Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda
ALEX ZANARDI
We have some problems with the car, it isn't handling very well yet. But it was a different problem that ended our session. I arrived at the corner and the brake pedal went down a bit further than it did before. I went in too fast and just missed the corner, sliding off the track on the outside. We have a lot of work to do for tomorrow.

	Marlboro Penske Mercedes
AL UNSER, Jr.
We came here (before Detroit) and had a good test. Unfortunately, the track has changed. As part of the continuing development of the Marlboro car, Andre and myself started today with two different setups. Obviously Andre's setup is better so we'll go in that direction tomorrow and look forward to a better run.

	Valvoline/Cummins/Craftsman Special Walker Racing Reynard Ford
GIL de FERRAN
This afternoon was not very good for us. The grip was marginal after practice this morning, and with the heat this afternoon we had no grip. We tried changes to the car and it would go back and forth — no grip in the front, no grip in the rear. I was sliding all over the place.

	Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Swift Ford
MICHAEL ANDRETTI
Well, what we know is that we're not quick enough. We've got to get our balance right. Both the grip and balance are off, and it's making itself seen in the high times. Although we picked up a couple of tenths from this morning, I think the track got a little slower. So perhaps we've picked up some time in the car after all. There are some things we can do, so we're not finished yet. The power is good and I think we're one of the quickest cars out there down the straights, so we may have that advantage.

	Miller Lite Team Rahal Reynard Ford
BOBBY RAHAL
We're trying to find the handle on these tires. The car feels quite a bit different than when we tested here. So we're just trying to figure out why, and trying to get the car back to where we had it. When we tested here, I ran a 58.8 (seconds), so we can do better. But I think we found some indications this afternoon and we'll see if we're right tomorrow.

	Shell Team Rahal Reynard Ford
BRYAN HERTA
There was a lot of sliding around today. It was slippery. The balance of the car changed tremendously from the morning to the afternoon. I was almost as quick with the first set of tires than the second set in qualifying. I was so much different today than when we tested here in April. But the first six cars today were here

	Hogan Truck Leasing Reynard Mercedes
JJ LEHTO
We made a tremendous improvement from the morning session but we are still two seconds off the pole. Basically, we are a little lost at the moment. We were really lost at Detroit and it seems it be continuing here, although we found a little bit in the afternoon. We now have some sort of direction so hopefully we can get further tomorrow.

	Kmart/Texaco Havoline Newman/Haas Racing Swift Ford
CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI
We're O.K. for today, but it's not where we need to be. It's not at all what we expected from the car; we thought we would be starting better. I've had as pretty tough year up until now. It's been pretty hard, but now we come into these road courses and we need to get better results. The team is pushing as hard as we can.

	Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda
JIMMY VASSER
We're close, but so are a lot of other guys, and we're not quite there yet. We need to make the car react quicker, it needs more overall grip and to be more nimble. I'm having to Śwait' on the car too much, especially in the left hand transitions. The track came in pretty well since this morning. In fact, this might be as good as it gets this weekend. The circuit here is pretty sensitive to temperature changes, and it could lose grip if it gets hotter tomorrow.

 

	Hollywood Reynard Mercedes
MAURICIO GUGELMIN
The car was generally a lot better to drive than it has been. We still don't have the balance I am looking for, but at least we have a good starting point. We're in the fast group tomorrow, which is a big plus. I'm pretty optimistic that we'll be in good shape.

	PacWest Motorola Reynard Mercedes
MARK BLUNDELL
Obviously we are very happy in comparison to where we've been. I'm glad we have this day under our belt and that we are in a position where we can get ahead even further. The team has worked very hard over the last couple of months and we now have a sense of direction that will put us in the right place for the future. It's great to finally feel like I've got a car underneath me.

	Herdez Competition Payton/Coyne Lola Ford
MICHEL JOURDAIN
We were both on our out-lap, and so I was not going very fast, but I wasn't too slow either. There was no point of extremely rushing into an out-lap. At one point, I had to brake a bit and he came flying right over the top of me. The undertray of his car hit the rollbar (of mine), and his car bent the top half of my steering wheel. It was very dangerous. We ran both cars this morning, and the backup car was quicker, so we decided to stay with it's time, rather than go out in the other with only a couple of minutes left after the accident.

	Visteon Reynard Ford
SCOTT PRUETT
We're obviously pleased for the Visteon Team as this is our best qualifying session of the season. The opportunity to make the car quite a bit better is still there. We went the wrong direction during qualifying with the second set of tires and we didn't get out of the car what I felt we should have. But that's hindsight. We're happy with where we are, and try for a couple of place improvements tomorrow. The Pacific Northwest is known for its rainy conditions, so if its dry and sunny, you need to make hay while you can.

	LCI International Tasman Motorsports Group LCI Reynard Honda
TONY KANAAN
It was good. I think we made a big, big improvement from this morning, and we just kept getting better. We didn't test here this year, we kind of used today as a test day and now we are going in the right direction, I think.

	Team Kool Green Reynard Honda
DARIO FRANCHITTI
We struggled here this morning, there was a lot less grip in practice than when we tested here a month ago. But the guys sorted it out very well. I think they changed almost everything on the car for qualifying. It (the pole run) was a nice lap. I was surprised when I saw the time, but I was pushing hard. The tires were good at the time so I had to go for it when the tires were at their best. Everything is good enough so far, but I know I'll have to go faster tomorrow.

	Team Kool Green Reynard Honda
PAUL TRACY
I was right on his (Jourdain's) gearbox through turns four and five, and planning to pass him on the back straight. I guess he didn't see me because he got on the brakes really hard and there was nothing I could do.

	Forsythe Player's/Indeck Reynard Mercedes
PATRICK CARPENTIER
This is my best performance so far on a road racing course in this series. I had been so troubled about my results on those type of tracks, that today's performance is more satisfying than the two poles I won on ovals. Coming up to CART, my strength had always been road racing courses. At the end of the session, I encountered a problem with my shifter. Each time I changed gears, the engine was cutting out. I think we will do better tomorrow.

	Tecate Beer/Quaker State Patrick Racing Reynard Ford
ADRIAN FERNANDEZ
We had some problems this morning, and we were able to fix them for this afternoon. The engine has been pretty good. We're going to change it today because we've run out of miles (in its normal maintenance schedule), and hopefully the new engine will be just as good. The engine power is about half of the formula for success here, where handling is usually more important on road courses. It would be nice to mix some of the road courses we have from now through the end of the season in with the ovals that dominate the first half. The championship is still there to be won, and now we move to more of a position of strength where we may have been giving a little away on short ovals.

	Baan Software Davis Racing Lola Ford
ARND MEIER
When I tested here (in April), Goodyear had a different tire. Now we have to bring the setup back to the tires. I feel we made a big step forward from this morning's practice, and Im really looking forward to tomorrow. I like this circuit. The quick chicanes (turns 7 and 8) on the back stretch and the first (Festival Curves) make the track interesting and I think it's nice.

	Forsythe Player's-Indeck Reynard Mercedes
GREG MOORE
This morning, we went out with the setups from our last testing session in Portland, but the track was much different. We made some changes from this morning's practice session, but the track was a little more slippery during qualifying and the car was not properly balanced. The tire pressure on our first set was wrong, but my times improved on the following ones. It was a clean session with everyone giving way when they had to. The player's team will be able to improve the car for the final sessions tomorrow.