NOTEBOOK: VALENCIA'A HERTA HAPPY TO BE BACK IN `THE FAST GROUP'.Byline: Tim Haddock Daily News LONG BEACH - When racing for a new team, it's best to focus on the positives. For Bryan Herta Bryan Herta (b. May 23 1970, Warren, Michigan) is an American race car driver. He currently drives for Andretti Green Racing, which is co-owned by former CART and IRL driver Michael Andretti, in the ALMS, although his career has primarily been spent in open-wheel cars , driver of the Zakspeed Forsythe Racing Ford Reynard, that means relishing the fact that he scored the team's first points with a 10th-place finish at the Long Beach Grand Prix
The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach is the premier circuit in the Champ Car World Series. It is an open-wheel race held on a temporary road course in Long Beach, California. on Sunday. ``It's good to have earned a few points today,'' said Herta, who lives in Valencia. ``I am not necessarily happy with the result, but most importantly Adv. 1. most importantly - above and beyond all other consideration; "above all, you must be independent" above all, most especially we are finishing the races. ``We had a little understeer un·der·steer intr.v. un·der·steered, un·der·steer·ing, un·der·steers To turn less sharply than the operator would expect. Used of vehicles, especially automobiles. n. 1. An instance of understeering. throughout the race. That is something we will need to work on, but the guys have done a great job giving me a reliable car. We will turn our focus to the ovals, but I am happy to be back in the fast group for Dallas.'' --Nothing routine: It started as a routine pit stop for Shell Racing's Kenny Brack n. 1. An opening caused by the parting of any solid body; a crack or breach; a flaw. Stain or brack in her sweet reputation. - J. Fletcher. 1. Salt or brackish water. , but by the time he tried to get back on the track, his day was over. ``We were just sitting there saving fuel, looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. the end of the race,'' said Brack, who was running second when he pitted. ``I came into the pits and we had a good stop. The car didn't move and the engine stalled. We restarted the motor and I left the pits real hard. But the damage was done. The gearbox was gone.'' --Officially, he's out: It officially went down as a mechanical problem that knocked Newman/Haas Racing's Christian Fittipaldi Christian Fittipaldi (born January 18, 1971, São Paulo, Brazil) is a Brazilian racing driver who has competed in various forms of motorsport including Formula One, Champ Car and NASCAR. out of the Long Beach Grand Prix. ``The speed limiter lim·it·er n. 1. One that limits: a limiter of choices. 2. Electronics A circuit that prevents the amplitude of a waveform from exceeding a specified value. Also called clipper. was coming on and off and I was losing power,'' Fittipaldi said. ``I would get up to sixth gear and then I would start losing positions.'' So what was the problem? ``Upon inspection, we found the problem was an installation one,'' Newman/Haas general manager Brian Lisles said. ``A piece was incorrectly installed in the race shop and thus ended his day. --A race against `evil': Defending Trans-Am champ Tomy Drissi of Hollywood couldn't make it back-to-back victories at Long Beach as he had hoped. Drissi, who scored his first victory of his career here last year, finished a disappointing ninth, one place ahead of his starting position. ``This one was a lot less eventful than last year,'' said Drissi, whose top lap time of 1:24.334 was a second and a half off the race's fastest lap. ``But I didn't have the car I had last year. This car was evil. I've never driven a car that was this loose. I worked my tail off just trying not to crash. I was driving for a finish, not a podium.'' Staff Writers Dave Werstine, Steve Irvine and A.J. Perez contributed to this report. |
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