IRL/Miami GP

[RainMeister]

Red Bull Cheever Racing Claims Second Row in Qualifying at Miami (press release)

Teammates Tomas Scheckter and Eddie Cheever Jr. qualified side-by-side on the second row of the starting grid for the Grand Prix of Miami at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Rookie Scheckter came back from a crash in practice to qualify third in the backup No. 52 Red Bull Cheever Racing Infiniti with a 201.868 mph lap. Cheever was fourth fastest in qualifying with a 201.432 mph lap in the No. 51 Red Bull Cheever Racing Infiniti.

General Manager **** Caron said: "It's a big change for Red Bull Cheever Racing when all the guys on the team are disappointed with getting both cars on the second row in qualifying. That's a sign of how much progress we have made. Eddie went out and ran a quick lap, and was able to give us some changes to put on Tomas' car for his run in the backup car. Tomas jumped into a brand new car that had never been run before. The mechanics set it up so well that it handled just like the primary car. We are very pleased. The cars were prepped well, and we didn't miss a beat all day."

Tomas Scheckter on Qualifying Third (201.828 mph, 26.75 seconds):
"Well you know the last time I was out there I was in the wall at turn four, so I just have to say thank you to the Red Bull Cheever crew for getting the backup car out there for qualifying. The car felt pretty good. Our setup was a little conservative. We could have gone a little quicker, but we will save that for tomorrow. This morning I had a fright with the wind, but I learned my lesson. It shocked me a little bit, hitting the wall, but I am a professional. I had to get it together and do what I have to do. I am happy to be starting in third place. Hopefully we will have a good race tomorrow."

Eddie Cheever Jr. on Qualifying Fourth (201.432 mph, 26.81 seconds):
"That was the worst balance we've had on this track. The conditions are very windy and the weather is just funky this weekend. The car was loose coming off turn three. This track can be very difficult. You've got days like this where the tropical wind blows through and plays havoc with the car. This is like landing an airplane with a cross wind. You've got to get it just right. My biggest problem is turning into turn three at 207 miles per hour and trying to convince my foot to stay down. My foot says I'm the first one to hit, I'm coming up. It's not easy."

Scheckter Quickest of the Weekend-and Youngest:

Tomas Scheckter turned the quickest lap of the weekend, at 204.487 mph, in the first practice session on Thursday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. At 21 years old he is the youngest driver in the 26-car field.

"He is very talented, very determined, and young," said Eddie Cheever Jr. "Apart from this morning when he hit the wall, he doesn't have any negative thoughts when it comes to racing on ovals. If he continues to progress, he will become one of the better drivers."

Starting Lineup: Top Ten

1) Sam Hornish Jr., Dallara/Chevy, 26.62 seconds, 202.884 mph average speed
2) Helio Castroneves, Dallara/Chevy, 26.68, 202.414
3) Tomas Scheckter, Dallara/Infiniti, 26.75, 201.868
4) Eddie Cheever Jr., Dallara/Infiniti, 26.81, 201.432
5) Jaques Lazier, Dallara/Chevy, 26.81, 201.391
6) Gil de Ferran, Dallara/Chevy, 26.82, 201.373
7) Robbie Buhl, G Force/Infiniti, 26.87, 200.989
8) Billy Boat, Dallara/Chevy, 27.08, 199.436
9) Laurent Redon, Dallara/Infiniti, 27.08, 199.404
10) Jeff Ward, G Force/Chevy, 27.08, 199.393

Race Information
The 20th Anniversary of the Grand Prix of Miami starts at 1 p.m. (EST) March 2. The race will be broadcast live on ABC and by the Indy Racing Radio Network. Live timing and scoring of all on-track activity can be found on www.indyracing.com. (http://www.indyracing.com.)

Red Bull Cheever Racing, based in Indianapolis, is the brainchild of 1998 Indy 500 champion Eddie Cheever Jr. A leader in American motorsports, the Indy Racing League team is built on Cheever's experience in Formula One, sports cars and open-wheel oval racing. Corporate and technical partnerships with the world's leading energy drink Red Bull, Nissan North America's Infiniti Division, TWR Group, and Lincoln Financial Group greatly enhance the team's resources and technology.

[ 03-02-2002, 11:39 AM: Message edited by: RainMeister ]

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Scheckter just wrecked cheever, how long to u think it will be before we see greg ray in that ride images/icons/tongue.gif

[RainMeister]

Originally posted by Nismo182:
Scheckter just wrecked cheever, how long to u think it will be before we see greg ray in that ride images/icons/tongue.gif <font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial[/img]Autosport reports Eddie as being understandably irate:

"Red Bull team-mates Scheckter and Cheever started from the second row of the grid, but rookie Scheckter lost ground on the opening lap. On lap four, reigning CART champion Gil de Ferran passed Cheever on the inside and Scheckter attempted to follow him through, but he got sideways and clipped the former grand prix ace, sending his team-mate - and team boss - heavily into the wall.

