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PSCR: Visteon Panoz Racing Notes from Mosport Festival

8 August 1998

PRACTICE SESSION

MOSPORT FESTIVAL
Mosport International Raceway
Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada

Friday, August 7, 1998

In this afternoon's practice session, Eric Bernard set fastest overall lap in the #5 Visteon Panoz GTR-1, at 1:23.525 at 105.98 mph. The session began with moderate rain and a wet track, but as it went on, the rain stopped and the track dried rapidly. For the past 48 hours, weather patterns have been constantly changing at the track.

This event marks the Mosport debut of Eric Bernard, Raul Boesel, and David Brabham.

Eric Bernard, #5 Visteon Panoz GTR-1:
"It's wonderful that I set the fastest time. Mosport is very interesting, very technical. It's the first time I've been here, and I'm very impressed. The track is easy to learn, but difficult to get right.

"The Visteon Panoz is very good, and we've found a good compromise for qualifying tomorrow."

Raul Boesel, #5 Visteon Panoz GTR-1:
"It was quite slippery out there. I was careful, trying to learn as much as I could about the track, not trying to take any chances."

Andy Wallace, #4 Visteon Panoz GTR-1:
"I went out in the beginning of the session when it was very wet. I was quite happy with the car -- the balance front-to-rear was very good in the wet and the brakes were also good. The real surprise for me was the tires. When we started, we put on a set of the deep-groove Michelin rain tires and they were great in the rain, but as the track dried out during my stint, I was expecting to destroy them. David took over without a tire change. When the crew took them off during David's stint, the tires looked brand new. I was impressed."

David Brabham, #4 Visteon Panoz GTR-1:
"The weather conditions were changing all the time, but it was a good chance for me to continue to learn the circuit. Once the rain tapered off, the track dried fairly quickly, so we changed to slick tires. We never had the chance to push the Visteon Panoz it because the checkered flag came out. We're just waiting for some dry weather, some consistent weather."

Tony Dowe, managing director, Panoz Motor Sports:
"Considering that this is our first real time on the track this weekend, the session went quite well. We're looking at what we're going to do for qualifying tomorrow. The changing weather conditions mean that we're always going to have a moving target. Hopefully if the weather cleans up, the target will slow down."