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Mauricio Gugelmin positioned himself to extend an impressive PPG CART World Series qualifying streak Friday when he earned the provisional pole for Sunday's Texaco/Havoline 200 at Road America in record fashion.
Gugelmin (Hollywood PacWest Mercedes) lapped the 4.048-mile permanent road course at an average speed of 142.342 mph, eclipsing the track qualifying record of 142.206 set by former PPG Cup champion Jacques Villeneuve in 1995. Gugelmin owns 16 consecutive top-10 starts in the series, including nine in the top five, a streak which began in last year's Texaco/Havoline 200 at Road America.
Final qualifying is set for 12:30 p.m. ET Saturday. The pole-winner collects the $10,000 Marlboro Pole Award and the opportunity to earn an additional $60,000 in rollover bonus money with a victory in Sunday's race (3:30 p.m. ET, live, ESPN).
Gugelmin picked up over four miles per hour from morning practice, when he averaged 137.800 mph, to qualifying. The practice began on a damp track which dried out as the session progressed.
"We had two good days of testing here and we're starting from where we left off," Gugelmin said. "We knew there was more to come from our car [after practice]. I'm happy for the team. It's the first time we've been [qualified] one-two provisionally and I hope tomorrow we can keep it that way."
Gugelmin was half of a provisional front-row sweep by the PacWest Racing Group, as teammate Mark Blundell (Motorola PacWest Mercedes) qualified second at 142.242 mph. Blundell is looking to match his career-best start of second, established at last month's Molson Indy in Toronto.
"I think the [morning] conditions were tough for everybody," Blundell said. "One minute it was dry and the next it was rainy. It was tough to get a rhythm. The team did a great job of giving us a good car. We had a good setup this morning and carried it into this afternoon."
PPG Cup leader Alex Zanardi qualified a provisional third at 142.110 mph. Zanardi, who won the pole at Road America last year, has won three of the past four PPG CART World Series events, at Cleveland, Michigan Speedway and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. He owns a 148-121 lead over Paul Tracy (Marlboro Penske Mercedes), who qualified 22nd, in the PPG Cup race entering the weekend.
"Because things have gone well lately, it doesn't mean we have it [the championship] clinched," Zanardi said. it's going to be easy," Zanardi said. "
Qualifying for the Texaco/Havoline 200 will air 3 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN2. ESPN2's "On the Grid" program will air 3 p.m. ET Sunday, one-half hour prior to ESPN's race broadcast.
Source: CART News Service