Dario set for Toronto triple
Dario Franchitti looks set for his third pole in a row at Toronto, but can he convert it into a win this time?
The Scot took pole here in 1997 but was punted into a spin at the first corner and later crashed out. A year later he dominated until caught out by a brake problem 11 laps from home.
Fastest in today's first qualifying session, Franchitti was just 0.1s ahead of Gil de Ferran. Michael Andretti had been quickest in morning practice but slipped to 3rd.
Best of the home drivers was Paul Tracy in 4th, ahead of the resurgent Tony Kanaan. Points leader Juan Montoya was in 8th, lower than usual but not a problem for the Columbian with another session still to run tomorrow afternoon.
Another notable result was Scott Pruett qualifying the Arciero-Wells Reynard-Toyota in 10th place, one of his best performances of 1999 and a boost for the team.
Three years ago, Toronto was the scene of tragedy for Arciero-Wells when their driver Jeff Krosnoff was killed in a violent accident.
Al Unser Jr returned to the Penske chassis but headed only the pay drivers Dennis Vitolo and Shigeaki Hattori. Alex Barron will not now join the team until the US500 at Michigan next weekend.
Friday qualifying times from Toronto:
|
1 |
Dario Franchitti |
Team KOOL Green |
Reynard-Honda |
57.951s |
|
2 |
Gil de Ferran |
Walker Racing |
Reynard-Honda |
58.091s |
|
3 |
Michael Andretti |
Newman-Haas |
Swift-Ford |
58.279s |
|
4 |
Paul Tracy |
Team KOOL Green |
Reynard-Honda |
58.377s |
|
5 |
Tony Kanaan |
McDonald's Racing |
Reynard-Honda |
58.381s |
|
6 |
Jimmy Vasser |
Ganassi |
Reynard-Honda |
58.499s |
|
7 |
Helio Castro Neves |
Hogan Racing |
Lola-Mercedes |
58.534s |
|
8 |
Juan Montoya |
Ganassi |
Reynard-Honda |
58.646s |
|
9 |
Greg Moore |
Forsythe |
Reynard-Mercedes |
58.689s |
|
10 |
Scott Pruett |
Arciero-Wells |
Reynard-Toyota |
58.723s |
|
11 |
Roberto Moreno |
PacWest |
Reynard-Mercedes |
58.745s |
|
12 |
Christian Fittipaldi |
Newman-Haas |
Swift-Ford |
58.784s |
|
13 |
Patrick Carpentier |
Forsythe |
Reynard-Mercedes |
58.811s |
|
14 |
Adrian Fernandez |
Patrick Racing |
Swift-Ford |
58.846s |
|
15 |
Bryan Herta |
Team Rahal |
Reynard-Ford |
58.874s |
|
16 |
Christiano da Matta |
Arciero-Wells |
Reynard-Toyota |
58.880s |
|
17 |
Mauricio Gugelmin |
PacWest |
Reynard-Mercedes |
59.120s |
|
18 |
Max Papis |
Team Rahal |
Reynard-Ford |
59.491s |
|
19 |
Michel Jourdain Jr |
Payton-Coyne |
Lola-Ford |
59.547s |
|
20 |
Memo Gidley |
Walker Racing |
Reynard-Honda |
59.645s |
|
21 |
Richie Hearn |
Della Penna |
Reynard-Toyota |
59.751s |
|
22 |
PJ Jones |
Patrick Racing |
Swift-Ford |
59.762s |
|
23 |
Gualter Salles |
AAR |
Eagle-Toyota |
1m00.300s |
|
24 |
Robby Gordon |
Gordon Racing |
Swift-Toyota |
1m00.619s |
|
25 |
Al Unser Jr |
Penske |
Penske-Mercedes |
1m01.177s |
|
26 |
Dennis Vitolo |
Payton-Coyne |
Reynard-Ford |
1m02.893s |
|
27 |
Shigeaki Hattori |
Bettenhausen |
Reynard-Mercedes |
1m03.215s |
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