Race No. 19

Honda Indy
Surfer's Paradise
Gold Coast, Australia
October 15-17, 1999

	Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Swift Ford
MICHAEL ANDRETTI
We are pretty happy with our time. But, that car is far from perfect and I didn't get a clean lap either so there's a lot more left in the car. If we can make the car a little bit better we should be a contender this weekend. I think we can go a lot quicker tomorrow. I think pole time tomorrow will be in the 1:31's. HOW IS THE GRIP LEVEL COMPARED TO LAST YEAR? It's a bit slippery, but it will get quicker tomorrow. YOU SEEM TO BE GAINING STRENGTH OVER HE PAST FEW RACES, IS ONE OF THE FACTORS THAT YOU AND YOUR TEAM ARE FINALLY FIGURING OUT THE FIRESTONE TIRES? We are definitely starting to understand the tires better and I think it is beginning to show especially on these setup of circuits. I am really happy with the Firestones. They should help us be competitive all weekend.

	Kmart/Texaco Havoline Newman/Haas Racing Swift Ford
CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI
We just screwed up. We tried something on the car that we thought was going to make it a lot better but it made it a lot worse. Actually, they were two very small changes but one of them ended up being a lot bigger than we thought. We went in knowing that there was a chance that it might have been a little worse, but it turned out to be a whole lot worse.

	Forsythe Player's/Indeck Reynard Mercedes
GREG MOORE
We lost time in the morning because of the conditions — it was too dry for rain tires and too wet for slicks, so we decided to come in and not take any chances. Then we had the mechanical problem in qualifying. We elected not to take out the back-up car because that would have put us in a difficult position tomorrow. It's frustrating, but we'll have to do the best job we can tomorrow and see where we end up.

	Team Gordon Swift Toyota
ROBBY GORDON
We're having a hard time smoothing out the rough ride here. It's wild out there, I feel like I'm fighting a grizzly bear in every corner. Part of that is the track, but part of that is also us trying to come up with a better shock setup. At times, it's so bumpy I can barely see. The biggest thing for us right now is to sort out the bumps and keep the car from jumping as much when I run through the chicanes. If we can do that we'll be in much better shape. Even at that though, the session wasn't too bad. We ended up 14th. The bummer was my last lap put us 13th and in the fast group for tomorrow, but Helio came through as the last guy in the session and beat us to drop us down. It would have been nice to be able to take advantage of all the rubber in the late session Saturday.

	Marlboro Lola Mercedes
AL UNSER, Jr.
We made a big jump in this afternoon's qualifying session. We were able to pick up almost four seconds from this morning's practice. The power from the Mercedes engine was good. We still have an understeer in the car, and we want to get it working better over the bumps. The track should come in more tomorrow so we can work on our race set up.

	PacWest Motorola Reynard Mercedes
MARK BLUNDELL
It was a bit of a tough day at the office. We lost a lot of time in both the morning and the afternoon with technical problems, so we weren't able to work on the balance of the car. We have some catching up to do tomorrow, but we've run well at the last few street circuits and I'm sure we can be quick here.

	Hogan Racing Lola Mercedes
HELIO CASTRO-NEVES
On the final lap, I just tried to be as smooth as possible, and it worked out well. The car had some understeer today, so we'll have to make a few more improvements for tomorrow.

	Herdez Competition Payton/Coyne Lola Ford
MICHEL JOURDAIN
During the practice the car was good in the wet. In the qualifying we couldn't set a good time because the traffic and also some push in the car. Later we had problems with the gas pump and we could not improve our performance. For this race I have a new engineer, his name is David Watson. I think it is too early to make some comments about him, but I hope this change will be for good.

	Forsythe Player's/Indeck Reynard Mercedes
PATRICK CARPENTIER
We're happy that we're in the top 10, which means we'll be in the fast group for final qualifying. The car was a little bit loose in the high-speed corners, but the team fixed that. I'm pleased with the car — but we always need to find a little bit more. This circuit is tough. You have to run on the curbs to be quick. Everyone is hanging it out there and really pushing.

	Hollywood Reynard Mercedes
MAURICIO GUGELMIN
I'm happy with the whole day. With the weather conditions this morning, it was difficult to choose which way to go with the car, but we obviously chose the right direction. We're continuing to make progress from what we learned at Houston. I'm looking forward to being in the fast group tomorrow.

	Pioneer Arciero-Wells Reynard Toyota
SCOTT PRUETT
We didn't quite have the right set-up on the Pioneer car when we got here, so we had to spend some time sorting that out today. We lost a lot of time this morning because of the rain, so the time we did have on the track was crunch time all the way through qualifying. We've made some improvements, and the fact that we're in the fast group for tomorrow is key. Being in that group for final qualifying can make a huge difference.

	MCI Worldcom Arciero-Wells Reynard Toyota
CRISTIANO DA MATTA
We had a lot of trouble with the MCI WorldCom car this morning and the way it runs over the bumps. I had a lot of trouble under braking, because the road is very bumpy and the tires in front or in back would sometimes lose contact with the track. So we had some big adjustments to do to make the car more stable. We are making some very big overall changes to the car tonight. We had a good car by the end of qualifying today, but I could not get a clean enough lap to know how good the car really is.

