source: pcmracing.com Dominguez Debuts with TECATE, PCM Drivers Pleased with Friday Progress Alex on qualifying: "Wow, the circuit here is awesome and the event is non-stop. It's unfortunate our qualifying session was wasted with the constant red flags. Neither Mario nor I got a lap in and we both feel we are off to a decent start, so it would have been nice to test that in qualifying. "This is my first time here in Australia, it is a beautiful place and the fans here are outrageous! It is exciting to be a Champ Car driver in Surfers Paradise, that's for sure!' Mario Dominguez #28 PCM/DP01/Cosworth/Bridgestone Mario on qualifying: "First of all, I am incredibly proud to carry the TECATE name on my race car and I am so happy to be driving for Pacific Coast Motorsports. The day started on a high note, we ran in the top-six in both practice sessions and I know I have a fast car for tomorrow. "We rolled the car out this morning with just a few handling issues but we fixed them early in the first session and ran very competitively. Good job to my engineers and my team, they have done their homework and I can't wait to get back behind the car tomorrow to continue to run toward the front. As far as qualifying, it was obviously very disappointing. "We waited to start our laps until later in the session when the track would be at its best. Sure enough, as soon as I went out, the red flags started and we never got a lap at speed. After the final red flag for Tagliani, I was coming up behind David (Martinez) and he braked a little early and I was charging pretty hard behind him and hit him. It was my mistake, I am sorry for David but we'll move on and have a good day tomorrow." Tyler Tadevic, Team Director: "We're thrilled to debut the TECATE car here in Australia and we are looking forward to representing them in Mexico City as well. We will be making an official announcement regarding TECATE and our commercial program in the coming weeks in Mexico City." source: minarditeamusa.com It was the first day on track at the beautiful Surfers Paradise circuit and Minardi Team USA drivers Robert Doornbos and 'Speedy' Dan Clarke were glad to be behind the wheel of their DP01s again for the first time in several weeks. With a messy qualifying session for some of their competitors, Robert and Dan ended up sixth and eleventh, respectively. Doornbos sits third in the Championship, and is just five points behind second place Justin Wilson. At this stage, the goal is to move back second in overall standings, as first place in the Championship is mathematically impossible. For a rookie driver to accomplish so much, including two victories, is undoubtedly a success in its own right. For Robert, he attacks each race weekend with a refreshing gusto, and for sure the young Dutchman has a lot of fight left in him. As has been the case all season, every circuit on the Champ Car World Series schedule this year is new to Robert, and he has never turned a lap around the difficult 2.795 mile street course. He fared well today, and is currently sixth on the grid after the first of two qualifications. Robert Doornbos 92.675 seconds "I am happy to be back in the office that is my Champ Car, and what a great place to visit after the break. All around, this event is very exciting, and it is a challenging circuit that is enjoyable to drive. We are working very hard to find the right set-up, and we're making improvements. Being in the top six today is not too bad, not the worst or the best way to start, but we'll have another chance tomorrow." 'Speedy' Dan sits eleventh on the grid, and after two red flags fell right in the middle of his fastest runs, eliminating his chance to turn a competitive time, the Englishman is still in good spirits. The day started out not-so-good, as Dan was sixteenth in this morning's first practice session. He and the engineers worked diligently to determine what changes to make for qualifying, and they significantly improved for this afternoon. Although, the grid position doesn't necessarily show it, Dan is content with today's progress and all are confident they can improve for tomorrow. 'Speedy' Dan Clarke 93.866 seconds "It seems it was this way last year at Surfer's, there are always going to be red flags during the sessions. It happened to us today, we were just getting our tires up to temperature, and then there was a red. On our second outing there was a red. On our final run we had only one lap, and I had a good first segment. Then something let go in the gearbox. It's unfortunate, but the cards just didn't fall in our favor today. The guys did a good job, though, and the car is improving. We just haven't been able to show our potential yet. We need to be able to finish a quick lap, and hopefully tomorrow we'll get that chance." Keith Wiggins, Team Co-Owner "It was a bit of a mixed session out there today, and we didn't get to turn very many laps, but it's the same for everyone. I don't think we're very far off a competitive time, so we just need clear laps when it counts." source: conquestracing.com