INDYCAR: Power, Chevy Rocket To Sonoma Pole

IndyCar

INDYCAR: Power, Chevy Rocket To Sonoma Pole

Team Penske's Will Power did the inevitable by claiming yet another pole at Sonoma, leading a Chevy 1-2-3-4.

Marshall Pruett | Posted August 25, 2012

Who else would earn pole at Sonoma but Team Penske's Will Power? (Photo: Marshall Pruett)

If you're familiar with Will Power's record at Sonoma, you won't be surprised to learn the mercurial Aussie claimed his third consecutive pole at the 12-turn, 2.31-mile track on Saturday.

The Team Penske drive led a Chevy 1-2-3-4, posting a 1:17.27-second lap to head teammate Ryan Briscoe in second, Dragon Racing's Sebastien Bourdais in third and the final member of the Penske trio, Helio Castroneves, in fourth.

"I think it's been a good track for us," said a rather understated Power. "Ultimately, I would say, it's been a good track for Penske. I think that we have consistent cars here, and I can see the race is going to be pretty wide open with the way the windows work out, extending the race by ten laps."

Power also picked up an extra point for his pole, moving out to six markers over Ryan Hunter-Reay.

Briscoe was visibly frustrated at losing pole to Power by .16 seconds, but took solace in starting on the front row with Power.

"Qualifying was solid," he said. "I just didn't quite get enough out of the first lap in Q3. And it's tough when you're on used tires to know exactly where the grip's going to be. And, yes, I was able to push a bit harder on the second lap and sort of repeat the time again. But the tires were starting to go away."

Bourdais' recent role of spoiler continued on Saturday, splitting the Penske and Ganassi teams on a fraction the budget his Fast 6 have at their disposal.

"We came a long ways, obviously, from the start of the season with all the struggles we had to go through," he said. "So the last few events you see have been getting better and better and the team has done a great job, and we definitely feel that we have a much better idea of what we need on the car and where we are at. We tested twice here, and it's definitely helped us quite a bit."

PHOTOS: Click Here or on the image below to view INDYCAR: Sonoma Friday 2012

Castroneves wasn't feeling completely confident over Sonoma's numerous hills, but came away pleased--and slightly surprised--with fourth.

"The conditions, the way the car, my car was running, my Penske Truck Rental car was running, it was a little bit uneasy," he said. "Especially through the crest of the hills, it was very, very difficult. So fourth actually I felt really good. We think we can win the race from there. And we just got to keep consistent out there when we go in tomorrow for the race."

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