CART: Alex Zanardi Qualifying Notes and Quotes, Monterrey

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

#66 Pioneer-WorldCom/Mo Nunn Racing Honda-Reynard
Tecate/Telmex Monterrey Grand Prix – Qualifying Notes-Quotes – Sat.,
March 10
Parque Fundidora – Monterrey, Mexico – 2.1-Mile Road Course
Round 1 of 21 on the 2001 CART FedEx Championship Series

Alex Zanardi and his #66 Pioneer-WorldCom/Mo Nunn Racing Honda-Reynard will start Sunday’s season-opening Tecate/Telmex Monterrey Grand Prix from the outside-11th-row position. The two-time series champion, who joined the team this season as teammate to Tony Kanaan, had to switch to a back-up car in qualifying after a mechanical problem in the closing minutes of this morning’s practice session. He toured the 2.1-mile road course in Monterrey’s scenic Fundidora Park in 1 minute, 17.851 seconds (an average of 97.294 mph), eighth best in the first of two group qualifying sessions and 22nd overall.

Kanaan, in his #55 Hollywood/Mo Nunn Racing Honda-Reynard was fastest in the first qualifying group and 12th overall after touring the circuit in 1:16.647 (an average of 98.822 mph). Kenny Brack, last year’s series Rookie of the Year, earned his first career pole with a time of 1:15.244 (100.665 mph). Cristiano da Matta qualified second in 1:15.439 (100.404 mph) with defending series champion Gil de Ferran third at 1:15.557 (100.255 mph).

Race time Sunday is 3 p.m. local time (4 p.m. ET) with a live broadcast set for ABC-TV. The Sunday morning warm-up show CART2DAY will be broadcast at 11:30 a.m. ET on ESPN2. Today’s qualifying show will be shown by ESPN2 on a tape-delayed basis at 3 a.m. ET.

ALEX ZANARDI

“We will have our work cut out for us, starting where we are, but that’s what makes racing so exciting. I think we have what it takes to have a very good race car tomorrow, and we will just have to go out on Sunday, stay out of trouble, and avoid mistakes. But that’s the case with almost every team out here. It’s very, very competitive. This (second Mo Nunn Racing) team is very new, but we are loaded with talented people. Like any new organization, it takes time, however much or however little, to get everybody working well together. For tomorrow, we’ll just have to push the reset button and realize it’s a new day. I’m not miserable about where we are, by any means, because I feel very good about everything that is going on here. The race will be a test of patience, like most races are. I can’t predict what will happen. We will just have to be ready to make the right decisions when the opportunities present themselves.”

Text Provided By Laz Denes

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