In his Return in the Series, Nelson Philippe Turns in a Top Ten Qualifying Effort for the Provisional Qualifying in Surfers Paradise In his first qualifying session of the 2007 season, Nelson Philippe (#34 Juniper Soul / Cosworth / DP01 / Bridgestone) turned in a respectable top-ten qualifying time at today's provisional session. His progression was slowed by the two red flags during the qualifying session but he was able to take full advantage of his practice and warm up session to improve his confidence and get the #34 car up to speed. Nelson Philippe Quote "I have a few mixed feelings about today's qualifying session," began Nelson. "On one hand, I'm quite happy I was able to get up to speed quickly today and on the other hand, and I'm sure everyone will say this, our rhythm was hurt by the red flags. "It was tough getting back in the car today and seeing all those concrete walls because it has been a while since being on a street track but we had a top ten showing which is good to see and our times are competitive so I'm quite confident that we can go a lot faster tomorrow." Eric Bachelart Quote "Nelson has done a very good job today especially considering he has been out of a car for about 8 months," said Eric Bachelart, Conquest Racing Team Owner. "I am confident we will find more speed overnight and we will improve our starting position for Sunday's race. "We have done a lot of work in a short amount of time to get ready for this event so it is encouraging to see a positive result." source: pkvracing.com PKV RACING'S ORIOL SERVIA CAPTURES PROVISIONAL POLE FOR LEXMARK INDY 300 CHAMP CAR GRAND PRIX JANI QUALIFIES 5TH PKV Racing's Oriol Servia has provisionally qualified in pole position today securing him a front row grid spot. His teammate Neel Jani qualified 5th on the grid for Sunday's Lexmark Indy 300 Champ Car Grand Prix in Surfers Paradise,Queensland, Australia. Servia, #22 Pay By Touch PKV Racing Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone car, took the pole position on the very last lap with a new course record of 90.862 seconds, (110.739 mph) on the 2.795-mile, 12-turn street course. Jani, #21 Red Bull Gulfstream PKV Racing Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone entry, had a qualifying time of 92.520 seconds (108.755 mph) Servia started and ended the day among the fastest cars on the track. During this mornings practice he posted the second fastest lap recording a quick time of 92.939 seconds (108.265 mph). In the 15-minute afternoon practice/warm-up, Servia logged the fifth fastest time posting a lap of 92.356 seconds (108.948 mph). Qualifying had a little more drama than usual with two red flags, resulting in Servia lying in fourth place after the first incident with a time of 91.886 seconds. After coming into the pits and putting on the red set of tires, he was able to do a few more laps to bring the tires up to temperature before the next red came out, leaving Servia still in 4th place with 2 minutes and a maximum of 2 laps remaining. As he went into the last lap it was all or nothing and feeling confident about the car he was able to take the first place spot away from Power by 0.033 seconds. "I am really happy to be on pole, really happy to give a good result to PKV, after the season I have had, I am very happy how it has turned out in the end," Servia began. "It's a great start for the weekend, I thought the car was already good in the morning, so it was all about putting the laps together. "There was a red flag every time I was out there so I couldn't do a lap. It must have been the most drama in a qualifying, it was like a one lap shoot out in the end for everybody and we were just able to do a fast lap at the end because the car was good. We need to finish like this on Sunday afternoon, I have been on pole before and I know it all counts on the last lap so that is what I am going to be working on. "I would like to thank Kevin Kalkhoven, Jimmy Vasser and Mark Johnson for having the faith and believing in me for this race, and of course the Pay By Touch PKV Racing crew for all their hard work. We couldn't have a better chance going in to the start of this weekend". Jani spent the morning practice becoming familiar with the track and re-adjusting to the much faster speeds of Champ cars after his two A1 races. By the end of the morning session he was 14th on the practice report with a quick lap of 95.285 seconds (105.599 mph). During the 15-minute warm-up, Jani was down in 14th place, clocking a time of 94.176 seconds on his last lap. In qualifying he went straight out and was able to complete his first stint, putting him in fifth place behind his team mate. A fresh set of tires went on but Jani was unable to get an opportunity to gain some places because of the red flags, leaving him in fifth place. "Its not too bad for my 1st qualifying", noted Jani, "I did not put the red tires on and I think the reds will help me quite a bit on lap times. The car is ok not perfect yet and I think we can still find something. I am quite happy to have finished 