US GP Prost Friday notes

Heinz-Harald Frentzen
" It is good to be back on the Indianapolis track. It is a very special circuit, very enjoyable with its banking and the long straight. I am really looking forward to the race. Everything ran smoothly today and we worked well until we had a problem with the gearbox. It was not too serious but we chose to stop in order not to take any risk. Therefore we have some work left over for the second practice session, especially some understeer that we need to cure, but we made some improvements today and it looks promising for tomorrow."

Tomas Enge
"I had quite a good practice today, for my first time here in Indianapolis. I kept on improving my times and position and quickly felt comfortable. This morning I found the track quite slippery but the overall grip was much better in the afternoon. We were able to improve my car significantly and it looks like we can be very competitive here. Unfortunately I spun in the exit of turn 8 because my car suddenly had more oversteer than I expected, and the traction control was not exactly working as I wanted at that moment. It was a simple spinning but unfortunately I stalled the engine and could not restart. It is a pity because I know there was still room for improvement. But I feel satisfied with the job we have done today."

Joan Villadelprat, Managing Director : " This was a very positive first day for us. We were able to complete a lot of work in view of the race itself, we tried the two compounds proposed by Michelin and we now have a clear picture of what suits our car best on this track. Our cars proved to be competitive today despite the second session was shortened for both our drivers : Tomas spun off and stalled the engine which cost him the last 15 minutes of practice. We also had a couple of mechanical problems on Heinz-Harald's car : he came back because of a throttle link failure, and ten minutes before the end of the session, we decided not to restart because of a problem related to the gearbox. But we are overall very satisfied with this first day. Our competitiveness today is very promising, and it will be a key in tomorrow's qualifying as the gaps will be very close."

Chassis
Frentzen: AP04-06
Enge: AP04-05
Spare: AP04-03