Monterrey: Friday practice notes

Dalziel Quickest in Toyota Atlantic Championship Presented by Yokohama First-Round Practice at Monterrey

MONTERREY, Mexico (May 21, 2004) -- Toyota Atlantic Championship Presented by Yokohama points leader Ryan Dalziel set the fastest time in first-round practice Friday morning at the Tecate/Telmex Monterrey Grand Prix at Fundidora Park. Dalziel, driving the No. 28 Pro-Works car, turned in a time of 1:27.693 minutes on his 14th lap of the 30-minute session, besting Alex Figge (No. 69 Pacific Coast Motorsports).

"I always enjoy coming back to Mexico. The track was pretty good; a lot cleaner than it has been in the past," said Dalziel. "The car is working well. We were quickest in that session. Let's hope the rest of the weekend goes that well."

"The track was what I expected," said Figge. "It was pretty dusty and pretty slippery. The set-up is hard here because there is such little grip. I am confident with my engineer; we seem to be on the right track. I think (teammate Jon Fogarty) was pretty quick, too, so that's good. As usual, I had to pee during the session. I'm always fastest when I have to pee. We'll take second."

2002 Toyota Atlantic champion Jon Fogarty (No. 96 Pacific Coast Motorsports) was third fastest.

"The track is really slick, but the session went well for our team; (teammate Alex Figge) was second and I'm third," said Fogarty. "It's really to over drive it because of the lack of grip, but I'm sure the track will come in. We were the first cars out, so I expect it to be quite a bit different this afternoon. The weather is cooperating. It's not too hot. I think we're off to a good start."

Danica Patrick (No. 24 Argent Mortgage Company) was fourth quickest, ahead of BG Products Rookie of the Year contender Andrew Ranger (No. 27 Tide/Charmin/Mr. Clean/Snugabye).

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