There I was in an office in Ipswich, Queensland, Australia listening to the questions of motoring reporters from all over the world talking to Michael Andretti at his home in Nazareth in the USA.

Here are some of the comments made and the responses to my own questions -

prompted from articles placed in Internet news groups.

Q: How will the Lola perform in 1995?

MA: It will perform very well. The new Lola is a huge improvement. Better by at least a tenth.

Q: What happened (to you) after the IndyCar Australia last year?

MA: I had a new race car. We had no experience with the car. After Penske we finished first in the class.

MA: Life without dad will be strange - he will be in the pits at most of my races but not at Surfers.

Q: Who are the most serious challengers?

MA: Al Unser Jr.; Paul Tracy; Jacques Villeneuve and Robby Gordon; with new guy Bryan Herta the one to watch.

Q: Minor changes have been made to the Gold Coast track, to make it better and faster how will that effect your race?

MA: Great move. Surfer's was great except for that one corner.

Q: How do you find Australia?

MA: Love the 116,856 bytes. Gold Coast.

Q: How long is your contract with Newman/Haas?

MA: I have a three year deal.

Your on the spot Internet man picked up some comments from the Indy news group and asked the question:

Scott Balson: The word on the net is that Penske is good but that they won't dominate this year. The word is Michael Andretti for IndyCar World Champion in 1995..

MA: I fear losing and will be going all out to win.

Scott Balson: The word on the net is that Michael's salary is US$3.5 million vs Tracy's of under US$1.5 million and that this says a lot about who is number one on the Newman/Haas team.

MA: We don't have a number one driver at Newman/Haas - we expect a great year.

Scott Balson: Who is your biggest threat in 1995?

MA: Al Unser Jr.

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