CART: Gidley and Junqueira anxious for inaugural event in Germany

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

September 11, 2001

Lausitz, Germany - Team Target heads overseas this weekend to compete in the inaugural German 500 at the new EuroSpeedway located in Lausitz, Germany. The CART FedEx Championship Series will make its debut on German soil on Saturday in the German 500. The two-mile tri-oval features wide racing lanes and long straightaways, enabling side-by-side racing at speeds of more than 200 mph.

Team Target has excelled on ovals this year, beginning with the first left-turn-only race in Nazareth. Rookie Bruno Junqueira, who had never raced on an oval, qualified on the pole and finished seventh in Nazareth. Since then, Team Target has raced to seven top-10 finishes in six oval races this year. Team Target Managing Director Mike Hull believes his driver's success on ovals this year is a result of a great team effort. "A lot of our success on ovals this year can be attributed to our engineering staff," Hull explains. "We are fortunate to have some of the best engineers in the business and they really know how to set the cars up. Another key to our success is the Toyota/Lola combination. That combination has been very strong on ovals this year, and we expect to do very well in Germany this weekend. It's going to be a challenge for us, since we've never tested on that track, but I'm confident we'll be in the hunt for a victory."

Rookie Bruno Junqueira has already captured one victory and one pole position in his young CART career. On oval tracks, the young Brazilian has scored four top-10 finishes in six races, including a fifth-place finish in his first Indianapolis 500. Junqueira won two races last year in Germany en route to the 2000 FIA F3000 championship, and is looking forward to racing in Germany again.

"Last year, Germany was very good to me," Junqueira said. "I'm hoping it's even better for me this year. I don't know what it is about that place, but I really like racing in Germany. I've always had a lot of good luck there. That oval looks like a really fast track. I've had some success on ovals this year and I feel very comfortable racing on them. I like high-speed corners, so it hasn't been that difficult of an adjustment for me. It was great to get my first win in Elkhart Lake a few weeks ago and now it makes me really want another win."

Teammate Memo Gidley turned in another solid performance on Sept. 2 in Vancouver, finishing 10th. Gidley has excelled in his last two oval races, finishing 5th in Chicago and leading 67 laps in Michigan before a loss of oil pressure took him out of contention for the victory. The 30-year old Californian is excited about the upcoming race in Germany.

"We've been so close to a victory this year," Gidley explains. "We led 57 laps in Cleveland and finished 2nd. We led 67 laps in Michigan and we were running in 2nd at Chicago with 20 laps to go. Some people might view this as frustrating, but for me it is encouraging to know you have a car that is capable of winning races week in and week out. And that's all you can ask for. Our oval car has been awesome this year and I'm really excited about these two oval races in the next two weeks. I'm very confident in this team and I think we have a great chance to win this weekend." The German 500 airs live on ESPN beginning at 7:30 a.m.

Text provided by Brian Zepp

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