Scheckter Leads Infiniti Drivers with Fourth in Qualifying at Nazareth

NAZARETH, Pa. (April 20, 2002) – Tomas Scheckter has proven to be a consistent qualifier with his Infiniti powerplant this year starting fifth or better in every race so far this season. Today he qualified fourth with a 171.409 mph speed in round four of the 2002 Indy Racing League Championship at Nazareth Speedway.

The next fastest Infiniti qualifier was Laurent Redon, who was seventh fastest at 170.907 mph in the No. 34 Mi-Jack Conquest Racing Infiniti. Shigeaki Hattori qualified 13th, while Cheever who was fifth fastest in the morning practice session dropped back to 15th in qualifying. Infiniti newcomer Sarah Fisher qualified 19th.

The Firestone Indy 225 starts at 1 p.m. (EDT) April 21. The race will be broadcast live on ABC, with a pre-race show at Noon (EDT). Live timing and scoring coverage is available on www.indyracing.com.

QUOTES

TOMAS SCHECKTER, NO. 52 RED BULL CHEEVER RACING INFINITI: "I have never seen this circuit before this weekend, so I am happy to qualify fourth. The guys on the Red Bull Cheever Racing crew did an unbelievable job. I didn’t get my qualifying right, so I am happy with this result. In the race I will be looking for clean air and to stay out of the way. It’s going to be a tough race. There’s not much room for passing. I really liked the one-mile in Phoenix but the problem here is that we really didn’t have enough testing. We couldn’t get a perfect setup. This is the toughest circuit I have been on so far. I really had to push hard, and concentrate on what the car was doing. It’s been tough. Tomorrow’s race will be even harder. Coming from the test at Indy the difference here is massive. Indy is so smooth. Here you are really fighting the car. We have a lot of downforce on the car. It is so completely different."

LAURENT REDON, NO. 34 MI-JACK CONQUEST RACING INFINITI: "The car was pretty good. I think I can push it a bit more, but to be honest, the car was good. It’s always good to come back with everything fine. We are so close to Indy, so we don’t want something bad to happen. My experience here is pretty low, but I like the track. It’s a pretty nice track. It’s a busy track. Let’s see for the race. I’m sure it will be a difficult race here and very tough."

SHIGEAKI HATTORI, NO. 12 EPSON/NISMO BRADLEY MOTORSPORTS INFINITI: "The car was better in qualifying, the best it’s been all weekend. It surprised me a little, for the first time this weekend it went a little loose. We made some major aerodynamic changes this morning, and it really helped the grip. The Infiniti motor is very good this weekend. We’re running a lot of downforce at this track, and the Infiniti engine still pulled a lot of speed."

EDDIE CHEEVER JR., NO. 51 RED BULL CHEEVER RACING INFINITI: "It is just taking me too many laps to get the tires up to temperature. This is good for the race because it means the car will last on long runs. I needed an extra two laps in qualifying. It’s disappointing, but it is not really a big deal. I prefer the Fontana experience more than running from the back. Tomorrow is one of those days you have to stay out of trouble and pass as many cars as you can. The Red Bull Cheever Racing team really needs to turn things around this season and finish tomorrow. I have no complaints on my car; I have a phenomenal race car."

SARAH FISHER, NO. 24 TEAM PUREX DREYER & REINBOLD RACING INFINITI: "The car was a bit different than this morning’s practice because the tire pressures didn’t come up. That was really unexpected, and I had to dump the throttle over in turn three. We’ve been making slight adjustments since we tested Tuesday, and our focus is on Sunday’s 225 laps, not just these two."

QUALIFYING HIGHLIGHTS

1) Gil de Ferran, Dallara/Chevy, 19.4817 seconds, 172.778 mph 2) Helio Castroneves, Dallara/Chevy, 19.5032, 172.587 3) Jaques Lazier, Dallara/Chevy, 19.5724, 171.977 4) Tomas Scheckter, Dallara/Infiniti, 19.6372, 171.409 7) Laurent Redon, Dallara/Infiniti, 19.6949, 170.907 5) Felipe Giaffone, GForce/Chevy, 19.6556, 171.249 13) Shigeaki Hattori, Dallara/Infiniti, 19.8809, 169.308 15) Eddie Cheever Jr., Dallara/Infiniti, 19.9189, 168.985 19) Sarah Fisher, G Force/Infiniti, 20.0293, 168.054