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Castroneves Speeds To IndyCar Pole At Long Beach

Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach fast qualifier Helio Castroneves glides through turn 3. [Joe Jennings Photo]

Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach fast qualifier Helio Castroneves glides through turn 3. [Joe Jennings Photo]

Long Beach, Calif. – Helio Castroneves raced to the pole position for Sunday’s Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, the third Verizon IndyCar Series race in 2015. In speeding to the top spot with a time of 1:06.6294 (106.331 miles per hour), he broke the qualifying standard set by Justin Wilson in 2008. The old mark was 1:06.902.

The pole winner drives the Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet fielded by Team Penske.

“We were going for it. Every time we come to the race track we have not only great speed, but a great team and that’s what it is all about,” Castroneves said. “Yesterday wasn’t the best and the guys did a phenomenal job changing everything this morning. And today the car was spot on and now we have to finish the job.”

Castroneves claimed his 42nd career pole and his second at Long Beach with the first coming in 2001 the same year he won the race.

Joining Castroneves in the front row is teammate Juan Pablo Montoya in the Verizon Team Penske.

Said Montoya, “In the first practice we were really good. We went one direction for the second practice and went slower, tried something this morning and went even slower, so I was like, ‘Oh, let’s put it back. We spent two days trying to figure it out and then just put it back the way we started and things were good. Welcome to motor racing. I really thought I had it (pole) there, but I made a mistake in the last corner, but it is what it is.”

Row two qualifiers were Scott Dixon (Chevrolet) and 2014 Indianapolis 500 champion Ryan Hunter-Reay (Honda).

Simon Pagenaud (Chevrolet) and Josef Newgarden (Chevrolet) will make up row three.

Next in line are Tony Kanaan, Graham Rahal, Sebastien Bourdais and Marco Andretti. Perennial front-row qualifier Will Power waited too late to run a fast lap and got left behind when his qualifying segment was cut short when another driver crashed, ending the segment early. As a result Power will start 18th in the 23-car.
Said the champion, “I’m just kicking myself for not finishing the lap that I had a bobble on. I turned the engine down, coasted for a bit and took off again. It’s going to be tough.”

Three segments of qualifications were run as usual with each of them offering 10 minutes of track time, though only the final segment, the Firestone Fast Six segment, guarantees at least five minutes of green-flag time.
In segment one, the cars were split into two groups and Kanaan led the way in the opener but he and Rahal received a warning for qualifying interference.

Montoya topped the list in the other portion of the segment. This round was cut short after Stefano Coletti crashed after timing third fast; however, he lost that coveted spot due to the crash.
Pagenaud had fast time in segment two followed by Newgarden, Castroneves, Montoya, Dixon and Hunter-Reay.

During Friday’s practice, rookie Rocky Moran Jr. sustained a broken thumb in a minor crash and had to withdraw from the field. Needing a substitute driver, owner Dale Coyne tabbed second-generation driver Conor Daly as the team’s new driver.

Daly jumped in the car after borrowing a seat from Marco Andretti and completed 21 laps during the practice session that preceded qualifications. The race will mark his debut on a street course and also feature just his second IndyCar start. He did win an Indy Lights race here four years ago.

Until getting the call from Coyne, Daly had been driving the Indy Experience two-seater this weekend.

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