Toronto IndyCar: Sebastien Bourdais claims first pole since 2007
Sebastien Bourdais capitalised on an aggressive strategy by KV Racing Technology to secure pole position for the first race of this weekend's IndyCar double-header in Toronto
Bourdais was one of the first cars in the Fast Six to go out on new tyres, but with the track clearly improving, the team called him in to put on another new set.
The Frenchman responded with a 58.9479-second lap that put him 0.1546s clear at the top. His last pole came in the 2007 Assen Champ Car race.
"It's been six years since I was on pole, so it's been a long time coming," he said.
"The call by the team... I was really pissed. I thought it was a big mistake.
"Jimmy [Vasser] obviously sees things from pitlane that I can't. We were thinking about waiting, but TK [Tony Kanaan] and Ryan Hunter-Reay, who usually waits until the last three minutes, went straight away.
"We thought that if we went, everybody behind us would go as well, and they didn't.
"We did a fast lap and they brought me in and put on another set of tyres and we gave it another go. It was a risky move, but it paid off."
Will Power will join Bourdais on the front row after edging Penske team-mate Helio Castroneves by just 0.04s, leaving Hunter-Reay to line up from fourth.
Simon Pagenaud could potentially have beaten all of them, but the Schmidt driver carried too much speed through the final corner on his last flying lap and understeered into the barriers. His best time was still good enough for him to finish up fifth-fastest ahead of Kanaan.
While Pagenaud's crash was the most dramatic incident of the morning, it was not an isolated one: Scott Dixon glanced the wall and bent his suspension during the second qualifying phase, relegating the Kiwi to 12th on the grid.
Further back, Marco Andretti will start from the rear of the field, and while his final flying lap was ruined when he got stuck behind Takuma Sato, he did not hold the Japanese driver responsible for his plight.
"I caught him on the last lap, but it wasn't blocking me from getting into the next round," he said. "We might have been better than where we are, for sure, but... it's just disappointing."
Pos Driver Team/Engine Time Gap 1. Sebastien Bourdais KV/Chevy 58.9479s 2. Will Power Penske/Chevy 59.1025s +0.1546s 3. Helio Castroneves Penske/Chevy 59.1499s +0.2020s 4. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti/Honda 59.2672s +0.3193s 5. Simon Pagenaud Schmidt/Honda 59.3972s +0.4493s 6. Tony Kanaan Ganassi/Chevy 59.9987s +1.0508s 7. Luca Filippi Rahal/Honda 59.2753s Round 2 8. Justin Wilson Coyne/Honda 59.3406s Round 2 9. James Hinchcliffe Andretti/Honda 59.3526s Round 2 10. Ryan Briscoe Ganassi/Chevy 59.5319s Round 2 11. Juan Pablo Montoya Penske/Chevy 59.8201s Round 2 12. Scott Dixon Ganassi/Chevy 1m00.2193s Round 2 13. Josef Newgarden Fisher/Honda 59.4455s Group 1 14. Graham Rahal Rahal/Honda 59.9495s Group 2 15. Takuma Sato Foyt/Honda 59.5367s Group 1 16. Mike Conway Carpenter/Chevy 59.9904s Group 2 17. Carlos Munoz Andretti/Honda 59.5708s Group 1 18. Jack Hawksworth Herta/Honda 1m00.1856s Group 2 19. Sebastian Saavedra KV/Chevy 59.6806s Group 1 20. Charlie Kimball Ganassi/Chevy 1m00.2304s Group 2 21. Carlos Huertas Coyne/Honda 59.7244s Group 1 22. Mikhail Aleshin Schmidt/Honda 1m00.2379s Group 2 23. Marco Andretti Andretti/Honda 59.9816s Group 1 All drivers use Dallara chassis
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