Race No. 11
Molson Indy
Exhibition Place
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
July 16-18, 1999
Friday Quotes from Toronto: | Forsythe Player's/Indeck Reynard Mercedes Provisional Qualification: 9th |
| GREG MOORE | |
| As it turned out, we went quickest on our first set of tires. After the first lap, you start losing grip. Tires will definitely be a factor if it stays this hot all weekend. | |
 | Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Swift Ford Provisional Qualification: 3rd |
| MICHAEL ANDRETTI | |
| I messed up my quick lap. It was a good one. The computer said I was three-tenths quicker up until the point where got loose. I got loose coming on to the main straightaway. YOU AND YOUR TEAM SEEM TO BE GAINING CONFIDENCE AT EACH RACE. DO YOU FEEL IT TOO? Absolutely. We are on a very steep learning curve. We switched to Firestone only a couple of weeks before the season. I think the Firestones are better but they are a bit different than the Goodyear tires. We basically went to Long Beach with Goodyear knowledge and we were out to lunch there. But we have learned a lot since then but we still have a ways to go. I am very excited right now. I was sitting with Peter (Gibbons) last week and we were looking at the schedule and we didn't see any weaknesses so we are very positive about our chances. WHAT IS IT THAT YOU LIKE ABOUT THIS TRACK? This track has a little of everything. I was a little disappointed when they reconfigured the track because I liked the old one a bit better. But this is probably the best street course we race on. | |
 | PacWest Motorola Reynard Mercedes Provisional Qualification: 11th |
| ROBERTO MORENO | |
| Today's qualifying went really well, and I think we got the most out of the car. We're improving in steps, and I think we can find more speed tomorrow. This is the first time that I've driven on this circuit, and I like it. It's as challenging as ever, but safer. | |
 | Kmart/Texaco Havoline Newman/Haas Racing Swift Ford Provisional Qualification: 12th |
| CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI | |
| HAS ANYONE GIVEN YOU A GOOD EXPLANATION WHY YOU WERE PENALIZED? No. Next time I am just going to engage reverse, as I did in the car, and back it up. I actually stopped there not to hit Kanaan's car because he was blocking the whole track. Then they came up to me and said that I didn't see the yellow flag. The guy didn't even have time to throw the yellow flag. CAN YOU TELL ME A BIT ABOUT THE SESSION? YOU WERE SECOND QUICK THIS MORNING BUT DIDN'T HAVE THE SUCCESS THIS AFTERNOON. We made a big mechanical change after the morning session and it was definitely not the way to go. I think we have a good idea of the direction we need to take tomorrow. | |
 | Herdez Competition Payton/Coyne Lola Ford Provisional Qualification: 19th |
| MICHEL JOURDAIN | |
| We are not having the same kind of luck we did last week in Elkhart. We are struggling with oversteer right now. We need to work on getting the car more comfortable. It's a bit bumpier out there but they are not bothering me that much. We just need to keep working. | |
 | Miller Lite Team Rahal Reynard Ford Provisional Qualification: 18th |
| MAX PAPIS | |
| We tried a few different setups but we just have not nailed it on the right one yet. Our car was way too stiff today and it was sliding around a lot. I think we have a good idea of where we need to go. We found some speed in Elkhart Lake last weekend that we need put on this car. I am confident that we can improve tomorrow. | |
 | Shell Team Rahal Reynard Ford Provisional Qualification: 15th |
| BRYAN HERTA | |
| YOU SEEMED TO BE BATTLING UNDERSTEER THROUGHOUT THE SESSION. Yes, we went over on it a little bit. We were trying to compensate a bit and it made the rear loose on entry. We are a little better off than we were this morning. We are struggling a bit right now. The solution to our problem has not presented itself yet. | |
 | Team Kool Green Reynard Honda Provisional Qualification: 1st |
| DARIO FRANCHITTI | |
| The track will be faster tomorrow, which is one of the reasons we came in early. It's pointless to go out on track and ruined a set of tires for the sake of being the quickest today when it doesn't really mean that much. I think we're so quick because the team did a fantastic job. We had a couple of issues with the car this morning. However, the guys with Team KOOL Green did a great job and they have the car working quite well. Their hard work was vital in helping me to better my qualifying record when I won last year' s pole. But, we're not happy yet because we'll have to go faster tomorrow. | |
