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Gil de Ferran prepares to qualify
his Marlboro Penske Honda
(Click on
any photo to see enlargement)
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PORTLAND
(June 23, 2000) - - Defending champion Gil de Ferran of Marlboro
Team Penske continued to display his mastery of Portland
International Raceway Friday when he captured the provisional pole
for Sunday's Freightliner/G.I. Joe's 200 Presented by Texaco (7 p.m.
ET Sunday, tape delay, ESPN2).
De Ferran (Marlboro Honda Reynard), owner of two poles already this
season, recorded a lap of 120.991 miles per hour (58.586 seconds)
during the first of two sessions on the 1.969-mile permanent road
course. The second session is scheduled for 4:45 p.m. ET Saturday,
after which the grid will be set for Sunday's 112-lap, 220.53-mile
event, the eighth of 20 rounds in the FedEx Championship Series.
De Ferran's previous poles this season have come at Homestead and
Long Beach. He also owns a race victory at Nazareth last month, the
100th in the storied history of Penske Racing. His best start at
Portland, where he owns three podium finishes in five career starts,
is second in 1997.
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With the help of Engineer Todd
Bowland, Christian Fittipaldi was 2nd quick in his Lola Ford
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Christian
Fittipaldi (Big Kmart/Route 66 Ford Lola) of Newman/Haas Racing
qualified second on the provisional grid at 120.524 mph (58.813
seconds). He seeks a season-best start Saturday, improving on second
at Nazareth.
Team
Player's driver Patrick Carpentier primed himself for Sunday's FedEx
CART Championship race by covering the 1.967-mile Portland
International Raceway permanent road course in 58.993 seconds
(120.157 miles per hour) today, the third-fastest lap on the first
day of qualifying.
Carpentier's fast lap was only four-tenths of a second behind
provisional pole-sitter Gil de Ferran of Brazil and less than
two-tenths from Brazilian Christian Fittipaldi. They were the only
three drivers in the 26-driver field to record a fast lap in under
59 seconds.
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Patrick Carpentier was 3rd quick
in his Players Reynard Ford
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Carpentier,
who considers the Portland road course as one of his favorites on
the CART circuit, lauded the Player's crew for correcting an
understeer problem that arose in the morning practice. The
adjustments that were made constantly improved the car and produced
a set-up that put Carpentier among the provisional-qualifying
leaders.
Carpentier's teammate Alex Tagliani clocked the 19th-fastest time
(60.997 seconds, 116.209 mph). Tagliani, who is tied for second
place in the CART rookie standings, encountered a few difficulties
while he was trying to put in fast laps.
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Beautiful Portland International
Raceway
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Team
KOOL Green’s Dario Franchitti was fifth fastest in provisional
qualifying in preparation for the Freigthliner/G.I. Joe’s 200 at
Portland International Raceway. Franchitti turned 16 laps during his
30 minutes of track time with a quick lap of 59.103 seconds,
averaging 119.933 mph.
Gil de Ferran earned the provisional pole with a time of 58.586
seconds (120.991 mph), 0.517 seconds better than Franchitti.
Christian Fittipaldi was second to De Ferran with a time of 58.813
seconds (120.524 mph) and Patrick Carpentier was third with a lap of
58.993 seconds (120.157 mph). Michael Andretti was fourth quick
ahead of Franchitti.
Paul Tracy was among the first 13 cars to take qualifying laps when
track conditions were poor on the 1.969-mile road course. He was
third quick in the first group, clocking a time of 60.543 seconds
(117.080 mph). Adrian Fernandez was fastest with a time of 60.343s
(117.468 mph), followed by Jimmy Vasser with a time of 60.429s
(117.080 mph). However, all three drivers tumbled down the timesheet
with each driver respectively 13th, 14th, and 15th behind the 12
cars running in the second group.
Bryan
Herta spent his first day pinch-hitting for injured regular Tony
Kanaan in the #55 Hollywood/Mo Nunn Racing Mercedes-Benz Reynard
working to get comfortable in the car and gradually bringing it up
to speed. This morning’s practice session was Herta’s first time
in the Hollywood/Mo Nunn team car. He replaced Kanaan, who sustained
a broken left forearm and four cracked ribs in a qualifying session
accident at Detroit last Saturday and will be out four to six
weeks.
