Indy Lights: Qualifying Report from Toronto
18 July 1999
SERVIA TOPS DORRICOTT QUALIFIERS AT TORONTO
TORONTO, Ont., Canada (July 17, 1999) - - Oriol Servia, of Pals,
Catalonia, Spain, rebounded from modest practice and provisional qualifying
times to gain a second row starting spot in Sunday's seventh round of the
1999 PPG-Dayton Indy Lights Championship at Toronto's Exhibition Place.
Qualifying began on schedule at 11:15 a.m. (ET) under clear skies
and temperatures near 90 degrees. It's only interruption was early when
Mario Dominguez, of Mexico, clipped the wall in turn one, breaking off the
rear wing in a lap which was fastest at that time. Dominguez was able to
return unaided to pit lane where he retired for the session. Less than two
minutes were lost to the incident.
Servia, who has started from the pole this season at Nazareth and
Portland, was in contention for Sunday's pole to the final minute of the
30-minute session before finishing fourth fastest at 1:04.559 = 97.864 mph.
Geoff Boss led the 20-car field with a track record 1:04.437 = 98.049 mph.
Servia was running second fastest with less than two minutes
remaining in the session when Airton Dare burst ahead to claim the outside
pole at 1:04.459 = 98.016 mph. Didier Andre likewise found a clean, final
lap to slip ahead of Servia into third place.
"This was much better," said Servia. "We weren't on the top of our
game when we arrived in Toronto so I think we turned the corner on our
set-up. Alain Clarinval (team engineer) was outstanding again. He smoothed
the car out over the bumps. Fourth place in qualifying here was tougher
than winning the poles at Nazareth and Portland. I also had to alternate
fast laps with slow laps because the tires were getting too hot and losing
grip."
Dorricott Racing teammate Philipp Peter, of Monte Carlo, Monaco,
had session-long difficulties finding an uncluttered lap but maneuvered
around enough traffic for the ninth fastest time of 1:04.869 = 97.396 mph.
"I'm not happy with the results but the car wasn't too bad," said
Peter. "I had trouble finding a clean lap. There were a lot of cars bunched
up and creating too much traffic. The only clean lap I had was blocked by
Didier Andre. It's not the first time this year he's been an obstacle to
the Dorricott men. The tires were gone by the last lap so I couldn't make a
'dash or crash' type of run. It's a pity. Just a couple of hundredths of a
second would have placed me much higher on the starting grid. Starting
ninth stinks."
Casey Mears, of Bakersfield, Calif., finally found the right
formula for a fast car, but ran out of time in recording it as his Sooner
Trailer/American Racing Custom Wheels Lola qualified 19th after running
1:06.286 = 95.314 mph.
One of the key factors which handicapped Mears in qualifying was
having to miss eight minutes of green flag time to serve a CART-issued
penalty from a previous session.
Another factor was the decision by Mears and company to re-write
the entire car set-up in favor of using Peter's set-up. The decision was
made less than ninety minutes before qualifying was to begin. A unified
team effort miraculously re-prepared the car with only minutes to spare.
Despite the poor starting position, Mears expressed satisfaction
that the car had favorably changed. His comfort level in the car's
stability suggested a subtle confidence that he can climb through Sunday's
field.
"We changed our set-up to what Philipp (Peter) was using," said
Mears. "It was quite a bit better. I was just getting a feel for it when I
had to return to the pits to serve a penalty CART hit us with yesterday. It
figured that would happen. I was just starting to drop times and actually
ran one of my best laps of the weekend on the last lap before I had to shut
it down. I have a quicker car but starting in the back stinks at this
place. Passing doesn't come easy here."
Sunday's Indy Lights sprint is set to drop the green flag at 11:30
a.m. (ET) for 43 laps around Toronto's 1.721-mile, 11-turn temporary street
circuit at Exhibition Place.