We started to make some progress, but we were still two seconds off Penske's Porsches. It was Stefan's turn to qualify and I felt for him, as I had had a better run of tracks were we could do well - like getting pole in the last race. Well, for a few seconds, I thought the old boy had done it. He jumped to P1 with a time three seconds faster than he had done before, knocking Bryan Herta off the top spot. I thought 'where the hell did that time come from' and was jumping for joy, but it was short-lived I am afraid, as others also went two seconds faster than they did before, and the Penske Porsches dominated the front row. Still, Stefan was fifth and that was a great effort, as we lost so much track time. It was the quickest we had been up until then.
Stefan started the race, and it was a bit manic going into the first corner as the Penskes found themselves way behind as they got swamped. It does seem that, if you are on the front row, you get passed by the guys behind, just as happened to me at Houston. I blame Dario Franchitti, as he jumped the start so much at Long Beach that we are now under closer scrutiny.
Stefan fought well and the racing was really close. Things were coming our way as Stefan came in and I took over for a double stint. We made some changes in the pit-stop to help the car, but I think it didn't quite work as I couldn't get the front to get into the corner. But I knew it would get better, so I had to be patient. I started to catch Andy Wallace and we had a good battle together, but it was hard to get past. The car was getting better and better though, so I thought now was the time.
