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CART: Full week for Patrick Racing

2 March 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

FULL WEEK FOR PATRICK RACING Patrick Racing drivers Adrian Fernandez and Roberto Moreno are conducting back-to-back oval tests this week, beginning with a two-day test Monday and Tuesday on the 1-mile oval at Phoenix International Raceway.

Moreno (Visteon/Patrick Racing Ford Reynard) opened the testing Monday with 183 trouble-free miles, recording an unofficial best time of 20.05 seconds.

"We made significant progress from our last test," he said afterward. "Ed [Technical Director Ed Nathman] and John [Chief Engineer John Ward] are doing a great job of finding things that improve the performance of the car. Overall, it was a very productive test."

Fernandez continued the test at Phoenix Tuesday., completing nearly 200 miles with a best time of 19.75 seconds.

"One of the big things today in making the car better was that Roberto gave me a very good car and I was able to go forward," Fernandez said. "We had no mechanical problems and improved the car from where Roberto left off yesterday. Now that we have tested together a couple of times, I think we are understanding each other. We work well together ... that's important."

Today, the team is traveling to Homestead-Miami Speedway, where Fernandez will test on the road course Thursday before being joined by Moreno for sessions on the oval on Friday and Saturday. What with five of the first six events on ovals, including the season-opening Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota, March 26 at Homestead, Patrick Racing General Manager Jim McGee said the week of testing will be crucial as the team prepares to start the FedEx Championship Series season.

"At Spring Training [Feb. 9-10 at Homestead], we incorporated some of the things we learned and, overall, had a good test," McGee said. "We have had over two weeks to analyze the results of Spring Training, so we need to get back on the track and test some of the new ideas. Basically, we are doing our final preparation for the start of the season."

McGee considered the Phoenix test a good start.

"This was a very productive two days of testing for Patrick Racing, " he said. "We were right there as far as speed and competitiveness. The team went through a lot of different things. We made some very positive changes and improvements. We were able to put a lot of things to bed as far as the set-up for the first few races."

Text provided by CART

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