RuSport Back on the Pace
The RuSPORT team rebounded from a disastrous Friday to annex the second row of the grid in final qualifying at Montreal
Justin Wilson had been less than satisfied with the balance of his car in provisional qualifying and finished a below-par seventh on the time sheets, while AJ Allmendinger was mired in 16th after failing to get in a flying lap before a red flag ended the session prematurely.
Matters improved dramatically on Saturday, and Wilson and Allmendinger snared third and fourth respectively, bracketed by a scant 22 hundredths of a second.
"I think qualifying was pretty good today," said Wilson. "We went out slightly earlier than some people and got a good time in so I was quite pleased with that effort."
The Englishman's performance was especially impressive since he had missed most of morning practice due to an as yet undiagnosed mechanical problem.
"That set us back a bit, but part of the benefit of being in a good team like RuSPORT is being able to pool information and AJ got some useful data," noted Wilson.
Allmendinger added: "Today was a good effort by the whole team. We started off pretty bad yesterday and didn't even get in a qualifying run so we've made major improvements today.
"Overall, I think today was a great effort. I'm just a little frustrated with myself because I was on a good lap and made a mistake which I'm sure cost me a little."
The young Californian played a high-profile role in last year's Molson Indy Montreal - qualifying on the front row, sustaining a puncture on the first lap, charging back through the field, and then taking out race leader Sebastien Bourdais in an ill-judged passing attempt at the hairpin, all en route to fifth place.
"This track is one of my favourites," declared Allmendinger. "It's definitely a good place for me and I've done well here in Barber Dodge and Toyota Atlantic, but it's a long race tomorrow so we'll see what happens."
Rating the best drivers of the century so far
Autosport's Top 50 feature has been a staple of the magazine for the past two decades since its first appearance in 2002. Here are the drivers that have featured most prevalently during that time
The best motorsport moments of 2021
Motorsport produced one of its greatest years of all-time in 2021 despite a backdrop of ongoing COVID-19 challenges and an ever-changing racing landscape. Through the non-stop action Autosport has collected the finest moments from the past 12 months to highlight the incredible drama and joy motorsport generates
The racing comeback artists who resurrected long-dormant careers
Making it in motorsport can be tough, and sometimes drivers move elsewhere before their best chance arrives. Here are some of those who made it back
The hidden racing gem attracting ex-F1 heroes
It’s rarely mentioned when it comes to assessing the best national contests, but the Brazilian Stock Car series that reaches its climax this weekend has an ever-growing appeal. Its expanding roster of ex-Formula 1 names has helped to draw in new fans, but it's the closeness of competition that keeps them watching
The one-time Schumacher rival rebooting his career Down Under
Joey Mawson made waves in the middle of the last decade, beating future Haas Formula 1 driver Mick Schumacher - among other highly-rated talents - to the 2016 German F4 title. A run in F1's feeder GP3 category only caused his career to stall, but now back in Australia Mawson's S5000 title success has set that to rights
The lesson football’s would-be wreckers could learn from racing
OPINION: The greed-driven push for a European Super League that threatened to tear football apart is collapsing at the seams. Motor racing's equivalent, the football-themed Superleague Formula series of 2008-11, was everything that the proposed ESL never could be
The F1 and Indy 'nearly man' that found contentment in Japan
Having had the door to F1 slammed in his face and come within three laps of winning the Indianapolis 500, the collapse of a Peugeot LMP1 shot meant Japan was Bertrand Baguette's last chance of a career. But it's one which he has grasped with both hands
The female all-rounder who arrived "too early"
From Formula 3 to truck racing, Dakar and EuroNASCAR via a winning stint in the DTM, there's not much Ellen Lohr hasn't seen in a stellar racing career that highlights the merit in being a generalist. But she believes her career came too early...