1993: Mansell wins on IndyCar debut

In winning, Mansell became only the second 'rookie' to win on his debut, repeating Graham Hill's feat from 1966. Indeed, the 1992 Fl World Champion went one better by doing it from pole position.

After the race, it was a tired but ecstatic Mansell who reflected on his action-packed afternoon. 'It's all incredible,' he said. 'It's almost what fairy-tales are made of.'

This was the third year of the Surfers' Paradise Indycar race and after two years of operating deeply in the red the promoters were hoping for better things this year. Nigel Mansell's arrival in Indycar racing they hoped would be just the shot in the arm they needed, increasing both domestic Australian interest at the ticket counter and international press coverage of the race. Nevertheless, whether it was enough to stem the flow of red ink remained to be seen with a pivotal Queensland state government meeting to examine the matter the day after the race.



Mansell certainly dominated the local press coverage in the week of the race and the World Champion came through by taking pole position, the first Indycar debutant to turn the trick since the great Jud Larson 37 years ago. But it was no easy matter for Mansell as he had some serious competition, not only from Emerson Fittipaldi and Paul Tracy in the pair of works Penskes, but also from an inspired Robby Gordon aboard one of AJ Foyt's year-old Lola-Fords.

In fact, the 24-year-old Gordon was fastest in the unofficial morning sessions on both days while Fittipaldi was a quick man in the second day's qualifying session. Fortunately for Mansell, the temperature on Saturday was notably warmer than the previous day, so that his record-setting qualifying lap stood-up by just three-tenths of a second from Fittipaldi's assault.

To take pole, Mansell had to indulge in some mighty kerb-hopping through the chicanes. He also went through four sets of tyres, flat-spotting all of them as he learned about the braking limits of an Indycar. An enforced engine change on Saturday morning also complicated Mansell's efforts, putting him into Newman Haas's spare car for the last half of the unofficial morning session, although he was able to revert to his race car for final qualifying.

Throughout the weekend Mansell was also concerned with a shortage of straightline speed. He was some 3-4mph slower through the speed traps than the Penske pair. Nor was he as quick down the straight as most of his Lola-Ford-equipped competitors. He admitted also to still having difficulties with changing gear.

'It's coming but I'm still having problems getting across the gate,' commented Mansell. 'Practice makes perfect.'

He was also noticeably more tired in the immediate aftermath of qualifying than both youngsters Tracy and Gordon and veteran Fittipaldi. 'It really is physically very hard to drive these cars,' declared Mansell. 'When was the last time you saw me sweat like this after qualifying in Fl?'

Meanwhile, Fittipaldi and Tracy made steady progress, both drivers staying off the kerbs in their rather more stiffly-sprung Penskes. Fit and trim as ever, Fittipaldi was driving beautifully and brimful of confidence. 'I'm happy to be half a second faster than anybody this afternoon,' said Emerson on Saturday, 'it was hotter today and there was less power from the engines so I think it's a good sign for us. I'm very, very pleased with the car's handling. I think we're in good shape for the race.'

Team mate Tracy was equally confident. Ordered by the Penske team to stay off the kerbs, he was driving both cleanly and aggressively as he began his first full season in Indycars. 'We improved the car quite a bit today,' said the young Canadian. 'We've made the driveability much better so that the car's getting off the turns much better.'

The sensation of practice and qualifying was most assuredly Robby Gordon. With new boss AJ Foyt holding back his latest Lola-Fords for Indianapolis, the 24-year-old Gordon was consigned to one of last year's Ford-engined T92 00s. Nevertheless, he was driving superbly with great aggression. demonstrating superb car control in the Villeneuve mould.

Fastest in both morning sessions, he lost out in the final qualifying session when a broken selector kept him from getting fifth and sixth and resulted in an over-revved engine. Like Tracy, this is Gordon's first full year racing Indycars and he is clearly reach to make his mark in a big way.

After struggling through Saturday morning with poor turn-in and power-down from Chip Ganassi's Lola-Ford, Arie Luyendyk hit on the right combination for the final qualifying session. He leaped from 15th to fifth, lapping just one second slower than Mansell.

'The car is much better!' enthused Arie. 'I was finally able to attack the track this afternoon although I had one of the biggest moments I've ever had at the second chicane. I had it all hung out there and for a second I didn't think I was going to be able to collect it.'

Mario Andretti ran steadily to qualify sixth, 1.2s off his team mate's pace. Mario was a little unhappy with his car's turn-in but demonstrated once again that he still cannot be discounted. Seventh was Scott Goodyear who survived a wing-removing accident on Saturday afternoon. Goodyear wasn't completely happy with the balance of his car and freely admitted trying too hard after his accident.

Eighth fastest was Raul Boesel in one of Dick Simon's Lola-Fords with team mate Scott Brayton two places behind him. Boesel and Brayton were split by the impressive Jimmy Vasser in one of last year's Lola-Chevy/As.

Rookie Mark Smith was also impressive. He qualified Frank Arciero's Penske-Chevy/B PC21 11th fastest, driving very neatly and belying his reputation as something of a wild man.

