Homestead Fla. March 1 — Target/Chip Ganassi Racing's Alex Zanardi claimed his fifth consecutive CART pole position in qualifying Saturday for tomorrow's Grand Prix of Miami, presented by Toyota, at the Metro-Dade Homestead Motorsports Complex.

Zanardi toured the 1.517-mile lap of the track at a fast 28 seconds flat for an average speed of 195.043 mph. The lap is a record on the Homestead oval which is 1.517 miles in length for the first time in 1997.

Mauricio Gugelmin was second quickest in the Hollywood Reynard Mercedes-Benz at 194.869 mph (28.025 seconds) while Gil de Ferran took the Valvoline/Cummins Reynard Honda HRR to third fastest at an average speed of 194.695 mph (28.150 seconds).

De Ferran turned his time on his first of two qualifying laps, but he never completed the second. As he exited Turn 1 on his second qualifier, de Ferran's Reynard drifted high and hit the outside wall, driver's right. The race car skidded several hundred feet down the length of the short chute between Turns 1 and 2 before coming to a rest. De Ferran was uninjured and will be allowed to start his backup car in the third spot. It is unlikely the heavily crashed Reynard can be repaired overnight.

Zanardi's impressive run set a CART record and tied another.

Tomorrow will mark a record ninth straight time Zanardi has started on the front row, breaking the previous mark of eight-straight front row berths by Bobby Unser (1979 - 1980) and Bobby Rahal (1985). In addition to his five consecutive poles, Zanardi also earned front row starts at Portland (first), Cleveland (second), Toronto (second) and Michigan second.

The pole run also matches a streak by Danny Sullivan during the final five races of the 1988 season. Zanardi's consecutive poles date back to Mid-Ohio, Road America, Vancouver and Laguna Seca last year and the Miami honor today.

All three of Zanardi's career race victories (1996 Portland, Mid-Ohio, and Laguna Seca) have come from the pole.

Also at Homestead on Saturday, Greg Moore proved that having the only 1996 race car entered here will not be a problem. He qualified the 1996 Player's Reynard Mercedes-Benz fourth fastest at 194.004 mph (28.150 seconds). Gugelmin's teammate Mark Blundell qualified a career-best fifth in his Motorola Reynard Mercedes-Benz at 193.132 mph (28.277 seconds).

Source: CART News Service