Race No. 9
Medic Drug Grand Prix of Cleveland
Presented by Star Bank
Burke Lakefront Airport
Cleveland, Ohio
June 25-27, 1999
Saturday Quotes from Cleveland: | Forsythe Player's/Indeck Reynard Mercedes Qualified: 7th |
| GREG MOORE | |
| This is a very tough race track. You can drive around at one level all day long, but it takes a lot to get that last little bit and put in a fast lap. Turn one is very dicey. Hopefully, tomorrow we'll get through okay. Then we'll see where we can go from there. The track is so wide that you sometimes get cars six-and seven-wide, so you have to be real careful for sure. | |
 | Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Swift Ford Qualified: 3rd |
| MICHAEL ANDRETTI | |
| The spin [during qualifying] hurt yesterday and the penalty killed me today because I had to sit out the last eight minutes when the track was getting better. You could see it improving almost minute by minute. It was kind of frustrating watching guys pick me off when I was on the pole, but after Gil [de Ferran] got by me, I was kind of hoping someone else would, too, because I'd almost rather start third here than second. So thanks, Juan! IT IS SAID THAT STARTING POSITION HERE DOESN'T MATTER ALL THAT MUCH. WOULD YOU AGREE WITH THAT ASSESSMENT? Yeah I would agree with that assessment. Actually where I am starting is probably the best spot. You can pass here so qualifying is not that important. Starting third really feels good. DO YOU HAVE ANY CONCERNS ABOUT THE FIELD GOING INTO TURN ONE TOMORROW? If you look at history, the front row is really tough here because it is so wide going onto turn one. You have more options when you are the third guy instead of the first two getting into turn one. Sometimes it works for the position so hopefully it will tomorrow. WHAT DO YOU SEE FOR THE RACE TOMORROW? If you look at history, last year, the way the yellows flew it ended up being a fuel consumption race. Who knows it could come down to that. But we just need to have a good consistent race car and good pit stops. I hate coming into the pits anymore, we have had a lot of problems lately. But if we can do that we should be in good shape. WHEN YOU FACTOR IN THE HEAT AND HUMIDITY IS THIS ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT RACES PHYSICALLY? I don't know if it is the toughest but it is certainly up there. It's one of them. | |
 | Marlboro Lola Mercedes Qualified: 14th |
| AL UNSER, Jr. | |
| Cleveland is always tough on equipment. After yesterday's qualifying run, we decided to work on race setup so our Marlboro Mercedes Lola is ready to go the distance tomorrow. It's going to be a very competitive race given the close qualifying times, so we have our work cut out for us. | |
 | MCI Worldcom Arciero-Wells Reynard Toyota Qualified: 13th |
| CRISTIANO DA MATTA | |
| It was a tough way to end our day today. The car was really good. We were improving on our time from yesterday. The track was getting faster and faster at the end. I think we would have easily run in the 57.5's, which would have put us in the top ten for sure. It's disappointing, but we will just work extra hard tonight to get the car ready for warm-up tomorrow. | |
 | Pioneer Arciero-Wells Reynard Toyota Qualified: 18th |
| SCOTT PRUETT | |
| The car felt great this afternoon. I just couldn't seem to get the breaks today. I put in some good laps that got interrupted by traffic, but the car was definitely improving. The car has a lot more in it. After the red flag toward the end of the session, the guys on the Pioneer Electronics/MCI WorldCom car worked really hard to get me out there right away for a good, clean lap. We almost had it. The car was just right, the tires had just come around to that sweet spot, and then - bam! - just like that, another red flag. Our timing was ridiculously off. It's frustrating. Looking toward tomorrow, I can't be too worried. I've done well here from far back before, and you can gain position on this track in the blink of an eye. Lots of things can change tomorrow. | |
 | PacWest Motorola Reynard Mercedes Qualified: 5th |
| ROBERTO MORENO | |
| We put new tires on the car, and I just pushed a little harder. The team got the tires to the right pressure, and I was able to squeeze the time out of the car. I just went a little extra under braking and pushed the throttle a little more. The Mercedes engine was superb. The course is very bumpy. But we got the setup to where the car rides the bumps very well, so we went much faster. | |
