CART: Gugelmin Leads Mercedes in Brazil Despite Late Spin [EMAIL] PR:Mercedes-Benz/Rio 200
29 April 2000
Juan Montoya was the quickest driver on the first day of practice for the
Rio 200 at the Emerson Fittipaldi Speedway in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the
first international event of the CART FedEx Championship Series. Montoya's
best lap was 38.922 seconds (172.406 mph) on the 1.864-mile oval. Mauricio
Gugelmin was the fastest Mercedes-Benz driver (14th overall) with a
39.736-second lap (168.875 mph) in the afternoon, despite a spin late that
resulted in impact with the inside wall on the front straight.
"It was a pretty good session," said Gugelmin, driver of the PacWest
Racing Nextel Mercedes-Benz, who spun with only a few minutes remaining in
the afternoon session. "I just got on the gas too soon coming out of turn
four. I managed to avoid the outside wall, but I got the inside wall. It
was just light damage, nothing major. I was hoping to use the last four
minutes to learn more about the car. We'll just have to learn tomorrow
morning."
A major hurdle for all the teams today was finding balance on a race
track that features slow, tight corners that are more similar to a road
course than a true oval. Most teams chose to run a low-downforce setup to
increase speeds on the straightaways, including Mo Nunn Racing's Tony Kanaan,
with the Hollywood Mercedes-Benz.
"It was a busy session with all the yellows," said Kanaan, who was 15th
quick today with a lap of 39.745 seconds (168.836 mph). "We tried a
low-downforce setup this afternoon, but I cut a tire early in the session so
I had to use my new tires earlier than I wanted. We need to find more speed.
We need more mechanical grip too, so we can run the low-downforce setup that
we want to run. We've got some more bits to try tomorrow."
Bettenhausen Motorsports driver Michel Jourdain Jr., driver of the Herdez
Mercedes-Benz, was 20th in the field today, with a lap of 39.965 seconds
(167.907 mph). He was also running a setup with minimal downforce.
"We're getting better," said Jourdain. "We're making changes and
improvements. We're running the lowest downforce possible, so we're working
with different shock and spring setups to try and increase mechanical grip
for the corners."
Gugelmin's PacWest Racing teammate Mark Blundell, who drives the Motorola
Mercedes-Benz, was 21st today with a 39.987-second lap (167.815 mph).
"Unfortunately, we only ran short in the morning session because we had
some issues we had to resolve," said Blundell. "In the afternoon, we ran
with a good load of fuel on board. Now we'll try to conclude what our next
direction is going to be. Tomorrow we'll run with less fuel and get some
balance in the car to prepare for a good qualifying run in the afternoon."
Arciero Project Racing's Hollywood Mercedes-Benz, driven by Luiz Garcia
Jr., was 25th today with a lap of 42.706 seconds (157.130 mph).
Practice resumes tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m. local time (8:30 a.m.
Eastern). Single-car qualifying will be held from 1 to 3:15 p.m. tomorrow
(noon to 2:15 p.m. Eastern).
Practice, Rio 200
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
April 28, 2000
Pos. Driver Engine Time Speed
1 Juan Montoya Toyota 38.922 172.406
2 Kenny Brack Ford 39.211 171.136
3 Alexandre Tagliani Ford 39.241 171.005
4 Christian FittipaldiFord 39.273 170.865
5 Helio Castro-Neves Honda 39.345 170.553
6 Jimmy Vasser Toyota 39.507 169.853
7 Cristiano da Matta Toyota 39.550 169.669
8 Max Papis Ford 39.557 169.639
9 Gil de Ferran Honda 39.606 169.429
10 Paul Tracy Honda 39.628 169.335
14 Mauricio Gugelmin Mercedes-Benz 39.736 168.875
15 Tony Kanaan Mercedes-Benz 39.745 168.836
20 Michel Jourdain Jr. Mercedes-Benz 39.965 167.907
21 Mark Blundell Mercedes-Benz 39.987 167.815
25 Luiz Garcia Jr. Mercedes-Benz 42.706 157.130