CART: It's a Wrap Team Motorola Concludes Road Course Testing for 2001

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

Indianapolis, IN--- Team Motorola and driver Michael Andretti wrapped up their road course testing for the 2001 season yesterday at Sebring International Raceway. The #39 Team Motorola entry completed two days of incident free testing on the 1.65 mile road course and turned over 287 miles during the test.

"We had some big projects on our list when we arrived in Sebring," said Team Motorola Manager Tony Cotman, "and I'm pleased to say we got through them with very good results. We spent most of Tuesday developing the Showa damper program in conjunction with backing up information we had gathered from our shaker tests and applying that information into the actual test runs. It was a lot of miles with minimal downtime, a very productive test overall."

On Wednesday the team moved their focus to differential set-ups, making three to four major changes on the car versus Tuesday's quicker, smaller changes. Chief Engineer Eddie Jones rated the test successful. "We gained very valuable technical information that we will be analyzing back at the shop to fine tune our plan for Monterrey. Michael seems to be getting what he wants from the car and he was very quick today with a 50.4 second lap, so we're hitting the important test targets-speed and consistency."

For Andretti, the Sebring test was his final on a road course before the CART FedEx season opener on March 11th in Monterrey, Mexico. "These last two days were key," Andretti said. "It felt like everything that we've been learning during testing this winter fell into place at Sebring. I am very comfortable with the car and most importantly, as a team, we are communicating well. Eddie and I are speaking the same language on how to make the car comfortable and fast, and that is huge when we get into the race weekends."

Team Motorola will return to Indianapolis to prepare for their final test days of the season at Phoenix International Raceway on February 27-28, 2001.

Text Provided By Jana Griffith

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