From a period of mainly ovals, the 1999 CART Championship Series moved to a gaggle of road and street course events for the summer months - the first of this being the eight round of the season at the Portland International Raceway. The 1.9-mile circuit has held some stunning races throughout the years - often punctuated by changeable weather conditions; however it is also known for a very tight opening chicane called the Festival Curves, which has led to numerous accidents throughout the years.Once again Juan-Pablo Montoya claims the pole position spot and again he is only just ahead of Helio Castroneves - 3rd and 4th places were claimed by Gil De Ferran and Bryan Herta respectively. Further down the field, Championship hopefuls Dario Franchitti, Greg Moore and Michael Andretti register times that are only good enough for 12th, 13th and 14th places. This race also marked the début for Memo Gidley at Peyton-Coyne Racing and the return of Tarso Marques in the Penske.
The green flag drops and the start is fairly clean with the only incident being Marques getting tapped by Tony Kanaan's Forsythe car - Marques sideways over the kerb as wheelmarks are made on the grass verge, but he straightens up and carries on. At the front, Castroneves gets alongside Montoya and takes the lead away from the Colombian early with a clean move and at that, the leading pair begin to pull away from 3rd place De Ferran.
Castroneves is not the only driver making positions though, as Franchitti jumps from 12th to 8th place after nabbing a spot off of the Newman-Haas entry of Christian Fittipaldi - 4 spots in the first three laps is a good run for the Scotsman. He closes in on Jimmy Vasser in 7th place, but this is one spot Franchitti struggles with as he simply cannot get close enough in turn 1 to make a move. Portland International Raceway makes for a very interesting and technical circuit, but that it only has one potential passing place reduces the love somewhat. Before long, the drizzle of rain begins to build, but luckily for the drivers, it doesn't become a big issue; however the drivers become more cautious as even Montoya nearly loses his Ganassi car on the greasy track surface.
A poor race turns for the worse for Gualter Salles though as he receives a black flag - it appears that something is broken on his machine with flames pouring from the rear. The Brazilian pits in, but jumps out shortly afterwards as it becomes apparent that his day is done. Salles isn't the only driver having a difficult day as back on track Greg Moore chases Max Papis for 12th place with Patrick Carpentier is just ahead - meanwhile Roberto Moreno and Andretti bring up the tail of the group.
At the front of the field, the gap between Castroneves and Montoya is now only 1 second, but the Colombian rookie has it pegged at that as the leaders begin to catch some backmarkers. First up is Michel Jourdain Jr and while Castroneves squeezes passed, the Mexican driver baulks Montoya badly, giving the the race leader an extra advantage of a couple of seconds. It happens again a only few short laps later when the leaders catch Robby Gordon's Toyota powered machine - Castroneves is through, but Montoya only gets a good luck of Gordon's gearbox. Eventually the Ganassi driver gets by and begins to catch back up to Castroneves once again.
After dropping back for a few laps, Dario Franchitti catches back up to the tail of Jimmy Vasser after his surge through the field was brought to a halt; with fuel stops rapidly approaching, Franchitti may be able to get by the 1996 CART Champion in the pits. Just ahead of the squabble for 7th place is Adrian Fernandez, who for the first time in the 1999 season is driving a complete 1999 Swift chassis - it appears to be working well for the Mexican who holds 6th position without much pressure from the rear. Up until this race, the Patrick Racing driver had using a car made up of parts from 1997, 1998 and 1999 cars.
Earlier than expected, Gil De Ferran is the first in to the pits for fuel on lap 29 and despite it being a quick stop, De Ferran drops all the way down to 13th place; however the Walker Racing driver doesn't suffer quite as much as Richie Hearn, who just goes over the pit lane speed rap and incurs a drive through penalty - Hearn's awful 1999 season continues to go from bad to worse. His highest finishing position to date was 10th place at Motegi and his year would continue to bumble along as it went on.
A lap later, Castroneves dives in and Montoya at the end of the 31st lap. The Columbian leaves the pits ahead of the Hogan Racing man, but tries to negotiate the Festival Curves far too fast and has to cut through the escape road to avoid the gravel trap; Montoya slows right down before rejoining the circuit and is still able to keep the lead ahead of second place Castroneves. At first it appears Montoya held the lead in a situation where Helio should have got by, but it is quickly apparent that the young Brazilian is having problems of his own as electrical gremlins cause his number 9 machine to slow rapidly. Having lost a number of positions, he pits on lap 40 and gets out of the car - De Ferran is now in second place.