Those with the latest Lola-Chevy/C combinations found themselves struggling. A problem with poor throttle response was traced over the weekend to the ninth butterfly between turbo and manifold and on Saturday evening Ilmor's staff were hard at work modifying the systems.

Teo Fabi was the fastest Lola-Chevy/C driver, taking 13th spot aboard Hall/VDS's car with Al Unser Jr 14th, Roberto Guerrero 15th and Danny Sullivan down in 21st.

Also struggling somewhat was defending IndyCar champion Bobby Rahal. In his first competitive outing with his own Chevy/C-powered Rahal-Hogan RH01, Bobby tried hard to find the right combination. The car wasn't evil, but neither was it anywhere near as good as the Lolas or Penskes on turn-in or putting the power to the ground.

We've tried a lot of set-ups,' commented Rahal. 'And we're still learning how the car responds. The most important thing is that the team is working really well and our spirits are up. Right now you need to be reliable and be there at the finish.'

Another to have his share of problems was Stefan Johansson. Gear selection problems with his Tony Bettenhausen Penske-Chevy/ C PC22 kept him off the track for most of both days of qualifying so that he started way back on the ninth row.



There was some light rain and lots of clouds early in the day, but these gave way to hot sun so that more than 80,000 people filed into the place. Was it a big enough crowd to keep the race alive?

Mansell was quickest in the morning warm-up although not without some drama. A water system leak spilled some coolant into a spark plug valley and resulted in Mansell's engine lapsing on to seven cylinders. The problem was quickly fixed however so that Mansell was able to get in half a dozen troublefree laps. 'It was a big drama,' grimaced Mansell. 'But the boys got it fixed. I'm just happy we got in 10 minutes of running.'

In more serious trouble was Fittipaldi, who couldn't get more than 32in of boost pressure. Attempts to solve this problem were unsuccessful during the session and the Penske team spent the next hour finding a solution.

Mansell's first attempt at a rolling start was another learning experience as he braked to avoid the pace-car, allowing Fittipaldi to get the drop on him. Fittipaldi edged away as they poured down towards the first chicane while Tracy was able to dive inside Mansell and outbrake him - for second place. The Penskes were one-two through the first chicane therefore, with Mansell third and Robby Gordon right there in fourth. Half-way round the first lap Gordon also outbraked Mansell, pushing the World Champion back to fourth.
'It was a fantastic manoeuvre,' commented Mansell. 'He was totally committed and I knew it and I made room for it.'

Fittipaldi led the first lap from Tracy, Gordon, Mansell, Mario Andretti, Luyendyk, Goodyear and Boesel. A few more laps and Goodyear and Boesel went spinning in company with Jimmy Vasser. They all continued much delayed, although Vasser hit the wall after a couple more laps. Meanwhile Gordon continued to charge, outbraking Tracy for second on lap three. 'I didn't know what pace to run at the beginning,' said Gordon. 'I passed Nigel and then Tracy and got up behind Emerson. Then I decided to lay back and see what happened.'

A little further back Al Jr was making ground, pushing his way up to eighth (from 15th) after just four laps. 'The car was feeling pretty good,' commented Unser. 'It was handling OK and the motor was running a little better but it wasn't any kind of a match for the Fords. They just powered away from me coming out of the corners.'

The first of the front-runners to hit trouble was Tracy who suddenly went skating as a rear suspension pushrod broke. He was able to limp around to the pits and rejoined after repairs only to be stopped for good by an electrical failure. 'It was very disappointing,' said Tracy. 'Everything was looking good. The car felt great and we know we can be very competitive this year.'

With Tracy gone, Mansell was able to pull up on Gordon's tail. It only took a couple of laps before he outbraked Gordon for second, right away setting his sights on leader Fittipaldi. Meanwhile there was excitement a little further back as Unser tried to outbrake Brayton for sixth only for both of them to spin and stall.

'He missed a couple of gears,' explained Unser, 'and I figured I had a run on him. But that Ford was so strong he took off and I was so amazed I drove it in too deep at the next corner. He was on the outside of me and lost it on his own.' Both cars spun to a stop and both stalled, losing three laps before being pull-started by one of IndyCar's tow trucks.

At the front Fittipaldi continued to lead with Mansell and Gordon hard behind him and Andretti hanging on just a second or two adrift. Mansell was clearly anxious to attack Fittipaldi and on lap 16 he went for it, outbraking Emerson in a cloud of tyre smoke. The Brazilian tried to come back around him on the outside at the next corner but Mansell had the line and hung on. 'Emerson drove fantastic and played fair,' said Mansell. 'I think my car was a bit quicker through the fast chicane on the back straight and that helped me get up to him so I was able to outbrake him.'

Mansell's furious, wheel-locking effort flat-spotted his front tyres badly, however. 'It was the biggest flat spot I've ever had on a tyre,' Mansell said. 'Down the straight it was going ca-chunk, ca-chunk. I had quite a bad vibration and Jim McGee was screaming on the radio, "Pit! Pit!"

