CART: Gil de Ferran -Long Beach Review
21 April 1999
GIL DE FERRAN # 5 VALVOLINE/CUMMINS - HONDA/REYNARD/GOODYEARRACE WEEKEND REVIEW: LONG BEACH
Started 7th, finished 6th, top finisher using Goodyear tires, moves to second in PPG standings, six points behind the leader.
What: The 25th Annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Round three of the 20-races FedEx Championship Series for the PPG Cup
Friday, April 16th , 1999 Session Times: Friday Practice Car Driver Time Speed Rank Best Lap # of Laps #5 Gil de Ferran 63.922 102.725 15 28 28 Session Times: Friday Qualifying Car Driver Time Speed Rank Best Lap # of Laps # 5 Gil de Ferran 62.956 104.301 13 4 13
Gil de Ferran: " The car is sliding a little too much. We have to work a little more to find more grip in the car."
Saturday, April 17th, 1999 Session Times: Saturday Practice Car Driver Time Speed Rank Best Lap # of Laps # 5 Gil de Ferran 63.157 103.969 17 6 24 Session Times: Saturday Qualifying Car Driver Time Speed Rank Best Lap # of Laps # 5 Gil de Ferran 61.617 106.568 7 11 13
Gil de Ferran: " I think the tire performance today was much better. The conditions today definitely suited the tires better. We managed to improve the car quite a bit from yesterday and I think the condition of the track played into our hands a little bit. We were struggling with the grip yesterday and I think more rubber and higher temperature helped today. We think we can run a very fast and consistent race and hopefully that will be enough to get us a podium finish."
Sunday, April 18, 1999 Session Times: Sunday Warm-up Car Driver Time Speed Rank Best Lap # of Laps # 5 Gil de Ferran 65.217 100.685 23 3 4 Session Times: Sunday Race Car Driver Time Speed Rank Best Lap # of Laps # 5 Gil de Ferran 63.690 103.127 6 45 85 Race Pit Stop: Lap Course Flag Position Before/After Pit Time 1st Lap 24 Yellow 6 - 6 43.317 2nd Lap 47 Yellow 5 - 7 44.431
Gil de Ferran: "We had a good, consistent car all day today. The biggest problem is that passing is very, very difficult. We made two passes on the track today, one on (Max) Papis and one on Michael (Andretti), who had passed me earlier. I'll tell you, that last pass on Michael was one of the toughest ones I have ever made. It was just difficult to make up ground. The last two sets of Goodyear tires were fine. It was just a long, tough race today."
Perry Bell - Goodyear's CART operations manager: " While we were looking for another podium finish here today, we're extremely pleased to see Gil and Goodyear move up to second position in the points standings. Our tire performance was competitive all weekend, particularly today, and our teams did not experience any tire-related issues. Unfortunately we were hurt once again by a limited number of cars in the race as three of the four Goodyear-equipped cars were out of the running due to accidents and a mechanical failure. Results from the first three CART races proves that we continue to make progress with our CART tire. With Gil's second place standing in the points race, we're right on target to reach our goal of winning the championship."
Derrick Walker - Team owner: "Moved into second in the championship was a good outcome, always a difficult race to make big gains, so we were glad to earn the points. Early on in the weekend we realized that the amount of grip available to us was less than the competition so a great deal of work was done to fine a way round the problem resulting in a huge gain in qualifying gave us a better track position which is a must at Long Beach. A good team effort all round.
"In addition we have had more talks with the sponsors of Naoki's car to find a replacement for the second Walker Racing entry. Now we will move ahead with a test to find a substitute. Two drivers will be picked to test and one will go forward and race the remaining races that Naoki will not be able to race. A release will come shortly on our plans."
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