Meanwhile, both Newman-Haas cars get their cars to stops last, proving that they are getting wonderful mileage; however it's not helping their races too much as both Andretti and Christian Fittipaldi remain in the bottom half of the order - Andretti's cause is not helped by stalling his car when exiting his slot. It's not the only pit action though as Franchitti is able to get by the second Ganassi car and demotes Jimmy Vasser down to 8th place - as he gets back on the pace, the Scotsman begin to reign in Adrian Fernandez.
To compound a poor afternoon, Richie Hearn loses the back end and spins around at turn 1 at the beginning of the 46th lap and gets beached in the corner - out comes the safety car for the first time in the race. Possibly one of the most unusual incidents occurs shortly afterwards as Al Unser Jr. enters the corner far too fast and comes close to hitting both the recovery truck and Hearn's machine, but whereas Unser Jr and Hearn can continue racing, the days comes to an early finish for Mauricio Gugelmin and Scott Pruett - both races finish due to engine problems.
Eventually Hearn's car gets clear and the field line-up, ready for the restart. Just as the green flag is about to come out, Montoya lights up his rear tyres and spins 360 degrees at the exit of the final corner. Montoya regains the car and gets straight on the throttle - a silly mistake, but a wonderful save. The yellow flag stays out for an extra lap, but De Ferran has now been gifted the race lead. It doesn't last long though as Montoya gets a draft on De Ferran at the next restart and takes the lead once again with an excellent move into turn 1.
However, the action isn't all at the front as both Fernandez and Franchitti get by sleepwalking Bryan Herta - the Rahal driver drops from 4th to 6th in one move.
Unfortunately, the period of green flag racing does not last for long as PJ Jones throws his car around in turn 1 - a spin almost identical to that of Hearn a number of laps previously. In a fairly short yellow period, the field fall into the pits and with more than 30 laps to the end of the race, it could prove very hard for the field to run fast without necessitating another fuel stop. Montoya gets to his stall in first place, but leaves in third position as a botched tyre change drops his down the order - De Ferran leads Tracy, Montoya, Franchitti and Fernandez.
It is the 61st lap when the race gets going again and Montoya gets back passed Tracy before he has reached turn 1 with another excellent move and chases after the race leader, De Ferran - Tracy simply had no answer for the Ganassi driver. The race begins to turn for Tracy though as a few laps later Franchitti gets through with a move that seemed nearly too easy.
Behind them in the midst of the pack, Andretti bumps into the Penske of Tarso Marques and half-spins him around onto the grass, but a wiley Marques saves it only only loses two places in the process. Andretti gets away with no damage, but really should know better than silly moves like that. The race collapses too for Jimmy Vasser, who while running in 7th begins to slow and is passed by Fittipaldi, Moore, Carpentier and Moreno. Eventually, even Papis and Andretti sail passed the number 12 Target car on the start/finish stretch.
At the front of the field, De Ferran begins to pull away from Montoya at around 1-1.5 seconds per lap - this could be a strategy to make time for an extra stop as there will be little chance of the leader making the end of the race at his pace. By the start of the 76th lap, the gap is up to 10.5 seconds; then 21 seconds on lap 83 and even further still by lap 90 as the Walker Racing driver has a 29 second lead. A full-course yellow now could ruin everything, but luck appears to be on De Ferran's side as he tries to end his run of 50 races without a victory. The Brazilian enters the pits the following lap for fuel only - it takes five seconds to take enough for the final seven laps an De Ferran emerges from the pit lane still ahead of Juan-Pablo Montoya - a wonderful job by the Walker Racing crew to turn a risky strategy around.
With De Ferran comfortably ahead, Montoya, Franchitti and Fernandez battle it out for second place, but heavy traffic dampens any chance for Franchitti to make a move, while Fernandez struggles to get close enough to even think about a lunge. More bad news for Greg Moore and Christian Fittipaldi though as both have to pit at the end of the 96th lap and with only two tours of Portland International Raceway left, both cars drop out of the points.
The news is very different up front as Gil De Ferran captures his first CART victory since Cleveland 1996. The clearly overjoyed Brazilian managing to maintain a five second gap over Montoya in the final laps. Admittedly, this had been a pretty dull event up until the last third when a charging De Ferran really brought the race alive - a thoroughly deserved victory for one of the most well like drivers in the CART paddock.
