July 14, 2001 -
TORONTO, Ont. -- After a great showing in Portland where he took his first road course victory in CART series under the wet condition, NYAutoRacing.com talked to Max Papis before Saturday qualifying at the Molson Indy in Toronto about his season and the team's progress so far:
Kevin Ma: Max, up until now you are pretty much having an up-and-down season, with a victory in Portland, and a rather disappointing race last time in Cleveland. Can you tell us your high point and the low point of the season so far?
Max Papis: I wouldn't say just besides the high point or the low point. Winning and being competitive in Portland was very good because we struggled at first, but we believed in ourselves and came back strong, that was the proof of believing in our hearts. It is definitely very competitive this year, and you can't deny that we struggle with the Lola chassis [after switching from Reynard], new engineers and a new crew chief [John Dick] I have, as well as new shock absorber development. We have experienced a bit of the struggle especially Kenny and Don [Halliday] on the other side develop a fast relation where they build on experience from their car, with very few pieces of the car are different. On my car most of the pieces are different - to achieve excellence in motor racing, you need a special relation between the drivers, engineers and sometimes it goes beyond the technical relations - I feel that we are developing them in the past three or four races, and that's why my car is running more and more towards the front.
KM: What is the progress with Ford so far? It looks like the Ford engine is very competitive this year.
MP: Ford has been one of the top contenders this season, and everyone from Ford wants to win the manufacturer championship. I was the first one to win the race with the XF engine, and I feel that we are very competitive and the cars have been running very strong. Ford is putting everything they have into the engine development program, alongside with the chassis development within the team.
KM: Last year you have the Reynard chassis and Team Rahal switched to Lola this year. Can you draw comparisons between the two?
MP: I am not really allowed to make any technical comparisons to the press, but I can say Lola is a very strong chassis. However, it can be a very bad one if the set up is off, so it is more up to the team to bring the best out of the car - no matter it is a Lola or a Reynard, you have to know how to use it correctly.
KM: So you are saying the Lola is more sensitive to the setup than the Reynard?
MP: No, everybody has their own judgment in terms of setting up the car. We just need to take a while to figure it out and get a good combination; but like I said it is up to the team and the engineers to make the best package. You can have a Lola to win a race and be at the back in the next one, and likewise to the Reynard.
