Q&A: Adrian Fernandez - Pt.2.

Adrian Fernandez's decision to quit the Champ Car World Series and head for the rival Indy Racing League sent shock waves round both championships late last week - and also made the Mexican a natural target for a media corps wanting to know more about the move...

Q:
For Phoenix, I assume you're going to be operating off of your existing equipment with the Panasonic team. What does this move, this jump, mean in terms of having to secure additional cars, additional engines to run both cars the rest of the season?

AF:
Well, we have three [Panoz] G-Force cars. We took one of those cars to be prepared for this race. We have basically eleven days to get everything ready. I went to the shop last Friday to do the seat. Like I say, if this was something that was related to money or something like that, I would have tested this car before, I would have my seat ready and everything. But we've been scrambling to have the car ready. Honda has been supportive, we're going to have an engine from them. They're doing everything they can to support us and help us.

We're not starting from zero, even though I haven't been able to drive the car yet. We have information from the team. They have already run the car. So a lot of the little things that you go through when you have a new car, it's already been sorted. You know, for me, it's the first session, it's just a matter of getting used to the engine power, to the car, all the little things you normally do in the first testing when you have everything new. The team has been together for a while. We have John Ward now as an engineer, he worked with me in the days of Patrick Racing. That's going to help tremendously to help that confidence of my guys, knowing they will be preparing a good car. I just have to take it step by step. But I'm encouraged, you know, at the end of the day, with the support of our team, Honda, our sponsor, we'll be able to get the results that we all want.

Q:
Do you have another car coming?

AF:
Yeah. We have two more cars coming, yes.

Q:
You're going to be going to places like Kansas, Chicago, Texas. Have you looked at the schedule and tried to figure out exactly how many of those places are going to be totally new to you - not just the team, but you?

AF:
Yeah, there's quite a few. Probably more than half.

Q:
You're an owner-driver, and there are not too many of those in big-time racing these days. When you're in the car, what is on your mind as an owner as well as a driver?

AF:
Well, it's not easy - especially when you go through things like this, when you have to make tough decisions, when you have to go through situations that really, in general, don't belong to drivers.

You know, you always have to be yourself and do the best at what you believe and try to follow your instincts. I have been able to organise myself with the team in a way that will help me concentrate more on the race car. Tom Anderson, as you know, he's done a tremendous job with the team, organising everything in a way that has helped us help me dedicate more time to the gym, to the things I really need to do to be competitive. The first year was extremely hard, and it's getting easier every year. Obviously, these last few weeks have been very hard. But, apart from that, I'm really looking forward to putting all this behind me and concentrate on the IRL series and do the best job for our sponsors and the team.

Q:
When I used to do television, I would go to AJ Foyt's pit and ask a question. The only person that can answer that is out there in the car. Who is in charge when you're at the wheel?

AF:
In charge, we have a few people, Gustavo del Campo is my team manager. We have John Ward, who is my engineer. They're in charge of the car. We have people that all have the responsibility, not because I'm the driver and owner - what I say is what is going to happen. They all have the systems. I have good people who calm me down when I have to be calmed down. You know, when I'm in the race car, I'm a race-car driver. It doesn't change in that respect anything from the past.

Q:
How do you think your learning curve will be on this new car?

AF:
Well, it's going to be very big. Like I say, I haven't been in the race car before. I don't know much what to expect. But, at the same time, I had a lot of experience on ovals. I've spoken to a lot of guys on the cars and all that. Hopefully, the transition will not be as bad as I may think it will be. And, hopefully, we can get competitive straightaway. Obviously, I have to be smart and take it step by step. This weekend will be a learning process for everybody at the team - myself, the crew, everybody. But half of the job is done because we have another team there. We will have a lot of help and support from them.

Q:
How soon do you think the IRL could be in Mexico?

AF:
I don't know. I mean, that's a difficult question to ask because I don't control that. The only thing I can do right now is just concentrate on what I'm doing, you know, let the politics and other things behind me and start to concentrate on driving, which has been difficult in the last few days.

Q:
You talked about getting to Phoenix. What about getting back to Motegi? How much are you looking forward to running there?

AF:
I'm looking forward to going to Japan. I have a lot of good friends there. Motegi really changed me when I came from Tasman and went to Patrick Racing. That was my first win with Pat Patrick. It changed the whole perspective of my career. Then coming back in the following year, in '99, repeating the task of winning the race was just fantastic. Not only did we win the race, but we were very strong there, dominant both times. So I'm looking forward to going there. We have a lot of fans there. We have a lot of support. I miss not going there the last few years.

