Lexmark Indy 300 Final Qualifying Quotes
Oriol Servia #2 PacifiCare Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: "I had
some provisional poles before, but it feels much better to have this one,
I can tell you that. I was very happy in the morning. I was P1. Car
felt great. I love this place, so everything was looking good. But in
qualifying, we were like seven minutes remaining, I was P8 or P9. One of
those sessions, either you do a mistake, you find traffic. I just
couldn't put a lap together. I shortcut the chicane once, drive through,
one of those things that you see the session going on and you fall back
in the middle of the field. I think was three laps to go that I did that
lap. I was happy. I still thought -- you know, there was still two
laps. I thought I was going to be able to improve. One I didn't and the
last one I ran out of fuel. So one of those pit strategies like Elkhart Lake, a lot of
corners, hard to put it all together in one lap. Mistakes, traffic,
there's something always going on out there. I'm just happy was good
enough to be P1. Definitely starting in a better place tomorrow. I'm
just very pleased for PacifiCare, to give them the my first pole."
Sebastien Bourdais #1 McDonald's Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone:
"Well, it was about as chaotic as it could have been really for me
and my McDonald's team. We had a lot of incidents during the
session, one with Mario that was a little surprising to me because then
we got penalized for shortcutting the chicane when trying to avoid a
contact on the pit-out. I was a little upset. But, you know, in the
first run, was it. The second run was going pretty well, then I caught
Justin. I had to back off. I had a pretty good lap going on. I thought
I had a last lap. Apparently, I crossed the start/finish line as the
checkered flag came out. I didn't know it. When I came into the pits, I
was like, got to be pole. 32.5, got to be called. It wasn't. I was
very happy for Oriol. That's a very good result for the team. He starts
pole. Well done, my friend."
Mario Dominguez #7 Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: "We did a
lot of changes on the car, improved it every time. At the end, I thought
we had the pole, then Oriol got it from us. With one corner to go, I
guess you always say that, people always say that, but I was a 10th and a
half up on my time, then I ran into Rodolfo at the very last corner and I
lost it. Still good effort, but happy with the way the car is handling.
It's a good starting position. Tomorrow we should be good for the race.
Hopefully we can be quick."
Cristiano Da Matta #21 Bell Micro/PKV Racing
Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: "I am very happy with today's
qualifying session. The Bell Micro/PKV Racing team had a great two
runs. The first stint was good all the way through. On the second
stint, the first few laps I had some traffic, but the rest of the way was
clear and I one very good lap. The PKV Racing team did a lot of work
before this race and it has paid off. We also made a change to the car
after the morning practice that really helped. The Bell Micro/PKV Racing
car is very fast and I think it is also a good race car, so I am very
confident heading into tomorrow's race."
Paul Tracy #3 Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: "I was on a
quick lap during the final stint after the Red Flag and just brushed the
wall. It's disappointing, but my hat's off to Mario --
he was really flying out there. We'll start fifth tomorrow which
isn't a bad spot so we'll be looking to move up in the first
part of the race and see what happens. The car is good and I know the
guys will be able to put it back to where it was, and this is
Surfer's Paradise where it's anybody's guess
what's going to happen, so I'm looking forward to the
race."
Jimmy Vasser #12 Gulfstream/PKV Racing Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone:
"I am very happy for Cristiano's effort today in qualifying.
I expected to do better myself, but I just didn't put a whole lap
together. Overall, I am pleased to have two PKV Racing cars in the
top-eight for this race. That is pretty good."
Alex Tagliani #15 Aussie Vineyards Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone:
"We are having problems with the braking and our overall grip. We
are getting a lot of wheel-spin on parts of the asphalt. It is a little
bit disappointing after our strong result in the wet yesterday. The plan
is to definitely be around at the end of the race and maybe end up on the
podium, at least the top five. This place has claimed a lot of cars over
the years and we need to make sure we keep it all together tomorrow. All
three Team Australia drivers are saying similar things, so we could get a
good direction overnight. We really need to a terrific result for the
fans who have just been fantastic the last couple of days."
Timo Glock #8 DHL Global Mail Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: "Well
it was difficult this afternoon to get in a good run. The tires in the
middle of the chicane kept moving and I would hit them damaging my wing
every time. The DHL Global Mail car was not too bad today, however we
were two seconds off the pace and I don't know why. It is strange,
there is such a huge time difference between the cars up on top, so some
people have figured it out, while others are still trying to. It is
difficult to say what is going on out there, I have no idea. We will
have to work on finding a good setup for the car tomorrow and be
consistent out there on track and in the pits. It will be a long and
tricky race, so we will have to stay cool and see what we can do during
the race to improve our position overall."
Will Power #25 Aussie Vineyards Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone:
"There is no doubt that the session was a little bit frustrating. I
was definitely on a flyer at the end of the session when another car just
totally baulked me. The thing that today's session did do was get
me a little more used to the car and into a bit of rhythm. I have a
couple of blisters on my shifting hand because I have been used to paddle
shifts. I will need to toughen up a bit. I am making less mistakes each
time I go out and I am sure we can make the car quicker after our
de-brief this afternoon. This race is about being conservative and being
there at the end as David (Besnard) proved last year in this race."
Marcus Marshall #5 Aussie Vineyards Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone:
"I am fairly happy with the result today. I actually got blocked by
Cristiano (da Matta) on my quick lap, I mean really blocked through turns
8-9-10. I think we probably had the car speed to be a few spots higher on
the time sheet. Overall we lack some balance and grip. I actually clipped
some tires on my second set of tires and that bent my suspension a
little. Overall I think we have a pretty good race car and that is going
to be very important around this place for 57 laps. I am really excited
about tomorrow and hopefully we can have the Team Australia colors flying
high after the race."
Nelson Philippe #34 Wellbox/Mi-Jack Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone:
"It's definitely frustrating after such a promising start
yesterday. We have done all the preparation that we could, eager to carry
the momentum. But today I had problems with the gears, I was missing the
2nd gear and I couldn't get a good lap in. We have to work on a
good set up for tomorrow. It will be a long race and we will be ready for
it. I am determined to keep pushing for a good result tomorrow in front
of the incredible crowd of fans that we have here this weekend."
Michael McDowell #31 Commercial Defeasance Rocketsports
Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: "I made a mistake during my first
run and clipped the front of the car. We lost that set of tires, which
was a shame. By the time we got back things all fixed up and got back
out there, we just could not get in a good lap. It is a bit frustrating
to start 15th on the grid, but we will see what we can do tomorrow during
the race and hope to finish in the top ten, if not higher. It will be a
long race, being my first official Champ Car event, so I just hope to
have a good, clean race and bring the car home with some points."
Andrew Ranger #27 Mi-Jack/ Tide Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: "Another
difficult day for me, this is my first time here and it's a lot to
learn. Yesterday I had a good car and today I lost a lot of time on the
straightaway and had a hard time on the chicane. It's pretty tough
for a rookie; I have to keep working with my engineer. It's a very
long race which will make it quite interesting, so we'll wait and see
what happens tomorrow."
-ccws-
