CART: Practice Reports from Motegi
27 March 1998
Greg Moore's Player's Forsythe Racing Reynard/Mercedes-Benz was the first of four Mercedes-powered cars in the top 10 during this morning's first practice session for the inaugural Budweiser 500 at Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi, Japan. Many of the drivers and teams took a conservative approach to the first session, choosing to limit setup changes in favor of more time on track.
Greg Moore
Moore's Player's Forsythe teammate Patrick Carpentier was seventh quickest in the session. Last season's Rookie of the Year did not participate in the CART test, so he concentrated on completing as many laps as possible to familiarize himself with the circuit. The Motegi oval includes two flat-out, highspeed corners at one end (turns one and two) and two tighter corners (turns three and four) that require hard braking and downshifting.
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Marlboro Team Penske drivers Al Unser Jr. and Andre Ribeiro were 12th and 13th on the time sheets, followed by Hogan Racing's JJ Lehto, who was 17th. Lehto lost time during the practice when a mechanical failure left him without power in turn four. He later returned to the session in his backup car. Project Indy's Roberto Moreno and Team Alumax rookie Helio Castro-Neves finished the session 20th and 21st. Because rain is forecast for the Motegi area on Friday afternoon, the event schedule has been altered. This afternoon's practice will be a two-hour session open to all cars, rather than two 45-minute sessions with one for the slower cars and one for the faster half of the field. A 30-minute practice session is now scheduled for 9 a.m. local time tomorrow, followed by qualifying which will begin at 10:30 a.m. Saturday's 201-lap, 312-mile race is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. local time. ABC will televise the event Saturday, March 28 beginning at 2 p.m. EST.
Mercedes Quotes
Greg Moore, No. 99, Player's Reynard/Mercedes/Firestone
"We knew the gearing and had a general setup from the test, so
we just spent a lot of time running in traffic, making sure the car will
be
good for the race. Qualifying will be important, but as we saw at
Homestead, if you have a good car in the race, you can move up. So
having a good race car is more important. If you have a car that is good
in the first stint and consistent, you'll be in good shape.
"(Turns) one and two are almost throw-away corners; they're easy. What everyone's going to be working on is entry speed into turn three, where you have to brake and downshift. Carrying speed through there will be the key to quick lap times."
Patrick Carpentier, No. 33, Player's Reynard/Mercedes/Firestone
"This is the best car I've had so far. I learned at Homestead, and
I'm still learning about the Firestone tires, but since we didn't test
here, I
just needed to do laps. So we didn't do any changes, and I'm really
happy. I was running three feet from Michael (Andretti) and having time
to look around (for passing room)."
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"We didn't start so well, but then we worked with the car and the setup and got the car working. It feels pretty comfortable now, a lot better than at Homestead."
Helio Castro-Neves, No. 16, Team Alumax Reynard/Mercedes/Goodyear
"I started out in the 97 car, just to check it out, and everything
went well. Then I switched to the 98, but two laps later the yellow came
out. And after that it was two laps green, two laps yellow, two laps
green. So we spent a lot of time under yellow. It wasn't until the end
of
the session that I got some time to get to know the track. We didn't
change anything, just took it easy and worked on building speed."
Practice Session #1, Budweiser 500 Motegi, Japan March 26, 1998 Pos/Driver Chassis / Engine / Tires Time Speed 1Jimmy Vasser Reynard/Honda/Firestone 25.880 215.471 2Adrian Fernandez Reynard/Ford/Firestone 25.916 215.172 3Alex Zanardi Reynard/Honda/Firestone 25.959 214.816 4Christian Fittipaldi Swift/Ford/Goodyear 26.156 213.198 5Greg Moore Reynard/Mercedes/Firestone 26.174 213.051 6Michael Andretti Swift/Ford/Goodyear 26.258 212.370 7Patrick Carpentier Reynard/Mercedes/Firestone26.276 212.224 8Gil de Ferran Reynard/Honda/Goodyear 26.288 212.127 9MarkBlundell Reynard/Mercedes/Firestone 26.307 211.974 10Mauricio Gugelmin Reynard/Mercedes/Firestone26.326 211.821 12Al Unser Jr. Penske/Mercedes/Goodyear 26.370 211.468 13Andre Ribeiro Penske/Mercedes/Goodyear 26.380 211.387 17JJLehto Reynard/Mercedes/Firestone26.581 209.789 20RobertoMoreno Reynard/Mercedes/Goodyea26.733 208.596 21HelioCastro-Neves Reynard/Mercedes/Goodyea26.748 208.479
Contact Scott McKee, Mercedes-Benz Sports Information Bureau, in Japan at (81) 0285-64-0627 (track) or (81)0286-21-3111 (hotel).
Practice Session #2
Motegi Paddock Prepares for Rain
Moore Continues to Lead Mercedes Despite Crash
Although Motegi, Japan, enjoyed bright, sunny conditions today, weather was a big part of the story in this afternoon's second practice session for the inaugural Budweiser 500 at Twin Ring Motegi. Rain is expected tomorrow, and the possibility that the teams will not have any more time on track before race day prompted them to focus even more than usual on race setups rather than preparing for qualifying.
In an attempt to conclude on-track activities before inclement weather strikes, CART adjusted the schedule, shortening tomorrow morning's practice to 30 minutes and moving qualifying up to 10:30 a.m.
