Q&A: Michael Valiante.

Merrill Cain:
Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us today on this week's CART media teleconference. I'm Merrill Cain with CART public relations. We're privileged to be joined today by Michael Valiante, driver of No. 19 Lynx Racing Swift in the CART Toyota Atlantic Series. To give you a little bit of background, he's a 21-year-old native of Vancouver, British, Colombia. He's competing in his second season in the Atlantic cars after graduating from the Barber Dodge Pro Series. In 2001, Michael ran five races and still wound up ninth in the series championship and he's considered a serious contender for the 2002 title as well.

Sunday's win in Long Beach was his first in the Toyota Atlantic championship and he used a daring pass of Alex Gurney on lap 21 of that race to key the victory. Thank you for joining us today.

Michael Valiante:
Thank you.

MC:
We'll open it up for questions.

Q:
I was asking Michael Andretti if he was aware of some of the drivers that are coming up through this ladder series. He basically says he'll be able to talk about that better when the season progresses and he gets kind of a handle on everyone. Do you get much of a chance to watch drivers like him in that CART series? Is he one of the guys you look up to or are there other people? Are you too preoccupied and concerned with what you're doing?

MV:
Well, the main drivers I look up to, something you can learn from. I make sure that I always try -- if I don't get to watch the event live, I actually try to watch it on TV the same day or the next day.
But like Michael Andretti was saying, we're so involved on the weekends with developing the cars and trying to do well, sponsors, it's hard to pay attention to everything else going on around you.

But you definitely want to at least sometimes go in and watch to see how Michael Andretti or Paul Tracy or whoever is taking a certain corner. You can try to compare yourself or compare your line.

Q:
In Andretti's case in particular, because the longevity he's had, 15 years between wins at Long Beach, your career is just starting out, when you look at the length of career of somebody like he has had, been successful as long as he's been, do you draw any sort of inspiration from that?

MV:
For sure. I mean, I think just winning Long Beach in itself is an extremely prestigious event to win, just because of the history. It's great for my first win to come there.

But for sure I mean, any driver that can stay in this sport a long time, I think it's great to see, especially with the talent of Michael Andretti. But it's also great to see the now faces coming out of Toyota Atlantic or wherever else.

Q:
First win in any series is so huge. I don't want to use a cliche about the weight being off your shoulders. This is such a competitive series. Knowing that you can beat these guys, at a very prestigious event, that's got to do a lot to relieve a lot of the pressure. You go into these series saying, "Until I win my first one," you wonder if you'll ever do that. Did you think that way or did you know it was going to which eventually?

MV:
It had to come in one of the top teams in the series. Just joining Lynx, I have basically their reputation to follow. Obviously, a lot of people expect us to win. There's no reason why we shouldn't.

I'd say there's been a lot of pressure for me to perform. We were a little bit disappointed after Mexico where we qualified. But I think we really -- I really am coming together with the team now. I only did five events last year. I have a new engineer this year.

I think it was great, you know, to get this win off early in the season and to prove that we will be a championship contender for the rest of the season.

Q:
Nice outside pass on Gurney. Very entertaining. Are you known as a bit of a risk taker? There's not a lot of places to pass in Long Beach. Are you known for doing things like that, a guy who will let it all hang out and stick your nose out there?

MV:
I think it's early in the season. You've just got to see when you want to take those risks. They're basically calculated risks. The last event, I don't think I would have done that if I was leading the championship and could finish second to win.

My car was so good when I was following him, that when you have an opportunity like that, you really have to take it. As you can see, as soon as I got in front of him, I could pull away quite quickly. I knew, if anything, that race I had to win because it's hard to have that much better of a car than everybody else.

Q:
You have to think, "Now I've won one," it would have been nice to do that in Vancouver, but as the schedule works out, you'll be everywhere but?

MV:
I was looking forward to coming home. It would have been great actually to get my first win in Vancouver, as well. But last season I raced in Vancouver, it was my last race, and I finished second. I almost didn't make it to the event.

I think it was great last year to finish second, it's great to start the season off with a win at Long Beach.

Q:
You just talked about the benefit of that win to the Lynx team. For you personally, what does that first win do for the mindset of a young driver?

MV:
Well, I'm trying to keep everything in perspective because it is the beginning of the season. There's still quite a few more races to go. We're going to need a lot of podium finishes to be a championship contender because now with the merging of Atlantics and Indy Lights, the series has become so competitive.
I'm so happy to finally get that first win out of the way, especially coming in Long Beach. It has relieved a little bit of pressure, but I still think we have a lot of work to do in the upcoming events.

Q:
Being from the greater Vancouver area, maybe a few more wins like this, do you think the comparisons with Greg Moore will be become inevitable?

