CART: Moore and Mercedes to Start Seventh at Detroit
7 August 1999
Player's/Forsythe driver Greg Moore recovered from a crash in
practice this morning to qualify seventh for tomorrow's Detroit Grand Prix
at the Raceway at Belle Isle. Juan Montoya will start on pole with a lap
time of 73.585 seconds (114.773 mph). Moore's best lap was 74.020 seconds
(114.099 mph).
Moore had qualified his Mercedes-Benz Champ Car fourth in
provisional qualifying yesterday. But Moore had to withdraw that time
after he was unable to avoid the car of Jan Magnussen, who crashed almost
immediately in front of him while entering a corner in practice this
morning. Moore's car suffered major damage, but he was uninjured. He
switched to his backup car for final qualifying today, but was not able to
regain his fourth spot on the grid.
Moore's Player's/Forsythe/Mercedes teammate, Patrick Carpentier,
also qualified in the top 10 with a lap of 74.090 seconds (113.991 mph).
He will start the race from the ninth spot on the grid. His qualifying
effort was hampered by an incident with Marlboro Team Penske driver Gonzalo
Rodriguez that took the front-right wing off Carpentier's race car. This
is Rodriguez's first race in the CART series. He qualified 16th with a
best lap of 75.034 seconds (112.557 mph).
PacWest/Hollywood/Mercedes driver Mauricio Gugelmin struggled with
a lack of grip to earn the 13th position with a lap of 74.530 seconds
(113.318 mph). His teammate, Mark Blundell, in his first race back in the
PacWest/Motorola/Mercedes after missing several weeks due to an injury
suffered during mid-season testing, qualified 15th with a lap of 74.877
seconds (112.793 mph).
Helio Castro-Neves, driver for Hogan Racing, will start 18th thanks
to a 75.095-second lap (112.466 mph). Marlboro Team Penske veteran Al
Unser Jr. will start 20th. His best lap was 75.495 seconds (111.870 mph).
The race begins Sunday at 3 p.m., and it will be televised
beginning at 4 p.m. on ABC-TV.
Mercedes Quotes
Greg Moore, No. 99, Player's/Forsythe Mercedes/Firestone (Seventh/74.020
seconds)
"Today was better than yesterday, even though we had to throw away
our time from yesterday due to our crash in practice this morning. The
first thing we had to do today was go out and get a quick lap, and we did
that. Still, I left about one-tenth or more out there. I was scrambling
trying to get a clean lap. I think we could have jumped up to fifth.
Passing in the race all depends on how you get through turns one and two,
and how you are in braking for turn three. If you can get a good run
through turn two, then you should be good to get around someone in turn
three.
(On his move to Marlboro Team Penske next season) "Roger (Penske)
is one of the most successful businessmen in the world, but he's also a
racer. I can see the competitiveness and fierceness in his eyes. He wants
to win. You can see that in the drivers he has hired in me and Gil (de
Ferran). This was something I thought long and hard over. It's a new
challenge, and right now it is the best decision for me."
Patrick Carpentier, No. 33, Player's/Forsythe Mercedes/Firestone
(Ninth/74.090 seconds)
(On his qualifying incident with Gonzalo Rodriguez) " I thought he
was going into the pits. I went inside of him. I thought he was letting
me by. He closed in and I went up on him. I was on my good set of tires,
so it really messed us up. That was going to be my peak lap. It's a
shame. The car was good."
Mauricio Gugelmin, No. 17, PacWest Hollywood Mercedes/Firestone
(13th/74.530 seconds)
"We made progress because we had no dramas today. That allowed us
to work on the car and make positive changes. We still need more front
grip. We're going to think this through and make big changes as far as the
chassis goes. Starting where we are, we'll have to be creative with our
pit stops to move up. It all depends on how the cards fall and where the
yellow flags come."
Gonzalo Rodriguez, No. 3, Marlboro Team Penske Mercedes/Goodyear
(16th/75.034 seconds)
"We made a lot of changes to the Marlboro Mercedes Lola this
morning, but unfortunately we didn't have enough time to evaluate them
properly. We lost power during the session, so our qualifying ended early.
Even though I've only had two days in the Marlboro car, the team has done
a great job to make me feel comfortable and adapt to Champ Car racing."
Mark Blundell, No. 18, PacWest Motorola Mercedes/Firestone (15th/74.877
seconds)
"We made a couple of changes from the morning session, and one of
the changes didn't work. None of us are very happy. We'll have a long
race tomorrow. I'm very tired-not 100 percent race fit. I did as much as
I could to prepare for this race. Tomorrow I'll just have to grit my teeth
and make it to the checkered flag."
Helio Castro-Neves, No. 9, Hogan Racing Mercedes/Firestone (18th/75.095
seconds)
"This morning was very good. It was hard to keep the tires up to
temperature. We switched sets of tires, but then my safety belt came loose
so we had to pit to fix that. There will probably be a lot of accidents,
so we'll just have to be patient and work our way forward."
Al Unser Jr., No. 2, Marlboro Team Penske Mercedes/Goodyear (20th/75.495
seconds)
"We improved the Marlboro Mercedes Lola by a lot today, and we were
able to gain a second from yesterday'' time--unfortunately it wasn't quite
enough. It's going to be a long race tomorrow, and hopefully we'll be
there at the end."
Final Qualifying, Detroit Grand Prix
The Raceway at Belle Isle, Detroit, Mich.
Aug. 7, 1999
Pos. Driver Engine Time Speed
1 Juan Montoya Honda 73.585 114.773
2 Paul Tracy Honda 73.611 114.733
3 Gil de Ferran Honda 73.789 114.456
4 Dario Franchitti Honda 73.792 114.451
5 Robert Moreno Ford 73.865 114.338
6 Tony Kanaan Honda 73.958 114.195
7 Greg Moore Mercedes-Benz 74.020 114.099
8 Michael Andretti Ford 74.039 114.070
9 Patrick Carpentier Mercedes-Benz 74.090 113.991
10 Max Papis Ford 74.215 113.799
13 Mauricio Gugelmin Mercedes-Benz 74.530 113.318
15 Mark Blundell Mercedes-Benz 74.877 112.793
16 Gonzalo Rodriguez Mercedes-Benz 75.034 112.557
18 Helio Castro-Neves Mercedes-Benz 75.095 112.466
20 Al Unser Jr. Mercedes-Benz 75.495 111.870