CART: Herta Hits His Marks at Laguna Seca

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

Day two at Laguna Seca proved to be much more successful for Bryan Herta, driver of the #77 Zakspeed/Forsythe/Ford-Reynard and his crew. The team was sidelined with mechanical problems throughout much of the day on Wednesday, and returned Thursday with a full work schedule, looking for the ideal car set-up. Logging over 205 miles on Thursday, and 320 miles during the two-day test, the team headed east on a positive note.

With a best lap of 67.8 Herta ran consistently among the top five drivers, with as many as twelve cars present for the test. The crew worked throughout the day, and accomplished most of what they intended.

Team manager Steve Dickson was pleased with the overall outcome of the test. "Today was definitely better than yesterday. The guys did a great job, they maximized the track time, and we worked through a fair amount of the test plan." Dickson continued, "With about ten minutes left at the end of the test session, the track was cool and several cars went out. We were second quick in that group and everyone had the same track conditions. We were on older tires, I am not sure what everyone else was using, so I feel fairly positive with where we are at."

Herta, one of three American drivers preparing for the 2001Champ Car season was also pleased with the progress he and his team made testing at his favorite track on the CART circuit. "We had a real good second day. We were able to work with the car a lot more, we put in a lot of miles, and definitely made progress. I am looking forward to heading to Sebring next week, and working toward our march to the first race in Monterey."

The Zakspeed/Forsythe crew will spend the next two weeks in Florida and Arizona, continuing their preparations for the 2001 CART Fed Ex Championship season.

Text Provided by Katie Welch

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