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CART: Mercedes Fires Fastballs at Spring Training

5 February 1999

Mercedes-Benz CART FedEx Championship Series Report

Race: CART Spring Training, Homestead, Fla.
Date/Session: Thursday, Feb. 4, 1999 Practice

Mercedes Fires Fastballs at Spring Training
Player's/Forsthye Teammates Carpentier and Moore Quickest Overall

Mercedes-Benz proved the performance of its IC108E engine by powering Player's/Forsythe teammates Patrick Carpentier and Greg Moore to a one-two finish at Spring Training for the 1999 CART FedEx Championship Series.

While no points are awarded, Spring Training is the first and only time during the pre-season that all teams test over the same track at the same time. The leaders earn bragging rights heading into the 1999 Champ car season.

Carpentier was the quickest driver over the two days, breaking the 25-second barrier today with a lap of 24.962 seconds (216.617 mph). The Player's/Forsythe team set the benchmark for next month's season-opening race here at Homestead Motorsports Complex.

Greg Moore, who took the pole here last year at the Miami Grand Prix, was second quickest with a time of 25.055 seconds (215.813 mph) over the 1.502-mile oval. The Forsythe teams' results were even more remarkable considering that they had only done road-course testing until this point.

"To come here and take the top two spots in the first real major test against all the other teams and manufacturers is an excellent showing," said Paul Ray, vice president of Ilmor Engineering. "This result is significant because the engines that went fast over the last two days were some of the first engines built in our new Ilmor Technology Center in Plymouth (Mich.). This clearly demonstrates the level of quality our staff is capable of producing."

Al Unser Jr., driver of the Marlboro Team Penske Mercedes, overcame yesterday's frustrations with understeer to place ninth overall with a lap time of 25.454 seconds (212.430 mph).

Despite suffering from the flu, Mark Blundell piloted PacWest's Motorola Mercedes to12th place with a lap time of 25.544 seconds (211.682 mph). Mauricio Gugelmin's Hollywood team worked diligently throughout the sessions to post a lap time of 25.617 seconds (211.079 mph), improving to 14th overall. Helio Castro-Neves, in Hogan Racing's Mercedes, continued to experiment with his set-ups, placing 18th with a lap time of 25.784 seconds (209.711 mph).

Bettenhausen Motorsports Mercedes Rookie Shigeaki Hattori did not practice today after damaging his team's car in a crash yesterday.

The first race of the CART Fed Ex Championship Series will be the Marlboro Grand Prix at Homestead, Sunday, March 21.

Mercedes Quotes

Patrick Carpentier, No. 33, Player's/Forsythe Mercedes/Firestone
"I'm very happy. We had a good day. The engine is very fast and more reliable than ever before. Greg and a few guys will give me some trouble in March, but we are ready."

Greg Moore, No. 99, Player's/Forsythe Mercedes/Firestone
"This is a great result for the team. They make our job as drivers very easy. We never tested on an oval this year until now. I think a lot of people thought we wouldn't be as quick as we have been over the last couple of days. To me it is important to be quick over long runs, and we know we're there. I think this track owes me one, so I'm looking forward to coming back here in March."

Al Unser Jr., No. 2, Marlboro Team Penske/Mercedes/Goodyear
"While we learned a lot about the 1999 Marlboro Mercedes Penske and made progress over the past couple of days, we are definitely not happy ending the test in ninth place. We tested here in colder conditions and came back in the heat and could not match our best time of 25.1 seconds. Now we need to get back to work and increase our speed. As far as the new car goes, I'm happy with it. We've done quite a bit of development in the wind tunnel and downforce is better. Reliability was an issue last year and so far it's not a problem."

Mark Blundell, No. 18, Motorola Mercedes/Firestone
"We ran a few different things this morning, then put in a package we know is quick. We still have more to find, but we have a clear understanding of where we need to go. I've got the flu which is why we quit a bit early today."

Mauricio Gugelmin, No. 17, Hollywood Mercedes/Firestone
"We lost some time again this morning with clutch problems. But in the afternoon the balance was much better. We were fighting some push in mid-corner on both ends. We are going to come back and work here before the race. I am a lot happier today than I was yesterday. We are going in the right direction."

Helio Castro-Neves, No. 9, Hogan Racing Mercedes/Firestone
"This morning was very good. Unfortunately, a broken sixth gear cost us a lot of time in the afternoon. We'll be back testing a lot before the March race here. I really like the way the Lola chassis works. We worked on mechanical setup over the last couple of days, so when we come back we need to work on our aerodynamic setup. We didn't adjust the wings the whole time we were here. That is what we'll test next. I'm very optimistic right now."