CHAMPCAR/CART: Long Beach Saturday qualifying notes

1995 TOYOTA GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH PPG Indy Car World Series Race No. 4 April 7-9, 1995

FINAL QUALIFYING REPORT by Robert Heathcote, for SpeedNet

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- SpeedNet -- Welcome back to Long Beach, where Michael Andretti has just won the pole position for the 21st Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Michael was never headed and, really, it was never close.

The only person who could beat Michael's time from yesterday was teammate Paul Tracy. Michael time of 52.482 (109.066) places him alone in the 52.4's, and Paul Tracy's time of 52.581 places him alone in the 52.5's.

No one broke into the 52.6's, but Gill de Ferran was first in the 52.7's, to take third on the grid. A funny scene in the press room was Michael Andretti showing de Ferran how turn on his microphone!

Bobby Rahal lost another engine in today's qualifying session, and Tom Blatter, Rahal-Hogan's PR man, is here and telling me the Mercedes engine is having teething trouble. "Mercedes say the motor can rev to 14,000 rpm and we are only doing 13,600. Penske are having trouble, too, as we saw today."