Montoya takes 'surprise' pole
Juan Montoya seemed surprised to have taken pole position for the Portland CART race
The rookie superstar hadn't expected to be so fast after a difficult time in morning practice.
He said: 'When I went out this morning, the car started pushing (understeering), and I thought maybe I'd be fifth or sixth on the grid.
'But we made some changes and I went out and pushed as hard as I could.'
Observers were blown away by the Columbian's spectacular progress around the faster parts of the course. Montoya's reputation is growing all the time in America, with many comparing him favourably to Gilles Villeneuve and Ayrton Senna.
However, it could so easily have been Helio Castro-Neves on pole. The Hogan Lola driver has been almost as impressive as Montoya this year. The team have a serious lack of money, and testing is extremely limited as a result, but their young Brazilian driver has been one of Montoya's most consistent challengers. Had his car not run out of fuel at the end of the session, it could have been two poles in a row for Castro-Neves.
He said: 'On my last lap we were going very quickly, and unfortunately we ran out of fuel. I expected to be very excited at the end of that lap, but I'm happy right now. I expected to do well, and I did.'
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