 | Kmart/Texaco Havoline Newman/Haas Racing Swift Ford Qualified: 11th |
| CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI | |
| The balance was off in the car. We worked on it during the session but we ran out of time. We have a much better car that what we showed today. I was also battling a little problem with the shifter which was costing me a little time too. Tomorrow is going to be a better day. We need a solid run and if we can get a better balance out of the car tomorrow, and we are not that far off, we can be very competitive in the race tomorrow. | |
 | Herdez Competition Payton/Coyne Lola Ford Qualified: 20th |
| MICHEL JOURDAIN | |
| We are still battling an oversteer. We made changes for this session which helped but we still have a way to go. I made a big mistake on my hot lap and between that and the red flags it was not a very successful session. | |
 | Miller Lite Team Rahal Reynard Ford Qualified: 22nd |
| MAX PAPIS | |
| This was a very disappointing day for the Miller Lite team. We have been struggling to get the oversteer out of the car all weekend. I am happy for the success Bryan is having but at the same time I am very frustrated with how we are running. I am looking forward to putting qualifying behind me and just going out and racing. | |
 | Shell Team Rahal Reynard Ford Qualified: 4th |
| BRYAN HERTA | |
| DO YOU HAVE ANY CONCERNS REGARDING TOMORROWS RACE? I am glad to be starting up front that's for sure. The first turn of this race can get crazy. You can get caught up in some pretty wild stuff here. I just want to be out front any as far away from any mess as possible. | |
 | Team Kool Green Reynard Honda Qualified: 10th |
| DARIO FRANCHITTI | |
| It has been a pretty bad weekend so far. We’ve damaged the car twice. We’re in the X-car (spare car) this afternoon and the Team KOOL Green guys did an excellent job to get it ready for me. The car is still not that good over the bumps. We’re struggling over the bumps and that contributed to our two offs (off course). I think if we can get the car better over the bumps, then we’ll be fine. It’s as difficult to pass here as anywhere, but you have the advantage of being able to go three or four cars wide in some turns. Hopefully, we can take advantage of that. | |
 | Team Kool Green Reynard Honda Qualified: 8th |
| PAUL TRACY | |
| I didn’t have that much trouble with the bumps until this session. We didn’t change anything to the Team KOOL Green car, but somehow we lost our way a little bit. We improved our time from yesterday by a couple of tenths, but it didn’t really net us anything. I’m a little disappointed, but we’re still starting eighth. We’re not that far back for the start. If we make a good start, we’ll be right there. | |
 | Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda Qualified: 1st |
| JUAN MONTOYA | |
| We've been changing the car a lot and we were able to improve it over the bumps. This morning, we made some changes for qualifying and I was surprised at how quickly I was able to go fast. I went out and did a 57.3 [-second lap], and I thought, 'That should be enough.' But it wasn't. Fortunately, we were able to get out and make it even better. Obviously [during the race], you want to save some fuel, but I can't tell you how the race is going to go. Gil [de Ferran] is very quick, Michael [Andretti] was very, very quick this morning ... we'll just have to see what's going to happen. | |
 | McDonald'sForsythe Championship Racing Team Reynard Honda Qualified: 19th |
| TONY KANAAN | |
| The car is better, at least top 12, but unfortunately you pay the price when you are in the slower session. We didn't have a chance to get a clean lap between the traffic and the red flags. The wind hurt us a little bit on straightaway speeds, but the car felt good. We just weren't able to show it. | |
 | Tecate Beer/Quaker State Patrick Racing Reynard Ford Qualified: 12th |
| ADRIAN FERNANDEZ | |
