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Sorensen Providing Pit Lane Power to CART'S Team Rahal

15 April 1999

Sorensen Providing Pit Lane Power to CART'S Team Rahal

    SAN DIEGO--April 15, 1999--Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) competitor Team Rahal is receiving some powerful assistance from the Sorensen division of San Diego-based Elgar Corp. at this weekend's Grand Prix of Long Beach and throughout the 20-race CART FedEx Championship Series.
    Sorensen has become an official supplier to Team Rahal, providing its DCS series of DC programmable power supplies to help the team test its race cars prior to competition. The DCS powers the team's pair of million-dollar Championship Cars while data is downloaded from their onboard computers.
    Telemetry data such as minimum and maximum oil pressures, fuel pressure, brake bias, coolant temperature, engine speed and fuel consumption during test, practice and qualifying laps is downloaded and analyzed when preparing each car for a race. The Sorensen power supplies are used at Team Rahal's headquarters facility in Ohio and in the pit lane at race circuits around the world where the team competes.
    "These are high-tech cars," said three-time CART champion and Team Rahal owner Bobby Rahal. "Their small 2.65-liter engines produce more than 800 horsepower and propel their light-weight carbon-fiber chassis to speeds of more than 230 miles per hour. Continual analysis of the data from the onboard computer is essential to the cars' performance, our drivers' safety, and our team's success. The Sorensen power supplies are helping us do that."
    After each series of test laps, the car is brought to the pit lane so that the driver, engineer and crew can discuss the car's performance. Following these discussions, set-up changes are made to the car to enhance handling and overall performance. While in the pits, an umbilical cord is inserted into a data port between the engine and the driver's seat.
    The engine is shut off and data is downloaded to a pit-side computer and vital functions are analyzed. The Sorensen power supply provides power to the car's electrical system during the download.
    Sorensen continues its technological leadership by offering a broad line of power supplies with internal IEEE-488 programming and capabilities. Sorensen has become an industry leader in providing innovative and high quality DC power solutions to industrial, military and commercial markets.
    For more information on Elgar's and Sorensen's comprehensive line of AC and DC power supplies, visit them on the World Wide Web at http://www.sorensen.com or via E-mail at sales@sorensen.com or call 800/733-5427.
    Founded in 1965, Elgar is based in San Diego. Elgar's comprehensive product lines include programmable AC power sources, programmable DC power supplies and loads, global UPS products and Solar Array Simulators. Elgar and its Sorensen division are leading providers of power supplies for test and measurement applications.
    About Team Rahal: Team Rahal is a franchise member of Championship Auto Racing Teams. Owned by two-time Driver of the Year Bobby Rahal and CBS LATE SHOW host David Letterman, the team fields a pair of Championship Cars for drivers Bryan Herta and Max Papis in the FedEx Championship Series. With headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, the 65-member team enjoys primary sponsorship from Miller Brewing Co. and Shell Oil Products Co.
    About CART: Championship Auto Racing Teams Inc. owns, operates and markets the FedEx Championship Series, which is comprised of 20 races in five countries on four continents in 1999. Drivers like Michael Andretti, Al Unser Jr. and Jimmy Vasser race 800-plus horsepower, open wheel cars at speeds of more than 230 miles per hour on some circuits in pursuit of the PPG Cup, awarded annually to the series champion.
    About the Grand Prix of Long Beach: Celebrating its 25th Anniversary this weekend as one of the world's pre-eminent street races, the Grand Prix of Long Beach welcomes CART's Championship Cars and a weekend crowd of more than 200,000 fans to the "World's Fastest Beach Party". The race will be seen live at 4:00 p.m. ET/1:00 p.m. PT on Sunday, April 18 on ABC-TV.