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West end of track
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In
this afternoon’s 30-minute provisional qualifying session over the
scenic 1.967-mile, Herta lost the first 10 minutes while the crew
had to correct a glitch in the rear end of the car. He managed to
record a fast lap of 1 minute, 01.322 seconds (an average of 115.593
mph), which placed him 22nd on the provisional grid. Gil de Ferran
is on the provisional pole with a lap of 58.586 seconds (120.991
mph).
The
25-car field returns to the track for a practice session tomorrow at
10:00 a.m. with qualifying at 1:45 p.m. Pacific Time. Sunday’s
race will be broadcast via tape delay on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. Eastern
Time.
WHAT THEY SAID
GIL de FERRAN, Marlboro
Honda Reynard: "It was quite a good day today. We were quite
happy with the car from the time we unloaded it, and we worked on
making the balance better, even with old tires. The track was not in
good condition this afternoon, but it kept improving as the session
went on. We put a second set of tires on and concentrated on
squeezing everything we could out of it. It's important not to get
overconfident. I think if we want to maintain our position, we have
to concentrate on improving a bit more tomorrow."
CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI, Big Kmart/Route 66 Ford Reynard:
"I'm pretty happy with the car but I made a mistake on the last
lap or could have possibly gone quicker. I'm pretty sure we have a
shot at the pole. I would love to have pole but I would easily trade
it for a win on Sunday. We will keep working to make the Big
Kmart/Route 66 car better and go for it tomorrow. The car is much
better than it was in Detroit. The track conditions were difficult
but it was the same for everyone. The track got better as the
session went on. The car ran solid all day, which shows in our
results. I think there will be more speed tomorrow. Three are at
least six or seven drivers that have a shot at it (pole) tomorrow. I
hope we will come out on top and win the pole. We are pretty
confident that we have a shot at it."
PAUL
TRACY, #26 TEAM KOOL GREEN HONDA/REYNARD/FIRESTONE:
“The track was in really bad shape when we were running. At the
very end of the session, it was getting better for us in the first
group. Unfortunately, you have absolutely no hope to improve when
the track gets better and better for group two. I think that we need
to reconsider what cars are on track prior to our qualifying
sessions. The stock cars put down oil and coolant, not to mention
that their tires are incompatible with ours. It was like an ice rink
out there. The track for the first group was three seconds off the
pace.”
DARIO FRANCHITTI, #27 TEAM KOOL GREEN
HONDA/REYNARD/FIRESTONE:
“It was a weird session because the track was just so slick. There
was no grip out there. We definitely improved the KOOL car from this
morning’s session. We overcame a lack of mechanical grip from this
morning. I’m pretty happy with that. But we’ve still got a long
way to go. Now we need to get more grip from the rear end.”
BRYAN
HERTA “We knew what we got ourselves into, and we knew
it’s going to take a bit of time to get up to speed. The key is
getting the car the way I like it, and we’re just not there, yet.
Naturally, you like to yourself at the top of the charts, and there
will come a time, if all goes well, that we will be there. But we
just have to work through the details of getting me comfortable in
the car. We lost some time at the beginning of the qualifying
session, which hurt us. Ever minute of track time is important in
this situation. But we’ll do our best and take it as it comes.
This is a great group to work with.”
MORRIS NUNN “We’ve got quite a challenge this
weekend, bringing Bryan up to speed in a car he’s never driven
before. Our challenge is to give him a car that he is comfortable
with and we are slowly but surely chipping away at it. These tings
take time, there’s no two ways about it. Of course, we’d like to
accelerate that process as much as we can. We’ve got a solid
foundation to build on after the first day here. We’ll see what we
can do to move him up the grid tomorrow.”
PATRICK
CARPENTIER "I'm very happy with third place," said
Carpentier, who has three top-5 finishes in the four races in which
he has competed this season. "I really have to credit the great
work done by the Player's team in Detroit last weekend to put me
into the fastest qualifying group today. The fine job that they did
sure paid off today." "The Reynard and Ford package
is working very well," remarked Carpentier, who has finished in
the top 10 the last two years he has raced at Portland. "We are
very quick on the fastest part of the track, but we still need to
improve the car because it's pushing a bit in the first six corners
and we have problems putting the power down. We still have another
session tomorrow, and the Player's team will have everything worked
out for the final qualification and we're going to go all out for
the pole."
