RFM Front Page News

PORTLAND, Oregon (July 23, 2004) -- The #3 Corona Forsythe Championship Racing Team car of Rodolfo Lavin is coming into False Creek as one of the most experienced drivers in the Champ Car series; since 1998 he has been a part of the Champ Car family driving first in the (then known) Indy Lights series; then the step to CART in 2003. He is now with the most respected name in open-wheeled racing, and out to prove he’s more than capable to earn that podium spot.

Margot Orenchuk: Last year as a rookie you climbed from 17^th to 8^th place here in Vancouver; are you looking forward to what you can do this year with your new team?

Rodolfo Lavin: Definitely Vancouver is one of my favourite cities to be in, there is a lot fans here, a lot of Mexican fans come here to the race, we are really looking forward to having a great race and want to improve the results from last year and thanks to Corona we are on the best, Forsythe Racing Team. We have to opportunity to a very good job.

MO: You have had some very good runs, and some very good qualifying this year.

RL: We are getting close to a podium. In the last races we have been in the top 8. So trying to qualify better more and more, we are trying to get better. Hopefully for this weekend we get the track set-up for qualifying and we qualify better. If we are able to qualify in the top 6, we can be on the podium.

Rodolfo has been a very long-time driver for the Indy Lights/Toyota Atlantics series, so I was curious as to if he didn’t have a slight edge as all Champ Car veterans do at the unforgiving street course of Vancouver.. MO: When we first spoke last year, even though you were a “rookie” you were one of the blessed drivers that had seen time at most tracks. 2^nd year in now in the Champ cars; how are you finding it? Being on one of the Top Teams?

RL: Definitely much better! It’s a great opportunity for me to be on this great team thanks to Corona, they have been with me now for over 10 years! So thanks to them I am here. We are making improvements every single race that I get out there in the race track; this is the first time I am in a top-level team so I am learning a LOT. I am getting quicker, quicker!

Much speculation has been made about the fact Rodolfo came in and “stole” Patrick Carpentier’s ride. Is Patrick angry at him? I asked Roldofo. MO: Is being with 2 such experienced drivers in Champ Cars like Paul (Tracy) and Pat (Carpentier) helping you? Are they helping you?

RL: Definitely they are helping me a lot. We are able to share all the information teams share; inside the team. I am just learning a lot.

And about Toronto..

MO: Tell us about Toronto!

RL: A wild ride. It was pretty wild. We were pretty quick on the race 6^th quickest lap time on the race; we were pretty good out there and then we had a contact out there. Everybody had a contact out there! One of the contacts we damaged the front suspension and then we lost one lap changing it in the pits; the team did a great job changing it, we did have a car to finish in the top 3.

MO: From a driver’s standpoint, was Toronto a good race? Because, from our take, that race looked like you were all finally trying to race for a win. Was it fun?

RL: It was very fun. I really like the Toronto track, also. It’s a little bit bumpy but it’s a technical track. It’s very tight from each other; the grid is tight, it’s very competitive. I think for the fans it was great. It was a great show. And the laps times, it’s very very close together. You can be qualifying in 10^th place, and maybe being in .2 from 1^st.

MO: You have gone from the Reynard (chassis) to the Lola this year. How have you found that?

RL: Yes. Oh, It’s a big difference. Huge difference, really. It’s way better, it’s got much more grip on the front of the car.

MO: Have you had to adjust your driving style?

RL: Yes. I am happy, because every single race I am improving and improving. And we get better. And this is my first year in a really good team. You have to get used to the engineers, the mechanics, to the chassis, at least at the beginning, but we are doing this.

MO: Thank you and best of luck this weekend!

RL: Thank You.

RFM would like to thank Toni Calderon for his assistance and Rodolfo for his very interesting comments..

CHAMP CAR INTERVIEWS:

Alex Tagliani
Patrick Carpentier
Paul Tracy
Michel Jourdain, Jr.
Sebastien Bourdais
Nelson Phillipe
Justin Wilson
Rodolfo Lavin