Backups Rule the Day at the Beach

By SHAV GLICK

April 18, 1999 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

So much for primary cars.

Tony Kanaan, Dario Franchitti and their crews made the decision Saturday to switch to their backup cars for the final qualifying session for today’s 25th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Kanaan, one of nine Brazilians in the 27-car starting lineup, posted a lap of 107.454 mph in his Honda-Reynard over the narrow, demanding, 1.824-mile street circuit with its 11 turns. Running right behind Kanaan, Franchitti ran second-fastest, 107.412 mph, in another Honda-Reynard.

The decision to change cars was made by Kanaan after morning practice when the McDonald’s primary car developed gearbox problems.

“We talked about it at length and about 10 minutes before qualifying decided to take the risk and switch to the backup,” said the 24-year-old former karting champion from Sao Paulo. It was a nerve-racking move, because it meant that his Friday speed of 105.348, which was fourth-fastest, was wiped from the books.

“Sometimes things happen for the better. We were lucky when my ‘T’ [backup] car turned out to be a lot better than my primary.”

Franchitti’s switch was quite different. It became a necessity when the Scotsman wrecked his primary car on his second lap during morning practice. The accident occurred in the second turn, where the track narrows to alley-width in circling the Dolphin Fountain across from the entrance to the Aquarium of the Pacific.

“I brushed the wall with the left side of the car and that must have damaged the steering, because the car wouldn’t turn for the next corner and I went into the barriers,” said Franchitti, who was the provisional pole sitter after Friday’s qualifying session. “The crash damaged the car pretty badly and we had to switch to the backup for qualifying.

“I’m frustrated not to be on the pole because the Team Kool Green crew did an amazing job getting my spare ready so fast. Second is great, but it’s not the pole.”

Bobby Rahal’s two drivers, Bryan Herta and Max Papis, will share the second row in matching Ford Cosworth-powered Reynards. Herta, who finished third last year behind Alex Zanardi and Franchitti, qualified at 107.154 just a blink quicker than Papis’ 107.044.

Papis, a gregarious Italian who moved from Arciero-Wells to replace the retired Rahal this year, had the fastest trap speed of 188.097 mph, but Rahal said that team radar guns had him as high as 192 toward the end of sweeping Shoreline Drive before braking for the left-hand first turn.

With a number of accidents occurring the past two days in the four new turns at the west end of the circuit, where the Aquarium parking structure was built over portions of last year’s course, nearly everyone involved appears concerned about the first lap when the entire field comes charging toward a point barely wide enough for a single car to get through.

“Tony [Kanaan] has the decision on where to start for the new first turn,” said Herta, who started on the pole last year. “Either set up on the outside, where you get more room going to the second turn, or on the inside, where you have the shortest line.

“Being right behind Tony for the start, I have a vested interest in his decision. It is difficult to pass and you have to give and take a little. You have to hope a guy makes a mistake to get by. It gets down to deciding if it’s the right thing to go for the pass, or do you want to finish.”

Franchitti said he foresaw no problems as he and his close friend Kanaan race toward the first turn.

The race, originally scheduled for 80 laps, has been stretched to 85, or 155.04 miles, after fuel calculations by CART Vice President J. Kirk Russell.

Kanaan, whose hobby is collecting watches, landed a unexpected bonanza with his pole lap. “I made a bet with my guys before the practice session this morning,” he said with a broad grin. “I told my guys that they would have to give me their watches if I got the pole position. If I didn’t, I would buy them dinner. . . . Anybody want to buy a Rolex ‘95?

Kanaan also said that a vigorous testing problem by the Forsythe team contributed to his first CART pole. “Getting McDonald’s [as a sponsor] has given us the opportunity to do more testing--more than twice the amount we did all last year--and that has made a big difference. As [team president] Steve Horne says, we have no excuses this year.”

For the second consecutive day, record crowds jammed the Grand Prix compound. Although the new Grand Prix owner, Dover Downs of Delaware, does not reveal attendance, longtime Long Beach followers estimated about 50,000 were on hand Friday and 70,000 Saturday, with 90,000 expected today.

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Schedule

* Today: PPG-Dayton Indy Lights race, 10:20 a.m.; Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, 1 p.m.; Johnson Controls Trans Am race, 3:45 p.m.

* Tickets: Grand Prix ticket office at 430 E. First St., Long Beach; all Ticketmaster locations.

TODAY’S LINEUP

The lineup for today’s Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, with car number in parentheses, driver, type of car and speed in mph:

1. (44) Tony Kanaan

Honda-Reynard, 107.454.

2. (27) Dario Franchitti

Honda-Reynard, 107.412.

3. (8) Bryan Herta

Ford-Reynard, 107.154.