Detroit

Race No. 13

Tenneco Automotive Grand Prix of Detroit
Belle Isle — Detroit, Michigan
August 6-8, 1999

Saturday Quotes from Detroit:
Index of Quotes available
MICHAEL ANDRETTI PARTICK CARPENTIER DARIO FRANCHITTI
MEMO GIDLEY CRISTIANO DA MATTA BRYAN HERTA
MICHEL JOURDAIN JR. TONY KANAAN JAN MAGNUSSEN
GREG MOORE ROBERTO MORENO MAX PAPIS
SCOTT PRUETT PAUL TRACY

Moore PictForsythe
Player's/Indeck
Reynard Mercedes
GREG MOORE
Obviously, the car was a lot better this afternoon than it was in themorning. This morning, when I got into the pits, the Player's guys had the sparecar ready to go. I think that's a testimony to the dedication of the peopleon this team. Since we had to start from scratch with the back-up car, wehad to set a quick time early in the session. On the first set of tires, wescrambled around a bit but then we managed to put in a good lap. I think Ialso left a couple of tenths of a second on the track. Still, overall, I'mquite satisfied.

Andretti PictKmart/Texaco/Havoline
Swift Ford
MICHAEL ANDRETTI
I screwed up on my first run at the pole. We decided to make a big changeto the setup and again, like Friday, we went the wrong way. Starting eighthis going to be tough tomorrow. This is a tight track where you really haveto set up your passes. We are going to really have to work hard tomorrow.

da Matta PictMCI Worldcom
Arciero-Wells
Reynard Toyota
CRISTIANO DA MATTA
The car in general feels better. We were able to get a good lap in, but by then the tires were six laps too old. The car felt really good this morning, so we decided that since it felt so comfortable for me it would be the one we'd try this afternoon. I'm frustrated that I wasn't able to do better, but everything just came together at the wrong time.

Pruett PictPioneer
Arciero-Wells
Reynard Toyota
SCOTT PRUETT
We made some good progress this morning with the primary car, so it's frustrating that we couldn't go out and build on that during qualifying. We were preparing to experiment a little bit with the primary car, so some of the changes we'd made to it weren't on the back-up car.Actually, it feels pretty good for not having turned a wheel here before this afternoon.

Moreno PictKmart/Texaco Havoline
Newman/Haas Racing
Swift Ford
ROBERTO MORENO
I am very happywith the team. They did a great job. We posted a solid time today withonly a little bit of seat time in the car. It's a testament to the guys whowork on the car. On one of my quick laps I got a bit sideways which cost ussome time so I just decided to bring the car in after that. I am stillgetting use to the car because it is a much different mechanical andaerodynamic package than the Reynard. Today was a good day, and I hope wecan have an even better day tomorrow.

Jourdain PictHerdez Competition
Payton/Coyne
Lola Ford
MICHEL JOURDAIN
The car was a bit better than it was yesterday and even this morning,but, not quite as good as we needed it to be. It was very loose in thecorners which is what caused me to crash. I am very disappointed.

Papis PictMiller Lite
Team Rahal
Reynard Ford
MAX PAPIS
We aredefinitely on the right track with the car. As I said yesterday, we stilldon't know our setups that well yet because we have changed a lot of things.We decided to take a different direction with the setup which is verydifferent from what Team Rahal use to run. But, we should be a factortomorrow. We just need to find that last little bit. Now we know that weare sticking with this setup and we can focus on developing it.

I think the first couple of turns are going to be crucial. Getting agood run on people is important. The tires are really soft. Its tough tokeep the car under you.

Herta PictShell
Team Rahal
Reynard Ford
BRYAN HERTA
I lost my telemetryduring the session which was a bit of a nuisance. During the session, wemade a change but we failed to improve out time. After we put the secondset of tires on we just couldn't find any more speed. We just missed alittle on the setup.

Attrition and pit strategy is going to be name of the gametomorrow. But I think we can get the car to the point where we can passsome people tomorrow. If we are going to get up front we are going to haveto pass some people.

Franchitti PictTeam Kool Green
Reynard Honda
DARIO FRANCHITTI
The lack of track time yesterday certainly hurt us. I've been playing catch-up really. I learn something new about the track every time I go out there. At the start of qualifying, we were working on the setup and the KOOL car felt pretty good. I was just finding my limit each time out trying to keep it inside the barriers, but go that much quicker. I think we were punished a little bit by being in the slower group. There's a lot more traffic and the track is not as fast. The track is usually faster as the day goes on.

I'm thrilled to be starting fourth. It's nice to have a good starting spot because you can stay out of trouble in Turn 1. I don't mind passing a few people and having to fight to move up to the front.

Tracy PictTeam Kool Green
Reynard Honda
PAUL TRACY
I did two warm-up laps and then really went for it on laps three and four. Unfortunately, I made a mistake on both of those laps in Turns 1 & 2. I was sliding the KOOL car around. My fifth lap, I took it easy and cooled the car down. Sixth, I tried to go for it again; made another mistake. I just got it all together on my last lap. But it was a bit of a compromise. I had to be less aggressive because the tires were no longer at their best. I didn't catch the Firestone tires at the right moment. We were close to getting the pole on the sixth or seventh lap, which isn't optimal. I just backed off a notch and you've got to give it all to get pole.

We're happy though. This is a great starting position for us. On the start, I want to slot in first or second if I can. If Montoya gets a jump then that's fine. I'm here to get points. We've got to win the race on the last lap, not the first one.

Kanaan PictMcDonald'sForsythe Championship Racing Team
Reynard Honda
TONY KANAAN
I made a mistake. It is so hard to get a clean lap and I was blockedagain on one of my quick laps, but that's not an excuse. I had a shotto do it and I made a mistake in Turn 12. I lost about 0.2 (seconds)and that's so important here. I am disappointed with myself. I have tothink about what I did because I don't like it when I cause my ownproblems. At the end of the day though, top six is not bad.

I think we have a good, consistent car for tomorrow. You need a lot ofpatience here because it is very easy to go from hero to zero.

Gidley Pict Payton/Coyne
Lola Ford
MEMO GIDLEY
Wechanged motors before the session and we had to scramble to get the O-ringsfor the radiators connected. That cost us a little time. As for thesession, we are getting better and better each time we go out. This weekendis a steep learning curve for us and for me. I am still learning with theteam and I have not raced on this track before either."

Carpentier PictForsythe
Player's/Indeck
Reynard Mercedes
PATRICK CARPENTIER
I gave it all I had and the car gave me everything it had, also," said theJoliette, Que., driver. "I lost some time when I had to come into the pitsto change the nose cone, but I'm pleased that the car has shown improvementall weekend, from yesterday to this morning, and then to this afternoon. Weneeded another half-second this afternoon, but it's a tough half-second togo out and get.

PJ PictPatrick Racing
Visteon
Swift Ford
JAN MAGNUSSEN
The time weput up did not really show the improvements we made. Every time the car wassupposed to be there we ran into traffic on the track. Our qualifying timelooks a lot worse than it actually is. I am just really angry with the waythings have been going. Nothing seems to be going our way this weekend.

We are just going to have to stay withit all day, continue to work on the car, and take advantages of theopportunities we get. It's going to be tough though.