Franchitti's Familiarity Reigns Supreme in Toronto Pole Run

The chance of thunderstorms predicted earlier in the day never came to fruition, leading to a sunny, dry and fast qualifying and Fast Six, and when all was said and done, it was Dario Franchitti, no stranger to success on the twisty Toronto circuit,holding the big cheque on pitlane.

Here is how the sessions unfolded

Round 1 - Group 1:

#77 Simon Pagenaud (H)
#18 Justin Wilson (H)
#38 Graham Rahal
#3 Helio Castroneves (C)
#15 Takuma Sato (C)
#7 Sebastien Bourdais (C)
#83 Charlie Kimball (H)
#19 James Jakes (H)
#14 Mike Conway (H)
#78 Simona de Silvestro (L)
#4 J.R. Hildebrand (C)
#20 Ed Carpenter (C)

Admittedly, looking over this list prior to the session, this was the weaker of the two qualifying groups, and it was pretty easy to predict the six drivers who would advance to the top 12. As in previous qualifying sessions, the start of the session was a festival of silence, with no cars taking to the track to lay down laps until just over 7 of the 15 minutes remained.

Biggest loser: Mike Conway, who was faster than both Rahal and Sato in the combined practices, and was showing some speed this weekend.

Round 1 - Group 2:
#10 Dario Franchitti (H)
#9 Scott Dixon (H)
#98 Alex Tagliani (H)
#28 Ryan Hunter-Reay (C)
#27 James Hinchcliffe (C)
#12 Will Power (C)
#2 Ryan Briscoe (C)
#5 E.J. Viso (C)
#11 Tony Kanaan (C)
#8 Rubens Barrichello (C)
#26 Marco Andretti (C)
#22 Oriol Servia (L)
#67 Josef Newgarden (H)

A stacked deck doesn't even begin to describe this group. It wasn't a question of who would make it in, but rather, who would be left on the outside looking in. With Andretti and KV Tech having all of their players in this group, it was easy to predict at least one from each would not make it. Especially with 2 of 3 Penskes and the 2 senior Ganassi teammates.

Once again, to the dismay of those watching, the track sat silent and empty until about the 7min mark, when the bulk of the group began their out laps. Once again, there was a flurry of activity in the final seconds, changing the order even after the checkers waved.

Biggest Winner: The six that made it through.
Biggest Losers: KV Technology who's entire line-up failed to make it through, in particular EJ Viso who earned himself a qualifying interference penalty, thus losing his 2 fastest laps, placing him last on the grid.

Round 2

#77 Simon Pagenaud (H)
#18 Justin Wilson (H)
#38 Graham Rahal
#3 Helio Castroneves (C)
#15 Takuma Sato (C)
#7 Sebastien Bourdais (C)
#10 Dario Franchitti (H)
#9 Scott Dixon (H)
#98 Alex Tagliani (H)
#28 Ryan Hunter-Reay (C)
#27 James Hinchcliffe (C)
#12 Will Power (C)

Unlike previous groups, all of the drivers in this round hit the track almost immediately.
No surprise as this group contained 4 former Toronto race winners, 5 Toronto pole sitters, and both Canadian entries. Considering only 6 were going to advance, this was a pretty stacked group.

The final six changed so frequently, it became an exercise in futility to track it until the checkers waved.

Biggest Winner: Alex Tagliani, who because of an engine change will suffer a 10-Grid spot penalty, so making the top six improves his start immeasurably, and Sebastien Bourdais, making his return to the Dragon Racing seat after 4 race downtime

Biggest Loser: Simon Pagenaud, who's super speed mysteriously disappeared in the second round, Takuma Sato who suffered the same fate as EJ with a penalty, and James Hinchcliffe, who because of an engine change will also suffer a 10-Grid spot penalty, so really could have used a higher finish today.

Firestone Fast 6

#10 Dario Franchitti (H)
#12 Will Power (C)
#18 Justin Wilson (H)
#7 Sebastien Bourdais (C)
#9 Scott Dixon (H)
#98 Alex Tagliani (H)

This session was go, go, go! And super, super close. So close in fact, there was some confusion at the end as to who was actually on the pole.

Biggest Loser: Everyone NOT named Franchitti.
Biggest Winner: Dario Franchitti. Starting out front, especially on this track, is like a gift. The potential points gain from a win here means he is still in the hunt for the Championship. He himself said earlier this weekend that there are still 6 races, over 300 points are available. He intends to earn as many of those as possible.

Grid penalties will be applied "On the grid". The final grid is issued after the final warmup on Sunday morning. So the results for this session will be as they stand today. You can either do the math yourself or wait until Sunday Morning for the final grid placement.

Join us tomorrow for all of the action at the Honda Indy Toronto!

Sunday's Schedule
8:30-9:00am IZOD IndyCar Series Warm Up
9:50-10:30am Star Mazda Race #2
12noon - IZOD IndyCar Series Pre-Race
1pm - HONDA INDY TORONTO (85 laps)

Full results of the 1st qualifying session on Toronto

2012 Honda Indy Toronto - Saturday

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