IRL: WDW testing notes 95-12-04

BRAYTON, ALBORETO GET 'FIRST LOOKS' AT NEW DISNEY TRACK

(This is the fourth in a series of daily reports on Indy Racing League testing at the new one-mile Walt Disney World Speedway oval, already nicknamed "The Mickyard." The reports will continue through Friday for your use as desired.)

ORLANDO, Dec. 4, 1995 -- Scott Brayton, the 1995 Indianapolis 500 pole winner, was asked to compare his visit to Disney World as a seventh-grader with his first visit as a race driver Monday to participate in the first Indy Racing League tests at Walt Disney World Speedway.

"You don't have to stand in line for a ticket," Brayton said, "but it's a tougher ride because I'm the one who's trying to control it."

Brayton, Richie Hearn, Stephan Gregorie, Buzz Calkins and Bill Tempero got their first laps at the newly-nicknamed "Mickyard." Eliseo Salazar and Stan Wattles started their second rounds of testing and Formula One veteran Michele Alboreto took his first laps ever at an oval track on the first day of week-long testing activities at the world's newest superspeedway. More drivers and teams are scheduled the rest of the week.

Alboreto took 10 shakedown laps in the first morning and was all smiles. He was in the seat of a Scandia/Simon Racing-prepared machine.

"It's quite different from what I've learned in the last 20 years," Alboreto said after his initial run. "I've had a lot of help from Dick Simon. Eddie Cheever gave me some advice, also Eliseo.

"I'm taking my time to understand everything because I don't want to make disaster.

"There is not so much work -- you don't have to change gears, for example. But you need to listen to everything your body feels. Any little problem can be disaster. I can't imagine when 26 cars run together." Alboreto, a veteran of 194 Formula One races with five F1 victories, considered himself a "rookie" with ease.

"There are many things I don't know," he said.  "At my age, to still be a
rookie is a good feeling.  I'm not here to make a record lap.  I'm here to
gain the understanding if I can do it.  Between now and Christmas, I'll make
a decision.  If Santa Claus brought me an Indy car, it would be okay."

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For the veteran Brayton, the track was unique.

"It was really interesting to come down here and go onto an oval as a new circuit," he said. "In the past so-many years, with the exception of Nazareth, the tracks were those we know and love.

"This track has more transitions than I've seen on any oval. It's very fast. It has incredible grip. I was very impressed with the width. I think it'll be a very challenging course to race on.

"My first time out, I ran 20.7 (seconds).  You're trying to adjust to the
course.  The Lolas are going to be different than the Reynards, and we have
a unique car/engine combination with the Menard V6.  Our weight
distributions are different.  I can't predict how fast it's going to get."

Brayton described the track as "its own," but talked of similarities. He'll pilot a No. 2 Glidden Special for Team Menard this season. "Turn 3 reminds me of the 'kink' at Nazareth," Brayton said. "Turn 1 reminds you a little bit of Pocono Turn 1 on a smaller scale. Turn 2 ... I've never experienced that kind of turn anywhere with that degree of banking and coming down ... it's a little like coming onto the backstretch at Daytona where it flattens off.

"It's exciting to come to a track you've never driven on that's kind of a mixture of everything. I've had maybe 40 laps and, the last five, I knew where I was going."

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                                               NUM   BEST      BEST
DRIVER                TEAM                    LAPS   TIME     SPEED
Eliseo Salazar        Scandia/Simon Racing     61   20.372   176.713
Scott Brayton         Team Menard              86   20.494   175.661
Richie Hearn          DellaPenna Motorsports   78   20.560   175.097
Buzz Calkins          Bradley Motorsports     126   20.918   172.101
Michele Alboreto      Scandia/Simon Racing    123   21.025   171.225
Stephan Gregoire      Hemelgarn Racing         96   21.232   169.555
Stan Wattles          Leigh Miller Racing      84   21.784   165.259
Bill Tempero          Tempero Racing           23   25.966   138.643

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