July 7, 2007 – Team Australia drivers Simon Pagenaud and Will Power will start fourth and seventh respectively in tomorrow's Steelback Grand Prix of Toronto after a strong performance in final qualifying in Toronto, Canada today.
Pagenaud was the fastest rookie in qualifying in the #15 Aussie Vineyards Team Australia DP01, four spots ahead of the next best rookie, Neel Jani, who will start eighth.
Power drove well to finish in seventh after he was handed a penalty overnight that meant he had to sit out the crucial final eight minutes of today's qualifying session.
The Australian was judged to have inadvertently blocked Bruno Junqueira in Friday's qualifying session and as a result was handed a penalty for final qualifying at the Exhibition Place street circuit today.
Power was able to set a competitive time before returning to pit lane to serve his penalty, but was forced to watch on as others went faster in the usual rush for pole position in the dying stages of qualifying.
Sebastien Bourdais will start tomorrow's Steelback Grand Prix of Toronto from pole, ahead of Justin Wilson and Oriol Servia.
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WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY...
Will Power – "In the end we just needed a tenth and a bit to be up there," said Power. "I think sitting out the last eight minutes cost us a little bit, because everyone went a little bit quicker in the end there and with the red tyres we had a little bit more understeer. For tomorrow we will just see how we are in the morning, work on our strategy and just go for it."
Simon Pagenaud – "The crew did great work by setting my car up for this session and the Aussie Vineyards car was really nice to drive," said Pagenaud. "I made a couple of mistakes and was trying a little bit too hard, braking too hard and after that I calmed down a little bit and was able to carry more speed through the corner and finish with a good lap time in the end. I think P4 is quite good for a rookie, because honestly, this is not an easy place at all."
Derrick Walker – "Overnight the guys did a lot of work on Simon's car and he got better and better and I think did a really fantastic job in qualifying fourth," said Walker. "Simon continues to make progress there and continues to get stronger and stronger, so great qualifying position to start tomorrow. Due to the penalty that was from the misunderstanding yesterday, Will was penalised from Friday's qualifying session. The loss of the last eight minutes of qualifying took away his chances of a pole today. Champ Car felt Will could have taken more care and avoided obstructing car #19's qualifying attempt on Friday."
Craig Gore – "Simon did a great job today in the #15 Aussie Vineyards car," said Gore. "Street circuits like Toronto are tough for the rookies, but Simon showed his class by qualifying up there with some series veterans on the first two rows. Will was dealt a tough card with the penalty overnight. It's a huge loss to be prevented from setting a quick time at the end of qualifying when the track is at it's best, but we will move on and try our best to get Will up the front in the race tomorrow."
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RESULTS: Qualifying (Combined)
1. #1 Sebastien Bourdais 58.288
2. #9 Justin Wilson 58.299
3. #7 Oriol Servia 58.661
4. #15 Simon Pagenaud 58.664
5. #19 Bruno Junqueira 58.675
6. #8 Alex Tagliani 58.779
7. #5 Will Power 58.790
8. #34 Jan Heylen 58.816
9. #21 Neel Jani 58.834
10. #3 Paul Tracy 58.882
2007 Champ Car World Series Points Standings - After Round 6 of 16
1. #1 Sebastien Bourdais 147
2. #14 Robert Doornbos 145
3. #5 Will Power 131
4. #9 Justin Wilson 113
5. #8 Alex Tagliani 112
6. #15 Simon Pagenaud 97
7. #3 Oriol Servia 91
8. #2 Graham Rahal 91
9. #21 Neel Jani 88
10. #3 Paul Tracy 74
2007 Roshfrans Champ Car Rookie of the Year - After Round 6 of 16
1. #14 Robert Doornbos 145
2. #15 Simon Pagenaud 97
3. #2 Graham Rahal 91
4. #21 Neel Jani 88
5. #22 Tristan Gommendy 74
6. #28 Ryan Dalziel 69
7. #29 Alex Figge 38
8. #42 Matt Halliday 18
Champ Car Canadian Triple Crown – After Round 1 of 3
1. Team Australia 3.5
2. Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing 4.5
3. Rsports 6
4. Minardi Team USA 7.5
5. PKV Racing 9
6. Pacific Coast Motorsports 11.5
7. Forsythe Championship Racing 12
8. Dale Coyne Racing 14
9. Conquest Racing 16
scores are average finishing positions
RACE SCHEDULE
Local Toronto (Eastern) Times
Warm-Up
Sunday 8 June 2007
9:00am – 9:30am
Race
Sunday 8 July 2007
1:00pm – 3:00pm
UNITED STATES TV SCHEDULE
Sunday 8 July 2007
ESPN
1:00pm US Eastern
Race
Monday 8 July 2007
3:00am – 5:00am
ABOUT TORONTO STREET CIRCUIT
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Circuit Type: Temporary Street Circuit
First Champ Car Event: 1986
Track Length: 1.755 miles (2.824 kilometres)
CHAMP CAR RECORD BOOK
Defending Champ Car Race Winner: AJ Allmendinger
Defending Champ Car Polesitter: Justin Wilson
2006 RESULTS
Will Power – #5 Aussie Vineyards Team Australia Champ Car
Qualified: 12th
Finished: Seventh |