MICHAEL
ANDRETTI, # 6 Big Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Ford-Cosworth Lola
"The car wasn't too bad. Unfortunately on my second set of
tires I only got one good lap in and ran into traffic after that. It
was slippery out there with the different rubber on the track but it
got better toward the end of the session. It was definitely an
advantage to be in the fast group today. On a road course, how the
car handles is very important. Horsepower is always good as well but
the handling of the car is key. Overall, I am pretty happy with the
progress of the first day. The Big Kmart/Texaco/Havoline team worked
hard to get to this point and be a contender for the win. Overall we
have run well in Portland over the years but have not won since 1992
for a variety of reasons. Last year we ran the fastest lap but had
the car shut off while we were trying to leave the pits after a
stop. We were taken out of the race on the first lap in 1998
(Moore). We ran as high as fourth place
in 1997 but finished eighth. We had a problem in 1996 and dropped to
28th place and had to fight back up to 11. Overall, we were
competitive but just didn't managed to finish well here. It would be
nice to get back into victory circle this weekend."
ALEX
TAGLIANI "The track was
very slippery following the NASCAR session," he explained.
"They use a different tire compound and their cars are heavier
and they don't lay down rubber at the same places we do, so it was
hard to get a good track line. We also had some brake problems
during the session and we lost time in the pits bleeding them while
the other drivers were running on a set of new tires. The Player's
team will sort things out for tomorrow once they check with my
teammate's data."
WHAT'S NOTEWORTHY
Gil de Ferran (Marlboro Honda Reynard) of Marlboro Team Penske
has qualified among the top-five drivers at six of seven FedEx
Championship Series events to date. Included are poles at Homestead
and Long Beach, fourth-place starts at Milwaukee and Detroit and
fifth-place results at Japan and Nazareth, site of his third career
victory.
· De Ferran, the defending Freightliner/G.I. Joe's 200 Presented by
Texaco champion, also owns podium finishes of second at Portland
International Raceway in 1996 and '97.
· Christian Fittipaldi (Big Kmart/Route 66 Ford Lola) will be
seeking the second pole of his career, and his first on a road
course, during final qualifying Saturday. He earned his first at Rio
de Janeiro last year.
· Patrick Carpentier (Player's Forsythe Racing Team Ford Reynard),
who qualified third, will be seeking a career-best start on a road
or street course, topping sixth at Cleveland last year.
WHAT'S ON TAP
Qualifying for the Freightliner/G.I. Joe's Presented by Texaco will
air 5:30 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN2.
Go to
our forums
to discuss this article
TOP QUALIFIERS
| Pos |
No. |
Driver |
Last Completed |
Fastest |
Behind |
Speed (MPH) |
Speed
(KPH) |
| Lap |
Time |
Lap |
Time |
Leader |
Prior |
Last |
Fastest |
Last |
Fastest |
 |
| 1 |
2 |
