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IndyCar
INDYCAR: Castroneves, Chevy Score Barber Pole
Helio Castroneves, riding a wave of momentum from last weekend, used his Chevrolet-powered Team Penske car to earn pole with a lap of 1:10.47.
Qualifying at Barber Motorsports Park was filled with the unexpected on Saturday as the driver who earned pole position in 2010 and 2011 failed to make the Firestone Fast 6, while his teammate--the St. Pete winner just six days ago--went fastest overall and the reigning series champion barely broke the top 20.
Helio Castroneves, riding a wave of momentum from his popular victory last weekend, used his Chevrolet-powered Team Penske car to earn pole with a lap of 1:10.47, just .04 seconds ahead of fellow Chevrolet runner James Hinchcliffe.
“It’s a great result,” said Castroneves. “In the end, certainly Will [Power] and some other competitors ended up not making it. It’s better to be lucky than good, and so far, it’s paying off.”
For Hinchcliffe, pulling out all the stops resulted in the best qualifying performance of his young career.
“We knew we had to swing for the fences a bit in qualifying,” he said.
Scott Dixon was the top Honda qualifier, taking third with a lap of 1:10.529, just .006 seconds behind Hinchcliffe.
“Our car was decent,” said the Kiwi. “We’re missing a little bit, especially getting through the middle with some understeer and some snap [oversteer] on exit. All in all, pretty happy. We should have been P2, but I messed up a few corners.”
Mike Conway placed his Honda-powered A.J. Foyt Racing car fourth, delivering on the promise the team showed throughout the pre-season.
“Top 4 is good; first time we’ve been in the Fast 6,” he said. “We made some changes overnight and they were good today. We just want to keep up all the good work and keep it up at the front.
Panther Racing’s JR Hildebrand made up for what the team felt was an undeserved finishing position at St. Pete, pushing his Chevrolet-powered Panther Racing car to fifth, his best road course starting position to date.
"Just really happy with everything for the Panther Racing side," he said. "We've put a high priority this year on improving our road and street course program. With some of the yellows and the red flag coming out when it did during that second qualifying group, maybe we got a little bit lucky with all of that, and timing it right. We're happy to have the pace that we did and we look forward to turning that into something good for us and good for the points tomorrow."
Making the Fast 6 was the first genuinely positive thing to happen for Tony Kanaan this season, and knowing he was locked into starting in the first three rows, the Brazilian veteran chose to concentrate on maximizing his race.
“We decided to save the [Firestone] Reds for the race,” he said. “We went out, we knew we were going to be sixth at the time to save the Reds for tomorrow.”
Playing the waiting game caught out Will Power, Simon Pagenaud, Graham Rahal and E.J. Viso as the four drivers waited late into the 10-minute Firestone Fast 12 session to post a flying lap.
PHOTOS: Click Here or on the image below to view INDYCAR: Barber Motorsports Park 2012
Helio Castroneves, riding a wave of momentum from his popular victory last weekend, used his Chevrolet-powered Team Penske car to earn pole with a lap of 1:10.47, just .04 seconds ahead of fellow Chevrolet runner James Hinchcliffe.
“It’s a great result,” said Castroneves. “In the end, certainly Will [Power] and some other competitors ended up not making it. It’s better to be lucky than good, and so far, it’s paying off.”
For Hinchcliffe, pulling out all the stops resulted in the best qualifying performance of his young career.
“We knew we had to swing for the fences a bit in qualifying,” he said.
Scott Dixon was the top Honda qualifier, taking third with a lap of 1:10.529, just .006 seconds behind Hinchcliffe.
“Our car was decent,” said the Kiwi. “We’re missing a little bit, especially getting through the middle with some understeer and some snap [oversteer] on exit. All in all, pretty happy. We should have been P2, but I messed up a few corners.”
Mike Conway placed his Honda-powered A.J. Foyt Racing car fourth, delivering on the promise the team showed throughout the pre-season.
“Top 4 is good; first time we’ve been in the Fast 6,” he said. “We made some changes overnight and they were good today. We just want to keep up all the good work and keep it up at the front.
Panther Racing’s JR Hildebrand made up for what the team felt was an undeserved finishing position at St. Pete, pushing his Chevrolet-powered Panther Racing car to fifth, his best road course starting position to date.
"Just really happy with everything for the Panther Racing side," he said. "We've put a high priority this year on improving our road and street course program. With some of the yellows and the red flag coming out when it did during that second qualifying group, maybe we got a little bit lucky with all of that, and timing it right. We're happy to have the pace that we did and we look forward to turning that into something good for us and good for the points tomorrow."
Making the Fast 6 was the first genuinely positive thing to happen for Tony Kanaan this season, and knowing he was locked into starting in the first three rows, the Brazilian veteran chose to concentrate on maximizing his race.
“We decided to save the [Firestone] Reds for the race,” he said. “We went out, we knew we were going to be sixth at the time to save the Reds for tomorrow.”
Playing the waiting game caught out Will Power, Simon Pagenaud, Graham Rahal and E.J. Viso as the four drivers waited late into the 10-minute Firestone Fast 12 session to post a flying lap.
PHOTOS: Click Here or on the image below to view INDYCAR: Barber Motorsports Park 2012
2013 INDY 500 Practice
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