5th on my first qualifying," Jani concluded. Servia, #22 Pay By Touch PKV Racing Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone car, has qualified and finished in the top-10 three times in seven races. The 33-year-old resident of Miami, Florida contested 11 of the first 12 races this year for Forsythe Championship Racing and currently sits sixth in the championship standings with 204 points, just five points out of fifth, 34 out of third and 39 out of second. So far this year he has finished in the top-10 in 10 of his 11 starts with four top-five showings including two podium performances (second at Long Beach and third at San Jose). Servia, has qualified in the top-10 six times in 12 races this year including four top-five starting spots, all on street circuits, with a season high of third at Toronto (fourth at San Jose and fifth at Houston). Jani, #21 Red Bull Gulfstream PKV Racing Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone, has been one of the most competitive drivers in the series finishing in the top-10 in eight consecutive races, earning three podium finishes, (seconds in Toronto and San Jose and a third in Cleveland). The 23-year-old native of Jens, Switzerland established a single season team record for most by an individual driver and tied the record for the most by the team in a season. Jani is currently seventh in the championship standings, six points away from fifth, 35 from third and 40 from second. He also lies third in the Roshfrans Rookie of the Year race with 203 points (one behind Rahal). Jani's streak has given him a legitimate shot at becoming the first PKV Racing driver ever to finish in the top-five in the season ending standings (Vasser finished 6th in 2005). Jani has qualified in the top-10 a total of 11 times in 12 attempts with a best starting position of fourth at Houston and Assen. He is ninth in laps led (30) and third in both laps (923) and miles (2011.839) completed. With a maximum of a 30 point gain possible in any race, Surfers Paradise is crucial to both drivers' hopes of finishing among the leaders in the standings. There will be another practice session tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. followed by final qualifying at 1:55 p.m. The Lexmark Indy 300 Champ Car Grand Prix, October 19 - 21, on the streets of Surfers Paradise is Round #13 of the 2007 Champ Car World Series season. It will be televised live on ESPN Classic at 11:30 p.m. (ET) on Saturday 20th October and re-aired at 6:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 21, on ESPN2. source: teamaustraliamotorsport.com POWER SECOND FASTEST IN OPENING QUALIFYING ON THE GOLD COAST Will Power has reconfirmed his prowess around the Surfers Paradise street circuit by setting the second fastest time in opening qualifying for the Lexmark Indy 300 on the Gold Coast today. Power drove the #5 Aussie Vineyards Team Australia DP01 Champ Car to second fastest in the first of two qualifying sessions for this weekend, bumped from the provisional pole position by Spaniard Oriol Servia by a mere 0.033 seconds in the final stages of the session. The Australian had the crowd cheering half way through the session when he set a time that put his green and gold machine on the top of the timesheets, eclipsing the previous best of Sebastien Bourdais. Power was on-track to go even quicker on his very next lap but had a harmless spin at Seek Corner, able to continue on with no contact or damage and return to the pits. Not so lucky was Bourdais, who then crashed in the first chicane trying to match Power's effort and heavily damaged his car. Bourdais' incident brought out a red flag and a second red flag was flown when Alex Tagliani spun soon after, leaving teams less than two minutes to set a faster time. Power's car was switched to the softer 'red' tyres for the final run to the flag but his effort was ruined when he came across a slowing car on his fast lap. Servia, also on the Bridgestone red tyres, was able to go fractionally quicker than Power's mark and guarantee the PKV Racing pilot a front row starting position for Sunday's race. British driver Justin Wilson was third. Power set his best time on the harder compound 'black' tyres but still managed to set a time of 1:30.895, which was quicker than the time the Toowoomba-born driver set to gain pole position for last year's Lexmark Indy 300. Power's 2006 pole time was 1:31.403. Team Australia's rising rookie Simon Pagenaud enjoyed his first day of action around the demanding 4.47-kilometre street circuit today. The Frenchman was ninth fastest on the opening day of the event, which is the 13th round in the 2007 Champ Car World Series. With the experience of today's running Pagenaud is confident of climbing higher up the order for tomorrow. Final qualifying will be run on Saturday before the Lexmark Indy 300 is staged on Sunday. WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY ... Will Power - #5 Aussie Vineyards Team Australia DP01 "Unfortunately we are in a tough pit position so we had a lot of cars in front of us at that