Jon Fogarty edged Scott Pruett by 0.012 seconds to win his season-leading fourth pole of the 2009 season Friday at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, and will lead the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 Daytona Prototype field to the green flag for Saturday’s Montreal 200 at the 2.709-mile track.
Fogarty set his fastest time of 1:32.235 (105.734 mph) on his fifth lap in the No. 99 GAINSCO Pontiac Riley, earning his second pole at the track; he also grabbed the pole during his 2007 championship campaign. Fogarty now has four pole positions this season, giving him 12 career overall and Daytona Prototype poles, which ties him with Pruett for second all-time. The two are one behind James Weaver’s 13 overall poles.
“The key was getting a good lap in early,” said Fogarty, who won three races this season with co-driver Alex Gurney. “It was a goofy session. Luckily, we squeaked one in there pretty quick before things went black and green again. I got up to speed as quickly as possible and put one in there. It was pretty scrappy out there. There was more in the car, which is good to know, but of course it’s going to be wet, but I think we’ve got a good setup in the wet, as well, so it’s good to be starting up front.”
Pruett, who won the pole for last year’s race, was second in the No. 01 TELMEX Lexus Riley with a time of 1:32.247 (105.721 mph). Pruett and co-driver Memo Rojas won two races this year, and enter the event only four points ahead of Fogarty and Gurney in the Daytona Prototype standings (248-244).
“I couldn’t get a rhythm going, and then the red flag came out,” Pruett said. “There’s a big question mark with the weather, and Memo and I are both fast in the rain. He seems to be a little tidier, and we want to do what we need to in order to win the championship.”
Frenchman Romain Dumas was third in the No. 12 Verizon Wireless Porsche Riley, clocking in at 1:38.425 (105.498 mph).
Toronto’s Mark Wilkins, who co-won last season’s race after running as low as fourth on the white flag lap, spun into the gravel trap in Turn 6, bringing out the black flag for all competitors and giving everyone a three-and-a-half minute window to finish qualifying. However, nothing changed at the front, allowing Fogarty to stay up front. Still, Wilkins and co-driver Burt Frisselle will start fifth, behind Brian Frisselle and Max Angelelli in the No. 10 SunTrust Ford Dallara.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regular Carl Edwards will start seventh in the No. 77 Aflac/iRacing Ford Dallara he will share with another Cup regular, Marcos Ambrose of Australia.
The only Quebec-born driver competing in the Daytona Prototype race, Jean-Francois Dumoulin, will see co-driver and Toronto native John Farano start from 15th in the No. 51 Tower Events Ford Riley.
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