Conference oass::racers

    Jimmy Vasser takes the pole at 232 and change.
    
    Juan Fangio III only could do 209. 
    
    I was pretty shocked by the difference, and expected higher speeds at
    Michigan. The Honda's really look tough to catch right now.
    
    Did anyone confirm if Mario will drive?

Mario was out on the track during some of the practice sessions doing 
some filming for one of these super-snazzy surround movie things.  He 
said that the team didn't think itself capable of handling three cars 
this time out, so he won't be driving.

The big reasons for the lower-than-expected speeds at MIS are the 
aerodynamic changes in the 1996 chassis rules and the restriction of 
boost pressure to 40 in.  In contrast, they're burning up the track 
at Indy with the 1995 cars and full boost (or, in the case of the 
Menards, extra boost).

--PSW

    re .2
    
    I believe they also re-surfaced part of the track at Indy too. This
    would also account for some of the high speeds seen at Indy.
    
                                                             -mike-

    They resurfaced the entire track and added a drainage system in 3 and 4
    to deal with the "weepers".  BTW, MIS was resurfaced in 1995 too.
    
    One wonders what an aerobodied Penske with 1996 tires and an
    unrestricted version of the 500I 209-inch pushrod engine could achieve
    in terms of speed at either track.  

    Am I right in thinking it's this coming weekend?Euro
    
    Mattsport are not listing
    any event except Monaco of course

    No, I believe the 2 races - the Indy 500 and the US 500 - are being run 
    on 26-May.  So it is still a week away.
    
    Carl
    

Here are the results of Saturday (11-May) qualifying from the EDS Web pages at:
http://www.indycar.com/eds/MotorsportsHome.html

The Sunday report says no cars presented themselves for qualifying.  Anyone
know if this is the final line up?  Is there any more sessions prior to the
race?

Martin

PPG Indy Car World Series Race No. 6
US 500
Brooklyn, Michigan
US 500 Indy Saturday (First) Qualifying: Individual Qualifying Report
May 11, 1996 

Pos         Driver               Car #    Lap Time     Speed

------------------------------------------------------------------------

  1     JIMMY VASSER              12      31.031     232.025
  2     ADRIAN FERNANDEZ          32      31.154     231.108
  3     BRYAN HERTA               28      31.199     230.774
  4     ALEX ZANARDI              4X      31.202     230.751
  5     AL UNSER JR                2      31.275     230.213
  6     ANDRE RIBEIRO             31      31.344     229.710
  7     PAUL TRACY                 3      31.444     228.980
  8     EMERSON FITTIPALDI         9      31.604     227.816
  9     SCOTT PRUETT             20X      31.618     227.718
 10     RAUL BOESEL                1      31.640     227.561
 11     MICHAEL ANDRETTI          6X      31.774     226.602
 12     CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI      11      31.824     226.246
 13     GIL DE FERRAN             8X      31.864     225.957
 14     MAURICIO GUGELMIN         17      31.911     225.625
 15     BOBBY RAHAL               18      31.934     225.464
 16     PARKER JOHNSTONE          49      32.090     224.372
 17     GREG MOORE                99      32.139     224.025
 18     EDDIE LAWSON              10      32.488     221.618
 19     MARK BLUNDELL             21      32.508     221.487
 20     ROBERTO MORENO            34      32.513     221.447
 21     ROBBY GORDON               5      32.597     220.877
 22     STEFAN JOHANSSON         16X      32.865     219.081
 23     FREDRIK EKBLOM            15      32.952     218.501
 24     JEFF KROSNOFF             25      33.128     217.341
 25     HIRO MATSUSHITA           19      33.326     216.048
 26     JUAN MANUEL FANGIO II     36      34.371     209.476
 27     TEO FABI                  37     NO TIME     NO SPEED
 28     PJ JONES                  98     NO TIME     NO SPEED
Track Length =   2.000 Miles

------------------------------------------------------------------------



Copyright �1996 Electronic Data Systems Corporation
All Rights Reserved 

    Its been quiet in here...any news coming from Michigan?  
    
    

    No.  Practice resumes Thursday.  Most of the teams spent the latter
    part of last week testing at Mid-Ohio and Milwaukee.
    
    George

Vasser won right?  Since it wasn't on free tv and also not on the radio 
anywhere I could find (including checking SW freqs a few times) all I heard 
was the winner.

Dave

It was an interesting race.  The start was exactly what CART didn't 
want.  Coming off the last turn at the start, Bryan Herta, on the 
outside of the first row, was running low.  Adrian Fernandez, in the 
middle of the first row, also ran low and ended up squeezing 
pole-sitter Jimmy Vasser.  Vasser's right rear touched Fernandez's 
left front tire, sending Vasser spinning across the track.  Chaos 
resulted, with cars and debris everywhere.  I think it was 12 cars in 
total that were collected, and the race was red-flagged and started 
again an hour later with everyone in spare or rebuilt cars.

Vasser took the early lead on the restart.  His teammate Zanardi took 
over the lead and led for the middle part of the race.  Parker 
Johnstone, who had worked steadily through the field, took over the 
lead.  Shortly thereafter Zanardi's engine let go.  Vasser got the 
lead back when Johnstone ran out of fuel and went 3 laps down (he 
recovered one of those laps in the later going).  Vasser later 
dropped to 5th (Andre Ribeiro leading) but worked his way back up and 
regained the lead when Ribeiro had to make a late splash-and-go stop 
for fuel.  Mauricio Gugelmin finished second and Roberto Moreno 
third.  Both of them had driven steady, uneventful races.

There were 11 cars running at the finish, if you count Hiro 
Matsushita, 33 laps down, as "running".  Caution-wise, it was a messy 
race:  12 caution periods for 78 laps (not counting the red flag on 
the first start).

--PSW

    King Hiro 33 laps down... Hmm I watched this race on Eurosport
    (Free) and when Robby Gordon had electics probs and was missfiring
    they pulled him in as too slow and "unsafe" yet hiro was rambling
    round as a mobile chicane at a MUCH slower speed than the rest
    and was allowed to continue, must be a fine line they draw
    What was he up to? he isn;t that bad a driver to be going SO slowly
    
    
    Was nice to see Mark Blundell do a reasonable job, though he screwed
    any chance at a win by fumbling 2 pit stops, and having to go round
    again on one when he overshot for the top up during a yellow. which
    put him a lap down.
    
    Greg Moore is some guy, he battled well in his (relatively)
    underpowered car and had a spectacular spin that he only just 
    brushed the wall in. then broke down later. When they interviewed
    him he mentioned a @little problem@ heheh this guy is well cool!
    
    Nice race, enjoyed it.
    
    Matt

During the lap before the (first) start the US TV announcers were 
blathering about how experienced the field was, how many former 
champions, how many victories among the drivers, etc, and then the huge 
fiasco just before the green flag. Hilarious. Made all those rookies at 
Indy look downright professional. They at least put off their big pileup
until the checkered flag. 

Both US 500 and Indy seemed to have rather too many less than 
competitive drivers (old age, lack of experience, tired equipment). The 
best of the two fields would have been a great race.

Alan

    One note, the US500 would usually start 2 by 2 but because they wanted
    to have the Indy "FEEL" they started 3 by 3.
    
    I think it would have been a safe start if they had of stuck to thier
    guns, Indy is the only 3 by 3 for that type of car.
                                                                        7
    Fred