CART FEDEX CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: MOLSON INDY VANCOUVER

July 27, 2002

Cristiano da Matta

Dario Franchitti

Paul Tracy

DARIO FRANCHITTI: Yeah, I think the guys at Team KOOL Green did a good job coming here. Paul was very, very fast in Toronto. I kind of struggled a bit. But we made some changes to my car in particular for this race, and we both -- you know, all three cars, including Michael's came off the transporter. We're very happy with the balance, how the cars are performing. Qualifying yesterday was pretty frustrating for me getting stuck in traffic all the time. And today, you know, we gave it a good shot on the first run. The second run we made some changes, made the car a bit slower. That was a bit of a pain. That was about it. The first run, a couple of good laps in there. The second run, it was just really catch the car all the time. We just lost the balance and the speed of the car. We had a problem with the valve blowing out also in the second run. Otherwise, I think we could have given Cristiano a run. To start third, it's not too bad. Certainly better than last year where we started 19th. I'm quite happy with that. Paul is in front. I think we've got a good car for the race tomorrow. I think we've got a good balance in used tires. We'll see how it goes.

PAUL TRACY: I had a good -- we made a change right before the start of the session. And my first run wasn't fantastic. I think it was about sixth or seventh quick. We weren't very happy with that. We made some changes back, made some other changes, and I went out. The car felt very good right away on the warm-up lap. So it was just a case of I had a clear track. It was all up to me. And I just really kind of overdrove it a little bit. I tried a little bit too hard, and I was close, but lost a little bit of time in a couple of areas just from wanting to get that time. And that was it. I mean, it doesn't take very much to lose a 10th here and a 10th there. You know, I think we're only a 10th and a half behind. So a little disappointed because the car was good. I didn't get the best out of the car, and I didn't get the best from myself. But to be second, we've had a great weekend. The car's been working really well. The car is working well on old tires, which is fantastic. And we'll see what we can do on Sunday.

PAUL TRACY: Dario said we're going to try to tie him up, put him underneath this shaky table and jump up and down on it, try to collapse it on top of him. You can be sure both Dario and myself would like to win this race. We're going to do everything we can.

CRISTIANO DA MATTA: Oh, definitely, because yesterday I couldn't have -- couldn't get not even one clear lap. It was just a zoo out there at the end of the qualifying. And I'm pretty sure nobody really got a clear lap. I think that's why the lap times yesterday were so slow. And today we knew that the only chance we could have to get a proper run would be if we go out right in the beginning of the session. So we went out. We thought for us would be more important to get a couple of decent laps, get into a rhythm, would be like more important than to get the track on its very best at the end and get maybe only one lap or the other. I think with the session the way it went yesterday, everybody of course played it different. So it was a pretty smooth qualifying for everybody, looked like from the outside.

CRISTIANO DA MATTA: Well, I don't know (laughter). You should ask those two guys what strategy they're going to apply so I can apply my strategy, too.

PAUL TRACY: I already told them. We were going to tie you up and put you under the bench here, jump up and down until it breaks on you (laughter).

CRISTIANO DA MATTA: So I have to run away really (laughter). I'm smaller than these guys; I can't do anything about it.

CRISTIANO DA MATTA: No, we made it quite better for qualifying. Of course, it's natural with improvement you do session after session. This morning we just a little bit off because I think we didn't really -- not at the beginning of the session, because I think I went out with pretty good tires, at the very start of the session. But then our laps started to drop off a little bit. Then we could see really where the problems with the car were. So we made a couple of experiments during the session, and it was a very productive session. We were able to have a good look at everything, how the changes made, all the data we had between the qualifying and the -- between the morning session and qualifying. Definitely for qualifying the problem was a lot smaller. I think race cars will always have something to work on, but it was definitely a lot better.

CRISTIANO DA MATTA: Well, yesterday we just had all kinds of problems. Was strange. It was probably the first day in my whole career racing that I got back to the hotel on Friday night and I had no idea how my car was. I knew wouldn't be bad because I saw that Christian was running pretty well, so that gave me a little bit of a peace of mind. But I couldn't feel it myself. So it was frustrating. But today, how everything went bad yesterday, today was extremely smooth, the morning session and the qualifying. So it paid off.

CRISTIANO DA MATTA: Not today. Just for race day.

CRISTIANO DA MATTA: Yeah, I hope so (laughter).