In fact, Mansell had passed Fittipaldi under a yellow flag and as team manager McGee was beseeching Nigel to pit, the officials were deciding to black-flag him. Said Fittipaldi: 'I got on the radio and said, Come on! He's passed me under the yellow. What's going on? I don't think he saw the flag at the end of Ocean Drive but it was out when he passed me.'

At the end of lap 18 Mansell was given the black flag for a stop-and-go penalty but he was apparently too concerned with his vibrating tyres to see the flag. Instead he responded to McGee's barking over the radio and came in next time round, taking on fuel and tyres and therefore absorbing the stop-and-go penalty without any extra loss of time.

Over the next few laps everyone stopped for fuel and tyres. Once the stops were completed Mansell led by three seconds from Fittipaldi and Gordon with Andretti another handful of seconds behind and then a big gap to Luyendyk in fifth. So it went for another 10 laps with Fittipaldi and Gordon holding their ground. Then Mansell made a mistake, Brushing the wall and apparently puncturing a tyre.

'I must have clipped the wall and got a puncture,' said Mansell. 'I lost my concentration a little and it woke me up when I did that. But at the next couple of corners it felt bad and I knew I had a puncture so I came in.' The seemingly damaged left rear tyre was changed, fuel was added and Mansell stormed back into the race, now back in fourth place behind team mate Andretti. It took Mansell 10 laps to reel-in Andretti and pass him, the situation helped by Mario losing his right front wing. 'I don't know exactly when I lost it,' said Mario later. It was probably a result of the vibration from jumping the kerbs. Once it was gone I couldn't brake very well and the back chicane was scary because the car just wouldn't turn. Until then I was just tryin' to stay with them and catch a break but after I lost the wing I couldn't defend myself.'

By this stage Mansell was some 15 seconds behind Gordon, who still trailed leader Fittipaldi by only three to four seconds. Mansell slowly chiselled away at the margin, however, and after 43 laps the gap was down to 10 seconds. Next time around Fittipaldi and Gordon came in together for their second and last stops. Fittipaldi got in and out without problems but Gordon had lost his clutch so that he was slow both entering and exiting the pits, falling almost 10 seconds behind Fittipaldi.

Andretti stopped two laps later leaving Mansell with a 15-second lead over Fittipaldi who was now in trouble with fuel mileage and having to cut his revs and short-shift. 'After the last pitstop they called me over the radio and said I must save fuel,' reported Emerson. 'They said we were one gallon short of making the finish so I had to start to short-shift and try to save much fuel as possible.' Before the race there had been considerable speculation that the new Chevy/C was no match for the Ford/Cosworth XBs on fuel mileage and this proved to be true. Mansell said: 'Half-way through the race I was driving as hard as I knew. I wasn't interested in fuel. I just wanted to catch up.'

That done, Nigel was now able to start conserving fuel. With his second stop taking place out of sequence with the rest of the field he had to make a final fuel stop with a dozen laps to go. It was a quick stop, maybe a little too quick in fact. As Mansell smoked his way back into the race there was concern in the Newman/Haas pit at he might not have enough fuel on board to finish the race.

At the end of the next lap he had a 15-second cushion to Fittipaldi, enough of a margin to focus now on saving fuel. 'I was very, very concerned,' said Mansell. 'They told me in the last few laps that I was getting 1.9mpg (fuel allotments are based on a 1.8mpg formula) and we just made it. Through all the second gear corners I kept it in fourth gear and when you do that the car slides more so it makes for a lot of work.'

In the final laps Fittipaldi and a charging Gordon started catching Mansell at a rapid rate although clearly not fast enough to come to grips with him. 'The last 25 laps were very tough,' said Mansell. 'My right foot was going to sleep. I was getting a cramp and my Achilles tendon was hurting badly because of the way I have to rest my foot on the pedals.'

At the flag Mansell was five seconds clear of Fittipaldi with Gordon closing hard on to Emerson's tail. Andretti was another nine seconds back in fourth place followed at a distance by Luyendyk, the last unlapped finisher. Rahal was a lap down in sixth, ahead of Cheever, Raul Boesel and Teo Fabi.

'We winged it (on set-up) before the start,' reported defending champion Rahal. 'And the car was good, right in the ballpark. I lost about 10 seconds on the first lap when I had to come to a stop to avoid an incident between Cheever and Mark Smith but at the end the car was pretty good. I think we've found a direction. We'll get better.'

Meanwhile, back in the pressroom, Mansell was soaking in his debut victory in Indycars, some-thing not done since Graham Hill achieved the feat at Indianapolis back in 1966. 'What surprises me is how physically demanding it is driving an Indycar. If you overdrive these cars you can just go slower so I still have a lot to learn.'

The post-race press conference was full of jocularity and chatty banter between Mansell, Fittipaldi and the mightily impressive Gordon. 'What I do want to say,' noted Mansell, 'is that it's been a total breath of fresh air, coming in from the world I've come from. I'm really enjoying this. These fellows race hard but they race fair. This is great racing.'