Eddie Cheever: 'It was uncalled for, it was stupid and I'm beside myself," said an irate Cheever. "De Ferran came past me and then Tomas tried too, but he just came in too deep. We've been speaking about it all week, you don't try to pass unless you've got the room. I would have been just as angry if he'd done this to someone else.'

Scheckter had already blotted his copybook when he shunted his race car before qualifying on Friday."

RM

[RainMeister]

Rookie Scheckter Takes Infiniti to Sixth at Miami (press release)

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (March 2, 2002) - In his open-wheel racing debut, Tomas Scheckter charged from the back of the field to claim sixth place in his Infiniti-powered Red Bull Cheever Racing car at the Indy Racing League season opener in Miami.

Scheckter, who started third, dropped to the back of the field after taking several unscheduled pit stops early in the race to repair damage caused by an altercation with teammate Eddie Cheever Jr. The accident put Cheever out of the race on lap three, while Scheckter continued to finish sixth.

Robbie Buhl was strong all day in the Team Purex/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Infiniti. He was on his way to a fourth-place finish, but then retired with six laps remaining due to an engine failure. He finished 12th in the final race standings.

Laurent Redon was in the top-ten early in the race, but struggled with poor handling which dropped him back to a 15th-place finish in his debut with Infiniti.

The Bombardier ATV Copper World Indy 200 at Phoenix International Raceway is next on the 15-race Indy Racing League schedule. The March 17 race will be televised live on ABC at 4 p.m. (Eastern).

QUOTES

TOMAS SCHECKTER, NO. 52 RED BULL CHEEVER RACING DALLARA/INFINITI/FIRESTONE:
"First of all I need to apologize to Eddie about our coming together at the beginning of the race. At the start of the race there were cars everywhere around me on the straights. I was behind Eddie, and one of the Penske cars made a move on him. It created a gap for me. I tried to follow the Penske car. I went over the white line, to try to avoid Eddie. We made slight contact, and I got a bit sideways. Unfortunately he went into the wall and I carried on. We had some damage to the car and went to the back when we made the repairs. From there on I just pushed as hard as I could. The Red Bull Cheever Racing crew gave me a good car. They worked very hard this weekend. I was glad we were able to finish sixth in my first race. Everything worked well with the Infiniti engine. It lasted and that's what we want. (ABOUT IRL RACING) It was crazy. Especially with the restarts when so many cars are packed together. You're breaking sideways into the first corner and you have cars left and right of you. It was so exciting. It was really good racing."

ROBBIE BUHL, NO. 24 TEAM PUREX DREYER & REINBOLD RACING GFORCE/INFINITI/FIRESTONE:
"We definitely had what we wanted. We were looking at a top-five finish today. Obviously we came up short of that. Everything was good with the car. We didn't have what Hornish had with his car. We just wanted to be running at the end of this thing and we didn't quite do that. We'll stick with our plan for Phoenix. We tested well there. The goal is obviously to win, but first we need to be running at the end."

LAURENT REDON, NO. 34 MI-JACK/CONQUEST RACING DALLARA/INFINITI/FIRESTONE:
"The beginning was pretty good. The car felt okay. Then for some reason we got a big push, a very big push. So we lost our advantage from the beginning of the race when we were in the top seven. The car was better for the last part of the race. We need to understand the car better for the race. The plan for Phoenix will be to look more at the race setup than the qualifying. That's for sure."

EDDIE CHEEVER JR., NO. 51 RED BULL CHEEVER RACING DALLARA/INFINITI/FIRESTONE:
"I was going down the back straight and de Ferran got a run on me and passed me going into the turn. As I was going around close to de Ferran, Scheckter came in too deep and his right front wing hit my left tire and he knocked me off into the wall. We talked about this until I was blue in the face. Take your time, we said to him. I would be just as angry right now if he had done that to somebody else, but to do it to your teammate, that's just asinine."

RESULTS
1) Sam Hornish Jr., Dallara/Chevy
2) Gil de Ferran, Dallara/Chevy
3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara/Chevy
4) Jeff Ward, G Force/Chevy
5) Eliseo Salazar, Dallara/Chevy
6) Tomas Scheckter, Dallara/Infiniti
7) Felipe Giaffone, G Force/Chevy
8) Alex Barron, Dallara/Chevy
9) Anthony Lazzaro, Dallara/Chevy
10) Airton Dare, Dallara/Chevy
12) Robbie Buhl, G Force/Infiniti
15) Laurent Redon, Dallara/Infiniti
25) Eddie Cheever Jr., Dallara/Infiniti