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Adrian
gets service
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CHANDLER, Arizona (February 24, 2001) – Fernández Racing closed the book
on its pre-season road course testing today, logging over 730 miles during a successful three-day visit to Firebird International Raceway’s
1.2-mile East course.
Both team owner/driver Adrián Fernández (#51
Tecate/Quaker State/Telmex Honda/Reynard) and teammate Shinji Nakano (#52 Alpine Honda/Reynard)
made solid gains on and off the race track as the four-month-old team
prepares to make its debut in the CART season-opener on March 11 at the
Tecate Telmex Monterrey Grand Prix.
Fernández, who experienced pain and swelling in his left wrist after
leaving the track yesterday, split the workload with Nakano today.
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Tom
Anderson and Adrian
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“I think I may have pulled a muscle or tendon above my left wrist,” said
Fernández. “I had it wrapped while I was in the car, and I was making
sure I didn’t put too much pressure on it. It’s very weird. It’s nothing
I’ve broken or anything like that, but obviously I did injure something.
I’m sure I’ll be fine for Mexico.
“I did 65 laps, working on some things with Honda, and Shinji was the
one working on speed.”
Nakano added 110 miles to his tally for the three days, improving on his
quick time from yesterday: “Again, we had a good day with no problems
and the opportunity to try many things. Everything is going very well.”
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Nakano
continued to impress
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“Shinji ran another 91 laps and got down to a 46.7, so he had a good
day,” said Tom Anderson, owner and team manager (See updated test
times page). “Adrián didn’t run that much because that left paw of his is still a little bit sore. We didn’t
want to run a hard time with him today because of that arm, so he did
pit stop practice and was helping Honda with engine drivability. I think
a couple of days off and he will be fine.
“We also spent two hours towards the end of the day doing pit stop
practice with both drivers, and that’s coming along well.”
“This is the best three days that we have had,” added Fernández. “As
everything is getting closer, we’re getting better and that makes me
very excited. Shinji ran extremely well throughout the test, and we worked on a lot of things, not just speed. The team is gelling quickly.
I’m very excited about the three days.”
Fernández Racing will move across town for its final pre-season test at
Phoenix International Raceway. The two-day outing will begin February 27
on the one-mile oval.
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