Post-qualifying quotes - Molson Indy Montreal.

Driver quotes after second qualifying for the Molson Indy Montreal - round ten of the Champ Car World Series.

Sebastien Bourdais:
(#2 McDonald's Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone)

Justin Wilson, Mi Jack-Conquest Racing Lola-Ford, Denver 2004
Justin Wilson, Mi Jack-Conquest Racing Lola-Ford, Denver 2004
© Dan R Boyd

Driver quotes after second qualifying for the Molson Indy Montreal - round ten of the Champ Car World Series.

Sebastien Bourdais:
(#2 McDonald's Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone)

It was a much harder session today. I was taking it easy on the first run and on the second one I was getting frustrated because I kept running into traffic and then I made a small mistake. I had to put everything together in the end (of the qualifying session) for the McDonald's team. The chicane thing [location of timing sensor that caused drivers to have their lap times disallowed if they ran over the curb] was tough to deal with. It makes life impossible for the guy that has a good car and can go over it (the curb). Everyone has had trouble with it It has happened 20 or 30 times. There is no line to tell you how far you can go. You don't know where the limit is, you only know the limit of yourself. Denver definitely got the team even more motivated. We really want to win this championship and we showed (in Denver) that we will do everything it takes to do it.

A.J. Allmendinger:
(#10 Western Union Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone)

I'm really happy with today. Every lap my car just kept getting better and better. It was great to have the pole for awhile there, but Bourdais is just unstoppable right now. I could've gotten another tenth, maybe a little more, but not enough to have beaten Sebastien. I'll take my first Champ Car front row starting position though. My game plan for the race is going to be hang out, play with Sebastien a little bit, wait for his mistake with three laps to go and take the win. Just kidding, I'm really looking forward to having a good race with Bourdais. I respect him a lot and he's an excellent racer. Western Union and Canada have been a good combination for us- the last time in Vancouver we had our first podium with them, so maybe it'll happen again tomorrow.

Mario Dominguez:
(#55 Herdez Ford Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone)

Well, we were trying to get the pole position, but third is a very good place to start the race from. We are in excellent position for tomorrow. We have a good car. So, you know, I'm not fully satisfied. I'm pretty happy with what we did and the Herdez team has done a great job past few races and we just keep improving. This race is going to be quite good fun to go tomorrow and I think we could do a fantastic job with the car we have.

Bruno Junqueira:
(#6 PacifiCare Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone)

We had some bad luck today. On my last lap I ran out of fuel just before the last turn and the telemetry showed that I was up one-half of a second at that point. It's a shame because I think we would have gotten a 1:19 lap time. There was a lot of traffic and I couldn't put two laps together at a time. It's just a matter of luck. If my luck turns around and we can start achieving what we are capable of, we can do it (win the title).

Paul Tracy:
(#1 Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone)

My first set of Bridgestone tyres was good and we got a reasonable lap time which I knew I could improve on ... but I scuffed the wall with my right rear; the angle of the impact must have been unlucky because the impact caused the mounting on the engine to be damaged and we couldn't get it repaired in time to go out again - that's really frustrating to me because the car and the track were quicker today and I know we had a chance at the pole.

Patrick Carpentier:
(#7 Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone)

Not getting track time yesterday afternoon was definitely a disadvantage. But the car was good today and we had a pretty respectable lap in my first session on the track. We made some changes, but they were not so good ... it happens! But we know where we are for tomorrow, and I'm a much better racer than a qualifier; we always move forward in the race, so I'm confident for a strong race.

Alex Tagliani:
(#8 Johnson Controls Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone)

The #8 Johnson Controls car was running well and had the potential to qualify in the top-five, but I'm disappointed because I didn't have an opportunity to get a clean lap. Between traffic and getting stuck behind slow cars, it was difficult to clock a strong lap. There are opportunities for tight passing here on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, so I'll have to work my way up the grid and we'll have to depend on good strategy to get ahead in the race tomorrow. We've done it in the past, so I'm confident the Rocketsports team will work together for a good finish.

Justin Wilson:
(#34 Mi-Jack Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone)

We're obviously disappointed with our position. I was at the very end of my fastest lap of the session, when the red flag came out, and that eventually cost me a few positions on the grid. We then switched to the optional tires, and expected to run faster. Strangely, we got slower. Me and my engineers now have to review the data to understand where we lost time, and prepare for tomorrow.

Michel Jourdain Jr:
(#9 Gigante Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone)

First of all, I'm really happy for A.J and the whole RuSPORT team because this proves that we are on the right path and shows how capable we are of qualifying well. For me today, I'm clearly disappointed with the result we have. In the end, I think we'll use A.J.'s set-up for the car, so we should be okay for the race. I've won here before, so I know that I'm capable of getting the job done in Montreal

Nelson Philippe:
(#14 Mi-Jack Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone)

Considering this is my first weekend in the car, and having had a very limited number of laps in yesterday's and today's practice sessions, the result is not that bad. Yet, it is not where we want to be. This is a weekend that will require patience from everyone on the team, as we knew it would be challenging switching to our new Lola without having run or tested in it. For tomorrow, however, I feel that with some good strategy we are capable of making our way towards the front of the field.

Rodolfo Lavin:
(#3 Corona Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone)

I still didn't feel 100% comfortable with my car after this morning in practice, so we decided to go with Pat's [Carpentier] set up for this afternoon's qualifying. And that was a lot of changes; differential, the spring balance and damper settings and some aero changes as well - so it was like starting from scratch! So the afternoon qualifying was more like a practice session, adjusting from that new starting point. But I'm much happier and with some more time to work in the morning practice I'm sure we'll be ready for the race.

Roberto Gonzalez:
(#21 Nextel Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone)

The car has been improving all day, which is good. After not going out in qualifying yesterday, today was basically our first session. We were fast on our first lap in the Nextel car, but that time ended up being our top lap time because of a number of factors. First, a red flag came out when I was on another flyer and we had to pit. On our second stint, I just couldn't get up to speed in order to better our fast time. On our last stint, I was fighting traffic and ended up losing the rear end in the turn ten chicane. And before I knew it, we had used all of our 15 allotted laps.

Guy Smith:
(#17 Rocketsports Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone)

The #17 car was fast and handled well out there today. We're a little down in track time this weekend, since we lost the qualifying session yesterday, but we improved the brakes and balance this morning got the car set for the race. There was quite a bit of traffic and a red flag put a stop to my fastest lap this afternoon. I'd have hoped for a better starting position, but I the team has given me a strong race car and I'm confident for the race tomorrow. I plan to stay out of trouble and shoot for a good race.

Read More