More Turns Making Things Slower, but No Less Interesting

The reconfigured circuit for the Toyota has been Grand Prix of Long Beach measured at 1.824 miles, but its four new turns around the Aquarium of the Pacific have taken their toll on speed.

Dario Franchitti, in a Reynard-Honda had the fastest lap, 106.244 mph, during Friday’s first round of qualifying over the 11-turn street course. Although most drivers said they expected much quicker times in today’s final session, the speed was well below Bryan Herta’s 111.226 mph pole speed of last year.

Unexpectedly warm weather, along with indecision and several minor accidents in the new area, frustrated the 27 CART FedEx drivers trying to get up-front positions for Sunday’s 80-lap race.

“Obviously, the new layout has presented some interesting challenges,” Franchitti said. “It’s pretty tricky in there. In the race, we should see a lot of different lines through there. It really gets tricky in Turn 5, which is off-camber. I think everyone will be going faster tomorrow.”

Rookie Juan Montoya, Chip Ganassi’s replacement for two-time CART and Long Beach champion Alex Zanardi, was second fastest at 105.985 in another Reynard-Honda, with Herta next at 105.588 in a Reynard-Ford.

“The track has a much different feel going into Turn 1 as you set up for the left-hand turn, rather than a right corner,” Herta said. “It’s like driving into a tight tunnel at the aquarium. There is only room for one car through that area. It will be very interesting in the race.”

Montoya was particularly frustrated by traffic.

“On the first set of tires, we were definitely the quickest out there,” said the 23-year-old Colombian. “Then we put the second set on and we only got two laps in before the red flag [for Richie Hearn’s accident in Turn 4]. After that we went back out, had a good lap going and I got stuck in traffic. It was very disappointing.”

Hearn hit the wall in Turn 4--in front of the aquarium parking structure--and CART safety workers were needed to pull the car off the narrow course. Hearn was not injured, but the car sustained damage to the right front wheel and suspension.

He was given an eight-minute penalty for causing a delay in the final 10 minutes of qualifying. The penalty will be assessed during the first eight minutes of today’s session.

Scott Pruett also spun while exiting the second turn--directly in front of the aquarium’s dolphin fountain--and stalled in the middle of the track. That brought all cars entering Turn 2 to a near halt before they could snake around the stalled car.

Pruett also was given an eight-minute penalty.

His car’s right front wheel and suspension were damaged from hitting the wall and CART safety workers had to tow the car to the garage.

Mauricio Gugelmin also brought out a red flag when he clipped the second turn wall and damaged the right front of his Reynard-Mercedes.

“It was the same place that Scott and Richie hit the wall,” said Gugelmin. “There’s a corner with some straight walls and the second wall is sticking out about two inches. I came flush with that, hit my rim, and went into the outside wall.”

He also was socked with an eight-minute penalty.

If he holds his edge today, Franchitti will be on the pole for the seventh time in his three-year career in CART. He last was on the pole in Australia last season, the last time the series ran on a street circuit.

“I think [success on street courses] comes from driving in the ITC [International Touring Cars],” said the Scotsman who raced two years with the ITC in Europe before coming to the United States in 1997. “We raced a lot on street circuits. I like driving between the walls.”

Competition should be fierce today as less than one second separated the first 11 cars after the first session.

Long Beach Notes

Shaun Palmer, who gets his excitement from extreme sports, took the pole for today’s 10-lap Toyota pro-celebrity race with lap of 1 minute 40.4 seconds in a Toyota Celica.

Palmer’s lap bettered even that of the fastest professional driver, drag racer Gary Scelzi, who took 1:40.89 to negotiate the course. Scelzi had the same frustrations as the CART drivers.

The celebrities will race at 2:15 p.m.