 | Team Kool Green Reynard Honda Provisional Qualification: 4th |
| PAUL TRACY | |
| I'm pretty happy with the KOOL car because it's handling really good. We took this session really casual. We started on full tanks, taking our time. We put up our quick time towards the end of the session when our tank was light. I feel pretty relaxed. My engineer Tony Cicale has me really laid back. I feel ready for this weekend. There's a lot less pressure here this year, now that I'm driving much better than last year. It's a good first day to build on for tomorrow. The track will be better tomorrow, so we'll need to improve the car for tomorrow. The track should have more grip tomorrow and we're hoping to improve the grip level of the car with some changes to the suspension. Hopefully, there will be no rain. | |
 | Tecate Beer/Quaker State Patrick Racing Reynard Ford Provisional Qualification: 14th |
| ADRIAN FERNANDEZ | |
| YOU WERE FOURTH QUICK THIS MORNING BUT HAVE NOT HAD THAT SAME KIND OF SUCCESS THIS AFTERNOON Well yes, but many people this morning didn't put on new tires when they went out. We made some changes and they didn't improve the car like we hoped. We are basically at the same spot we were at this morning. We just don't have much traction or front grip and we need to work on making the car better through the rough parts and the bumps. We just need to make the car more friendly to use in tough conditions. | |
 | Valvoline/Cummins/Craftsman Special Walker Racing Reynard Honda Provisional Qualification: 2nd |
| GIL de FERRAN | |
| It was a very good day for us. In the morning, we were working mostly on race setup and I was very happy with the car and confident for qualifying since the car was handling quite well. In qualifying, we were lucky to get a clear lap on each set of tires. I was a little bit disappointed that Dario was able to beat me on his second set of tires, since I had the pole on the first set, but that's what he's supposed to do. We'll see what happens tomorrow. | |
 | Hogan Racing Reynard Mercedes Provisional Qualification: 7th |
| HELIO CASTRO-NEVES | |
| Everything went the way that I like it, and we had a session with no problems. This is important for us. We have to work a lot tomorrow, but we have good tires and a good engine. I have been dying to get into the fast group, and I'm confident that we are going to be able to do well tomorrow. | |
 | Forsythe Player's/Indeck Reynard Mercedes Provisional Qualification: 13th |
| PATRICK CARPENTIER | |
| There is still some push in the car on the corners. The track seems bumpier this year. The team will look at the springs and the suspension to adjust the car so that I can't feel those bumps. Tomorrow should be a better day for us. | |
 | Hollywood Reynard Mercedes Provisional Qualification: 17th |
| MAURICIO GUGELMIN | |
| This morning the car was pushing, so we made some changes that helped to reduce the understeer. Still, the car is sliding too much. We're going to work on getting more mechanical grip. | |
 | Patrick Racing Visteon Swift Ford Provisional Qualification: 22nd |
| P.J. JONES | |
| We are having a real tough time. The Visteon guys are working really hard to get the car setup. I am just very frustrated right now. We are struggling with the car so much. Everything we tried today didn't work. I know the Swift has the potential but it is frustrating because we can't seem to find it. | |
 | Smith-Kline Payton/Coyne Reynard Ford Provisional Qualification: 25th |
| DENNIS VITOLO | |
| WELL FOR STARTERS WHY ARE YOU IN THE CAR THIS WEEKEND? I was not supposed to be here but the circumstances were that Dale (Coyne) gave me a call yesterday afternoon and I got in late last night. I really don't know why Luiz (Garcia) isn't here. I know he had to go back to Brazil for business and I think he may have gotten stuck there. YOU HAVE NOT BEEN IN A CAR OR ON A ROAD COURSE IN SOME TIME. I am a little rusty. I have not driven a road course since last year and obviously we didn't do any road course testing. So it's just a situation of getting me back up to speed. | |