MV:
I mean, it's hard to say. Greg was a great driver. I only hope I can be compared to him one day. It would be awfully difficult to live up to Greg Moore.

I think it will all depend. The pass I made on Gurney I think I gained a lot of respect from doing that rather than just finishing second and taking it safe. I'm just extremely happy.

Q:
You said it would have been nice to race in Vancouver this year. Is this any race for next season in Vancouver or has the schedule not been determined yet?

MV:
It hasn't been determined yet. Obviously, I'll be pushing for a Vancouver event.

Q:
You had a good view of the first turn of the first lap. Can you tell us anything about that?

MV:
The green flag was thrown extremely late. I think we were really bunched up by the time we did get the green flag. I didn't have the greatest start. So Jon Fogarty who started fourth alongside of me got in front of me. Basically we all went into turn one much too late. I was just trying to gather up the car. I think Jon squeezed down the inside of Joey and Ryan was on the outside. It's really difficult to go through turn one three abreast, especially with that much speed.

I think it was hard to see what happened to Ryan, but I guess he hit the tyre wall. I was just able to squeeze on the inside of Jon Fogarty. I thought I was actually going to come out in the lead. I looked on the inside, Alex was on the inside of me, and we were in the same situation, going three abreast.

We just squeezed through there with inches to spare.

Q:
Certainly I know you held your breath after that for a bit. Did you hold your breath when you made the move on Alex or was that something you felt you had in hand and could do?

MV:
Well, I had followed Alex I think it was almost for 20 laps. I knew that he wasn't too strong in the braking zone of turn one, so I knew if I had the chance to pass him, it was going to have to be at the end of the straightaway.

The hard thing was at Long Beach you really have to get behind him off the hairpin to get the draft in the Atlantic car to have the chance to pass him at the end of the straightaway. Alex is extremely good at coming off the hairpin turn.

On the restarts, it was the closest I had ever been. I got a great draft. I was thinking about going to the inside first, but Alex was right up against the wall. I had so much momentum going.

I just decided to take the outside line. I had a little slide going. Probably wasn't as dramatic as it looked because the car wasn't completely sideways, it was just enough where I could hold it through the corner.
By the time I was at the exit of the corner, I realized how close it was.

Q:
Does this win now give you extra confidence for the season or did you already have this confidence being with the Lynx team?

MV:
I think it all gives us -- has given the whole team extra confidence because we have a few new people on the team now. Like I said, Steve Cameron, the team manager, was my manager last year. Rick is my team manager this year. I'm still getting used to working with new people. Obviously we're doing something right because we had a really good car and were able to win this race.

Q:
Last year you ran in the series, this year. Can you talk about the different level of competition this year versus last year?

MV:
Last year was extremely competitive. There was quite a few good drivers. But I think with the merging of Indy Lights and Atlantic, obviously you have three Dorricott cars who are a constant threat, three good drivers, the team is very good coming from Indy Lights and winning quite a few championships.

With the numbers now exceeding 25 cars, the competition level, any Top 10 driver can win an event. That's how I see it. It's really forced not only myself to raise my game but also the team as well, to make sure that in every single test day we're getting the most out of me and getting the most out of the cars.

I think it's extremely competitive, more than last year, because I don't think there were this many cars that could win a race. I think it's going to be extremely challenging all year long, although it will be -- I think we will get more recognition, the Atlantic driver will get more recognition if he wins an event because they're basically one stepping stone series into CART now.

Q:
You have quite a layoff now. I think your next Atlantic race isn't until June.

MV:
Yes.

Q:
What does that do to you in terms of what will you do during that time? Just having won a race, obviously you'd probably like to have another race in a week or two weeks to keep the momentum going. That's the way the schedule is. How do you feel about it? What will you do in the month of May?

MV:
I think it's critical to keep in good shape even though we're going -- we have almost a little over a month off. Basically I'll just be working out almost every day. We have some tests scheduled, as well. I also like to do a lot of karting. I have a long history of karting, so I do quite a bit of that while I'm down here in California. That just helps me prepare for the next event.

It would have been nice I think later in the season there's a series of events, almost four in a row. Like you said, it would have been great to keep this momentum going.

But it's also great to have a month off just coming off a victory, the whole team is happy. Basically the whole team is on a high from winning that event. It's a good way to have a month and a half break. I think it will only build my confidence for the next event.

Q:
Do you feel an inordinate amount of pressure? The fact you have a Lynx seat, you almost sounded like you didn't do very well in Mexico, sounded like there was a real urgency to do well here. Do you feel that now? Last year you only had five rides, but now being one of their top drivers, because the history of Lynx, do you feel that pressure like you have to produce immediately, you can't even sort of have time to kind of acclimatize yourself to the season?

