Race No. 3
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
Long Beach — Long Beach, California
April 3-5, 1998
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The Prime Event
By Peter Burke
Returning to the continent from their Japanese excursion, CART teams will duke it out at what must be called their prime eventof the year. Media attention is at its peak, the Grand Prix has a huge history (25th anniversary this year), and the track remainsone one the better street racing courses CART competes on. This year, the drivers will have to deal with a modified track sectionat the end of Shoreline Drive, where the track now turns left and connects after a few bends with the old track where turn three used to be.
Favorites? This year it could really almost be anybody's race. Andretti is always strong in Long Beach, Herta was fast last year, Franchitti finished second, and Moore comes off two good finishes. Gil de Ferran has been among the fastest cars in Long Beachfor several years now, but he still has not been able to win there. Adrian Fernandez comes off a win in Japan, but he will most likely be driving a Swift for the first time this season...
Greg Moore:
"There have been a few changes to the track, but after the Japan race, I'mready for anything. My only win atLong Beach was in 1995, when I was in Indy Lights. That was the year I won thedrivers' championship - the first of two for the Player's team in that series,because David Empringham won the next year."
"The track here is narrow and there are few places where you can pass. Fast pitstops are a big factor in being able to do well here. With the top-notch crewwe have on the Player's team, I think it's a huge plus for Patrick and I."
Patrick Carpentier:
"What happened in Japan was unfortunate, but I'm confident Ican do well here in Long Beach. I think the information we gathered in ourwinter testing on road courses will help both cars to earn a good position inqualifying. Getting a spot at or near the front of the grid is important herebecause there aren't that many places where you can pass."
Max Papis:
"Long Beach is another opportunity for the Miller Lite team to build ourconfidence and consistency. We have had two very strong runsin Miami and Japan and have just begun to show the potential in the car.Team Rahal has an excellent record on the street and road courses so Iexpect well will be one of the strongest cars in the field at Long Beach."
Bryan Herta:
"The first order of business on Friday will be to test the new part of thecircuit and see if the set-up from last year is still valid. Computer simulationscan indicate a lot of the information we need togather for the run, but computers can't show you the bumps and the slipperypatches on the track. There is no replacement for quality track time."
Robby Gordon:
"We've got a lot of momentum going as a team. I was always hoping itwouldn't take long for us to get into a groove. But it looks like we'regetting there very quickly. That's a great feeling."