Wilson storms to Toronto pole
Justin Wilson took his first pole in the IndyCar Series with a commanding performance in Toronto
The Dreyer & Reinbold driver cruised through the first two segments of qualifying without even having to use Firestone's softer red tyres - going fastest of all in the top 12 session on the harder black-walled rubber while all his rivals tried in vain to beat him on reds.
Wilson then swiftly produced a 1m00.2710s lap in the Fast Six session to secure provisional pole, and that time proved unbeatable.
Championship leader Will Power was Wilson's nearest rival, just under 0.2 seconds adrift. Power's Penske team-mate Helio Castroneves took third, despite having to park in the run-off at the end of the pole shoot-out.
Ryan Hunter-Reay took fourth for Andretti Autosport, ahead of Ganassi duo Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon, with Penske's third driver Ryan Briscoe just missing the top six cut in seventh.
Although only Hunter-Reay reached the Fast Six, all four Andretti cars got beyond the group stages, with Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti and Danica Patrick to start in eighth, 10th and 12th respectively - a significant improvement on the latter's recent road/street course pace.
Alex Tagliani kept up his strong form at home to take ninth on the grid for Fazzt, although fellow Canadian hero Paul Tracy had a disastrous session - ending up 24th for KV Racing after spinning in the first part of qualifying. Vitor Meira (Foyt) crashed at the same time and will start last, while Tracy's KV team-mate Takuma Sato's car came to a halt on track with a mechanical problem, leaving him 18th.
Raphael Matos (De Ferran Dragon) recovered from his morning crash to take 12th, while EJ Viso (KV) - who had been rapid in practice - and returnee Graham Rahal (Newman/Haas) were the fastest drivers knocked out in the group sessions and will share row seven.
Pos Driver Team Time Session 1. Justin Wilson Dreyer & Reinbold 1m00.2710s Fast six 2. Will Power Penske 1m00.4563s Fast six 3. Helio Castroneves Penske 1m00.8159s Fast six 4. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti 1m00.8397s Fast six 5. Dario Franchitti Ganassi 1m00.9477s Fast six 6. Scott Dixon Ganassi 1m00.9541s Fast six 7. Ryan Briscoe Penske 1m00.9141s Top 12 8. Tony Kanaan Andretti 1m00.9212s Top 12 9. Alex Tagliani FAZZT 1m00.9996s Top 12 10. Marco Andretti Andretti 1m01.2297s Top 12 11. Raphael Matos De Ferran Dragon 1m01.2820s Top 12 12. Danica Patrick Andretti 1m01.4580s Top 12 13. EJ Viso KV 1m01.4087s Group 1 14. Graham Rahal Newman/Haas 1m01.7024s Group 2 15. Dan Wheldon Panther 1m01.6926s Group 1 16. Bertrand Baguette Conquest 1m01.8072s Group 2 17. Mario Romancini Conquest 1m01.9575s Group 1 18. Takuma Sato KV 1m01.8130s Group 2 19. Tomas Scheckter Dreyer & Reinbold 1m02.0426s Group 1 20. Mario Moraes KV 1m02.0953s Group 2 21. Simona de Silvestro HVM 1m02.0547s Group 1 22. Hideki Mutoh Newman/Haas 1m02.1453s Group 2 23. Alex Lloyd Dale Coyne 1m02.6142s Group 1 24. Paul Tracy KV 1m02.5387s Group 2 25. Milka Duno Dale Coyne Group 1 26. Vitor Meira Foyt 1m03.0741s Group 2
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