Race No. 2
Budweiser 500
Twin Ring Motegi — Motegi, Japan
March 26-28, 1998
Thursday Quotes from Motegi:| Index of Quotes available | ||
| ADRIAN FERNANDEZ | GIL DE FERRAN | JIMMY VASSER |
| MARK BLUNDELL | MAURICIO GUGELMIN | SCOTT PRUETT |
 | Tecate Beer/Quaker State Patrick Racing Reynard Ford |
| ADRIAN FERNANDEZ | |
| Since we did not have an opportunity to test here like some other teams earlierthis year my first impressions of the track are that it is very impressive. It isa pleasure to drive the track. It is so smooth and is a dream to drive. The whole Patrick Racing Team has received a very nice welcome from the people ofJapan. They are very friendly and make you feel at home. This just shows that thedirection that CART is going with international races like Japan is the rightone. I am very happy that at this early stage of the season that I am in a position tobe fighting for the front in both qualifying and the races. I am very happy withthe Reynard/Ford/Firestone package. The Tecate/Quaker State car responds verywell to changes and I think that even though it is going to be very competitivewe should have a good chance for the pole tomorrow. | |
 | Visteon Reynard Ford |
| SCOTT PRUETT | |
| The Visteon team had a little bad luck today. We had some engine problems in theafternoon practice session so we had to go to the back-up car. But I amencouraged by how well the other Patrick car ran. It means the team is going inthe right direction and that the cars are fast. We will sit down tonight and workon our set-up and I am confident that by tomorrow the Visteon car will be able tochallenge for the pole. | |
 | Hollywood Reynard Mercedes |
| MAURICIO GUGELMIN | |
| We tried a lot of different things. Wemade a lot of progress in the afternoon. I know exactly what to expect from mycar. I'm pretty happy with it. The balance of the car is OK. A little less pushout of turn 4 would be ideal, but it's not too bad. This is a real slipstreamingcircuit and it's so wide that passing isn't a big deal. Qualifying will not bethat important. You need to get a solid car for the race. It's a longer race thanusual, so fuel strategy will play a part. | |
 | PacWest Motorola Reynard Mercedes |
| MARK BLUNDELL | |
| We had a constructive day. We worked a lot with a full fuelload. Now we're mainly concerned with the weather, as the forecast call for heavyrain tomorrow afternoon. We're definitely happier than Homestead. 500 kilometers(312 miles) is a long way to run on a 1.5 mile oval. It's not quite up tosuperspeedway standards, but it's a long way nonetheless. | |
 | Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda |
| JIMMY VASSER | |
| I thinkwe'll be a little quicker tomorrow. With so manyrace cars going around the track so closetogether, it's creating a vortex of wind, andmaybe some people are getting a little bit of atow. I think we'll be a little quicker tomorrow,but the times for the pole will be similar towhat we ran today. | |
 | Valvoline/Cummins/Craftsman Special Walker Racing Reynard Ford |
| GIL de FERRAN | |
| This is a very fast race track. You'realmost flat in Turns 1 and 2, so it's veryimportant not to scrub off so much speed goingthrough there. You have to brake going into Turn3, but still try to carry your speed. It's a verydifficult job. | |