TORONTO – Simon Pagenaud earned his first pole of the season on Saturday afternoon, capturing the pole for the Honda Indy Toronto on the streets of Exhibition Place.
Team Penske has dominated Verizon IndyCar Series qualifications this season as two of its four drivers had won seven poles entering Saturday’s qualifications for Sunday’s Honda Indy Toronto.
Will Power has four poles this season and Helio Castroneves has three. Newcomer Josef Newgarden and defending Verizon IndyCar Series champion Pagenaud came to Toronto hoping to get their first pole of the season.
Pagenaud accomplished that with an impressive performance as he broke the track record on two different occasions on Saturday to win the Verizon P1 Award for the first time this season.
Pagenaud broke the track record for the current configuration of this race course at Toronto’s Exhibition Place in the second segment of qualifications. He won the pole with another record-lowering time of 58.9124 around the 11-turn, 1.786-mile street course in the Firestone Fast Six.
“I felt really comfortable,” Pagenaud said. “It’s really the first weekend of the year that I’ve been able to do exactly what I want with the car, and it’s a lot of fun when that happens. It feels so rewarding when you feel like you extract the best out of yourself and feel one with the car. It was definitely some really fast laps there in the Fast Six, and I really put everything down on the line.
“It’s very satisfying, but my race car has been phenomenal this weekend, so I hope we can transform that into a win tomorrow. It would be perfect timing in the championship.”
After watching his teammates Power and Castroneves go back and forth trading poles all season, Pagenaud wanted to concentrate on race results.
But, he also wanted to satisfy his ego.
“For me it’s race results,” Pagenaud admitted. “That’s really what pays. But every race car driver has an ego, and I think qualifying is all about ego. We all want to be the fastest man.
“I think from the moment we start in go-karts, when you manage to do that special lap, it’s the best feeling in the world, and I think that’s what we all hear, is to us, it’s the gratification when you get to do the pole and put that perfect lap together. That’s what we seek for. That’s what I seek for the morning when I wake up, and when it happens, when I manage to put it all together on a given time, it’s very enjoyable. It’s the best reward in the world.”
Pagenaud will lead the field to the green flag of Sunday’s Honda Indy Toronto – a race that is set to begin shortly after 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
Graham Rahal posted the second-fastest time at 59.2245 (108.563 mph) in a Honda. He was followed by Team Penske’s Castroneves at 59.4345 (108.180 mph) and Will Power at 59.5430 (107.982 mph) – both in Chevrolets.
Scott Dixon was fifth in a Honda at 59.5430 (107.524 mph) and Hinchcliffe at 1:00.1415 (106.908 mph) in a Honda.
There is also a strategic advantage to starting on this pole at this demanding racing circuit.
“To me it’s the most important place to qualify well, so that’s why this pole position is very important to the race results,” Pagenaud explained. “It’s going to count toward it.
“Toronto always has a twist for you on the strategy. But it’s always better to be up front for sure. So that’s mission accomplished on the pole position, but we have one more thing to do, and that’s the race. The whole weekend is tackling practice 1 a certain way to be well set up for practice 2, and practice 3 is all about qualifying.
“When you check everything that you want to check to that point, that’s satisfying.
“I love this city. I’ve been racing here since 2006, and this is really a fun track to me. I’ve just never had the success that I thought I could get for unknown reasons, so again, being able to put a perfect lap together in Toronto is very unusual because it’s a very tough track. So, I feel very satisfied that way. But there’s a huge competition within the team. Obviously Helio has been on a tear this year, and I needed some poles to catch up on that competition. Last year I was the one that won that competition, but it’s a fun — we’re just having fun with that.”
Esteban Gutierrezcrashed during Saturday’s qualifications on the streets of Toronto and has not yet been cleared to drive for Sunday’s Honda Indy Toronto.
Gutierrez, the Verizon IndyCar Series rookie driving the No. 18 Honda for Dale Coyne Racing, made hard contact with the wall at the exit of turn 11 at the conclusion of segment one, group one qualifying. The Honda sustained significant right-side and rear damage in the incident.
Gutierrez was evaluated by IndyCar Medical Director Dr. Michael Olinger after experiencing concussion-like symptoms. The 25-year-old from Monterrey, Mexico, was treated and released but has not been cleared to drive, pending further evaluation Sunday morning.
Source :speedsport.com
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