Wilson has secured a front-row spot for Sunday's race, but it might not mean as much if rain doesn't stop in Japan... (LAT Photo)
Justin Wilson took the top spot in Friday qualifying for the final Champ Car race at Long Beach in his McDonald’s Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing Panoz-Cosworth. The Briton displaced Alex Tagliani -- making his debut with Walker Racing -- from the top midway through the 30-minute session, but subsequently moved ahead decisively with a series of laps faster than anyone else could manage. He eventually sealed a front-row qualifying spot with a lap of 1:07.356, a half-second clear of KV Racing’s Oriol Servia.
“We felt that the McDonald's car was good, and I was very pleased with how it was handling,” Wilson said, “but we went out and did quite a quick time on the Bridgestone (standard) black tires that still would have been good enough for pole, but we weren't sure what everyone else was doing down the pit lane. We didn't get a good pit selection so we couldn't see, so we decided let's go and see what they're like. We tried the Bridgestone Red tires and they worked great.”
Wilson’s pole continued the streak of dominance of Long Beach by the McDonald’s NHLR entry previously driven by Sebastien Bourdais, now in F1.
“I'm just very pleased to keep up the tradition of the McDonald's car being quickest. Before the qualifying I thought it's a bit of pressure taking over this seat at a track like this where Sebastien has always gone so well. I'm actually quite relieved to have done as well as we have today, and I think we can relax tomorrow and work and get even quicker. I feel I had a lot left and I made a few mistakes, but generally pretty happy with how things are going. It's fun to do one last race here at Long Beach.”
After sliding down the order somewhat, Tagliani posted his best lap of the day at the final gun to take third. Mario Dominguez also made a strong return with Pacific Coast Motorsports, placing fourth ahead Wilson’s NHLR teammate, of St Petersburg winner Graham Rahal and Conquest Racing's Enrique Bernoldi. Forsythe Pettit driver Franck Montagny outqualified his four-time Long Beach winning teammate Paul Tracy for seventh, while St. Pete stars Will Power and EJ Viso rounded out the top 10.
Final qualifying is Saturday.
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach provisional qualifying results:
Pos, Driver, Team, Time, Gap
1) Justin Wilson, Newman/Haas/Lanigan, 1:07.356
2) Oriol Servia, KV Racing, 1:07.858, + 0.502sec
3) Alex Tagliani, Walker, 1:07.887, + 0.531
4) Mario Dominguez, Pacific Coast, 1:07.998, + 0.642
5) Graham Rahal, Newman/Haas/Lanigan, 1:08.172, + 0.816
6) Enrique Bernoldi, Conquest, 1:08.272, + 0.916
7) Franck Montagny, Forsythe Pettit, 1:08.325, + 0.969
8) Paul Tracy, Forsythe Pettit, 1:08.488, + 1.132
9) Will Power, KV Racing, 1:08.519, + 1.163
10) EJ Viso, HVM, 1:08.532, + 1.176
11) Roberto Moreno, Minardi HVM, 1:08.549, + 1.193
12) Alex Figge, Pacific Coast, 1:08.549, + 1.193
13) Antonio Pizzonia, Rocketsports, 1:08.658, + 1.302
14) Bruno Junqueira, Coyne, 1:08.813, + 1.457
15) Jimmy Vasser, KV Racing, 1:09.066, + 1.710
16) Franck Perera, Conquest, 1:09.153, + 1.797
17) David Martinez, Forsythe Pettit, 1:09.381, + 2.025
18) Mario Moraes, Coyne, 1:09.438, + 2.082
19) Juho Annala, Rocketsports, 1:11.265, + 3.909
20) Nelson Philippe, Minardi HVM, No time