| We had three red flags during the session and that really hurts what you are trying to do out there. The last one was the worse one for us because the car felt much better but unfortunately we didn't have time to do even one quick lap. But that is part of the problem with being in the slow qualifying session. It really closes the opportunities for us to make the changes we need to so we can improve the car. We were a little bit better than the closing laps of the session but we have to get the car better for tomorrow. HOW IS YOUR NEW '99 REYNARD WORKING ON THE BUMPY BROAD COURSE HERE IN CLEVELAND? The car is much more balanced and my engineer John Ward and myself have been able to adapt to the different circumstances that we have here in Cleveland and those are the bumps. WHAT IS THE CAR GOING TO BE LIKE FOR THE RACE TOMORROW? Last year I started 17th and finished 5th. On this track you can pass but we don't want to have to make as exciting as we did last year. Starting up closer to the front would be nice. WHAT IS TURN ONE GOING TO BE LIKE TOMORROW? I don't want to know. Hopefully it is going to be clear for me. | |
 | Valvoline/Cummins/Craftsman Special Walker Racing Reynard Honda Qualified: 2nd |
| GIL de FERRAN | |
| Conditions were definitely better today [than Friday]. The track has a little more grip, but one of the things that was very different today was the wind, which changed the car dramatically for a couple of turns. We did one good lap on our second set of tires and got close to Juan [Montoya] but we couldn't get it done and after that, I didn't get another chance. | |
 | Hogan Racing Reynard Mercedes Qualified: 17th |
| HELIO CASTRO-NEVES | |
| Racing with this team, I never have any doubt I can go fast everytime I get in the car. It's just a matter of getting everything together. Things happen. We just didn't have data from this track since we've never run here before with the Lola. Plus, there were too many red flags. This team is awesome. We have a good package. I know that when we least expect it, good things are going to happen. | |
 | Tang Payton/Coyne Reynard Ford Qualified: 27th |
| LUIZ GARCIA JR. | |
| That was not a very successful session for us. We broke a drive shaft and by the time we were ready to go back out we would have had two laps but then Salles' car caught fire and that ended the session. We didn't have the chance to get in one lap. It was a tough day | |
 | Forsythe Player's/Indeck Reynard Mercedes Qualified: 6th |
| PATRICK CARPENTIER | |
| The Player's team did an excellent job from this morning to this afternoon. We should be up front tomorrow in the race. We tried something this morning, and it didn't work. So we went back to our setup from yesterday, and the engineers were able to improve that some. Now it is much better. The further back you are on the grid the better your chances for getting involved in an accident, so we're pretty happy to be near the front. | |
 | Hollywood Reynard Mercedes Qualified: 9th |
| MAURICIO GUGELMIN | |
| It was a good day. We made a lot of progress with the balance of the car. We still need to improve the ride quality because that will be key to having a consistent car tomorrow. It's one thing to have a single quick lap-it's another to maintain that speed over the course of the race. I'm very happy with the direction that we're heading. All in all, it was a very positive day. | |
 | Patrick Racing Visteon Swift Ford Qualified: 16th |
| P.J. JONES | |
| GOING BACK TO YESTERDAY AND THE DISQUALIFICATION. THE INFORMATION WE GOT WAS THE CAR WAS OVERWEIGHT? HOW MUCH WAS IT OVERWEIGHT? Four pounds. Considering the car came in with fuel in it, probably two gallons or so, which is about thirteen pounds or so. But it is the rules and we were just a couple pounds light. It's unfortunate. CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT THE SESSION TODAY? YOU DIDN'T HAVE QUITE THE SUCCESS AS YOU DID YESTERDAY. BUT, ON THE BRIGHT SIDE, EVERYONE SAYS THAT OUT OF ALL THE TRACKS WE RACE ON THIS IS THE ONE WHERE QUALIFYING IS NOT AT A PREMIUM. . . Yeah, I had a decent car today and we probably could have run the same times as yesterday but we were a victim of the red flags. But at least you can pass here so I am confident in our chances tomorrow. | |
 | Team Gordon Swift Toyota Qualified: 24th |
| ROBBY GORDON | |
| I'm frustrated, that's all. It's a little bit of everything right now. The car doesn't like the bumps and I can't lift without the rear end rising and locking up my back wheels. I like this track. To be here and not run competitively hurts. Sorry, not much else to say. We just need to keep grinding. | |