FELIPE AND ZECA GIAFFONE COMPETE IN THE SLICK 50- 200 PLAYER'S LTD./TOYOTA
ATLANTIC CHAMPIONSHIP RACE AT PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

Zeca (21) and Felipe (20) Giaffone of Sao Paulo, Brazil finished 12th and 9th
respectively in the Players Ltd./Toyota Atlantic Championship race, part of
the Slick 50- 200 weekend at Phoenix International Raceway in Arizona. The
race marked the first appearance of the brothers on an American style oval. 

In the Friday morning practice session Felipe, in car #15, was the fastest of
the two brothers with a lap of 25.763 seconds (139.73 m.p.h.). His fastest
speed putting him at 15th quickest. Zeca, in car #14, was right behind him in
the 16th spot with a lap of 25.767 seconds (139.71 m.p.h.). 

The team made some changes for that afternoon's, single car, qualifying
session. And although the Brazilians were unable to improve their times, they
were able to improve their positions. Felipe qualified 14th, with a lap of
25.942 seconds (138.77 m.p.h.), and Zeca placed 17th with a 26.508 second lap
(135.80 m.p.h.)

For Saturdays' warm-up session Phillips Motorsports tried 2 different setups
in order to find a direction to take the cars for the race. Felipe's setup
proved to be the better of the 2 and was applied to Zeca's car prior to the
start of the race.

During the race both cars suffered from persistent understeer in turns 1 and
2, and had too much downforce costing them valuable straight line speed.
Through attrition, and some cautious driving, the Giaffones were able to move
up the field. Felipe finished 9th, his second top ten finish in 2 races, and
Zeca ended up in the 12th spot. After 2 rounds of the Players Ltd./Toyota
Atlantic Championship, Felipe is in 5th place with 16 points, and Zeca is in
12th with 9 points.    
 
Felipe's comments on the race were, "I like the ovals. But I need to test on
more of them, because I don't know them. The team had made more changes to
the car. They put in more wing for down force in the corners. But it cost me
my straight line speed. I did well in the corners, but got passed in the
straights. In Thursday's open practice session we blew an engine. I lost most
of the day and got in only 20 laps. That is nothing on an oval when the
entire race is only 50 laps. If I hadn't lost that day of practice I would
have been further up front. I felt good about the race. The car was much more
comfortable after all the changes. I am beginning to feel the car. But I need
to test a lot more. I look forward to Long Beach."

Zeca's comments were, "This was not too bad a race for the first oval. We had
less understeer than we had in practice and the cars were more comfortable.
My brother and I had different setups in this morning's warm-up. The team
made the cars the same for the race and we both had understeer and too much
down force. We were slow down the straights. The cars were good in turns 3
and 4 [the widest turns] but it was a problem in 1 and 2. We only tested on
one oval, at Mesa Marin in California, but it is a 1/2 mile track and is
nothing like Phoenix. I wish we could test here in preparation for Nazareth
[Pennsylvania], but I don't know if we will be able
to. I am looking forward to testing at Las Vegas in preparation for Long
Beach."

The brothers went to the Castles and Castles amusement park, in Phoenix,
after the race to ride roller coasters. Probably they felt that they did not
get enough high G-force, right turns this weekend.

After the Miami crash, the team had problems taking delivery on spare parts
to repair Felipe's car. Many of the items they needed were held up in customs
and had to be reordered. U.S. Customs thought the parts were for a passenger
car, and therefore subject to Environmental Protection Agency standards. The
result of the customs problem was that the gears used during the race were
not the proper ones for the track, they were too short and therefore there
was a loss of top end going down the straights. 

The brothers tested Tuesday in Las Vegas to prepare for the Players
Ltd./Toyota Atlantic Championship race, part of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long
Beach in California on April 7, 8 and 9. 

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