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2005 INDYCAR IRL - SEARS POINT

2005 INDYCAR - R13 of 16, Aug. 28, 2005 Infineon Raceway, Sonoma

FIRST PERMANENT ROAD COURSE RACE FOR INDYCAR SERIES

• CIRCUIT:
• 2.26 miles
• 12 turn natural terrain road course
• elevation changes, blind corners, high-speed turns

RACE RESULT

• 1 Tony Kanaan, Andretti Green, 80 laps
  "Once in the lead I could control the pace. I would push one lap and then relax the next. I knew the car beneath me was good enough to win so I just saved fuel and here we are"
• 2 Buddy Rice +1.18
  "We stayed right there but we couldn't close the gap any more to Tony. Like everybody we were chasing the fuel a little bit but that was also part of the deal. I think everybody was just marking off each other and I was surprised how fast the pace was ... We had a good game plan coming into this weekend and this is a good rebound for us"
• 3 Alex Barron +1.85
  "... We didn't have quite enough to make a run on the leaders, though. I could catch Buddy and sustain it, but I wasn't able to be offensive. We're really happy with the podium; it's positive for our team."
• 4 Patrick Carpentier
• 5 Tomas Enge
• 6 Kosuke Matsuura
• 7 Scott Dixon
• 8 Dario Franchitti
• 9 Vitor Meira
• 10 Jeff Bucknum 11 Yasukawa 12 Sharp 13 Herta 14 **Pantano 15 Carpenter 16 Scheckter 17 Hornish 18 Wheldon 19 Briscoe 20 Patrick 21 Castroneves
• ** Indycar debut

QUALIFYING

GRID

• 1 Ryan Briscoe, Ganassi Racing, 1m 16.491
  "this pole today is huge for me"
• 2 Helio Castroneves +0.41
  "Tomorrow, with 80 laps to run it's important to start up front and dictate the race pace"
• 3 Tony Kanaan +0.63
• 4 Tomas Enge +0.92
  "I think the car was well balanced for the track but we want more grip. We will still have to work on that."
• 5 Sam Hornish Jr.
  "This track is very difficult. It's slick when it's hot and sunny like this. The car stepped out on me in the carousel (turn 6) and I was just happy to finish my lap. We were pretty loose in qualifying so we'll have to work on the little things"
• 6 Buddy Rice
  "It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great either. This place is like a roller coaster and it's really an exciting track. Tomorrow will be a long race "and it's really new to everybody."
• 7 Dan Wheldon
  "the balance wasn't too bad. We didn't do a particularly good time and I wish I could pinpoint where we're slow. The margin of error is very minimal here and it's pretty easy to make a mistake"
• 8 Bryan Herta
• 9 Scott Dixon
• 10 Alex Barron
• 11 Meira 12 Carpentier 13 Pantano 14 Scheckter 15 Matsuura
• 16 Patrick 17 Bucknum 18 Yasukawa 19 Sharp 20 Carpenter 21 Franchitti

CHIP GANASSI QUALIFYING REPORT:

• Team on Target: Pole Position
• Sonoma, California, Saturday, August 17, 2005. So far, it has been a perfect weekend for Target Chip Ganassi Racing at the hill side 2.26 mile, 12 turn natural-terrain Infineon Raceway as they prepare for Sunday's inaugural Argent Mortgage Indy Grand Prix. After sitting atop the combined practice standings on Friday, rookie Ryan Briscoe put the no.33 Target Toyota Pioneer on pole after setting the fastest time in single lap qualifying, then topping it once again in the Firestone Fast Six shoot out with a speed of 108.248 mph (1 minute, 16.4913 seconds) against Helio Castroneves, Tony Kanaan, Tomas Enge, Sam Hornish Jr. and Buddy Rice. It is Briscoe's first career IndyCar pole and the first for the team since teammate Scott Dixon's 2003 IndyCar Championship winning season.
• "This is fantastic," exclaimed Briscoe. "This is huge for the Target team. It's been a tough year and it's great to see the team's motivation up. The no.33 Target Toyota been working really well and I put in a good clean lap for the first qualifying session. We made a slight adjustment to the front wing of the car during the shootout and improved our time. I knew we could do better and I did. The Target team came into this weekend well prepared and when you've got a good car, it makes my job driving a lot easier. We're here with good equipment and competitive equipment. Most of the credit goes to the Target team. This is a hard working crew and a winning team. They've won championships and a whole lot of races on road and street courses. I'd like to add another one to that list. There won't be any room for errors in the race and I hope to put in a good show tomorrow."
• "Obviously we are very happy with Ryan's (Briscoe) pole position," said Target team owner Chip Ganassi who's team has won five championships and 45 races, 26 of which have come on road or street courses. "We needed that pole more than we needed oxygen at this time of season. It been a long and difficult season for this team and this certainly helps but we'll be looking for a race win tomorrow."
• All three Target drivers started the weekend off well as newcomer Giorgio Pantano posted the fastest speed in Friday morning practice with Dixon is second spot and Briscoe in fourth. The Target trio was once again in the top five at the end of the day.
• Qualifying didn't quite go as planned for Dixon and Pantano as both drivers found the track to be just as unforgiving as it challenging.
• "A bit of a shame really because I had a good lap going and the no.9 Target Toyota was really much better than this morning, but I put it sideways in the carousel and that's what cost me," said Dixon who's efforts put him ninth on the grid. "It's definitely been a much stronger weekend for the Target team and it should be a very exciting race. The track is very physical and we're just hoping to get the job done tomorrow."
• "I'm pretty disappointed actually because the team gave me such a good car," said Pantano who took over the helm of the no.10 Target Toyota just this weekend. "I was too late braking as I headed into the chicane and locked up the rear missing the chicane. I made a mistake and that problem cost me a second right there. I have been really enjoying this weekend and this track and I'm hoping to do well in tomorrow's race for the Target team."

