflexes! This morning some things helped it and others didn't. We'll see what happens this afternoon. It depends on the temperature. Hopefully we can move up this afternoon." | |
 | Bettenhaused Racing Alumax Aluminium Reynard Mercedes-Benz Qualified: 19th |
| PATRICK CARPENTIER | |
| "I gave it everything I had to give on the good lap--I was even driving on the grass! They cured most of the problem with the rear of the car feeling unstable. We gained nearly two seconds from Friday and I think there's more speed in the car because we picked up a push. We should go quicker by curing that. One area where we really improved was Turn 1. I think we gained a half-second there alone and we've been pretty close to everybody else on the rest of the track. One problem I have experienced this season is that I am used to a two-car team like I had in Atlantics the last two seasons. When you have two drivers, you can learn a lot from your teammate and that helps. Now I'm learning what it's like to be on a one-car team." | |
 | Miller Lite Reynard Ford Team Rahal Qualified: 9th |
| BOBBY RAHAL | |
| "I had a good run on my second set of tires in that session. I got into the 57s (second bracket) and the car felt pretty good. But I got too aggressive on the next lap and I missed the chance for a much better time. I don't think the tires were the same after that. Of course, with the wide track on the front straight, I think everyone just wants to get through the first turn at the start. I've been knocked out of the race here in that first corner. It's never easy." | |
 | Castrol/Jockey AAR Racing Reynard Toyota Qualified: 21st |
| P.J. JONES | |
| "The car handled really well. We're just working with a few little problems. The guys did a great job, we unloaded off the trailer yesterday and have been running really well. We went one way with the set-up and it didn't work so we're basically back to where we started. I think we'll have a good race car tomorrow." (Comments On The First Turn Tomorrow)"It will be a flip of the coin. It's important to stay clean and maybe try to pick up a couple spots, but you can't be too eager." | |
 | Castrol/Jockey AAR Racing Reynard Toyota Qualified: 23rd |
| JUAN MANUEL FANGIO II | |
| "I think we improved the car big time. We're going to keep going in the same direction. It wasn't a very good weekend for me traffic wise, but the car was very consistent at the end. We've had some good luck here before, I won in Indy Lights." | |
 | Hogan Racing Reynard Mercedes Qualified: 11th |
| DARIO FRANCHITTI | |
| (On Saturday Practice)"This time on the track helps so much. The getting used-to is done now so we can come out with our continued team effort and settle in with a good qualifying position. We are just working on getting the car around the track as quickly as possible." | |
 | Team Kool Green Team manager |
| BARRY GREEN | |
| "We have to step back and take a look at the whole weekend. We made a mistake during Friday qualifying, and you just can't afford to do that. This series is simply too competitive, and we've been playing catch up ever since. Then again, we've done better during races than we have in qualifying this season, so I'm looking forward to seeing what tomorrow will hold. Cleveland is a good track for moving up because it's so wide, and there's always a lot of passing. Hopefully, we'll be the only ones doing all the passing tomorrow." | |
| Hogan Racing Team Owner | |
| CARL HOGAN (No photo) | |
| (On Saturday Practice)"After making our adjustments, improvements, and changes, we are really seeing a difference. The Firestone tires are pulling us along really well. During one of the stops, the team had a third-best spot during the practice session and we are happy with our 8th for the session. Dario is getting used to the car on this track as he does so well on each track he drives." | |
| All American Racers Team Owner | |
| DAN GURNEY (No photo) | |
| "PJ and Gerald Tyler (The Engineer for Car #98) have been working on a slightly different set-up because this track requires something special. They've been consistently quicker all weekend and remained so in qualifying. It looked like they have a good system. We're actually doing testing, at the same time we're practicing and qualifying. That was our only choice until very recently when we started testing. We're pleased that we're first in class." | |
| Davis/Craig Racing Team Owner | |
| GERALD DAVIS (No photo) | |
| "He did the job today. We've been right there all weekend and Gualter went out there and proved our faith in him with that entire session. I think we're going to take him back to the same restaurant tonight and not change a thing." | |