IRL Testing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway: Hamilton, Paul Jr. Injured
6 September 1997
KITE LEADS WAY FOR SECOND DAY IN IRL TEST
HAMILTON, PAUL JR. INJURED
For Immediate Release
LAS VEGAS, September 5, 1997 - Rookie Jimmy Kite led the way for the second
straight day in the Indy Racing League's open test at Las Vegas Motor
Speedway, turning a lap at 203.336 miles an hour Friday to edge Eliseo
Salazar and Arie Luyendyk.
"Actually, we were strictly tire testing today and were trying to dial a
push into it," Kite said. "I looked down expecting to see 200 and boy, was I
surprised.
"I'm very happy with the test. I hadn't been back in one of these cars since
Loudon, so every lap boosts my confidence level back to where it was before.
I'm Looking forward to coming back here in a couple of weeks and hopefully
winning, or at least finishing my first race."
The session ended two days of testing at the 1 1/2-mile oval in preparation
for the Oct. 8-11 Las Vegas 500k, the final race of the 1996-97 Indy Racing
League season. In all, 21 drivers turned 2,616 laps in the sessions.
***
At 6:34 p.m. (PDT) Friday, Davey Hamilton spun 180 degress in turn 4 and hit
the outside wall with the left side. Hamilton was airlifted to University
Medical Center in Las Vegas awake and alert with a concussion, according to
Dr. Henry Bock, IRL medical director. The car sustained extensive left-side
damage. At 9:00 p.m., Dr. Bock said Hamilton would be admitted for overnight
observation.
At 9:14 p.m. (PDT) Friday, John Paul Jr. spun 180 degrees in Turn 3 and hit
the outside wall. Paul Jr. was transported by ambulance to the University
Medical Center awake and alert for further evaluation of a concussion. The
car sustained left-side damage.
***
Friday's session was a tire test for both Goodyear and Firestone.
PAUL LAURITZEN (IRL Goodyear operations manager): "We brought the control
tire, which is a very conservative tire that we use on all the teams to
establish a baseline. That's what we did last night. We were very pleased.
We had four out of the top five fastest times, including Jimmy Kite, who was
almost two miles an hour faster than anyone else. We want to improve on it
for the race. That's why we're here."
DWAYNE JOYNER (Firestone senior project engineer): "We're mainly here to
pick an option tire for the race. We've pretty much got the primary settled
on. We tested here a few weeks ago but now the conditions will be closer to
what we're going to race at. Since the conditions will be closer now to race
time, we'll obviously use this information to decide on an option."
***
Shelby American and Treadway Racing announced Friday a joint venture in the
Indy Racing League which will establish two headquarters for the team - one
in Indianapolis and one at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
****
Unofficial Top Lap Speeds of the Day from IRL Timing & Scoring
:------Session-----:
R Car Driver C/E/T Laps Time Speed
1 33 Kite, Jimmy D/A/G 79 26.557 203.336
2 7 Salazar, Eliseo D/A/G 72 26.596 203.038
3 5 Luyendyk, Arie G/A/F 129 26.674 202.444
4 21 Guerrero, Roberto D/A/G 61 26.697 202.270
5 91 Lazier, Buddy D/A/F 90 26.758 201.809
6 1 Boat, Billy G/A/G 44 26.783 201.620
7 1T Boat, Billy D/A/G 44 26.835 201.230
8 27 Guthrie, Jim D/A/F 81 26.909 200.676
9 3 Buhl, Robbie G/A/F 109 27.083 199.387
10 12 Calkins, Buzz G/A/G 71 27.136 198.998
11 7 Gregoire, Stephan D/A/G 57 27.223 198.362
12 14 Hamilton, Davey G/A/G 6 27.470 196.578
13 22 Sospiri, Vincenzo D/A/G 32 27.477 196.528
14 18 Paul Jr., John D/A/G 126 27.662 195.214
15 91T Unser, Johnny D/I/F 18 28.360 190.409
16 28 Dismore, Mark D/A/G 10 28.620 188.679
17 10T Durant, Paul G/A/F 10 33.835 159.598
Total Laps: 1039