News Scan: Oriol Servia Steals Provisional Pole Away From Will Power By Three Hundredths Of A Second
LITTLE known Spaniard Oriol Servia upstaged local hero Will Power by stealing provisional pole position for tomorrow’s Gold Coast Indy 300.
Power was on top for most of the session until Servia pulled his best lap out at the last possible moment to secure a front-row start for the race by a bare 0.033 seconds.
Despite intense pressure from a pumped up hometown crowd Power was philosophical about missing out and is confident he can claim pole position for tomorrow’s race in today’s second qualifying session. Stephen Ottley, News.com
The provisional pole win gives Servia one championship point and a guaranteed front row starting position.
Will Power (1:30.895), Justin Wilson (1:31.365), Paul Tracy (1:31.820) and Neel Jani (1:32.520) completed the top-five.
Sebastien Bourdais crashed at the 14-minute mark in turn one. The penalty was losing his fastest time and he qualified eighth quickest.
After not being on track since the first week in September, the Champ Car Series returns to the track at one of the drivers’ favorite venues - the Australian Gold Coast.
“I only touched down in Brisbane this morning and I am already loving this place, ” said rookie Simon Pagenaud. “It’s great, warm weather and the beaches are out of this world. I’ve been looking forward to coming down to this event all season. “
“It was one of those times when you just have one lap and you just have to do it, put it all together, ” Servia said.
“I knew we had a good car and I’ve always liked this track - that helps.” SportsNetwork.com
The Spaniard, taking over the #22 Pay By Touch entry from the absent Tristan Gommendy, claimed top spot on the timesheets with the very last lap of the session, setting a new lap record in the process. However, he wound up just 0.033secs clear of local favourite Will Power, suggesting that second qualifying could be equally as tense.
Friday’s session was interrupted by two red flags, with Servia lying fourth after the first incident and coming into the pits to fit a set of red Bridgestonetyres. He was able to do a few more laps to bring the rubber up to temperature before the next red came out, leaving him just two minutes and a maximum of two laps to improve his position.
“I am really happy to be on pole, really happy to give a good result to PKV, ” Servia smiled, “After the season I have had, I am very happy how it has turned out in the end. Crash.net
“I was already one-tenth up at that point when I spun out, so it was going to be neck and neck. I am sure there is more to come. “
Power’s chances of winning tomorrow’s race have been worsened by the stewards decision to penalise him by limiting his chances to use the “power to pass” switch in the event.
The power-to-pass system enables drivers to gain an extra 50 horsepower from their Cosworth engines for brief periods during the race. TheAge.com
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