Surprises expected at Monterrey

Monterrey's slick surface and the immensely grippy option tyres that Bridgestone have brought south of the border have widened the gap between the standard tyre and the optionals, which could bring about some potentially startling results.

Although first qualifying didn't reflect it, PKV Racing look to have taken a step forward in pace, maintaining the momentum of their impressive race day pace at Houston last weekend. Anticipating better grip on the track this afternoon, the team went the wrong way on set-up, but Oriol Servia appears capable of reaching the second row, while this morning, his teammate Katherine Legge put herself in the top 10.

"In qualifying, we were loose on corner entry and mid-corner, but we still might have been higher if the red flags hadn't interrupted my final run," Servia said.

"Because of the heat from the track, the window of opportunity when the tyres are at the optimum is so tight, that it only takes a little bit of traffic or an error from the driver and you underperform. If things go well tomorrow, I really think we can be top five on the grid."

One man who certainly did get the most out of his car this afternoon was former PKV driver Cristiano da Matta, who ended up tenth. The 2002 champion, who now drives for Dale Coyne Racing commented: "I think if the Conquest cars hadn't put on reds [soft option tyres] we could have been eighth which is a great sign.

"It was slippery out there, but it was nothing that we didn't expect. This place is really strange because although the track temperature is something like 150degF, the harder, standard tyres still don't come up to temperature quickly because the lateral grip from the track isn't there to warm them up. Honestly, the grip is so low on this track we're only getting about 70 or 80 per cent of the g-forces that we would get on any other circuit.

"I'm hoping we'll get a clean run on the option tyres, which we didn't use today, because Conquest have proved they can work really really well. Hopefully that will also help my traction out of the corners which is kind of letting us down at the moment. We're quick on turn in, but coming out of the corner, trying to get on the throttle early is just kicking us out so wide."

Da Matta concluded: "If we can get in the top 10 in qualifying, I think we could have a strong result like Long Beach. We have the potential for a top five or six finish."