RACE PREVIEW

• PANTANO'S INDYCAR DEBUT: He will drive for Chip Ganassi Rcaing for 2 rounds:
  Chip Ganassi: "We're really excited to have such an experienced and talented road course racer added to our team for the Sonoma and Watkins Glen races. He was the best driver available to us and we couldn't be happier that his schedule allowed him to be able to participate in both races. Along with Scott Dixon and Ryan Briscoe, we expect the Target Team to be the team to beat out there for these two road course races. We had a strong showing at the first street race in St. Petersburg. We're hoping the addition of Giorgio will help us turn the corner in that department and get to victory lane."
• COURSE PREVIEW BY RYAN BRISCOE: "Infineon Raceway is a great track. It reminds me of Mugello, which is near Florence in Italy. Both tracks go through the hills, everything is green and it's very scenic. They both have some very high-speed turns.
• A lap starts on the flat on the start-finish straight. You get right up to fifth gear, and then you start turning left as the track goes straight up. You start braking for the blind first corner in second gear. It's really spectacular because you are braking up the hill. I don't think we'll see much passing there.
• After that corner, it's a series of S-bends that really take you up and down before you come into a blind corner at sort of a medium speed. That gets you to Turn 5, which is a heavy braking corner. You are turning right, down the hill and up to a straightaway in the middle of the circuit that leads to what they call 'The Carousel.'
• The Carousel corner is really unbelievable. It's very fast and the corner falls away the whole time. You're on the edge the whole way. It's really an amazing corner, probably the best one on the track. It may be one of the better places to pass on the circuit, because a little mistake at the exit of The Carousel and you open yourself to getting passed at Turn 7, which comes at the end of the long, flat-out straightaway at the end of The Carousel that gets you up to sixth gear.
• Turn 7 is a double right-hander at the top of the hill that puts you on a straight that's downhill and leads to another high-speed turn. You're running sixth gear, flat out and on the edge. That's spectacular and very fast. You then go down an S-bend to the chicane, which is a heavy braking zone and a place where you use the curb. It's a very quick change of direction, and I think it will be a good passing zone, too. That gets you to the final hairpin, which is the slowest turn before getting back to the start-finish straight.
• I think there are places to pass at Infineon, but it all depends on how people will set up their cars aerodynamically. Some people may choose to run different downforce levels to help them get through different parts of the circuit. There should be some variation there, and it will be interesting to see."
• WHELDON: "I'm excited about going to Infineon. I think it will be the most physical track on the calendar. It will be interesting because St. Petersburg was a street course and this is a permanent road course. I know there are going to be a lot of people who are strong there, so not only will this be physical, but competitive also."
• FRANCHITTI: "I'm very excited, and I think most of the drivers are, to be returning to a permanent road coarse. I grew up driving on those types of tracks and I've won a few races on them. I'm just really excited to be going back to such a track and the challenge that it brings."
• KANNAN: "Going to Infineon is going to be awesome. It will be the first time that we've raced on a permanent road circuit in the IndyCar Series cars. It brings back a lot of memories and if it goes as well as St. Petersburg did for Team 7-Eleven and the AGR team then I can't wait to go there."

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