The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 46

I FRIDAY, MAY 13, 1981 1 THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR- 46 rU II Teo Fabi is fourth quickest r- Mnriel Stock Car auDD races! Ujl-f MAV 13 MAY 14 10 Action Packed Races Nightly Featuring Thrilling 25 Lap FIGURE-8 1 INDIANAPOLIS iw untax. usiM.ii. i iim HT- 1 hud car rkz per RENTAL DAY 5233 E. WASH. ST 632-4429 HUN5TMANS 11 TOYOTA MINI CtUISM It 31 16 STOUTS R.V.

SALES 790 U.S. 31 North uuinnn IU 1 1-3I7-M1-7670 vwrwn 1 3 There's a little bit of Derby Day every day start at the bottom 170 mph on his rookie test Some might have been upset about having to go so slow after already proving he could go so fast. Fabi wasn't "I think it is a very good idea to pass a test," he said. "This is a very difficult circuit The test gives you a chance to go up with the speed slowly. "You also have a chance to go around with the experienced drivers it helps you find the way around." FABI ALSO found his preliminary trips around the track with USAC Referee Art Meyers helpful.

"There's nothing special that I picked up." he said. "It is mostly procedural but it's useful. It's nothing that you wouldn't learn in a few laps anyway, but it is good to know it before." Fabi has a history of going fast in everything he's driven at least until he landed with the back of the-pack Toleman team in Formula One last year. Two years ago, driving for the Paul NewmanOrl Haas team on the at Churchill Downs if 5r rr. mi PIT PASS By The Star Speedway Staff WiiiXJr For Clubhouse reserved NA.

Pnr Plnhhoiise reserved I i.nm seals, pnone ovit.i ooo-ojh By DAVE OVERPECK You can't tell it from watching Vfcim hut Teo Fabi says of the Speed- 'way, "It is a very difficult circuit especially because the speed is so high." Yes, the speed is so high and the little Italian rookie is right there at the top of the list of those going the quickest With one day of practice left, the 1 27 year old Milan native stands i fourth on the speed list with a lap Wednesday of 202.M9 in the Skoal Bandit March 83CCosworth. His quickest in Thursday's rain short-j ened session was 200.133. I The speed has been there for Fabi virtually since he layed eyes on I the Speedway last March. He was at 202 during a test program some-t thing that wouldn't haven't been possible in previous years when rookies were allowed to run only under strict speed limits. Since he skipped USACs Rookie Orientation Program, the 5 5, 140- pound Fabi had something of an adjustment to make when he had to THERE WAS SOME concern in Gasoline Alley about a tire shortage Thursday, but it was a false alarm.

After five straight days of run ning, some teams needed new rubber. But the Speedway's Goodyear store was empty until late afternoon. We came to Indy with a big pile of tires and we just went through 'em a little quicker than we thought," explained Leo Mehl, Good-year's racing director. "Basically, we've had constant running, no rain, and that's a lot of miles. "We had a temporary misconnec-tion on a shipment so we had to charter a couple of planes and they got here about 3 o'clock." Fresh tires are usually worth a couple of miles an hour.

Don Whit-tington ran his 205.198 lap on a set that had more than 50 laps on them, however. "We like to see people put some miles on their tires," said Mehl, whose company provides all Indy competitors with free rubber. "I don'd think anybody has been hurt because they didn't have tires." THE FOLKS MOST concerned say it will be close but no cigar in the chase after Rick Mears' one and four-lap qualifying records Saturday. In a poll of the drivers by the Speedway press office, the average prediction of 32 chauffeurs was 207.040 miles an hour for fastest lap in qualifying and 206.027 for fastest four-lap average. Mears' 1983 records are 207.612 and 207.040, resqcctively.

Though the average prediction is before 11 a.m. Dining room reservations, phone (502) 636-3351. 9 races exacta daily double thru September 5 Tuesday-Saturday. 10 races every Saturday. FirstRace Come OUt and play JLI40edt below the records, several drivers were forecasting the marks would fall.

Highest predictions came from rookie Patrick Bedard who sees a fast lap of 208.750 and a four lap par of 208.010. On the low side is Gary Betten-hausen. He says the quick lap will be 205.200 and the four-tap average 204.200. The drivers also were asked to pick the speed it would take to make the starting field. The average of those guesses was 195.719.

Highest guess in that department came from Don Whittington who thinks it will take a four-lap average of 198.400 to make the show. At the opposite extreme is rookie Chuck Ciprich with a 193.500 forecast. Last year Roger Mears' 194.154 run was slowest among the 33. Significantly missing from the roster of forecasters is Rick Mears. He declines to make speed predictions for fear of giving away information to the competition.

FOR THE FIRST time since 1962, Jim McElreath showed up at the Speedway without a ride. After taking his old PC 7 copy to the CART opener, blowing off some of the big bucks teams and winding up 11th, the racy 55 year old Texan arrived here Thursday as a spectator. "There's no sense bringing my old car here," said McElreath, a 15-time Indy starter. "I've never run Michigan so I'll probably go there and Pocono. "I'm building a new modified and a guy wants me to run his sprinter, so I'll only be here a few days." Star Plate Teo Fabi watches action Rookie seeks '500' ride just the speed in the corners.

Formula One cars will go 200 on the straightaways but never in the corners. "Can-Am cars are different. They are bigger and heavier and not so nice to drive. I prefer Formula cars." Standing fourth on the speed list at the moment Fabi can legitimately concern himself with making the front row for the 67th running of the 500 Mile Race. But there still is the matter of finding the limit without exceeding it.

Just how close is he to finding the end of the line in his car? "Personally, I feel like it is someplace between 204 and 206," Fabi said. "But qualifying isn't until Saturday. There are still two days." Spectracide Can Am circuit, he won four races, was on the pole seven times and set five track records. Yet when it comes to Indianapolis, he says he's looking for speed very carefully. "When the speed goes up, it makes everything more difficult" he said.

"It's very difficult to find your limit. "I try to drive at a comfortable speed. I don't want to go over the limit. Really. I want to find my limit but slowly.

"It is my feeling that when you have an accident on a speedway and you walk away from it without being hurt you are very lucky. I don't want to try my luck." Getting to Indy "has always been my dream it's the biggest race in the world," said Fabi. "I consider a victory at Indianapolis the equal to a Formula One championship." HE FIRST heard of Indy when he was "5 or 6" and he has "always" wanted to drive race cars. But he got his high speed start as a downhill skier when he was 16. He didn't get his start in motorized going fast until 1976 when he, brother Corrado and current No.

1 Lotus driver Elio de Angelis won the European go kart championship. From there he progressed through European Formula Three and Two and into Can-Am, endurance racing and Formula One. So it hasn't been a short trip to the place Carl Fisher built on West 16th Street. Has the wait been worth it? "Yeah," he says, "the wait was worth it. I like the Speedway but I need more experience.

I've never been involved with anything like this before." As far as the car is concerned, though, Formula One was close. "They are almost exactly the same," Fabi said. "There is little difference OTJH1J QxcActot it "Decree nnDEnonry- si ANDfftSOH. INDIANA i BIG TRIPLEHEADER NITi BEFORE INDY TIME TRIALS FRIDAY, MAY 13th W.W.A.R. C.O.R.A.

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