Johnstone Finds Right Formula in Circuit Stop

Coming to Long Beach for the Toyota Grand Prix has special meaning for Parker Johnstone.

When he was a senior at Oakland High, he and his girlfriend, Sharon--now his wife--cut school and drove 350 miles to Long Beach to watch the Formula One street race in 1978.

“We didn’t have any money, so we had to sleep in the car,” Johnstone recalls. “We had to park a long way from the circuit and I remember hearing those Ferraris and Matras warming up and I made Sharon run all the way. I don’t remember ever being as excited as I was that day, to actually be there to see drivers I’d read about.”

In last year’s Long Beach race, when Johnstone finished second to Jimmy Vasser, it was another lasting thrill.

“I guess not many guys would call a second-place finish a career highlight, but it was for me,” he said. “As soon as I took the checkered flag, I had a rush of memories of watching Carlos Reutemann and Jody Scheckter and Keke Rosberg and Niki Lauda. It’s something that will be with me always.”

Johnstone will drive a Reynard-Honda in Sunday’s race.

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Bobby Rahal, in his dual role as a CART owner-driver, was not pleased with Johnstone last Sunday at Surfers Paradise, Australia.

“Somebody’s got to talk to Johnstone,” Rahal said. “He’s getting out of control. It was ridiculous of him to try and pass two cars at the same time. It was about a $90,000 hit he put on [Bryan] Herta.”

The incident occurred on Lap 31, when Johnstone passed Mark Blundell, then continued on and T-boned Herta, who drives Rahal’s second car.

Johnson’s explanation: “The roads at Surfers Paradise are crowned and after I pulled up side-by-side with Blundell and had all the momentum for the pass, I couldn’t steer the car and I couldn’t stop. I just ran right into Herta. The car was bottomed out.”

Herta, who suffered a bruised thumb in the accident, will race Sunday in a backup car.

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One Brazilian will sit in for another Sunday when veteran Roberto Moreno drives in Christian Fittipaldi’s place in the Newman-Haas-owned Swift-Cosworth.

Fittipaldi’s right leg was broken in two places in a second-lap accident at Surfers Paradise. He is expected to leave the hospital in Australia and return to his home in Key Biscayne, Fla., on Saturday.

“I’ve talked to Christian to ask his permission to keep his seat warm,” said Moreno, 38. “I came to the United States in 1984 to establish myself in CART. Getting to drive for one of the most successful teams in CART is an incredible opportunity. Unfortunately, it’s under the wrong circumstances.”

Moreno returned to the CART series last year after a nine-year absence and surprised racing followers by finishing second in the U.S. 500 while driving for Payton-Coyne Racing.

Before Moreno accepted the ride, one of co-owner Carl Haas’ options was to bring former world champion Mario Andretti, Michael’s father, out of retirement for the Long Beach race. Mario, who retired in 1994, won the 1977 Formula One race in Long Beach and won CART races here in 1984, 1985 and 1987.