CART: Britain's Mark Blundell was impressive in provisional qualifying
14 August 1999
FedEx Championship Series Report
Race: Miller Lite 200, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio
Date/Session: Fri., Aug. 13, 1999 Provisional Qualifying
Blundell Fast on Track But Slow Through Tech -
Loses Third-Place Time to Technical Infraction
Carpentier Out Until Next Race at Chicago Motor Speedway
Britain's Mark Blundell was impressive in provisional qualifying
today at the Miller Lite 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, as he and
his PacWest Racing/Motorola Mercedes team posted the third-best time of the
session with a 65.881-second lap (123.386 mph). Unfortunately, his time
was disallowed when a post-qualifying technical inspection found that his
car's ground clearance did not meet the two-inch minimum mandated by CART.
Dario Franchitti was quickest with a lap record effort of 65.347
seconds (124.394 mph).
This is only Blundell's second race back in the cockpit after
missing eight races due to a mid-season testing crash that resulted in a
neck injury for the former Formula One pilot. Brazilian Helio Castro-Neves
earned a spot in the top 10 (seventh) during provisional qualifying with a
66.137-second lap (122.909 mph) in his Hogan Racing Mercedes. Castro-Neves
struggled with understeer in today's session and was held up by slower
competition during one of his quickest laps.
Player's/Forsythe Racing/Mercedes pilot Patrick Carpentier, who
suffered a minor neck-muscle injury in an accident during last week's
Detroit Grand Prix, will not be driving this weekend. He is expected to
return to the cockpit next week in the inaugural race at the Chicago Motor
Speedway.
Blundell's PacWest Racing teammate, Brazil's Mauricio Gugelmin, who
pilots the Hollywood Mercedes, earned the 17th provisional spot on the grid
with a lap of 66.930 seconds (121.452 mph). His team is working to find
more grip on a slippery race track that was doused with rain throughout
last night and this morning.
Marlboro Team Penske veteran Al Unser Jr. is currently 22nd with a
lap of 67.292 seconds (120.799 mph). Luiz Garcia Jr., in his first race as
teammate to Castro-Neves in a second Hogan Racing/Tang Mercedes, had an
off-course excursion during qualifying. His car was stuck in the gravel
trap, and he was forced to sit out most of the session. His best effort
was a 68.040-second lap (119.471 mph), good enough for the 24th spot in the
field.
Player's/Forsythe Racing's Greg Moore also went off course into the
gravel early in the qualifying session, and as a result, he only completed
three laps during the session. His best time was 68.086-seconds (119.390
mph). He is 25th on the grid.
Practice resumes tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. EST, and final
qualifying will be held from 12:45-2 p.m. The race begins Sunday at 2:30
p.m., and will be seen on ABC-TV beginning at 3:30 p.m. EST.
Mercedes Quotes
Mark Blundell, No. 18, PacWest Motorola Mercedes/Firestone (26th/no time)
"My guys did a great job changing the engine in a very short time this
morning. It's just unfortunate that we caught some more bad luck today.
We know we have a good car, so we'll give it another go tomorrow. We were
just working hard out there. We changed from what we were doing when
Roberto (Moreno) was in the car, and we've gone back more to my setup from
earlier in the year. The guys are working hard, and I'm doing my bit as
well. This track is tough. My neck is fatigued. I'm hurting. I can
tell, though, that we've made great strides in the engine department since
earlier in the season. I'm much happier now. It is showing in the way the
car is balanced. We still have more work to do with the tires, engine and
chassis, but that's always going to be the case when you ask a racing
driver for his opinion."
Helio Castro-Neves, No. 9, Hogan Racing Mercedes/Firestone (Seventh/66.137
seconds)
"We did a good job in the morning session. I expected us to be better this
afternoon. The car was not like I like it. It had too much understeer.
We've got to sit down and figure out what we misjudged. We're on our way,
though. We can go faster. We started with our test setup, then we
changed. We should have kept the original setup. Sometimes you're right,
and sometimes you're wrong."
Mauricio Gugelmin, No. 17, PacWest Hollywood Mercedes/Firestone
(17th/66.930 seconds)
"We made some small changes from this morning to this afternoon, and we
didn't gain anything. We are lacking grip, basically. We started with the
same setup we used here in testing a while back, but we had no grip. The
track is a lot different now than when we tested. On our second set of
tires, the pressures got higher than we like. We didn't know if it was
going to rain or not, so we stayed out on the track to get as many laps in
as we could. Then it stayed dry. The rain last night really washed the
track. It is slippery."
Luiz Garcia Jr., No. 21, Hogan Racing/Tang Mercedes/Firestone (24th/68.040
seconds)
"I've been fighting oversteer, snap oversteer, so far this weekend. We
didn't get a chance to work on that, plus the tires were cold. I was on
the fast kink on the backside of the course and the back end just came
around on me. This morning we had clutch problems. We'll just have to do
well tomorrow. There is a lot of pressure on us, but there is a lot of
pressure on everybody at this level."
Greg Moore, No. 99, Player's/Forsythe Mercedes/Firestone (25th/68.086
seconds)
"We had an eventful session. I was running third quick at the time, and I
was on cool tires. It started to rain just a bit, and the car bottomed out
in the middle of a turn and got real loose. Then the back end just came
around. Everyone thought it was going to rain, so they went out and tried
to go fast as soon as possible to get in a good lap. Maybe we went out a
little too hard."
Provisional Qualifying, Miller Lite 200
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio
Aug. 13, 1999
Pos. Driver Engine Time Speed
1 Dario Franchitti Honda 65.347 124.394
2 Bryan Herta Ford 65.824 123.493
3 Paul Tracy Honda 65.908 123.336
4 Tony Kanaan Honda 65.986 123.190
5 Jimmy Vasser Honda 66.091 122.994
6 Gil de Ferran Honda 66.133 122.916
7 Helio Castro-Neves Mercedes-Benz 66.137 122.909
8 Juan Montoya Honda 66.174 122.840
9 Max Papis Ford 66.316 122.577
10 Robby Gordon Toyota 66.352 122.510
17 Mauricio Gugelmin Mercedes-Benz 66.930 121.452
22 Al Unser Jr. Mercedes-Benz 67.292 120.799
24 Luiz Garcia Jr. Mercedes-Benz 68.040 119.471
25 Greg Moore Mercedes-Benz 68.086 119.390
26 Mark Blundell Mercedes-Benz No Time*
*Failure to pass post-qualifying inspection.
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