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CART: Gil de Ferran Gives Penske First Pole Since 1997

25 March 2000

By David Treffer
Contributing Editor-The AutoChannel

HOMESTEAD, FL: A joyful Gil de Ferran described it best. "It is very hard to say anything right now....it is an emotional moment the way that I feel right now. This is just fantastic." de Ferran had every right to be emotional. He had just placed his Penske/Honda on pole position for tomorrow's Marlboro Grand Prix. One could almost hear the collective sigh of relief from the crew members and Roger Penske.

The pole was the first for the Marlboro-sponsored team since 1997. The long three year drought is finally over. Perhaps the black cloud that was seemingly following the team has now moved on. The good news delivered by de Ferran is just what the doctor ordered.

Their was nothing in the morning session that indicated de Ferran would reel off this incredible lap. During the morning session de Ferran turned in a lap of 26.238 seconds for a speed of 206.083 mph. A respectable time but still some 6/10th's of a second off of the leading pace. Just what the engineers did between 10:30am and 2:18pm is not known. What is now known is that de Ferran turned a lap of 25.942 seconds for a speed of 208.434mph to just edge Target driver and defending CART champion Juan Montoya by less than 6/1000's of a second.

The qualifying session was led off by Luis Garcia, Jr. who turned in less than hoped for time. Not one to offer excuses, Garcia offered "I need more time in the car. It is a learning curve and hopefully I will pick up the pace." His time of 30.006 seconds is not the way the Arciero Project Racing Group wanted to start the season.

Next off the grid was Takuya Kurosawa in the Dale Coyne Ford Cosworth. Kurosawa turned a lap of 27.163 seconds for a speed of 199.065mph. While no one on the team was doing cartwheels, none the less the time was an improvement of almost 1 second.

Michel Jourdain, Jr. was next off of the 25 qualifiers. Jourdain, whose father formerly competed in the CART series, turned a lap of 26.971 seconds for a speed of 201.829mph. The Bettenhausen Motorsports driver turned a lap of 26.970 seconds for a speed of 201.837mph. The time was 21st fastest. Considering the turmoil that the team has had to endure since the death of owner Tony Bettenhausen, the fact that the team is even here is testament to the fortitude of the Bettenhausen team.

The next qualifier was perhaps one of the most disappointed of the week-end...Dario Franchitti of Team Kool Green. The week-end has been one of struggling to catch up. The evidence of Dario's lay-off from his spring training accident came forth in a qualifying lap of 26.802 seconds for a speed of 201.746mph. Franchitti was somewhat perplexed to explain the poor performance. "We have tried everything this week-end. Hopefully some answers will be found tomorrow." Asked about his physical condition Franchitti retorted "That's the one thing that is working well."

Dario Franchitti's qualifying effort was followed by teammate Paul Tracy. Unfortunately for both driver's Paul Tracy's effort was not that much better. "We've been chasing the set-up all week-end long. It seems we have tried everything and we just can't get it right. Perhaps tomorrow will be a different answer." Tracy's time of 26.643 seconds for a speed of 202.950mph was good for 17th place on the grid.

Oriol Servia of the PPI Motorsports was the first of the Toyota powered drivers to qualify. Servia improved his time from the morning practice. His qualifying lap of 26.790 was good enough for 20th place on the grid.

Norberto Fontana, the newcomer to CART replacing Richie Hearn was able to turn in a time of 26.774 seconds for 19th place on the grid. The enthusiasm displayed by this young Indycar star was just uncontained. "I want to learn out there" he said after qualifying. "This is the place where you have to show what you have." Fontana will get that chance tomorrow.

Cristiano da Matta was next off the grid. The disappointment on his face said everything. The other driver of the PPI Motorsports team turned a lap of 26.872seconds for a speed of 201.221mph. His time was slower than the Saturday practice time. "I have a few things to work on. Hopefully we can find some more speed tomorrow."

PacWest driver Mauricio Gugelmein was next out. The team had been trying a variety of set-ups between Friday and Saturday. In Saturday's practice Gugelmein turned in a best lap of 26.698seconds for a speed of 202.532mph. His qualifying lap of 26.744 seconds was, like a lot of teams, slower than the Saturday practice."My car pretty loose especially out of [turn] four. Tomorrow during morning warm-up we will see if we can make some adjustments."

Mark Blundell was next out. Just as he was getting ready to start his qualifying lap Blundell hit the exit area coming out of turn 4. "The car was just loose, which is really disappointing because we had a really good car. I tried to drive through the loose condition and you can't do that going 160-170 mph. Slapped the wall and put that car away and got the T-car. The guys did a great job of getting my back-up car ready. Turned in a respectable time with a car that had old tires." Asked about the strategy for the race. "We've really been working more on race set-up than qualifying. The team is bringing a new philosophy that we start tomorrow. We've done a lot of miles and you may see me going for it [the lead] pretty quick." Blundell turned in a time of 26.616 seconds for a speed of 203.156mph. Blundell will start 16th on the grid. A great time considering what he had just gone through.

Patrick Carpentier of the Players/Forsyhte driver turned a lap of 26.313seconds for a speed of 205.494mph for 12th place on the grid. "The car felt very good going into 1 and 2 but a slight push exiting turn 4. We will see what we can work on for the race tomorrow."

The lap of the day was turned in by de Ferran with a time of 25.942 seconds for a speed of 208.434mph. The Marlboro-sponsored driver was in a word-estatic. "This is wonderful, I knew we had a fantastic car and the team has worked so hard."

Moments after qualifying had ended Target driver Juan Montoya came up behind de Ferran. The light hearted nature of the banter between them was delightful. Montoya was animated in his shock that de Ferran had clipped him by 6/1000s of second. None the less, it was a moment that shows that while these drivers are fierce competitors, they are for the most part friends. That friendship gets parked at the door tomorrow when the green flags flies.

Editors Note: To view hundreds of hot racing photos and art, visit The Racing Photo Museum and the Visions of Speed Art Gallery.