Friday:
Paul Tracy and his pit crew won the Craftsman Pit Crew Challenge. The crew
will split $50,000 in prize money. I was pitside at the Team KOOL Green pit
during the competition. The noise of a Honda HR-0 on the rev limiter and the
smell of methanol and burned Firestone Firehawk slicks is something few
people out of racing experience. I will have my pitside video converted to
MPEG and pics of the celebration sent in when they are developed. The $45
3-day garage/pit pass was definitely worth it!
According to the shipping label on the HPD engine crate, an HR-0 2.65 liter
V8 weighs 460lbs.
All Honda teams run Reynard chassis, but each team is using different aero
packages in the quest for speed. Also, the left side wheels have positive
camber, while the right side has negative camber. This maximizes grip as the
car only turns left.
Alex Zanardi was present as a guest of Target/Chip Ganassi. The two-time
CART champion is rumoured to be driving next year, though it's highly
unlikely. Chip Ganassi hired Bruno Junquiera and Nicolas Minassian...F3000
rivals of F1-bound Juan Pablo Montoya. It was obvious they were hired before
Ganassi's press conference...I saw both of them in Target/Nike uniforms along
with their agents.
Saturday:
Gil de Ferran broke the closed circuit speed record with a qualifying run of
241.428mph. He also won a point for the pole position.
Alex Zanardi, Danny Sullivan, Emerson Fittipaldi, and Formula 1's David
Coulthard of McLaren-Mercedes were in attendance.
HPD techs were seen using borescopes to analyze the cylinders. This allows
them to see how well the engines are running.
The rumours were confirmed that Adrian Fernandez will have a team in 2001
managed by ex-Ganassi Racing's Managing Director Tom Anderson. He will bring
along his Tecate and Quaker State sponsors. He is rumoured to get Honda
engines, as well as Shinji Nakano (with Avex sponsorship) as a partner.
I met Chris Miles of Inside CART. He is pursuing a racing career. I also
met with Andreas Leberle, the team principal of Arciero-Project Racing Group.
I talked to him about the late Jovy Marcelo, who died during practice for
the 1992 Indy 500. I'm doing research on Marcelo for my Filipino college
class, and Mr. Leberle took time out from his busy schedule to have a
10-minute talk with me.