|
|
 |
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Penske punch De Ferran edges Castroneves for Molson Indy pole
Updated: Saturday July 14, 2001 10:03 PM
TORONTO (AP) -- There's nothing like seeing a familiar face at the front of the pack. Or is there? Gil de Ferran won his first pole of the CART season Saturday, edging Penske Racing teammate Helio Castroneves in qualifying for the Molson Indy. That means the two Brazilians will have to rein in their aggression when they funnel into turn 1, a sharp right-hander on the temporary street circuit Sunday. Or else. "Roger [Penske] is going to talk to us so we don't get too close to each other," Castroneves said. "We have to make the first turn and the last turn." De Ferran had another idea. "I'm only going to brake when you brake," de Ferran said.
De Ferran, fastest in both rounds of practice on Friday, hadn't won a pole since the 2000 season finale in California, where he set a world closed-course speed record of 241.428 mph. "I'm on the right side this time," de Ferran said. "It's been a really clean weekend for us. We unloaded with a very good car from the start, so it was just a matter of getting everything right. The track is still slippery in places, but it is definitely getting quicker. Hopefully, it will just be a nice clean race, but it never is this way in Toronto." Just after Castroneves posted the fastest time, de Ferran came back with a lap at 109.492 mph in 57.703 seconds to win his 12th career pole and second at Toronto. Castroneves had gotten around at 109.370 in 57.767 seconds. Points leader Kenny Brack, mired in 17th place when de Ferran posted his fast lap, rallied only moments later and took the third spot on the grid with a run of 109.146. "Considering all the trouble we've had the last two days, third is pretty good for Team Rahal," said Brack, who leads Castroneves by 14 points in the standings. "It's a little irritating to see the Penske cars in front of us, but now we'll have to race them hard to get the lead. "Team Rahal did super job rebounding from trouble. We're a tad short right now, but third is a good place. We just need to find a little more time." Tony Kanaan was fourth, Alex Tagliani fifth, and Dario Franchitti sixth. Christian Fittipaldi, second-fastest in practice Friday, faded to 14th, one spot behind defending race champion Michael Andretti.
"I'm confused as to why we dropped to where we are now," Fittipaldi said. "The balance of the car isn't a disaster, but we have no grip." Andretti stalled after hitting the tires lightly at turn 3 only seven minutes into the second 30-minute qualifying session. The mishap brought out a red flag, which resulted in an eight-minute penalty levied against Andretti, leaving him with only about 15 minutes of track time. He later brushed a wall. Shinji Nakano, who had the fastest practice lap in the morning, slammed the tire barrier at bumpy turn 8, and Max Wilson, close behind, rammed into the left side of the Fernandez Racing Honda. Wilson, who shook his head and waved his arms in despair after jumping out of his car, didn't get back out until the final minute of qualifying. He and Nakano will start in the last row -- 25th and 26th. In another accident, Memo Gidley damaged his left front after slamming into the back of Patrick Carpentier's car going into turn 3. Gidley will start 23rd while Carpentier will go 12th. Toronto native Paul Tracy, who has finished on the podium here the last two races, will go off eighth. He was expecting some early action. "We've got a decent starting position, and we'll see what we can do," Tracy said. "The first corner is always pretty hectic. There's usually a little bit of fireworks. I just want to pass a couple of guys on the first lap and kind of settle in and start working away at getting to the front."
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
