CART FedEx Championship Series: Molson Indy Toronto

Topics:  Molson Indy Toronto

Cristiano da Matta
Bruno Junqueira
Paul Tracy
July 5, 2002

TORONTO, ONTARIO

MERRILL CAIN: We'll get started with our Top-3 press conference following today's provisional qualifying for the Molson Indy here in Toronto. We'll start out first with our third place qualifier today Paul Tracy, driver of the No. 26 KOOL Honda Lola Bridgestone, he qualified third with a lap of 58.953 seconds; that's a speed of 108.02 miles per hour. Paul is the 1993 winner of the Molson Indy Toronto, and he's already earned one front-row starting spot this season, qualifying second in Milwaukee, in a race he would go on to win just a few weeks ago. Paul, obviously a very exciting session for you. You turned a quick lap very, very late in the session and had to be very satisfying to you to see you jump up to third place on the grid.

PAUL TRACY: It was a good lap. I had to wait until later in the run on the tires. I feel that we can do a lot better. There was a lot of traffic out there, and I was kind of the first one -- one of the first to leave the pit. So, as I was up to speed, my first and second lap I encountered a bunch of guys that came out of the pits and that kind of took the best off the tires. So I had to go a lap slow and wait to get a gap and then my last two laps were quick to the checkered flag. So very happy with the job team KOOL Green did today. It's our first time on a street course with a Lola. We ran a Reynard at Long Beach, the last time we were at a street course, so really didn't know where we were going to start here with set up. We just kinds of guessed at it, and the car was pretty good. So we just need to improve it, and if I can get best out of it tomorrow in qualifying and catch the lap just right without any traffic, I think we can do better.

PAUL TRACY: It's something I don't really -- something I try not to put a lot of attention to because it was out of my control. I guess the only way that I can put it is that when it comes time to do my job, I go out and do my job the best that I can, and that kind of takes your mind off of it. You know, really, it's in the times when I have down time when I'm at home that you think about things, the things that happened in Indianapolis this year. You think you've won the race, but why are these things happening. So it's frustrating because this is a sport and it started out as a sport to race head-to-head against other guys. We raced head-to-head on the track, and I feel that I won the race, but the political race side of it, we were not able to win, and that's frustrating, I think for Barry and I think it's frustrating for a lot of the fans that it's come down to politics. It's sad for the sport and it's sad for open-wheel racing, and I think this just shows how deep the gap is between IRL and CART, to try to bridge it. It's so wide now that it's frustrating.

BRUNO JUNQUEIRA: Yeah, I think we had a good run, but not good enough. This guy to my right, I hope that he will be slow as he was to come here for the press conference. (Laughter). But I think Team Target did a very good job. I think the car is good. It's a big change for the second setup and we can improve some things -- with Cristiano, there were corrections I had to change to improve but couldn't. I think we have to work harder to catch him. Still Paul and all of the guys that are really fast, as well, let's see if we can get the pole tomorrow, because starting the front here is very important.

CRISTIANO da MATTA: Well, we knew there was Ganassi cars and Team KOOL Green cars were running pretty fast, and, also, Christian my teammate was very, very fast. So I was 100% sure that people was going to improve on the lap time in my first run. So, it was the right thing to do. You know what, nobody expect, and of course, me neither; that I was going to make a mistake. But it happens sometimes. Of course, you know, to have to try very hard every time in qualifying, it's such a competitive field. I think it's actually my first one of the season, so it's not too bad.

CRISTIANO da MATTA: Well, just went too deep. I thought I was going to make it, but I actually locked the rear wheels a little bit. And it caught me when I was downshifting; so I had only one hand on the steering wheel and it happened so quickly. If I had both hands on the steering wheel, probably I had the chance to catch it, but with one hand, not a chance.

BRUNO JUNQUEIRA: I'm thinking maybe to lock him in the bathroom. If I knew the track or what I should do, I would be doing that. Cristiano has been good. But I think one thing I always -- I think from last year, I was struggling a lot because I didn't know the tracks. I wasn't getting really consistent results. This year, so far, I can be fast every single race track or street or oval. I'm trying to be Top 3, Top-5, win races, and wait for see if Cristiano going to scramble a little bit, I don't know.

CRISTIANO da MATTA: Well, I still have a contract with Newman/Haas for next year. I think right now, you know, maybe there is a small possibility, but I have not heard anything back. But I am very happy with Newman/Haas. Especially the way the cars they have been giving me this year, even happier. Right now, it's too early to say. To be honest, I'm not even thinking about that right now. I'm just concentrating on the CART Championship here. I don't know, it's just too early to say. I think looking at me right now, they are never going to look at me because I don't think I can do a lot better than what I am doing right now. So I am pretty much happy with the results I've got so far. I don't think it can get much better for me.

BRUNO JUNQUEIRA: No, I don't think so. I think you are kind of character. (Laughs).

CRISTIANO da MATTA: Yeah, it was. Actually, I saw the left front corner was completely gone, and after that, I was driving the car, and the car caught some piece off Dominguez' front wing that was on the track. So there was a big noise coming from underneath the car. And, of course, I did not see that I had caught Mario's front wing. So I'm driving -- I'm just driving this car, but I have to get this thing out of the track. I made it all the way to the end and then I just saw there was his front wing and I don't think there is much damage on my car. Actually, it looks all fine. I didn't look proper. I still have to wait on the crew to see what happens, really. But I think on a quick look, it was just the left, front corner. So it was not too bad.

PAUL TRACY: I think Bruno was telling me, walking up the stairs, he's like, "What am I going to do"? I said, hey, the guy is confident right now. The team is good, obviously. They are not making mistakes. They are giving him a car every week that he can be confident in; and he's not making mistakes and he's driving, getting the most out of it. When you have those runs, the longer you can keep them going, the better, but they can stop all of a sudden so you just have to -- from my perspective or anybody else, you just have to keep pushing yourself to the limit and pushing your team to the limit to try to bridge the gap, and hopefully the ball is going to come towards you. And when you have that opportunity, you've got to make the most of it.

PAUL TRACY: I tried to pay Donny and his crew which I have 20 bucks to keep the wheel loose, but he said not enough. (Laughter). I'd offer a million but I got it stolen from me. (Laughter).

PAUL TRACY: I think it's partly -- and I'm not blaming Lola, but it's partly a problem with the car; that it only has one locking pin and one is not enough. They have made stronger ones, but Reynard has too on it, and you never really saw that problem with a Reynard. I think that they are addressing the problem. But these things take time, 19 cars, 18 cars out there, everybody has two cars. And it's a spindle; it's not an easy part to make. You've got 18 sets of two cars each, you've got 18 guys and that's a lot of spindles to make. It's not an easy fix. It's not something that you can just fix tomorrow. It's something that takes time. I guess now it's so competitive that the teams are rushing. They are trying to be as fast as they can, and if the wheel is not really tight, it's going to come off.

BRUNO JUNQUEIRA: If it comes off in the new rules, all of the pit stop, the time of the pit stops is -- it's on the tires and then you are putting more pressure on the guy that changes tires, you know. Because before they could change the tires one second slow; they wait for the fuel, anyway.