CART: Mercedes Paces Spring Training

5 February 1998

The all-new Mercedes-Benz IC108E Champ Car engine enjoyed a successful public on-track debut during the first day of Spring Training for the FedEx Championship Series, powering Greg Moore to the fastest lap of the day. Despite winds gusting to 35 miles-per-hour, which kept many teams from testing, the young Canadian star lapped the 1.517-mile oval at Homestead Motorsports Complex at 206.186 mph (26.190 seconds) in his Player's Forsythe Racing Reynard/Mercedes-Benz.

Moore fastest at Homestead with Mercedes power

Last season, Moore contributed two of Mercedes' nine CART wins en route to the 1997 CART Manufacturer's Championship. This year, Moore and seven other PPG Cup pilots will attempt to defend that championship using a "clean sheet of paper" engine from Mercedes-Benz, including an all-new electronic engine management system from Italian racing icon Magneti Marelli.

Spring Training testing continues with morning and afternoon sessions planned for tomorrow. Homestead will host the first stop on the 19-race FedEx Championship Series schedule, the Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami, March 15.

Mercedes Quotes

Greg Moore, No. 99, Player's Forsythe Reynard/Mercedes/Firestone

"Mercedes has done a great job on the new engine. We've had no mechanical problems with it. I was really pleased with our effort today. We weren't really pushing, though, because of the wind. There is definitely more there. We're coming back the 19th and 20th of February, and hopefully today was a sign of things to come."

Mauricio Gugelmin, No. 17, Hollywood Reynard/Mercedes/Firestone

"There was no point to testing today to learn anything because of the wind. We were able to put miles on the equipment, but as far as setup goes, we didn't learn anything. If you try, you can get confused. It's difficult because you don't know how much the car is going to move. If you have a strong but consistent wind, you can adjust for it, but when it's like this you can't adjust. You have to see how much benefit there is (in running) and weigh that against the risk."

Spring Training Day One
Homestead, Florida
Feb. 4, 1998

Pos     Driver          Chassis / Engine / Tires        Time    Speed
1       Greg Moore      Reynard/Mercedes/Firestone      26.190  206.186
2       Max Papis       Reynard/Toyota/Firestone        27.365  197.332
3       Alex Zanardi    Reynard/Honda/Firestone         27.726  194.763
4       Mauricio Gugelmin Reynard/Mercedes/Firestone    27.945  193.237
5       Al Unser Jr.    Penske/Mercedes/Goodyear        28.077  192.328
6       Andre Ribeiro   Penske/Mercedes/Goodyear        28.189  191.564
7       Alex Barron     Reynard/Toyota/Goodyear         28.220  191.354
8       P.J. Jones      Reynard/Toyota/Goodyear         28.357  190.429
9       Michel Jourdain Jr. Reynard/Toyota/Firestone    28.358  190.422
10      Hiro Matsushita Reynard/Ford/Goodyear           28.679  188.291
13      Mark Blundell   Reynard/Mercedes/Firestone      31.037  173.986

Contact: Scott McKee, Mercedes-Benz Sports Information Bureau, 305-230-1322 (track), 201-573-4398

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