Have a FaceBook, Twitter, or other social networking account?

Link them to your fanatic account!

Add An Account

TAKE ME TO...
IndyCar
INDYCAR: Qualifying Postponed Until Sunday
With a number of drivers spinning in a straight line on the slick Sao Paolo street course, qualifying will wait for overnight fixes.
Marshall Pruett  |  Posted March 13, 2010  

After watching a large portion of the 2010 IndyCar Series drivers either spin or crash on the half-mile long 'Sambodromo' front straight on the new 2.6-mile, 11-turn Sao Paulo street course, IndyCar president of competition Brian Barnhart and the course's designer, Tony Cotman, have opted to postpone Saturday's qualifying session until Sunday morning.
Brazilian driver Raphael Matos holds tight on the Samba Drome front straight as a yellow flag flies for another crashed IndyCar. (IndyCar Series)

Plans call for the front straight to receive heavy grinding overnight, giving the Firestone tires a surface that will provide some semblance of traction, as Barnhart noted.

"We're going to be looking at the concrete surfaces and see what options we have. It's pretty slick. Tony Cotman will be working with the surface people and we'll see what options are available to us."

Images of the IndyCar field feeding massive amounts of opposite lock while accelerating in a straight line out of turn-11 brought a dramatic look to on-track activity, but with a number of crashes, including one by 2009 series champion Dario Franchitti, the call was made to move time trials to Sunday morning. In-car footage made the decision easy for the series, as every pilot was seen sawing back and forth on their steering wheels when their hands should have been perfectly steady.

Drivers were forced to back pedal out of turn-11, often reducing throttle along the full length of the straight into turn-1 to keep front swapping ends. The greatest concern lies in sending the entire field through turn-11 to take the race start, and the spectre of a large crash will remain until the series can improve the surface conditions.

Three practice sessions were held on Saturday, with the final outing topped by Team Penske and a resurgent Andretti Autosport, theteam formery known as Andretti-Green Racing.

Will Power ended the final session fastest with a lap of 1:31.2980, slighlty ahead of local hero Tony Kanaan's 1:31.2980. New Andretti Autosport driver Ryan Hunter-Reay posted the third fastest lap at 1:31.3858, followed by Dreyer & Reinbold's Justin Wilson at 1:31.5379 and Dario Franchitti in fifth with a lap of 1:31.5788.

Raphael Matos was sixth, followed by Scott Dixon, the surprising Alex Tagliani in his new FAZZT Race Team entry in eighth, Marco Andretti in ninth and Helio Castroneves in tenth.

Check back tomorrow for qualifying results and race results for the Sao Paulo Indy 300.

Play! SPEED Fantasy Racing Cup Edition - Spring Series
MPruett's avatar

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Marshall Pruett

MORE BY THIS AUTHOR
Advertising | Jobs | Feedback | FAQ | Terms of Use | NEW Privacy Policy | Ad Choices | Site Map
Fox Sports | FUEL TV | FX Network | National Geographic | IGN | AskMen
The Motor Sports Authority, SPEED and associated logos are registered trademarks of Speed Channel Inc.
All Rights Reserved © Speed Channel, Inc. 2012

All external links will open in a new browser window. SPEED.com does not endorse external sites.