CART: Carpentier Fastest at Homestead
4 February 1999
HOMESTEAD, FL - Patrick Carpentier of Player's Forsythe Racing continued an impressive off-season performance Wednesday when he posted the fastest first-day lap of FedEx Championship Series Spring Training at the Miami-Dade Homestead Motorsports Complex.
Carpentier (Player's/Indeck Mercedes Reynard) averaged 213.092 miles per hour (25.375 seconds) on his quickest lap on the 1.502-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway oval. His pace-setting lap came during the first of two practice sessions.
A second and final day of morning and afternoon practices is scheduled for Thursday. The two-day test helps teams prepare for the March 21 Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota, opening round of the record 20-race FedEx Championship Series.
Jimmy Vasser (Target Honda Reynard), who has posted the fastest lap at each of the past three Spring Training events, was second fastest at 212.915 mph (25.396 seconds). Vasser also won the inaugural FedEx Championship Series event held at Homestead in 1996.
Max Papis (Miller Lite Ford Reynard), who replaces the retired Bobby Rahal at Team Rahal this season, posted the third quickest lap at 212.305 mph (25.469 seconds). Both Vasser's and Papis' best laps came during the afternoon session.
Rounding out the top five were rookie Juan Montoya (Target Honda Reynard) at 211.674 mph (25.545 seconds) and Greg Moore (Player's/Indeck Mercedes Reynard) at 211.640 mph (25.549 seconds). Montoya started impressively as the replacement for two-time FedEx Championship Series champion Alex Zanardi while Moore is the defending Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota polesitter.
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING:
PATRICK CARPENTIER, Player's/Indeck Mercedes Reynard: "We're really happy. The Player's Forsythe team always has good setups on ovals and when we put the car on the track this morning, it was very fast right out of the box. We had a good day today. I give 100 percent all the time. Everybody has the same track time and everybody is working hard to put a good lap in. That's what we did today. The track changed a little bit [from the morning to the afternoon]. We tried to change some things this afternoon but it didn't work out. The car was kind of loose, but we were able to make it better toward the end and hopefully, we can carry that into tomorrow."
JIMMY VASSER, Target Honda Reynard: "We've been running good on the bigger ovals for awhile and we've done a lot of tire testing with Firestone and a lot of work with Honda on the engine. We've been going well in the off-season, but we need to do a little bit more work on the race car. In Spring Training, you can try a few things, but you don't really get the kind of results you get when you come out and test all day by yourself.
"Juan [Montoya, fourth fastest today] is doing a great job; he's going to be a great replacement for our missing champion [Alex Zanardi, now in Formula One]. I see no reason why the success we've had the past three or four years shouldn't carry over."
MAX PAPIS, Miller Lite Ford Reynard: "We're starting to know each other, building some chemistry on the team. I'm very pleased. I feel like I'm going pretty slow and we're still running third. We've got a long way to go, but this is a good start. For sure, I see the CART world from an entirely different perspective this year."
WHAT'S NOTEWORTHY:
Andre Ribeiro confirmed Wednesday that he will not compete in the 1999 FedEx Championship Series. In a joint press conference with Marlboro Team Penske, Ribeiro announced his plans to pursue business opportunities with Roger Penske in Brazil. "Initially, this was a very difficult decision to make, but when I look to my past, I see the fantastic opportunities I've had and the good achievements I made in racing," said Ribeiro, a three-time winner in the FedEx Championship Series. "Winning the inaugural race in Brazil [in 1996] and the [1996] Marlboro 500 are two of my greatest accomplishments and I will remember them always. But I have to look to my future and right now I have a unique opportunity to advance in the business world. I feel very comfortable about my future and proud of my past. I don't want to say retirement, but for now, I want to concentrate my efforts 100 percent on my new business ventures."
Rookie Shigeaki Hattori (Epson Bettenhausen Motorsports Mercedes Reynard) made contact with the Turn 4 wall during the opening half-hour of Wednesday's morning practice session, bringing a premature end to his first Spring Training experience. Hattori was examined and released at the CART Mobile Medical Facility, but since Bettenhausen Motorsports had no spare car at the track the team packed up and returned to its Indianapolis shop to repair the car and prepare for additional testing prior to the season-opening Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota. "The conditions were much different than when I tested for the first time on Monday," Hattori said. "It was much cooler this morning. When I was going into Turn 4, the car was pushing a little and when I went to put the power down at the apex, it just snapped around. "
Tuesday's Media Day activities included the unveiling of the No. 44 McDonald's Honda Reynard Champ Car owned by Gerald Forsythe and driven by Tony Kanaan. The red, yellow and black McDonald's Champ Car, which will run on Firestone tires, will make its debut at the season-opening Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota. The McDonald's Championship Racing Team was recently founded by Forsythe and will be led by veteran team owner Steve Horne, who guided Kanaan to a ninth-place finish in the FedEx Championship Series and the Jim Trueman Rookie of the Year award last year. "We are extremely proud to have formed a strategic partnership that brings McDonald's into Champ Car racing while allowing our operation to expand," said Forsythe. "The global profile that will come with this team will be great for everyone involved - McDonald's, the series and our associate sponsors."
Tuesday's proceedings also included the announcement that the philanthropic foundation created last year by three-time PPG Cup winner Bobby Rahal to commemorate his final racing season will donate more than $400,000 to children's organizations and charitable causes in race communities around the country during the coming FedEx Championship Series season. The Bobby Rahal Foundation collected $400,640 through special events, corporate gifts, private donations and unique sponsorships. The money will be reinvested in youth and family programs and health research efforts nationwide. "I'm truly flattered by the outpouring of support this program generated and thrilled at the opportunity to help so many valuable organizations," Rahal said. "Racing has enriched my life. Now, through the good work of the foundation, it's going to enrich the lives of others."
Editors Note: The images displayed in this article (plus many more) can be viewed in The Racing ImageGalleries and the Visions of Speed Art Gallery.