Team Penske swept the front row Saturday for the Honda Indy Edmonton, as Will Power continued his recent roll and won his sixth pole position of the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season.
Power recorded a lap of 1:00.7126 in the Firestone Fast Six final round of qualifying driving the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Dallara/Honda as he edged teammate Helio Castroneves by just 0.0764 seconds. Saturday’s result marked Power’s second straight pole position at Edmonton and third overall at the City Centre Airport Circuit. It was also the ninth pole won this season for Team Penske and the team’s third straight pole at Edmonton.
“It’s great to have the Verizon car on the pole,” said Power, who will try to secure his third consecutive race win on Sunday. “We started out in a tough group and we had to use our red tires to get through. The car was good on used red tires in the second round, too. I knew Helio was very close to our time, so I had to give it everything I had in the final round. It was a good battle (with Helio) – we’ve been pushing each other all weekend long. I think track position will be very important tomorrow in the race, so it’s great to be starting up front. We’ll do our best to get the Verizon car another win on Sunday.”
Castroneves came up short of winning the pole by qualifying 0.0765 seconds behind Power.
“We had a very good lap out there, and I just made a little mistake, and this place is about not making mistakes,” Castroneves said.
Team Penske has dominated qualifying in the series this season by winning the pole for nine of the last 10 races. Last weekend at Toronto, Justin Wilson ended Penske’s streak of eighth consecutive poles.
Scott Dixon, who won the inaugural 2008 IndyCar race at Edmonton, qualified third, while his Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate and defending series champion, Dario Franchitti, took the fourth spot. MiamiHerald.com
Briscoe (1:01.3799) and E.J. Viso, making his first appearance in the Firestone Fast Six this season in the No. 8 PDVSA KV Racing Technology car (1:01.6122), will be on the third row.
“We felt we could do this kind of performance all season, but we had so many obstacles early in the season,” said Viso, in his third year in the series. “Now I feel we are in position to do this all of the time. After Iowa (where he finished third), things are changing in our direction.”
Rookie Simona de Silvestro will start a season-high seventh in the No. 78 Team Stargate Worlds/HVM Racing car, and Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay also will be on Row 4 in the No. 37 IZOD entry. IndyCar.com
Power has won four races this season and will be looking to add to that total on Sunday as he tries to produce his second straight win at Edmonton. Last season, Power led 90 of 95 laps en route to his first IndyCar Series win and first victory with Team Penske. Power called the qualifying effort around the bumpy 1.97-mile, 14-turn Edmonton course one of the toughest of the year.
“When they sent me out to do another lap after Helio set a time so close, I thought, ‘Man,’” said Power. “It was tough. It was really tough.”
Castroneves said Power’s outstanding results this season have helped raised everyone’s performance level at Team Penske.
“Will has really made me a better driver,” said Castroneves. “The way he pushes all the time makes me push all the time, too – not only myself, but Ryan (Briscoe), as well. I’m actually very happy to have him on the team.”
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