Long Beach, Calif. (April 16, 1999) — Nicolas Rondet, in his first appearance as a driver in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, once again took the Kool/Toyota Atlantic field by storm by qualifying fourth overall (as the toprookie qualifier) for tomorrow’s 37-lap race. Rondet, of nearby San Diego, drives the #14 World Speed Motorsports/Red Line Oil, Martini Sunglasses Swift 008.a.
“We feel good about our performance today,” said Rondet. “We actually ran in third for most of the session, but got caught out by a red flag during the last few laps. We were pitted near the end of pitlane and by the time we got out, we only had one green lap before the session was over. We know we have a strong car and we’re in a good position to move forward in tomorrow’s qualifying session as well as the race.”
Rondet started the day’s on-track activities by setting the fourth fastest time in the morning’s practice session. “The track is everything that I expected. It’s not as rough as some of the other street courses I’ve driven in the Barber Dodge series, but I still need to learn where all the bumps and man-hole covers are. The car has been running great right out of the trailer, which says a lot about Chuck West, Mike Doyle and the rest of the World Speed team.”
Chuck West, World Speed team owner, made his first appearance as a driver at Long Beach in 1996 by qualifying and finishing third overall. Tomorrow’s second Atlantic qualifying session is scheduled for 12:00 noon, followed by the 68.45-lap race at 4:00 pm. The race will be televised on Saturday, April 24 at 4:00 pm Eastern on espn2, with repeat broadcasts on Sunday, May 2 at 8:30 am, and Thursday, May 6 at 2:00 am.