Race Quality: 2 out of 5
Source Quality: B+ (Very good clear video. as good as a VHS can get) (February 2010)
The 1999 CART Grand Prix of Milwaukee (Part 1, average quality)
The 1999 CART Grand Prix of Milwaukee (Part 2, average quality)
The 1999 CART Grand Prix of Milwaukee (Part 3, average quality)
The 1999 CART Grand Prix of Milwaukee (Part 4, average quality)
The 1999 CART Grand Prix of Milwaukee (Part 5, average quality)
The 1999 CART Grand Prix of Milwaukee (Part 6, average quality)
The 1999 CART Grand Prix of Milwaukee (Part 7, average quality)
The 1999 CART Grand Prix of Milwaukee (Part 8, average quality)
The 1999 CART Grand Prix of Milwaukee (Part 9, average quality)
The green flag drops and the start is fairly clean with the only incident being Marques getting tapped by Tony Kanaan's Forsythe car - Marques sideways over the kerb as wheelmarks are made on the grass verge, but he straightens up and carries on. At the front, Castroneves gets alongside Montoya and takes the lead away from the Colombian early with a clean move and at that, the leading pair begin to pull away from 3rd place De Ferran.Castroneves is not the only driver making positions though, as Franchitti jumps from 12th to 8th place after nabbing a spot off of the Newman-Haas entry of Christian Fittipaldi - 4 spots in the first three laps is a good run for the Scotsman. He closes in on Jimmy Vasser in 7th place, but this is one spot Franchitti struggles with as he simply cannot get close enough in turn 1 to make a move. Portland International Raceway makes for a very interesting and technical circuit, but that it only has one potential passing place reduces the love somewhat. Before long, the drizzle of rain begins to build, but luckily for the drivers, it doesn't become a big issue; however the drivers become more cautious as even Montoya nearly loses his Ganassi car on the greasy track surface.
A poor race turns for the worse for Gualter Salles though as he receives a black flag - it appears that something is broken on his machine with flames pouring from the rear. The Brazilian pits in, but jumps out shortly afterwards as it becomes apparent that his day is done. Salles isn't the only driver having a difficult day as back on track Greg Moore chases Max Papis for 12th place with Patrick Carpentier is just ahead - meanwhile Roberto Moreno and Andretti bring up the tail of the group.
At the front of the field, the gap between Castroneves and Montoya is now only 1 second, but the Colombian rookie has it pegged at that as the leaders begin to catch some backmarkers. First up is Michel Jourdain Jr and while Castroneves squeezes passed, the Mexican driver baulks Montoya badly, giving the the race leader an extra advantage of a couple of seconds. It happens again a only few short laps later when the leaders catch Robby Gordon's Toyota powered machine - Castroneves is through, but Montoya only gets a good luck of Gordon's gearbox. Eventually the Ganassi driver gets by and begins to catch back up to Castroneves once again.After dropping back for a few laps, Dario Franchitti catches back up to the tail of Jimmy Vasser after his surge through the field was brought to a halt; with fuel stops rapidly approaching, Franchitti may be able to get by the 1996 CART Champion in the pits. Just ahead of the squabble for 7th place is Adrian Fernandez, who for the first time in the 1999 season is driving a complete 1999 Swift chassis - it appears to be working well for the Mexican who holds 6th position without much pressure from the rear. Up until this race, the Patrick Racing driver had using a car made up of parts from 1997, 1998 and 1999 cars.
Earlier than expected, Gil De Ferran is the first in to the pits for fuel on lap 29 and despite it being a quick stop, De Ferran drops all the way down to 13th place; however the Walker Racing driver doesn't suffer quite as much as Richie Hearn, who just goes over the pit lane speed rap and incurs a drive through penalty - Hearn's awful 1999 season continues to go from bad to worse. His highest finishing position to date was 10th place at Motegi and his year would continue to bumble along as it went on.
A lap later, Castroneves dives in and Montoya at the end of the 31st lap. The Columbian leaves the pits ahead of the Hogan Racing man, but tries to negotiate the Festival Curves far too fast and has to cut through the escape road to avoid the gravel trap; Montoya slows right down before rejoining the circuit and is still able to keep the lead ahead of second place Castroneves. At first it appears Montoya held the lead in a situation where Helio should have got by, but it is quickly apparent that the young Brazilian is having problems of his own as electrical gremlins cause his number 9 machine to slow rapidly. Having lost a number of positions, he pits on lap 40 and gets out of the car - De Ferran is now in second place.
Meanwhile, both Newman-Haas cars get their cars to stops last, proving that they are getting wonderful mileage; however it's not helping their races too much as both Andretti and Christian Fittipaldi remain in the bottom half of the order - Andretti's cause is not helped by stalling his car when exiting his slot. It's not the only pit action though as Franchitti is able to get by the second Ganassi car and demotes Jimmy Vasser down to 8th place - as he gets back on the pace, the Scotsman begin to reign in Adrian Fernandez.
To compound a poor afternoon, Richie Hearn loses the back end and spins around at turn 1 at the beginning of the 46th lap and gets beached in the corner - out comes the safety car for the first time in the race. Possibly one of the most unusual incidents occurs shortly afterwards as Al Unser Jr. enters the corner far too fast and comes close to hitting both the recovery truck and Hearn's machine, but whereas Unser Jr and Hearn can continue racing, the days comes to an early finish for Mauricio Gugelmin and Scott Pruett - both races finish due to engine problems.
