POWER LEADS FRENCH DUO IN ZOLDER
FRIDAY QUALIFYING
Australian driver Will Power spoilt the charge of the French
at Zolder in Belgium today when he clinched the fastest time
in today's first qualifying session at the opening race of
the Champ Car World Series European tour.
Power (#5 Aussie Vineyards Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone) claimed
the top spot, lapping the 4.02km road course in 1 minute 13.810
seconds - beating out a pair of Frenchmen - three-time Champ
Car World Series title holder Sebastien Bourdais and his own
Team Australia team-mate, Simon Pagenaud.
The Australian has now secured a front-row start for Sunday's
race - regardless of tomorrow's final qualifying results.
Bourdais elected to run both of his stints on the Bridgestone
Black sidewall tyres saving both sets of his presumably quicker
Bridgestone Red alternate tyres for tomorrow’s final
qualifying session.
Setting the fourth fastest lap was 18-year-old American Graham
Rahal, (# 2 Medi|Zone Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone) who turned
in a best lap of 1 minute 14.224 seconds, just ahead of Dale
Coyne Racing driver Bruno Junqueira who was fifth fastest.
Three Europeans filled the next slots of the time sheets
with Frenchman Tristan Gommendy (#22 Pay By Touch-MegaSpirea
Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone) sixth; Spaniard Oriol Servia (#7
Indeck Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone) seventh and Swiss driver
Neel Jani (#21 Red Bull-Gulfstream Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone)
eighth.
Canadians Paul Tracy (#3 Indeck Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone)
and Alex Tagliani (#8 Rocketsports Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone)
round out the top ten.
QUOTES FROM THE TOP THREE FRIDAY QUALIFIERS
Will Power: "It is really good to get
a point, but the best thing about qualifying on the front
row today is we can concentrate on fine tuning the set up
for the race in tomorrow's session.”
Sebastien Bourdais: “I think the McDonald’s
team did well today, it is our first time here and some guys
have raced here before. For us, we don’t need to gain
in the championship we just need to keep running near the
front to finish off this championship.”
Simon Pagenaud: “It's great to be
back at Zolder. They have resurfaced the track and it is very
gripy which is exactly what I like. We worked this morning
on the balance and traction to make sure we had a good set-up
for qualifying.”
NO LUCK FOR LOCAL HEROES IN ZOLDER
Belgian and Dutch fans have their sights set on a better day
tomorrow after both of their local heroes Jan Heylen and Robert
Doornbos failed to take part in qualifying this afternoon.
Heylen's car was badly damaged this morning after an incident
involving Dan Clarke and Justin Wilson on the opening lap
of practice. Heylen was the innocent party in the crash which
resulted in Clarke being suspended by Champ Car.
Doornbos also suffered misfortune when he had an engine failure
in the 15 minnute practice session just prior to qualifying.
"It was a very unfortunate day for the team, as they
worked very hard to get the car competitive in practice,"
Doornbos said.
"The engine blew in pit lane just before qualifying,
and there was nothing we could do about it. I did my job today,
which is to drive the car as fast as possible, and we were
quickest in the second session.
"It’s not the way we wanted to continue our fight
for the Championship, but we’ll give it another go tomorrow
for the pole. I hope all my fans still come out to support
me for the rest of the weekend, as anything is possible in
Champ Car. There is quite a bit of racing left in the season,
and I think we are going to have a strong fight for the Championship.”
Heylen's disappointed fans included his father Mark who runs
the "Wheels Cafe" (pictured above) located inside
the Zolder circuit. The restaurant is a popular location for
Belgian fans to cheer on their local hero, or drown their
sorrows as was the case today.
"It is very disappointing to have the car damaged on
the first lap of the first practice session this morning,"
Heylen said.
"We were unfortunately unable to participate in this
afternoon’s qualifying session but the weekend is just
starting and the guys are working hard to get the car back
together for tomorrow’s sessions.
"More than ever we are going to be considered the underdog,
but I’m confident that the entyre Conquest team will
pull together to have a great session tomorrow.”
Friday Qualifying
Pos - Driver - Country - Time
1 Will Power Australia 1:13.810
2 Sebastien Bourdais France 1:14.023 3
Simon Pagenaud France 1:14.030
4 Graham Rahal USA 1:14.224
5 Bruno Junqueira Brazil 1:14.433
6 Tristan Gommendy France 1:14.590
7 Oriol Servia Spain 1:14.812
8 Neel Jani Switzerland 1:14.823
9 Paul Tracy Canada 1:14.829
10 Alex Tagliani Canada 1:14.960
11 Justin Wilson England 1:15.041
12 Ryan Dalziel Scotland 1:15.498
13 Katherine Legge England 1:15.603
14 Alex Figge USA 1:15.934
DNS Robert Doornbos Netherlands No time
DNS Jan Heylen Belgium No time
DNS Dan Clarke England Excluded
Final qualifying for the Champ Car Grand Prix of Belgium
is at 2:30 p.m. local time (8:30 a.m. ET) on Saturday with
the race scheduled for Sunday, August 26 at 2 p.m. local time
(8 a.m. ET). Sunday’s race can be seen live on ESPN
Classic in the United States and Eurosport 2 in Europe
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