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Gil de Ferran Takes Provisional Pole
©1997 SpeedCenterInternet Publishing, Inc.
Picks up where he left off in 1996
Gil de Ferran repeated the openingact of the script he wrote here in 1996, taking theprovisional pole Friday afternoon for SundayÕs Toyota GrandPrix of Long Beach PPG CART World Series event.
De Ferran (Valvoline/Cummins Special Reynard Honda) toured the1.586-mile temporary street circuit at an average speed111.313 miles per hour, over 1* mph faster than thetrack-record speed of 109.639 mph he set while winning thepole on the slightly longer 1.59-mile layout in 1996.
He'll be seeking his third career pole position Ð his othercame at Cleveland in 1995 Ð when qualifying begins Saturday at3 p.m. ET. The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, third of 17events in the PPG CART World Series, takes the green flag at 4p.m. ET Sunday (live, ABC-TV).
"Ever since we started this morning, the car has been verygood," de Ferran said. "I was very happy. All we had to do inthe afternoon was develop our setup further. I'm very, veryhappy. It was a tough week for the guys [on the Walker Racingteam], who had to rebuild the car after our accident inAustralia. I'm very happy for our guys, who worked so hard toput this together."
Second on the provisional grid went to Mauricio Gugelmin(Hollywood PacWest Mercedes), who averaged 110.341 mph on hisquickest tour of the circuit.
"We had a trouble-free day," he said. "We got a lot of tracktime and we got to work on a number of different combinations.I was a little surprised at the lap Gil pulled out. I think Iknow where he's running well, and I'm looking forward to goingout again tomorrow."
Alex Zanardi (Target Reynard Honda) was third fastest at110.133 mph. Zanardi enters Saturday's session hoping toextend his CART record of six consecutive pole positions, setlast Saturday at Surfers Paradise, Australia, and hisconsecutive streak of front-row starts, which stands at 10.
"I don't think a car that works well in Australia would workvery well here," Zanardi said. "It's quite bumpy on thestraightaways and smooth in the corners. It's more like apermanent road course. It's more important to carry speed intothe corners because that's where you make up the time."
Saturday's pole winner collects the $10,000 Marlboro PoleAward, with a chance to add an additional $45,000 in rolloverbonus money by winning the race Sunday.
Final-round qualifying will be televised from 6-7 p.m. ETSaturday on ESPN2, repeating from 12:30-1:30 a.m. ET and againfrom 2:30-3:30 a.m. ET Sunday. ESPN2's "On the Grid" telecastbegins at 3:30 p.m. ET Sunday, with the race telecastbeginning at 4 p.m. ET on ABC-TV.
Source: CART News Service


		Check out the latest Sports Guides from Starting Blocks Int'l

		Gil de Ferran Takes Provisional Pole ©1997 SpeedCenterInternet Publishing, Inc. Picks up where he left off in 1996 Gil de Ferran repeated the openingact of the script he wrote here in 1996, taking theprovisional pole Friday afternoon for SundayÕs Toyota GrandPrix of Long Beach PPG CART World Series event. De Ferran (Valvoline/Cummins Special Reynard Honda) toured the1.586-mile temporary street circuit at an average speed111.313 miles per hour, over 1* mph faster than thetrack-record speed of 109.639 mph he set while winning thepole on the slightly longer 1.59-mile layout in 1996. He'll be seeking his third career pole position Ð his othercame at Cleveland in 1995 Ð when qualifying begins Saturday at3 p.m. ET. The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, third of 17events in the PPG CART World Series, takes the green flag at 4p.m. ET Sunday (live, ABC-TV). "Ever since we started this morning, the car has been verygood," de Ferran said. "I was very happy. All we had to do inthe afternoon was develop our setup further. I'm very, veryhappy. It was a tough week for the guys [on the Walker Racingteam], who had to rebuild the car after our accident inAustralia. I'm very happy for our guys, who worked so hard toput this together." Second on the provisional grid went to Mauricio Gugelmin(Hollywood PacWest Mercedes), who averaged 110.341 mph on hisquickest tour of the circuit. "We had a trouble-free day," he said. "We got a lot of tracktime and we got to work on a number of different combinations.I was a little surprised at the lap Gil pulled out. I think Iknow where he's running well, and I'm looking forward to goingout again tomorrow." Alex Zanardi (Target Reynard Honda) was third fastest at110.133 mph. Zanardi enters Saturday's session hoping toextend his CART record of six consecutive pole positions, setlast Saturday at Surfers Paradise, Australia, and hisconsecutive streak of front-row starts, which stands at 10. "I don't think a car that works well in Australia would workvery well here," Zanardi said. "It's quite bumpy on thestraightaways and smooth in the corners. It's more like apermanent road course. It's more important to carry speed intothe corners because that's where you make up the time." Saturday's pole winner collects the $10,000 Marlboro PoleAward, with a chance to add an additional $45,000 in rolloverbonus money by winning the race Sunday. Final-round qualifying will be televised from 6-7 p.m. ETSaturday on ESPN2, repeating from 12:30-1:30 a.m. ET and againfrom 2:30-3:30 a.m. ET Sunday. ESPN2's "On the Grid" telecastbegins at 3:30 p.m. ET Sunday, with the race telecastbeginning at 4 p.m. ET on ABC-TV. Source: CART News Service