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Thursday, April 5
Long Beach is Zanardi's showcase
Associated Press
LONG BEACH, Calif. -- When Alex Zanardi left CART at the end of the 1998 season, he was king of the hill.
He spent the next season struggling in Formula One and last year in an uncomfortable self-exile from the sport he loves.
|  | | Alex Zanardi struggled in his return to CART at Mexico. |
Now, the irrepressible Italian is back, preparing for Sunday's Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. After a less-than-scintellating season-opener, he needs a telescope to see the top of that hill.
"Mexico would have been a good day if I wouldn't have spun trying to pass Michael (Andretti)," said Zanardi, who actually spun three times during last month's race in Monterrey and wound up 24th in a 28-car field. "I could've gotten a good result there.
"I was in 10th place at the time and there were four cars in front of me that hadn't pitted yet. We could have been looking at a podium finish. But that is history. Never say never. Never say beaten. I'm very excited about the weekend."
He should be. The race through the streets of downtown Long Beach was his showcase for the last two of the three years he spent in CART.
"My good seasons always kicked off in Long Beach," Zanardi said. "Like 1997, I won the race and I went on to win the championship. Same thing in 1998.
"It was my first win both of those years. So, I'm hoping I can maybe do the same thing this year. Hey, everybody can dream," he added with a grin.
Zanardi was talked out of retirement by Morris Nunn, his engineer and mentor at Chip Ganassi Racing.
Nunn, who became a CART team owner last year, said, "You can't base any opinion about a driver or a team on one race. Alex had to shake some of the rust off. He hadn't raced for a full year. But he'll be fine."
Tony Kanaan, who was the lone driver for Nunn last season and finished seventh in Mexico, remains excited by Zanardi's presence as his new teammate.
"Even though Alex had a tough weekend in Mexico, people will see us both running pretty close together," the Brazilian driver said. "Alex has been a plus to the team, especially to me.
"He's pushing me, giving me good information, and I'm learning a lot from his experience. He's obviously a very good race car driver. I just need to work hard, and learn as much as I can from him. The important thing is to work as a team."
Heading into the opening of practice Friday on the 1.958-mile temporary street course, Cristiano da Matta, the winner of the season-opening race last month in Monterrey, Mexico, is leading the points.
"We were able to get the season off to a good start by winning in Mexico and I think it will only get better after we get a few races under our belts together," said da Matta, who moved to Newman-Haas Racing over the winter.
Close behind are defending series champion Gil de Ferran, last year's Long Beach winner Paul Tracy and longtime Champ car star Michael Andretti, who left his ride at Newman-Haas to go to work for Barry Green at the new Motorola Racing team.
"Long Beach has been a place where historically I've run and qualified well," said de Ferran, who has started from the pole here three times. "However, I've never finished on the podium so I'm hoping to change that this year."
Tracy, who charged from 17th to the victory last year, also won in 1991 in his first Long Beach race, while Andretti counts the 1986 Long Beach event among his series-leading 40 career victories.
"Long Beach will always be a special race for me because it's where I won my first race in 1986," Andretti said. "In fact, Barry Green was the team manager in '86 when I won."
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