source:
nelsonphilippe.com
/
sportimage.net
Key Biscayne, FL, racing driver Nelson Philippe, will take the start in the
eighth row of the grid for tomorrow (Sunday) race, the thirty-first edition of
the Grand Prix of Long Beach, California, first race of the 2005 season of the
Champ Car World Series powered by Ford.
After had worked on several options to set-up his #34 Mi-Jack/Conquest Racing
Lola-Cosworth during practice sessions yesterday, Nelson Philippe increased
rhythm this Saturday morning, to get close to the Top 10 before the qualifying
session.
A progression unfortunately stopped to the eighth line of the starting grid at
the end of the session. '' For the beginning of the weekend, the car has a lot
of understeer. Our technical crew members didn't find the solution, which
justifies my position on the grid '' explains Nelson. The driver of the Iquipe
de France FFSA (French Autosport Federation) adds: ''it s a shame because I love
the Long Beach track. It s a temporary street course and I like to push the car
close to the limit on this type of track. But I must be patient this weekend due
to these technical problems. When you compare to the pre testing season, all the
other teams have improved their performances, except us! We working hard but it
s now time to make changes and to find the half-second gap between us and the
Top 10 drivers. ''
Nelson Philippe is qualified in front of his teammate, Canadian Andrew Ranger.
The MJCR team duet drivers will be side by side tomorrow at the start of the
Grand Prix of Long Beach, first round of the 2005 Champ Car season.
'' To predict tomorrow's race result is hard. If we resolve the understeer
troubles, I m confident to a very good result '' mentions the French driver.