final run," said Power. "We decided to wait. My last lap, I still got traffic. I was surprised that Oriol was able to get a time out there, because there was so much traffic. "We had the car speed. We were plenty quick enough. We just had a mixed session. The first run, it was a reasonable lap time. "Obviously on my last lap of that run, I was one tenth up until the small spin. "So, yeah, nothing we can do about it. We'll come back tomorrow and have a shot at pole. "The fans support has been great and it's awesome to see all the green and gold in the stands, but once I'm in the car I'm pretty focused. With fast chicanes, you don't really want to look up. I think that's what Sebastien was doing, wasn't it? He must have been looking up (laughter). "My red tyres came on reasonably quickly, I just didn't really get a good run on the reds at the end. I think it was tough to get the temperature in my tyres. I had to back way off because we had so many cars in front. But when I started that lap, it did feel quite nice." "I'm sure there's more time in the car definitely, so I'm sure Derrick will be on the phone to Craig back at home letting him know how we went and when I speak to him I'll tell him that we have a good chance and a nice car for tomorrow." Simon Pagenaud - #15 Aussie Vineyards Team Australia DP01 "Well it's a tough track to be honest," said Pagenaud. "We had a good set-up and the Aussie Vineyards car was great. It really is a tough track, I've never seen anything like it before, so I just need to get used to it. "There were two places where we lost time but we will sleep on it and try to go for it tomorrow. "Tomorrow I will have a day of running under my belt, so hopefully Will and I can both give Craig Gore something to smile about back at his home." Derrick Walker - Team Australia Co-Owner "It was a bit of a strange finish to what was a well executed plan," said Walker. "Everything the guys worked on prior to coming here really panned out and worked really well. "We were right on target. You just never can predict the yellows and the traffic. Our pit position put us at a little bit of a disadvantage at the end because a lot of people went out in front of us we had to take a little bit longer to get a gap. "Of course there was so little time at the end we didn't have enough time to get up to speed well enough to get pole. "I think the car is perfectly capable of getting pole and tomorrow I think we will be there with at least one of our cars. "Simon has had a typical rookie year. For the first day it's quite a special track here and he's finding out, as every rookie does, how difficult it is to put it together here at Surfers. "But he's still on his game and the guys are doing a great job with him and getting him the car he needs. "It's a bit strange not having my partner in crime Craig Gore here shouting at me on why we didn't get the pole, I'm sure he's shouting at me from his home and cheering us on at the same time. We just want to wish him well and hope that we can do better for him tomorrow." Craig Gore - Team Australia Co-Owner "A very solid day for the team and to be pipped at the post right at the end of the session is frustrating," said Gore. "It's a classic case of so near but yet so far. It was a great effort by everyone but we fell just short of the top spot. "Will's car was great today and I'm sure there is a fair bit of speed left in it for final qualifying tomorrow. It's a shame he just missed the pole today but now he can focus on getting the top spot tomorrow. "Simon would have learned a great deal today and will enter tomorrow with some tricks he would have learned today. This track is about as tough as it gets so to be in the top 10 on his first day around the place is a solid start. "The guys are doing a fantastic job and it's great to hear that the crowd is really getting behind Team Australia. I wish I was there with the crew but I know that they are a fantastic bunch and have everything under control to go one better for tomorrow." Race Director Denies Team Australia's Request to Reconsider Penalty Team Australia was denied their request by Race Director Tony Cotman to reconsider the penalty that was handed to them at the last Champ Car event in Assen. Cotman ordered all drivers to stop using the Cosworth Power-to-Pass because of a software glitch. After the race it was determined seven drivers used Power-to-Pass after the order was given. The Power-to-Pass system is a system that allows drivers to gain 50 extra horsepower from their Cosworth XFE engines for brief periods during a race by pressing a button on the steering wheel. As a result, Dan Clarke, Neel Jani, Bruno Junqueira and Team Australia drivers Simon Pagenaud and Will Power were penalized for the next round, the Lexmark Indy 300 in Surfers Paradise, Australia and will only have 35 seconds of Power-to-Pass allocation. The two other drivers found to be in breach, Ryan Dalziel and Tristan Gommendy, are not racing in Australia this weekend. The remainder of the field will have the full compliment of 75 