Eventually Hearn's car gets clear and the field line-up, ready for the restart. Just as the green flag is about to come out, Montoya lights up his rear tyres and spins 360 degrees at the exit of the final corner. Montoya regains the car and gets straight on the throttle - a silly mistake, but a wonderful save. The yellow flag stays out for an extra lap, but De Ferran has now been gifted the race lead. It doesn't last long though as Montoya gets a draft on De Ferran at the next restart and takes the lead once again with an excellent move into turn 1.However, the action isn't all at the front as both Fernandez and Franchitti get by sleepwalking Bryan Herta - the Rahal driver drops from 4th to 6th in one move.
Unfortunately, the period of green flag racing does not last for long as PJ Jones throws his car around in turn 1 - a spin almost identical to that of Hearn a number of laps previously. In a fairly short yellow period, the field fall into the pits and with more than 30 laps to the end of the race, it could prove very hard for the field to run fast without necessitating another fuel stop. Montoya gets to his stall in first place, but leaves in third position as a botched tyre change drops his down the order - De Ferran leads Tracy, Montoya, Franchitti and Fernandez.
It is the 61st lap when the race gets going again and Montoya gets back passed Tracy before he has reached turn 1 with another excellent move and chases after the race leader, De Ferran - Tracy simply had no answer for the Ganassi driver. The race begins to turn for Tracy though as a few laps later Franchitti gets through with a move that seemed nearly too easy.
Behind them in the midst of the pack, Andretti bumps into the Penske of Tarso Marques and half-spins him around onto the grass, but a wiley Marques saves it only only loses two places in the process. Andretti gets away with no damage, but really should know better than silly moves like that. The race collapses too for Jimmy Vasser, who while running in 7th begins to slow and is passed by Fittipaldi, Moore, Carpentier and Moreno. Eventually, even Papis and Andretti sail passed the number 12 Target car on the start/finish stretch.
At the front of the field, De Ferran begins to pull away from Montoya at around 1-1.5 seconds per lap - this could be a strategy to make time for an extra stop as there will be little chance of the leader making the end of the race at his pace. By the start of the 76th lap, the gap is up to 10.5 seconds; then 21 seconds on lap 83 and even further still by lap 90 as the Walker Racing driver has a 29 second lead. A full-course yellow now could ruin everything, but luck appears to be on De Ferran's side as he tries to end his run of 50 races without a victory. The Brazilian enters the pits the following lap for fuel only - it takes five seconds to take enough for the final seven laps an De Ferran emerges from the pit lane still ahead of Juan-Pablo Montoya - a wonderful job by the Walker Racing crew to turn a risky strategy around.With De Ferran comfortably ahead, Montoya, Franchitti and Fernandez battle it out for second place, but heavy traffic dampens any chance for Franchitti to make a move, while Fernandez struggles to get close enough to even think about a lunge. More bad news for Greg Moore and Christian Fittipaldi though as both have to pit at the end of the 96th lap and with only two tours of Portland International Raceway left, both cars drop out of the points.
The news is very different up front as Gil De Ferran captures his first CART victory since Cleveland 1996. The clearly overjoyed Brazilian managing to maintain a five second gap over Montoya in the final laps. Admittedly, this had been a pretty dull event up until the last third when a charging De Ferran really brought the race alive - a thoroughly deserved victory for one of the most well like drivers in the CART paddock.
Race Quality: 2 out of 5
Source Quality: B+ (Very good clear video. as good as a VHS can get) (February 2010)
The 1999 CART Grand Prix of Milwaukee (Part 1, average quality)
The 1999 CART Grand Prix of Milwaukee (Part 2, average quality)
The 1999 CART Grand Prix of Milwaukee (Part 3, average quality)
The 1999 CART Grand Prix of Milwaukee (Part 4, average quality)
The 1999 CART Grand Prix of Milwaukee (Part 5, average quality)
The 1999 CART Grand Prix of Milwaukee (Part 6, average quality)
The 1999 CART Grand Prix of Milwaukee (Part 7, average quality)
The 1999 CART Grand Prix of Milwaukee (Part 8, average quality)
The 1999 CART Grand Prix of Milwaukee (Part 9, average quality)
1 comments:
But just as important is how the Coach Purses
coordinate their efforts. Paul Longo is the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Ergo
at the University of Cincinnati. When I arrived at the University of Cincinnati with new Head Coach Gallery
after the 2006 season. I've been in the strength training profession long enough to see -- virtually every type of Coach Hamptons
and philosophy.
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