Fernandez Racing Post-Race Notes -Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia

CART FedEx Championship Series – Round 20 October 26-28 2.795-Mile Temporary Street Course

Adrián Fernández, Owner/Driver -- #51 Tecate/Quaker State/Telmex Honda/Reynard/Firestone: Finished: 19th Started: 17th “We tried to play the yellows and to anticipate possible yellows like when Helio [Castroneves] went off, but it just didn’t work. We lost the radio and they couldn’t hear me and I couldn’t hear them very well, so it was a little tough to read what the strategy was from there. The car wasn’t fantastic. It was an okay car but not a great car. I didn’t have much grip on cold tires and I lost a position to Michel Jourdain at the beginning of the race and one to Shinji in the pits. I was just trying to stay there but I couldn’t predict anything on our strategy because of the radio. When that yellow didn’t come [for Castroneves], it was difficult for us to get to the end. We just didn’t get it right and didn’t finish in the points. That’s how it goes sometimes in racing.

John Ward, Chief Engineer/Race Engineer Fernández: “There’s not much positive you can say about the whole weekend beginning with qualifying the way it was and starting in the back. We took a little gamble about midway through the race thinking there was going to be a yellow for a car that was off to the side with his engine stalled. It would have worked pretty good for us because we made a pit stop then, but unfortunately there wasn’t a yellow called. That backfired on us. We were a little short of fuel at the end and had to make a splash and go. In the end, it didn’t matter. If the gamble had worked we could have finished pretty well up in the points. If you are not in the points, it really doesn’t matter where you finish. We took a gamble to get some points.”

Shinji Nakano, #52 Avex/Alpine Honda/Reynard/Firestone: Finished: 12th Started: 18th “My car was pretty decent. We found a good setup this morning and I had a good car during the race. I was trying to save fuel during the race but it wasn’t quite enough and the strategy didn’t help me. It was a little bit of bad luck but at least we could finish the race. We have one race left and now we have to achieve something special for the last race. We got a point today and, okay it is only one point, but we have to keep the high motivation for the team and myself, so this finish was pretty good.”

Tom Anderson, Owner/Team Manager: “It’s a good thing we didn’t go to Conrad Jupiters [casino] today because luck wasn’t with us again on these yellows. We took the early yellow and stayed out longer than the other guys that pitted under green. When the yellow came at the right time, the leader was in the wrong position so CART had to close the pits. When it was all said and done, we were right back where we started. I give credit to all the drivers. Surfers is a difficult race course and the guys did a tremendous job, all of them today, staying out of harm’s way. I think both Shinji and Adrian had good cars and I think if we started a bit further up towards the front, we’d been right in the thick of it. I look forward to having some more fun in Surfers tonight and heading to Fontana tomorrow.”