Meanwhile today, Greg Moore continued to pace the six-team, nine-driver Mercedes-Benz contingent, despite finishing the session against the turn three wall. The young Canadian star was uninjured following a hard crash late in the session, but his Player's Forsythe Racing Reynard/Mercedes-Benz was not so lucky, suffering extensive damage. Moore, who held his fifth-place position on the time sheets from this morning, has been cleared to drive tomorrow.
PacWest Racing's Mark Blundell joined Moore in the top 10 this afternoon, turning the seventh quickest lap of the day in his 1997 Motorola Reynard/Mercedes-Benz. His afternoon was interrupted, however, when he experienced transmission troubles late in the session.
Marlboro Team Penske's Andre Ribeiro was the third driver powered into the top 10 by a Mercedes, posting the eighth fastest lap of the day.
Blundell's teammate Mauricio Gugelmin drove the Hollywood car, also a 1997 chassis-engine package, to 11th, and Al Unser Jr. was 15th in the second Marlboro Penske/Mercedes-Benz. JJ Lehto (Hogan Racing Reynard/Mercedes) and Patrick Carpentier (Player's Forsythe Reynard/Mercedes) were 18th and 19th, respectively, while Roberto Moreno (Hawaiian Tropic Reynard/Mercedes) and Helio Castro-Neves (Team Alumax Reynard/Mercedes) were 22nd and 29th.
Mercedes Quotes
Mark Blundell, No. 18, Motorola Reynard/Mercedes/Firestone
"We had quite a constructive afternoon. Unfortunately, it was
interrupted in the last 20 minutes or so -- we seem to have a bit of
transmission issue. We were going to go out and scrub some tires for
the race, when the session was stopped (due to Moore's crash). But
we're quite pleased. We have a good balance on the car with good fuel
loads. So we'll just have to wait and see what the weather does, if
tomorrow's a day of running or a day of looking at today's results."
Andre Ribeiro, No. 3, Marlboro Penske/Mercedes/Goodyear
"That was a long session, and we got everything done that we
had planned. We're looking pretty good. We checked everything, but
we're definitely much more concentrated on the race. Qualifying is not
as important because it's a long race and it isn't difficult to pass
here."
Mauricio Gugelmin, No. 17, Hollywood Reynard/Mercedes/Firestone
"We made a lot of progress today. This place is pretty much a slipstream kind of track, so you may have seen a few guys go quickly in the tow, but we're happy. I know exactly where my car is. We still have a little bit to sort out with the balance coming out of (turn) four. I'd like a little less push there, but speed in qualifying is nowhere near as important as having the car sorted for the race."
JJ Lehto, No. 9, Hogan Racing Reynard/Mercedes/Firestone
"We've improved the car, but the times are so close that a couple
of tenths (of a second) means the difference between sixth place and
18th. We're continuing to work on the setup, fine tuning and so forth.
This is my second race on an oval, and it's so different from Homestead
(Motorsports Complex). It has fast corners at one end and quite slow
corners at the other, so you have to find a balance between the two to
be successful."
Patrick Carpentier, No. 33, Player's Reynard/Mercedes/Firestone
"I thought the chassis was a bit better this afternoon, but we had
some troubles, and the interruptions during the session hurt us, too. We
just need some more time on the track."
Roberto Moreno, No. 15, Hawaiian Tropic Reynard/Mercedes/Goodyear
"We made a big change to the car just before Greg's crash, so
we didn't get to try it out. But we'll have the next step on the car for
tomorrow. This morning was taken up with me getting used to the track.
This afternoon we started freeing up the car and gaining speed, but we
ran old tires and half tanks all day, so we're quite pleased."
Helio Castro-Neves, No. 16, Team Alumax Reynard/Mercedes/Goodyear
"Because of the weather forecast and schedule change, we
focused on our race setup. I'm hoping the forecast is wrong, so we can
get some more time on the track."
Practice Session #2, Budweiser 500 Motegi, Japan March 26, 1998 Pos/Driver Chassis / Engine / Tires Time Speed 1Jimmy Vasser Reynard/Honda/Firestone 25.584 217.964 2Adrian Fernandez Reynard/Ford/Firestone 25.615 217.701 3Gil de Ferran Reynard/Honda/Goodyear 25.684 217.116 4Alex Zanardi Reynard/Honda/Firestone 25.720 216.812 5Greg Moore Reynard/Mercedes/Firestone 25.754 216.526 6Dario Franchitti Reynard/Honda/Firestone 25.820 215.972 7Mark Blundell Reynard/Mercedes/Fireston 25.825 215.913 8AndreRibeiro Penske/Mercedes/Goodyear 25.875 215.513 9Bryan Herta Reynard/Ford/Firestone 25.927 215.081 10Tony Kanaan Reynard/Honda/Firestone 25.929 215.064 11MauricioGugelmin Reynard/Mercedes/Firestone25.950 214.89015Al 15 Al Unser Jr. Penske/Mercedes/Goodyear 26.026 214.263 18JJLehto Reynard/Mercedes/Firestone26.086 213.770 19Patrick Carpentier Reynard/Mercedes/Firestone26.161 213.157 22Roberto Moreno Reynard/Mercedes/Goodyear26.266 212.305 29Helio Castro-Neves Reynard/Mercedes/Goodyear26.829 207.850
Contact Scott McKee, Mercedes-Benz Sports Information Bureau, in Japan at (81) 285-64-0627 (track) or (81) 286-21-3111 (hotel).
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