Q:
With the winds of change going through open-wheel racing in general, do you sense particularly your move over to the IRL signifies an inevitable conglomeration and we'll only see one series in open-wheel?

AF:
To be honest, it was not my intention, and it's not my intention at all. Like I said before, I wish Open Wheel Racing [Series] well, and I hope they have 22, 23, 26 cars in Long Beach, and they have a successful season. Like I said before, I have to make my decision on the facts that were presented to me at that late stage of the season.

But, I mean, everybody has said for a long time that we need to be united. Somehow, people on both sides have always been trying to do that but, at the end of the day for one or the other reason, it hasn't happened. That has hurt the sport in general, there's so much confusion for the fans, and really everybody has lost here. We need to get back together. Michael Andretti has said it. Many people have said it. We need to get back together. We need to put one series, work all together toward the future. When I entered the series in '93, it was a fantastic series. Hopefully, this can come back to us.

Q:
When you look at the IRL, their gem is the [Indy] 500. You'll be back there. Is it still, even with all the changes, the race internationally for any driver? Do you still get the impression that any driver of any series, if they could win one race, it would be Indy?

AF:
Internationally, definitely it is. The Indianapolis 500 is definitely the most recognisable race in the world. For me, personally, obviously the most important races will be the Mexican races. That's why I'm so deeply sad about what has happened, because I have to leave those races for the moment behind me. It's not something that I really wanted to do. But, like I said before, I have no choice. The Indy 500 definitely, besides the Mexican races for myself personally, it will become the most important race this year for me.

Q:
From the ownership and businessman side of this, once you made the decision late last week to race exclusively in the IndyCar Series, was there a sense of relief or was there a sense of panic?

AF:
Well, you know, those types of decisions are never going to be easy to do. And you know the repercussions of those decisions. Decisions are going to impact tremendously on both sides of the frontier. So I knew that my decision was going to be a very serious decision, and we had to be very sure about what we were doing. We consulted our sponsors. We went through a lot of talks and meetings and everything. We came up with this decision as hard as it could be because of what was happening.

Panic, no, because I was sure of what I was doing, very sure about what I was doing. And time will tell. But it's one of those things that once you make the decision, you just have to keep working on what you believe. What I believed is what we have made. Like I say, time will just tell. But right now, you know, I would like to put all these things behind and try to focus on what I do the best, which is driving and focus on the team and building a team, fight for the championship, and leave all those things behind me.

I know from my side, my heart, I did everything, always to support Champ Cars and support the Mexican races. I have never left them behind. I never turned my back on them. It was just the other way around.

Q:
Give us your impression of Matsuura was the highest-finishing rookie at Homestead....

AF:
I think he has a lot of things to learn. He's never been on an oval. He doesn't have a team-mate. It's difficult when you come on ovals. That happens to everybody. I like him very much. He's very talented. He's a very quick driver. He needs to learn a lot of the ovals. I think this change is going to help him tremendously.

Q:
There has been some talk in recent days about some offer from a group in Cancun that would like to see the IndyCar Series come there. Do you know anything about a possible event there?

AF:
To be honest, I have heard things like you have heard, but I don't have the facts. I haven't talked to them, the people from Cancun. I can't really comment on that because I really don't know about it.

Q:
I was wondering how you came to get John Ward to come back with you to the Indy Racing League?

AF:
What happened was this has been a problem for us in the last few years, having to stabilise the engineering side. We got John Dick a year ago, two years ago, and he's been fantastic to work with. He actually helped us in the last few races last year, and we were extremely competitive.

When we were looking into who could be our engineer this year, we looked at different opportunities. When all these things were shaking about moves, different teams, all that, we find out that John was available. Immediately, we called him back, we made a deal with him. He worked with us in the first year of Fernandez Racing. We worked together for three years in Patrick. We always kept a good friendship. We never finished bad with him. He's coming back to join the team. That's a big confidence for myself because we know each other a lot. We were very strong that year.

Obviously, there was a lot of pressure from myself to do good. But the team was very young, and sometimes you just do the wrong decisions. We were very inexperienced in handling the team. But I have learned a lot, and I realise that John was the right person that we needed, and I'm just very glad that he came back with us.

MC:
Thank you very much, Adrian. We appreciate you being on today's call and welcome you to the Indy Racing League. We'll see you in Phoenix.

AF:
Thank you very much.