Ryan Briscoe will head another Team Penske 1-2 when the inaugural IndyCar Series Rexall Edmonton Indy gets underway on Saturday afternoon, after heading Helio Castroneves in qualifying on the airport circuit.
The Australian only made it through the first phase of qualifying with minutes remaining, and was just sixth fastest in the second stage, but came good as the first driver out in the Firestone Fast Six session, working his way down to a laps of 1min 00.7311secs which proved too good for the other four runners.
“This one didn't come easy," Briscoe admitted, "I was doing all I could just to make it into the Firestone Fast Six. We were making set-up changes throughout the session, and only really got it together in the last ten minutes of qualifying. It's phenomenal - to have Team Penske 1-2 is absolutely perfect.”
Anyone with a grasp of basic mathematics would realise that there should have been
five other runners, but Justin Wilson - a winner at Edmonton during its Champ Car phase - damaged the left rear suspension of his Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing entry in phase two and was unable to make it out on track in the Fast Six.
“It was a really good day - right up to the end of the second session," the Briton admitted, "We needed to make the car faster during the day and gain confidence so I could attack more, and I was pleased with the progress. But, at the end of the second session, I pushed the car too hard and lost the back exiting [turn] six and made contact with the wall in [turn] seven. It's disappointing, but that's how it goes.”
Also missing, for the first time since the knock-out format was introduced to the IndyCar Series, was Tony Kanaan, whose unfamiliar blue-and-white Andretti Green Dallara never completed a lap in phase two after suffering engine damage that could see the Brazilian drop even further down the grid.
