Team Rahal sets Phoenix oval testing pace

Despite the change, and the loss of team chief Bobby Rahal to the Jaguar F1 squad, the Ohio-based outfit seems not to have lost its impetus after an impressive 2000 season. It put in a single day on the Firebird road course before moving across town to Phoenix International Raceway, where Max Papis emerged fastest among ten drivers testing at the one-mile oval, logging a lap timed at 20.6 seconds.

"The results of the test at Phoenix were extraordinary considering this was our first test with the Lola chassis on an oval," said Team Rahal Director of Operations Mark Johnson. "We made the switch to Lola because we felt over the course of last season the Lola had an advantage on the ovals over the competition. Our belief in the Lola was reconfirmed at the Phoenix test."

Kenny Brack was also quick on the PIR oval, managing a lap of 20.8 seconds to
unofficially place third.

"Every time we test we learn quite a bit more about the Lola cars," said Larry Ellert, Team Rahal's Race Team Manager. "The biggest challenge for our team is getting to a comfort level with the Lola chassis after having run with Reynard the last five years."

Sandwiching Papis and Brack in at Phoenix International Raceway was Newman-Haas Racing newcomer Cristiano da Matta in his Toyota-powered Newman/Haas Lola. Bryan Herta also cracked the 21-second barrier in his Zakspeed-Forsythe Reynard-Ford.

"We were fortunate, because we had ideal weather for testing," said Herta, who set the outright track record at Phoenix of 19.785 seconds in 1995. "We accomplished everything on our list, and finished the test with a new list of tasks for our next test. We definitely learned a lot, and made developments throughout the day. We were right in there in terms of speed, and we made several changes yet remained quick."

Team Green's Paul Tracy managed to run 21-flat after two days: "I'm really excited about the new Honda/Reynard we have. One of our goals this year is to improve our consistency, and with the way the car has been running we are well on our way to meeting that goal. The engineers and the guys back at the shop are really working hard and it is showing in these tests."

Gil de Ferran was timed at 21.1 seconds in his Team Marlboro Penske Reynard-Honda before crashing heavily in Turn 2. He was unhurt.