Briscoe leads all-Penske front row
Team Penske followed up their one-two qualifying and race performances last weekend at Mid-Ohio with an impressive one-two qualifying effort in their initial visit to the Edmonton City Centre Airport circuit today
As was the case on race day at Mid-Ohio, Ryan Briscoe led the way, edging teammate Helio Castroneves by 0.1049 seconds to take the pole
The result was Penske's 50th pole since joining the Indy Racing League in 2002, and also marked their fourth consecutive pole position, with Briscoe and Castroneves having alternated at the head of the field since Watkins Glen.
Briscoe was fortunate to even make it as far as the top six session, as a water leak had delayed him at the start of part two of qualifying, and he only made the final cut-off in the closing seconds.
"This one didn't come easy," said Briscoe. "At one stage I wasn't even sure I was going to make it into the top six segment of qualifying. We were making set-up changes throughout the session and I hadn't been able to put a good clear lap together.
"Fortunately I got one when it counted and then the team really got it together for the final ten minutes of qualifying. Phenomenal. To have Team Penske one-two is absolutely perfect."
KVRT's Oriol Servia pipped Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon for third on the grid by all of 0.0001 seconds, with Servia's teammate Will Power taking fifth on the grid as KV produced their best qualifying performance since joining the IRL IndyCar Series.
Justin Wilson will start sixth despite crashing in the waning moments of the Fast Twelve segment of qualifying. The Newman/Haas/Lanigan driver was able to coax his damaged Dallara-Honda into a safety area, and so did not cause the red flag stoppage that would have resulted in the loss of his fastest lap.
Although he was unable to participate in the final segment of the session, his best time of the session was fast enough to qualify him for the Fast Six pole position shoot-out.
Not so fortunate was Tony Kanaan, who damaged an engine in a qualifying spin. Although his time was good enough to qualify twelfth, the Andretti Green Racing team will have to change the engine for tomorrow and by IndyCar Series rules he will have to start at the back of the field. Kanaan had been the only member of the AGR quartet to quality for the top 12 session on a poor day for the team.
Bruno Junqueira (Dale Coyne) and Graham Rahal (Newman/Haas/Lanigan) were squeezed out of the Fast Six in the final seconds and will share row four, ahead of Ganassi's Dan Wheldon, Junqueira's teammate Mario Moraes and Conquest's Enrique Bernoldi. Moraes achieved his best qualifying result yet despite crashing late in the second segment.
Returning Canadian hero Paul Tracy also had a disappointing session. He felt his Walker Racing-run Vision car was too laden with fuel on his first qualifying run, then ran out of time to complete a final flying lap after Marty Roth spun and stalled, causing a stoppage.
Tracy subsequently managed a lap that would have placed him in the top 12 session, but had started it moments after the chequered flag. He will therefore start 16th, two places behind Watkins Glen winner Ryan Hunter-Reay, who crashed his Rahal Letterman Dallara-Honda in the final seconds of first qualifying.
Pos Driver Team Time 1. Ryan Briscoe Penske 1:00.7311 2. Helio Castroneves Penske 1:00.8360 3. Oriol Servia KV 1:00.8584 4. Scott Dixon Ganassi 1:00.8585 5. Will Power KV 1:01.0154 6. Justin Wilson Newman/Haas/Lanigan 7. Bruno Junqueira Dale Coyne 1:01.2991 8. Graham Rahal Newman/Haas/Lanigan 1:01.4573 9. Dan Wheldon Ganassi 1:01.6656 10. Mario Moraes Dale Coyne 1:01.7552 11. Enrique Bernoldi Conquest 1:02.0227 12. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green 13. Marco Andretti Andretti Green 1:02.2991 14. Ryan Hunter-Reay Rahal Letterman 1:02.1039 15. Danica Patrick Andretti Green 1:02.4171 16. Paul Tracy Vision 1:02.2387 17. Vitor Meira Panther 1:02.4907 18. AJ Foyt IV Vision 1:03.1346 19. Darren Manning Foyt 1:02.6644 20. Mario Dominguez Pacific Coast 1:03.1359 21. EJ Viso HVM 1:03.9242 22. Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green 1:03.8100 23. Buddy Rice Dreyer & Reinbold 1:03.4276 24. Ed Carpenter Vision 1:03.8825 25. Townsend Bell Dreyer & Reinbold 1:03.6396 26. Marty Roth Roth 1:09.0498 27. Jaime Camara Conquest 1:03.8572
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