"We're smoking out there," Tagliani

source: cart.com

Portland, Ore.  - Alex Tagliani and the Rocketsports crew have spent the past two days testing at Portland International Speedway. On the first day of testing Tagliani reported the quickest lap time of 58.83 seconds on the 1.969 mile track.

"We're smoking out there," said Tagliani, who was pleased with the set-up of the #33 Johnson Controls Lola and the performance of the Cosworth engine. "We've been really fast and everything is working well on the back-up car."

Rocketsports is running their back-up car for the Portland tests since fuel pump problems, which began Sunday during the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, put the primary car back in the shop. The primary car fuel pump issues resulted in weak fuel pick-up for Tagliani, who qualified third and slid back to finish 10th in round three of the Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford.

On day two of the Portland tests Tagliani claimed the second quickest lap, behind Michel Jourdain, with a time of 58.93 seconds and continued to test various set-up configurations. "Conditions for the tests here in Portland are perfect," said Tagliani. "It's dry and warm today (Wednesday) and we're happy with the set-up we've arranged for the race here in Portland on June 22."

Information from the Portland tests will also help teams prepare for the upcoming European races. "There are some similarities between this track and Brands Hatch and it was cooler on Tuesday," explained Tagliani, "which gives us an idea of the set-up we'll need for England."

Tagliani is currently in eighth position in the Champ Car World Series Championship standings with 17 points. The Rocketsports team and Tagliani will test their knowledge and skill next at the London Champ Car Trophy at Brands Hatch England on May 5th and the German 500 at Euro Speedway Lausitz on May 11th.