Happy Kovalainen eyeing strong race

The Renault driver, fresh from scoring his best result - 4th - in F1 in Canada last weekend, completed another strong day to secure sixth place on the grid for tomorrow's race.

After that, the Finn feels confident he will have a positive race tomorrow.

"It was a good qualifying session for me, continuing a good weekend so far," said Kovalainen. "The car balance felt OK, the set-up is good and I was comfortable on both types of tyre all the way through qualifying. We have improved the car throughout the weekend, and just had a normal weekend.

"I have always been confident that things would start going better for me, and I haven't made any mistakes or lost any track time here in Indy.

"When that happens, you can push to the limit and get the maximum from the car. That's what has made the difference compared to last weekend, and now we have to focus on the race. We will have a good strategy and the car is handling well. I'm feeling confident."

Kovalainen outqualified teammate Giancarlo Fisichella, 10th today, but the Roman is also upbeat about his chances for the race tomorrow.

"It was important to be in the top ten today, and to confirm the progress we have made with the car," said the Italian. "I had a clean lap at the end of the second round of qualifying, and the pace of the car was good.

"I was suffering from understeer on some parts of the track during the weekend, but we made some changes before qualifying and the balance was pretty good, the best I have had so far this weekend. I am looking forward to tomorrow's race, as the car has been consistent and quick all weekend."