Grand Prix of USA -
Free Practice Round-Up
Friday 18 June 2004
 Cristiano
da Matta (Car 16, Chassis TF104/04)
First Session Classification: 16th, 18 laps completed Lap Time: 1m13.555s
(+2.201s)
Second Session Classification: 7th, 35 laps completed Lap Time: 1m11.893s
(+1.528s)
"I think we have had quite a good couple of sessions this morning. We
have worked mainly on tuning the settings on the chassis and we also did the
tyre comparison, which is the priority on Fridays. It seems quite clear to
me what compound of tyre we need to use, but we will only really know where
we stand tomorrow because every team does different things on the opening
day. For us, I think the biggest thing we need to look at is the traction,
but overall it's not been a bad start to our US Grand Prix weekend."
 Olivier
Panis (Car 17, Chassis TF104/03)
First Session Classification: 9th, 16 laps completed Lap Time: 1m12.631s
(+1.277s)
Second Session Classification: 8th, 30 laps completed Lap Time: 1m11.994s
(+1.629s)
"We have had two productive free practice sessions which we also used
for long runs in order to get as much data about the two tyre compounds as
possible. I am quite happy that all three of us drivers were able to get
into the top ten. This is particularly encouraging as I know that I still
have some margin for improvement because I was held up by traffic on my
quick lap. The team did a very good job and I am looking forward to
tomorrow."
 Ricardo
Zonta (Car 38, Chassis TF104/07)
First Session Classification: 5th, 25 laps completed Lap Time: 1m12.366s
(+1.012s)
Second Session Classification: 9th, 42 laps completed Lap Time: 1m12.019s
(+1.654s)
"Although I raced here back in 2000, the Speedway felt like a new track
to me first thing this morning, so I spent the initial runs simply
relearning the circuit. We made some good progress to improve the balance of
the car for the second session when we completed our tyre programme and long
runs. I had quite a bit of traffic on my final set of new tyres, so I backed
off during the out lap to create enough distance. By doing this, the brakes
were not at their optimum temperature, which resulted in me locking the
wheels and losing a couple of tenths. Nevertheless, I am happy and I think
we have done a good job."
Mike Gascoyne - Technical Director Chassis
"We enjoyed a
trouble-free and solid opening day, although the track was quite green to
begin with. As usual, we spent the sessions evaluating the tyre compounds
that Michelin has brought to Indy. All three drivers complained about rear
drop off in the opening practice hour, but we had no real problems. We were
able to gather some interesting information concerning the tyre choice,
which we will have to analyse tonight. Overall the cars look quite
competitive and it is a great start of the weekend to have three cars in the
top ten today." |
