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CART: Teething Pains in New Car Force Garcia Jr. to End Day Prematurely

29 April 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

RIO DE JANIERO, Brazil--Luiz Garcia Jr., and the Project Racing Group (P.R.G.) had an all too brief day during practice for the Rio 200 Friday.

Teething pains in his new 2000 Hollywood Reynard prevented the native of Brasilia, Brazil from utilizing the full session. Garcia completed a mere 22 laps total, 16 in the morning session, six in the afternoon.

In the morning session, brake pressure problems kept the car from achieving top speed. While the P.R.G. crew eliminated that problem, the afternoon practice had a problem with a suspected turbo seal leak that spread oil on the engine.

Garcia did improve his times in his short stay. His best time was a 42.706 for a top speed of 157.130 mph.

In other team notes, P.R.G. is leading in the PPG Color & Design Award. The $10,000 award is presented by PPG Industries for best use of color and design. P.R.G., with its Hollywood-Embratel-Tang-Banco Sofisa design leads with 199 points. The best looking Champ Car for the 2000 season is determined by a team of selected fan judges out at the oval events.

"I think its a bit of bad luck for me today. Its a shame there were two different problems in each session. They were not easy to fix, at least not here (pit lane). We missed a lot of precious time, but the guys did a great job of trying to get the Hollywood car back in for some laps." said Garcia.

Text provided by Ken Severson

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