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Opportunity knocks Junqueira, Minassian will attempt to qualify at Indy
Updated: Tuesday May 22, 2001 8:52 PM
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- With his two veteran drivers solidly in the field for the May 27 Indianapolis 500, Chip Ganassi decided Saturday to give rookies Bruno Junqueira and Nicolas Minassian their shot at the big event. Ganassi, the CART team owner who ended the boycott against the rival Indy Racing League by entering two cars at Indy last year, caused a stir last Monday when he announced NASCAR star Tony Stewart and former CART champion Jimmy Vasser would replace the two first-year drivers for the 500-mile race. Junqueira and Minassian, who finished 1-2 last year in the European Formula 3000 series, had never raced on an oval until the CART event last Sunday in Nazareth, Pa. Those two were the replacements for Juan Montoya, the 1999 CART champion and last year's Indy winner, who left for Formula One, and Vasser, who finished seventh here last May and was fired by Ganassi at the end of the 2000 season. He re-hired Vasser, who now drives in CART for Pat Patrick, for the Indy 500 only. When Ganassi introduced Stewart and Vasser as his Indy drivers this year, he said the decision was made because the team wanted to focus on the development of its two rookies in the CART series. Ganassi added the two youngsters have not had enough experience for Indy because of CART's cancellation of two races: the Rio 200 in Brazil in March due to problems with the promoter and the inaugural Firestone Firehawk 600 in Texas in April when drivers complained about dizzying G forces on the high-banked Texas track.
"When we originally put our plans together, our thinking was the experience they would have gained at the beginning of the season would have been sufficient when we arrived here at Indianapolis," Ganassi said. "We wanted to make sure these guys had the right amount of miles under their belts, and we weren't able to do that before May this year." That changed Saturday after Stewart, an original IRL star before switching to stock cars, qualified at 224.248 mph and Vasser made it into the field at 223.455 -- both among the fastest on the first of three days of time trials for the 85th Indy. "Since we have two cars available, it will be great experience for the two rookies," Ganassi said. "Bruno and Nicolas are great drivers and now they get a chance to race at Indy. They've shown they can compete in the CART series, and I want to give them the opportunity to qualify for the race. "If nothing else, it will be invaluable experience for next year." Both drivers tested here, took part in the rookie orientation program last month and passed all phases of their rookie tests. The plan is for Junqueira and Minassian to practice in the cars on Sunday morning and try to qualify later in the day. Sunday night, the entire Ganassi team is scheduled to leave for Japan, where the CART series races next weekend. With the final day of qualifications at Indy next Sunday, and the time difference, it would be possible for Junqueira and Minassian to make it back from Japan in time to attempt to qualify then, if necessary. "I hope we don't need to do that," Ganassi said. "That would be very hard for everybody." Junqueira, from Brazil, said, "I can't wait to get in the car tomorrow. This has always been a dream of mine and I want to make the most of the opportunity. We were the fastest here at rookie orientation and I am confident that I will be able to get into the field." Minassian, a Frenchman, said, "We will not have much practice time, but I learned a lot here in testing. I'll be ready."
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