MV:
I mean, definitely the Lynx organization, it's great to be part of. They don't put the pressure on me. I mean, I put more of it on myself. The sport at this level, Atlantic, even more so in CART, it's all based on performance. The pressure is always there to finish on the podium.

Like I said, I think this year more than anything it's critical to finish on the podium and have consistent results if you're going to have a shot at the championship. You can just see from Jon Fogarty, who finished third this weekend, he has a first and a third now. I think he's going to be one of the main contenders because he's consistent.
Same thing for myself.

If we don't have the best car, we're not having the best weekend, like in Mexico, we were still able to finish fourth. That's what put us in the position right now where we are in the championship, a few points behind Fogarty who is leading.

Like I said, if we can't win, we have to at least finish on the podium.

Q:
You finished fourth in Monterrey. Do you also feel, you not only have to win, you have to demonstrate you're a pretty aggressive driver, the manner in which you won? Is that just as important as winning?

MV:
Winning the way I did was it is was the best thing I could have done. I think a lot of people have taken notice to the way I passed Alex. He didn't make it easy by any means. I really had to push to get by him.

When you can win a race like Long Beach, because I think people say it's a real technical track, if I can win the way I did, it will really help my career. I think it will really help the team, to give them confidence as well, if I can do things with the car like that.

Q:
Do you come home at all during this next stretch?

MV:
We'll be testing in Portland next week. I'm going to try to make it back to Vancouver within the next two or three weeks. I've been away from home for a while now, almost three months. I'd like to come home and see everybody.

Q:
Atlantic events in Toronto and Montreal this year.

MV:
Yes.

Q:
It's been unfortunate it's not in Vancouver. At least those will be big races for you, won't they?

MV:
For sure. Any time I come home for Canada, I think we receive a lot of publicity, as David did. Two great Canadian drivers, quite a few. We're all looking forward to coming home and competing in front of our home country crowd.

Q:
How did you meet the Lynx ladies? I know you don't drink, but do you get carded very often?

MV:
Well, how I met the Lynx lady, the beginning of last year actually I didn't really know what I was going to be doing. I just finished the season. I was really looking for an Atlantic ride. I first started talking to Steve Cameron, team manager there. We tried to put something together. Took quite a few weeks before I got in the car. It was only a week before Long Beach. We finally came to agreement that Long Beach would be my first race. After the first test, I basically went and met Peggy, Jackie, talked. They were excited to have me on the team.

About getting carded, probably more so in the United States than in Canada. Like you said, I don't drink, so I don't have too many experiences with it. More so getting the mechanics beer, things like that.

MC:
One final question for you. We asked Michael Andretti about this before we let him go. If you could talk a little bit about the ladder system. You're a Barber Dodge Pro Series graduate. Now there is a clear track to the Champ cars. What does that mean to a talented driver like yourself who wants to reach the highest level?

MV:
I think it's great. It's been a long time coming. When I came out of karts, it was difficult to make the transition because you didn't really have any direction, didn't know if you could into to Formula 4, two-liter, Indy Lights, Atlantic. It was difficult to make a decision. I was one of the first ones to win the scholarship into the Skip Barber Racing School, receive a full free season, my first season. I was able to go from their two-liter series, then win a scholarship to go to Barber Dodge, and now to Atlantic, and hopefully CART.
There's a real defined path. It's great for up-and-coming drivers who aren't too familiar with the sport or how to even get up into CART or even Atlantic. I think it's great.

CART is continuing to do things for Atlantic drivers and all sorts of drivers like this new mentor program that they've introduced. I think you'll definitely see some Atlantic drivers making the transition into CART.

MC:
The mentor program was announced this weekend also in Long Beach where drivers like yourself will have the opportunity to meet with Champ car teams and drivers, get a feel for what's it's like to compete at that level, especially on a race weekend. How important and valuable do you think that's going to be to you?

MV:
I think it's extremely important because it puts your face in front of the CART owners or the CART teams. Anytime that you can have an introduction like that, you can always go back and talk to the team or talk to the engineers or even talk to the drivers.

I found one of the most important things in racing is to constantly keep your face and keep in contact with influential people that you know, not only because of the influential people, but I've met so many great people and have become friends with them.

Anytime you can basically network in motor racing, I think it's an advantage. I think CART is only helping the Atlantic drivers do that now. It's great to see.

MC:
Thanks again for joining us this afternoon. We really enjoyed watching the race in Long Beach. Congratulations again on the victory. We'll see you at the next Toyota Atlantic, in Milwaukee, early June.

MV:
Thanks for having me.

MC:
Thank you for joining us on the CART media teleconference. See you at the next CART FedEx Championship series event, the Bridgestone Potenza 500 from Motegi, Japan on Saturday, April 1227th. Have a very good afternoon.