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Lapping Portland with Greg Moore
Posted: Saturday June 19, 1999 02:05 PM
PORTLAND, Ore. (CNN/SI) -- "Portland is a circuit that has some pretty challenging corners, and it is hard on your brakes. You come across the start/finish line at full power in sixth gear, and go into turns one and two, called 'The Festival,' which are two of the tightest turns on the circuit. You have to brake pretty hard, and quickly downshift from sixth gear to second gear. It's a bumpy braking area there, but going into that chicane is the best passing spot on the track. "Turn two is an important turn, because if you get a bad exit there and don't carry enough speed, you are more likely to be passed going into turn four. "Exiting turn three, you shift up to fourth gear, then downshift going into turn four. Depending how your race car is handling, you can do turns three and four in one gear, or if your car isn't handling well, you would downshift one gear for turn four. On turn four, you have to turn in early and hang onto the inside, then get on the power as easy as you can without getting the car loose. "The racetrack falls away a bit on the exit -- the turn starts on-camber, then goes off-camber as you go through it. On the exit, if you're on the power too much and you're not turned enough, the car will really get out of shape, and you have a good chance of spinning there. "There are three lines through the right-handed turn seven. You can make it a late apex by turning in late, you can make it a double apex by turning in early, or you can turn in the middle and make it a normal apex and then work your way out. "This is the second most important turn on the racetrack because it determines your speed down the back straight, which is flat. You come out in third gear, and make your way up to sixth gear, so you need a very good shot out of that turn to carry your speed down the long straightaway. "Turns 10 and 11 are very fast turns. In the turn 10 chicane, you brake hard, downshift to fifth gear, and then you're back on it flat. We're doing 180 mph through that turn. The set up of the car is critical; you need your car to be set up quite good for slow turns, but if your car is handling quite well, you can gain a lot of time on people through these quick turns. Exiting turn 10, there's a straight braking area, and you downshift to second or third gear, depending on your gear ratio. "Turn 11 is the most important turn on the race track -- if you get a good exit and the guy in front of you doesn't, then you have a good shot at passing underneath somebody as you go down to turn one at the Festival. "Portland is a track where you get into a nice easy rhythm, and it gets easier as you go. It's a great racetrack for passing, which makes it quite exciting for the fans. Portland is where I won two of my North American carting championships, so I really enjoy racing there." Greg Moore pilots the Player's/Forsythe Mercedes in the CART FedEx Championship Series. In his fourth season of Champ Car competition, Moore has five victories and 16 podium finishes, including the 1999 season-opener at Miami. Moore, a former hockey goalie from British Columbia, Canada, is the youngest race winner in CART history.
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