|
Gil de Ferran |
21 |
1:18.808 |
18 |
0:58.586 |
0.000 |
0.000 |
89.945 |
120.991 |
144.811 |
194.796 |
|
| 2 |
11 |
X |
Christian Fittipaldi |
14 |
1:03.223 |
12 |
0:58.813 |
0.227 |
0.227 |
112.117 |
120.524 |
180.508 |
194.044 |
|
| 3 |
32 |
|
Patrick Carpentier |
16 |
1:24.485 |
13 |
0:58.993 |
0.407 |
0.180 |
83.901 |
120.157 |
135.081 |
193.453 |
|
| 4 |
6 |
|
Michael Andretti |
19 |
1:00.383 |
16 |
0:59.041 |
0.455 |
0.048 |
117.391 |
120.059 |
189.000 |
193.295 |
|
| 5 |
27 |
|
Dario Franchitti |
16 |
0:59.300 |
15 |
0:59.103 |
0.517 |
0.062 |
119.535 |
119.933 |
192.451 |
193.092 |
|
| 6 |
3 |
|
Helio Castroneves |
20 |
0:59.440 |
19 |
0:59.137 |
0.551 |
0.034 |
119.253 |
119.864 |
191.997 |
192.981 |
|
| 7 |
1 |
|
Juan Montoya |
12 |
0:59.171 |
12 |
0:59.171 |
0.585 |
0.034 |
119.795 |
119.795 |
192.870 |
192.870 |
|
| 8 |
20 |
|
Roberto Moreno |
17 |
1:08.202 |
14 |
0:59.334 |
0.748 |
0.163 |
103.932 |
119.466 |
167.331 |
192.340 |
|
| 9 |
8 |
|
Kenny Brack |
14 |
1:20.941 |
10 |
0:59.709 |
1.123 |
0.286 |
87.575 |
118.716 |
140.996 |
191.133 |
|
| 10 |
97 |
X |
Cristiano da Matta |
12 |
1:00.194 |
10 |
0:59.810 |
1.224 |
0.101 |
117.759 |
118.515 |
189.592 |
190.809 |
|
| 11 |
7 |
|
Max Papis |
20 |
1:00.049 |
18 |
0:59.841 |
1.255 |
0.031 |
118.044 |
118.454 |
190.051 |
190.711 |
|
| 12 |
96 |
|
Oriol Servia |
2 |
1:00.027 |
8 |
0:59.886 |
1.300 |
0.045 |
118.087 |
118.365 |
190.120 |
190.568 |
|
| 13 |
40 |
|
Adrian Fernandez |
14 |
1:00.343 |
14 |
1:00.343 |
1.757 |
0.457 |
117.468 |
117.468 |
189.123 |
189.123 |
|
| 14 |
12 |
|
Jimmy Vasser |
14 |
6:07.467 |
14 |
1:00.429 |
1.843 |
0.086 |
19.290 |
117.301 |
31.057 |
188.855 |
|
| 15 |
26 |
|
Paul Tracy |
13 |
0:00.000 |
13 |
1:00.543 |
1.957 |
0.114 |
117.080 |
117.080 |
188.499 |
188.499 |
|
| 16 |
17 |
X |
Mauricio Gugelmin |
13 |
1:00.711 |
13 |
1:00.711 |
2.125 |
0.168 |
116.756 |
116.756 |
187.977 |
187.977 |
|
| 17 |
18 |
|
Mark Blundell |
17 |
1:00.730 |
17 |
1:00.730 |
2.144 |
0.019 |
116.720 |
116.720 |
187.919 |
187.919 |
|
| 18 |
16 |
|
Michel Jourdain Jr. |
17 |
1:01.550 |
13 |
1:00.797 |
2.211 |
0.067 |
115.165 |
116.591 |
185.416 |
187.712 |
|
| 19 |
33 |
|
Alexandre Tagliani |
13 |
1:00.997 |
13 |
1:00.997 |
2.411 |
0.200 |
116.209 |
116.209 |
187.096 |
187.096 |
|
| 20 |
5 |
|
Shinji Nakano |
15 |
1:10.815 |
14 |
1:01.189 |
2.603 |
0.192 |
100.097 |
115.844 |
161.156 |
186.509 |
|
| 21 |
10 |
X |
Norberto Fontana |
7 |
1:01.374 |
6 |
1:01.282 |
2.696 |
0.093 |
115.495 |
115.669 |
185.947 |
186.227 |
|
| 22 |
55 |
|
Tony Kanaan |
11 |
1:01.322 |
11 |
1:01.322 |
2.736 |
0.040 |
115.593 |
115.593 |
186.105 |
186.105 |
|
| 23 |
34 |
|
Tarso Marques |
12 |
1:02.080 |
9 |
1:01.461 |
2.875 |
0.139 |
114.182 |
115.332 |
183.833 |
185.685 |
|
| 24 |
25 |
|
Luiz Garcia Jr. |
15 |
1:09.266 |
13 |
1:01.540 |
2.954 |
0.079 |
102.336 |
115.184 |
164.761 |
185.446 |
|
| 25 |
19 |
|
Takuya Kurosawa |
18 |
1:02.781 |
17 |
1:02.380 |
3.794 |
0.840 |
112.907 |
113.633 |
181.780 |
182.949 |
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