	Miller Lite Team Rahal Reynard Ford
MAX PAPIS
The car was bouncing around on us a lot this afternoon. It's very unstable right now in the corners and uncomfortable to drive. I lost time under braking also, we need to take a look at the setup and make adjustments to the brakes for tomorrow. Bryan's car is a bit different than mine so we are going to take a look at his setup, compare them and make adjustments.

	Shell Team Rahal Reynard Ford
BRYAN HERTA
We struggled a little bit. The track was a bit bumpy so we need to continue to work on the setup, but I think we have enough left in the car to get it up into the top one or two. We just need to work on making this an error-free weekend. The car is working really well and we have been posting some very competitive laps. You know, the car has been working really well, and has been really competitive over the last few races. We need to just keep a positive frame of mind and keep my guys as motivated as they are and keep at it.

	Team Kool Green Reynard Honda
DARIO FRANCHITTI
It wasn't a good session. I didn't get a clear lap on the second set of tires and then I touched the wall. I went into the corner (Turn 7) and I felt some understeer. I hit the curb, which was a bit different. The car understeered some more and flicked the back end out. That's when I hit the wall. We have a bit of work to do on the KOOL car and I have to do a bit of work as well. We don't need any big changes, but we need some. I'll huddle up with the Team KOOL Green engineers and come back stronger tomorrow.

	Team Kool Green Reynard Honda
PAUL TRACY
When I got the fast time the team told me that I was fourth when I crossed the line, so I went for another lap. I messed up a chicane on the back straight and caught a tire, peeling the front wing off. We got pretty lucky that we didn't damage the front end of the car more than we did. There's some water seeping out from under the curbs in the chicane, so if you get in there too deep it washes the front end out. I'm pretty happy for today. If we can keep the KOOL car running this way, hopefully we will get the pole tomorrow. The curbs are flatter than last year, so it quickens up the line a little bit. When the track comes in tomorrow, it will be real quick.

	Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda
JUAN MONTOYA
This morning, the car was really bad. I did about five laps in the dry and I didn't really learn much. I got a good lap in during qualifying, then we changed tires and I made a couple of mistakes. I made too many mistakes today, but I think we'll be okay. I expected to be up front, but after so much rain. I thought it would be difficult. But we're in a good place and I think we'll be all right [tomorrow].

	McDonald's Forsythe Championship Racing Team Reynard Honda
TONY KANAAN
It's not bad for the first day, but I think we can improve. The track is still pretty green. If the weather stays like this, it will be much better tomorrow. We are working for tomorrow. Top seven is a good start, but we know we can do better. It is such a difficult track. I missed a chicane during the session, and they took away my lap. The track is pretty much the same as last year. They smoothed a couple of curbs which gives you the courage to try a little bit harder, but nothing major. It's nice to be back in Australia. I always enjoy Surfers, and hopefully we will have a good weekend. It's great to be here and to have a good race as well would make it 100 percent.

	Tecate Beer/Quaker State Patrick Racing Reynard Ford
ADRIAN FERNANDEZ
We didn't have the right combination today. We have to go back and work on the setup a bit more. Also, this track is a little harder on my wrist than I thought it was going to be. Apart from that, we just need to continue to work on the car. We need it to work better over the bumps. I think there are more of them here this year than last.

	Herdez Payton-Coyne Racing Lola Ford
MEMO GIDLEY
The free session was kind of fun, I was learning the track and it was wet. For the timed session I was still learning the track. We made a couple of changes and the car was a little bit better, it developed some push, but I think tomorrow we can go faster. Regarding the accident it happened in Turn 1, I ran a little in the exit and I spun around. Happily the car had just little damage.

	Patrick Racing Visteon Reynard Ford
JAN MAGNUSSEN
The car is not that bad. We are struggling a bit with the brakes. The are locking up an awful lot on me and wrecking our tires. I made a mistake on the last lap that cost us because we could have been higher up on the grid. The time we lost in the morning session because of the rain really hurt me because it's my first time here. WHAT ARE YOUR IMPRESSIONS OF THE TRACK? I like this track, for a street circuit it has some amazingly fast corners.

	Team Kool Green Team manager
BARRY GREEN
It's great to be home, especially when we have both KOOL cars up front. I put a lot of pressure on our team to do well here. It would be great to win this one. Last year was fantastic with Dario finishing second, but I need a win here in front of my family. It's exciting for me because all of my other colleagues, the owners and the drivers love to be here. They love the country and that makes me feel good. We're all wound up, but probably not any more than a normal race weekend. This is an important race for us because we need to do well here with one more race left and Dario still in the hunt for the championship. Thank goodness we're up there for the first qualifying session. It was a little confusing this morning in practice with the mixture of wet and dry portions of the track. It makes us all very bumpy. I think both cars look pretty good. Paul did a tremendous lap there to put it on pole. I think that Dario is okay. I don't think he quite had the car and I don't think he was quite as smooth as he needed to be. But he is right there in fifth. The main thing is that we're in the fast session with both cars tomorrow. Tomorrow will be a whole lot faster if the good weather stays with us. I'm very pleased with the first day.