Qualifying: Penske one-two
Gil de Ferran will start from pole position for the first ever IRL race to be held on the Nazareth oval after snatching the top qualifying position away from team-mate Helio Castroneves today (Saturday)
The reigning CART champ lapped the track at an average of 172.778mph, just 0.2mph (or two hundredths of a second) quicker than the sister Penske of his fellow Brazilian. It was de Ferran first pole of his IRL career.
"I wanted to close the first lap well and open the next lap well," said de Ferran, who got a little loose on the exit of Turn 4 on his flier. "It pushed a little in the middle. The car went sideways a little, but she had a good exit."
Jaques Lazier lines up third ahead of Tomas Scheckter, who was once again the fastest rookie in his Cheever Racing Dallara-Infinit. Series leader Sam Hornish Jr was further down the order than expected and starts eighth one place behind former F3000 driver Laurent Redon.
On her return to the series Sarah Fisher put Robbie Buhl's G Force-Infiniti in 19th slot, ahead of Al Unser Jr and Richie Hearn, himself an 11th-hour substitute for the injured Eliseo Salazar.
Gil de Ferran Dallara-Chevrolet 19.4817s 172.778mph
Helio Castroneves Dallara-Chevrolet 19.5032s 172.587mph
Jaques Lazier Dallara-Chevrolet 19.5724s 171.977mph
Tomas Scheckter Dallara-Infiniti 19.6372s 171.409mph
Felipe Giaffone G Force-Chevrolet 19.6556s 171.249mph
Buddy Lazier Dallara-Chevrolet 19.6785s 171.050mph
Laurent Redon Dallara-Infiniti 19.6949s 170.907mph
Sam Hornish Jr Dallara-Chevrolet 19.7093s 170.782mph
George Mack G Force-Chevrolet 19.7487s 170.442mph
Alex Barron Dallara-Chevrolet 19.7524s 170.410mph
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