Whale I didn’t expect Indy Car qualifying to start so DAMN early (7:45AM) out here on the Left coast… But I did manage to pull up the internets broadcast just-in-time to catch the very tail end of Qualifying group one… As the second session was momentarily delayed to remove Marty Roth’s damaged vehicle from the tire wall, as Andretti Green Racing’s Hideki Mutoh, was only a few 100’s of a second away from moving forward, having been bumped by Franck Perera.
Thus I was able to catch the entire Qualifying group two which found me a bit annoyed as Justin Wilson had his fastest lap taken away for supposedly causing a full course yellow flag when Ernesto Viso spun out behind him… Note to IMS broadcast boyzs… His name is Ernesto NOT EJ! C’mon I know uze guys can pronounce Ernesto, it’s NOT that difficult, eh?
So as the session when back to green we were forced to listen to an overly nauseous kiss-ARSE interview with Terry Englehart about how happy IRL was to have Coke and Direct TV onboard… But I DON’T care; well at least he mentioned that Indy Car hoped to have the 2009 race calendar published to the public by this June… But hey, just tell us who’s doing what out on the track… As Oriel Servia was pipped on the final lap by Helioe “Dancing Fool” Castroneves by 5/100th of a second to move into the Flintstone Fast Six pole competition, as Servia would be forced to settle for starting seventh overall.
But wait, there’s NO Target Chip Ganassi cars? HMM? Scotty “Luke” Dixon was an unbelievable 13th, not even having made the top twelve shoot-out, with Dan “Spike” Wheldon winding up in P8, with Graham Rahal and Perera behind him.
Oh yeah, before the final knock-out Qualifying session it was time for the Princess Pout. Err, the Danica Stomp as we were forced to endure an overly LONG sniveling interview with Danica who got her ARSE kicked in Qualifying today as all I could do was make a series of Whhaaaaaaaaa……….. Noises while she tried to not sound overly disappointed about her lack of speed! Give it up Danica… Who’ll roll off tomorrow in P19, as the announcers said there’s only two AGR cars in the top twelve. (Kanaan; Pole, Marco Andretti; 12th) I mean HELL! Even ERNESTO Viso and Enrique Bernoldi out qualified the Princess…
And I was really hoping for a Justin Wilson – Will Power front row for race day, but alas, it wasn’t to be… As apparently TK was re-invigorated from having to take a 30 minute nap the other day as Brian Braveheart was Really-Really-Really upset with Kanann for not paying attention to his radio at Homestead… As Tony (Follow your Snauz) Kanaan said he was exhausted and had to sweat to capture the pole position.
But the most impressive driver of the top six shoot-out had to be Ryan Hunter-Reay in the Booby Ruble machine, eh? As although Will Power had the fastest lap time of the day overall, it didn’t matter since it had come prior to final qualifying… And thus the Aussie had to settle for the outside of the front row in P2 with Buckshot Wilson’s Mic-Dougal’s car in P3 ahead of Helio, while teammate Ryan Briscoe will roll off fifth with Hunter-Reay alongside in sixth… And looking at the results, obviously Junky had a problem as he clipped the barriers twice, damaging his suspension once prior to qualifying…
Should be a good race tomorrow.
Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
IndyCar Series event on the 1.8-mile Streets of St. Petersburg, with starting position, car number in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine and speed:
1. (11) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 103.627 mph
Champ Car “Transition” Refugees2. (8) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 103.499mph
3. (02) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 103.444
7. (5) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 103.279
9. (06) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 103.165
10. (34) Franck Perera, Dallara-Honda, 103.062
15. (33) Ernesto Viso, Dallara-Honda, 102.359
18. (36) Enrique Bernoldi, Dallara-Honda, 102.117
22. (19) Mario Moraes, Dallara-Honda, 100.999
26. (18) Bruno Junqueira, Dallara-Honda, 93.392
