Pagenaud Takes Pole in Sonoma for Championship Race

Report From Peter Habicht
Motorsport Correspondent
The Auto Channel

Sonoma CA September 17, 2016; Simon Pagenaud’s pole position today has placed him in the best position to win the championship at tomorrow’s GoPro Grand Prix at Sonoma Raceway. Drivers tried different tire strategies on a warmer track following two incidents involving contact with the barriers for Josef Newgarden and James Hinchcliffe in final practice earlier this morning. Both cars retuned for this afternoon’s session, where drivers saw a warmer track, banking early lap times on the used black prime tires, later to find quicker times on the softer red alternates.

Tire degradation will be a factor in tomorrow’s race, as track temperatures are expected to be higher, and teams have been preparing with four stop strategies in mind.

In a post qualifying press conference, Pagenaud expressed his concern: “I think there will be degradation…The tires here suffer a lot. There are so many hairpins and traction out of the corners. We have a lot more power than we used to…it’s asking a lot of the tires. It’s an old tarmac, as well, with a lot of dust on it, so it creates a lot of wear.”

This weekend is critical for the Frenchman’s championship hopes, who must finish 5th or higher in tomorrow’s race in order to win the title. A relatively conservative strategy will be key to winning the title, and Pagenaud added: “It is what it is at the end of the day. Strategy, as well. A yellow that comes at the really wrong time for me…I think we need to err on the safe side, even if it's to finish second. I think it's okay as long as we win the championship.

But today I just think we just, again, showed strength. That's what it was all about, to show if we are to win the championship, we deserved it on many points.”

Tied with Pagenaud for race wins at 4 each, Will Power is also in the running, trailing Pagenaud by 43 points after today’s qualifying session.. Both Team Penske drivers made the Fast Six final round in the challenge for todays pole with their teammates Juan Pablo Montoya and Helio Castroneves as the team took the top four spots on the time sheets today.

1 (22) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet 1m16.2565s 112.594mph

2 (3) Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet 01:16.4134 112.362

3 (2) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet 01:16.5400 112.177

4 (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 01:16.6659 111.992

5 (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 01:16.7149 111.921

6 (28) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 01:16.9132 111.632

7 (9) Scott Dixon, Chevrolet, 01:16.5700 112.133

8 (98) Alexander Rossi (R), Honda, 01:16.5840 112.112

9 (11) Sebastien Bourdais, Chevrolet, 01:16.6115 112.072

10 (21) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 01:16.8142 111.776

11 (7) Mikhail Aleshin, Honda, 01:16.8909 111.665

12 (83) Charlier Kimball, Chevrolet, 01:16.9627 111.561

13 (10) Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, 01:16.9481 111.582

14 (27) Marco Andretti, Honda, 01:16.9288 111.610

15 (14) Takuma Sato, Honda, 01:16.9661 111.556

16 (26) Carlos Munoz, Honda, 01:17.0314 111.461

17 (41) Jack Hawksworth, Honda, 01:17.0823 111.387

18 (8) Chilton, Max (R), Chevrolet, 01:17.1310 111.317

19 (20) Spencer Pigot (R), Chevrolet, 01:17.3052 111.066

20 (5) James Hinchcliffe, Honda, 01:17.1926 111.228

21 (18) Conor Daly (R), Honda, 01:17.6771 110.535

22 (19) RC Enerson (R), Honda, 01:17.3264 111.036

(R) Rookie