Will Power takes fifth pole of the year
Will Power took his fifth pole for the year at Watkins Glen this morning (Australian time)
Team Penske and IZOD IndyCar Series points leader Will Power have dominated qualifying for the Camping World Grand Prix at The Glen.
It is Power’s fifth PEAK Performance Pole Award of the season.
Power’s top lap of 1m29.3164s in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske machine kept Team Penske’s perfect pole record over the six years of this race at Watkins Glen International.
Team Penske drivers swept the top three spots in the Firestone Fast Six shootout. Helio Castroneves qualified second at 1m29.4609s, while Ryan Briscoe was third at 1m29.9346s.
It was the first time this season one team has swept the front row in qualifying.
Power said after the session that he wants to convert his grid slot into a race win.
“Yeah, it’s awesome to have the Verizon car on pole again,” he said.
“We’re certainly racking them up, but we’ve got to get the race win. It’s such an advantage to get a win with the way the points are structured. We’ll focus on the race and see if we can get it done.”
Reigning IZOD IndyCar Series Champion Dario Franchitti qualified fourth at 1m29.9601s in his Target Chip Ganassi Racing car, with rookie Takuma Sato fifth at 1m30.1410s in the No. 5 Lotus-KV Racing Technology entry.
2009 Watkins Glen winner Justin Wilson rounded out the Firestone Fast Six at 1m30.2667s in the No. 22 Team Z-Line Designs/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing car.
Also on July 3, James Hinchcliffe earned his third Firestone Indy Lights pole of 2010 by topping Sunoco Pole Qualifying for the Corning 100.