seconds. Team Australia met with Cotman and presented data and voice recording information to explain the events in Assen where Power and Pagenaud were penalized for using Power-to-Pass after being instructed not to do so by the stewards. Cotman denied the team's request to reconsider to change the penalty, even with concern by the team that the penalty was too severe for what was a small team mistake. Cotman made the decision based on the grounds of safety to penalize any team using the Power-to-Pass and he will stick by his original decision, and therefore denies Team Australia's request. Derrick Walker - Team Australia Co-Owner "We obviously respect Tony Cotman's decision as it was done on the grounds of safety and we will of course respect and deal with it. The impact on the team is very severe as Power-to-Pass is the key element of racing in Champ Car and being reduced by 50 percent of what most of the competitors will have is a huge disadvantage for our team." source: rocketsportsracing.com An Unforgiving Track and New Rule Cause a Rough Start for Rocketsports Racing's Tagliani Down Under The Surfers Paradise, Australia street circuit is one of the most challenging and unforgiving tracks on the Champ Car World Series schedule, add that with a new Champ Car Friday-qualifying rule, and that equals a bad day for Rocketsports Racing and driver Alex Tagliani today during the first day of on-track activity Down Under. Tagliani was sitting in the second spot on the Champ Car timing and scoring sheet this morning after recording only three laps with a time of 1:35.709. Just after improving his lap time to record a 1:34.167 (106.835 mph/171.962 km/h) on his seventh orbit which moved him back to P2, Tagliani hit the curb when exiting Turn 1 and brushed the wall. A broken front-left suspension from the contact would end the French Canadian's first practice session on the streets of Surfers Paradise too early. The damage was repairable, as the #8 Rocketsports crew worked hard to get the car back together and ready to run for the first round of qualifying in Australia this afternoon. For this event, the number of timed laps that each driver completed in the first 40 minutes of the Friday morning practice session would be the maximum number of laps that the driver is allowed to complete in the Friday afternoon qualifying segment. This provision overrides the usual 15-lap Champ Car maximum. Based on that ruling, and because of his early incident, Tagliani was only allotted five qualifying laps during the provisional qualifying segment this afternoon. Because of that, the team opted to go out later in the provisional qualifying segment. On Tagliani's third lap around the 2.795-mile street course, he pushed extra hard to record a quick time knowing he only had a few laps to do it. As he shot through the chicane in Turn 1, he was pushing a little too hard. After hitting the curb, he started to slide, then spun, but did not make contact. It was a short afternoon, just as it was a short morning for the team. The best time he was able to record during the provisional qualifying segment was a 3:20.825 (50.103 mph), which put him in the 16th spot. Disappointed in what turned out to be a day of logging only 11 laps, the team is hopeful that tomorrow will be a better, more productive day. There will be another practice session on Saturday morning, with the final round of qualifying to follow at 1:55 p.m. Australian EST (11:55 p.m., Friday, ET USA). The Lexmark Indy 300 will take the green flag on Sunday, October 21, at 1:35 p.m. local time (11:35 p.m., Saturday, ET USA). Fans can follow the Rocketsports team on the internet by logging onto www.champcar.ws and signing up for Race Director. For more information, check out www.rocketsportsracing.com. Alex Tagliani #8 PBS Equities/Rocketsports Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone "It was not a very good day for us during our first on-track day in Surfers Paradise. This morning, with this new rule of having to do a certain number of laps during the first forty-minutes of practice and those laps would become the number laps that we are allowed to do during qualifying this afternoon ultimately hurt us. "As soon as I tapped the wall during the morning practice, we only had completed seven laps, so we had very few laps allotted in qualifying. Then there was a red flag just before we were going to head out for our run in the provisional qualifying segment, which pushed everyone to go out at the same time towards the end of the session. "Knowing there was going to be a lot of traffic, we were worried that we were not going to have the chance to get in a good lap, so I pushed a little bit too hard and did not have the time to get the car fully sorted out. So, I lost it over the curb in the same chicane that I lost it in this morning. I didn't damage anything, but we didn't get a good lap recorded this afternoon. So we will start from scratch tomorrow and hopefully have a better day and more time on-track."
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