CRISTIANO DA MATTA: I'm not like my teammate. They use the same bicycle sock from Thursday all the way to Sunday, and also practices with that thing. When he's changing into his racing shoes, you better leave the track (laughter). He's so nice, but he doesn't like those shower things and washing things very much.

PAUL TRACY: I don't think so. I think this morning the session went extremely smooth. The time for me in the morning, every time I went out, I went quicker, quicker, quicker. It just seemed to come naturally. And I knew what time this afternoon Cristiano had done, and I was just trying very hard and overdrove the car. I left, you know, some time out there on the track. Just a situation where, you know, when you're trying too hard, you actually go slower than just letting it happen.

PAUL TRACY: The one thing I can say is that this track, Vancouver, they've done an excellent job preparing the track. They washed it thoroughly. The track has been very good all weekend. It was fast in the first session. There wasn't a lot of dust. And it seemed like today when Cristiano went out, there was quite a lot of rubber down, the track was clean, so he was able to do a time right away. Hats off to the people that organized the track and prepared the track. The track is in really good shape.

DARIO FRANCHITTI: I think the track was pretty good when it started. I was quite happy. I won the first race here. I was delighted quite frankly (laughter).

PAUL TRACY: I think we both like the new track better than the old one. But I think there were some problems with tires and things like that, construction issues. But the layout I think everybody was happy with. It was just some things, fencing and things like that, that we weren't generally satisfied with. But they've made every effort to improve all the time.

DARIO FRANCHITTI: I think Stu Ballantyne, all the guys here, have done a pretty good job. It's great to come and race in Vancouver. When you see the stands are full on Friday, makes us all feel pretty good. I think the track is up to a standard where we enjoy coming to race here as well. It's not the easiest place to pass on, but no street circuit it. It's very unforgiving. You can't make a mistake, otherwise it kind of bites you a bit. Same for everybody.

CRISTIANO DA MATTA: Also repair a couple places on the racetrack. There may be some places pretty bumpy last year, a little bit better this year, shaved some of the bumps. Definitely, like Paul and Dario, always enjoy here. Never saw a problem. It's getting better. Still making it better every year.

DARIO FRANCHITTI: I think it's a softer tire. I think Bridgestone have really got a soft tire in comparison to what we had here in 2000. That's what I see. Also the development in the chassis, traction control a bit. I think main thing is the softer tire that Bridgestone have brought.

CRISTIANO DA MATTA: I think it's just tires, just natural evolution of the race car, the setup for every team. Just everything is a little bit better. But the power.

PAUL TRACY: I'm hopeful that I can get a job driving da Matta's bus next year because he's going to make so much money (laughter).

CRISTIANO DA MATTA: I'm hoping to get a job as Paul's domestic in some bicycle somewhere.

PAUL TRACY: I think, you know, for me, my standpoint, I believe in CART. I want to stay in CART. That's my future, short and long-term. I'm pushing forward. I'm sticking behind CART. So that's where I want to be.

CRISTIANO DA MATTA: I'm with Paul all the way.

DARIO FRANCHITTI: Yeah, I mean, I think I'll go with these guys (laughter). I think we all enjoy what we're doing here. We all love it. We love racing against the best guys, the best teams, and all these great places we get to go and race at. None of us want to give that up, so hopefully we won't have to. You know, such a good series going here. You know, the competition is so strong. We all have a great time all the same. As I said, hopefully that won't change.

CRISTIANO DA MATTA: Well, I really hope that there's not a championship battle (laughter). But I think it's too early to make any predictions. It's half of the season now. I think Team KOOL Green has improved a lot. Of course, they changed chassis. They're a lot more -- of course, they struggled a little bit in the first couple races with the Lola on the street courses, road courses, but now they're up to speed. Ganassi is always running strong. There's a couple other teams there just getting better, too. We maybe got a little bit of an advantage over the others at the beginning of the season, but it seems like everybody's just getting more and more equal now. So I think the battle is going to be all the way to the end, although I hope it's not.

DARIO FRANCHITTI: I've got a different outlook on that one. You know, I think it's going to be very difficult to catch Cristiano. The guys at Newman/Haas and Cristiano, they've done a great job this year. It's not over by any means. I know I'm pushing a hundred percent, Team KOOL Green is pushing a hundred percent, the big guy at the end there is pushing a hundred percent. We all want it pretty badly. But we'll see. We can only do our best.