IRL Knockout Qualifying – The Firestone Fast Six

No. 8 Will Power of KV Racing Technology on the course at St. Petersburg. Will posted the fastest qualifying time at 62.1355 (nearly one-half a second faster than the pole sitter Tony Kanaan) but because the mark was set in Round 2 where the fastest twelve cars race to advance to The Firestone Fast Six. Image Credit: Jim Haines - indycar.com

IRL Knockout Qualifying – The Firestone Fast Six

This format is justly named. The format lent an interest to the affair all-of-it’s-own and it IS a knockout.

The way it is structured is that three rounds with four sessions for timed qualifying are held for all of the qualified entrants (in this case at Saint Petersburg – 26 cars). Two groups of 13 cars each are randomly drawn to compete in Round 1, with both groups having 20 minutes to post their best lap times.

The top six cars from each group advanced to Round 2, where they received 15 minutes on the circuit to post their fastest times.

The top six cars from that group of 12 advanced to the Firestone Fast Six and the six cars start fresh whereas times do not carry over from one round to another.

Three drivers from each of the two groups that were randomly drawn for the first round of qualifications advanced to the "Firestone Fast Six".

The dramatic qualifying format debuted on the 1.8-mile, 14-turn temporary street circuit at Saint Petersburg, Florida will carry over to all other Indianapolis Racing League road/street events this season.

The qualifying sessions had no accidents and all went off with several notable surprises along the way.

Tony Kanaan talks with AGR team about his pole setting pace in The Firestone Fast Six qualifying showdown. Kanaan will line up in the first row alongside Will Power in St. Petersburg, Florida. Image Credit: Chris Jones - indycar.com

This excerpted from IndyCar.com –

Round 1 (20-minute session)

Group 1 advancing
No. 8 Will Power (1:02.7752; 103.422 mph); No. 11 Tony Kanaan; No. 06 Graham Rahal; No. 34 Franck Perera; No. 14 Darren Manning; No. 17 Ryan Hunter-Reay.

Notables: Perera's final lap (13th) bumped Hideki Mutoh from advancing. … Danica Patrick finished nine in the group. … Power's final lap bumped Kanaan from the top spot in the group. … Mutoh was atop the lap time chart halfway through the 20-minute session. … One of the three Andretti Green Racing cars (Kanaan) advanced.

Group 2 advancing
No. 02 Justin Wilson (1:02.7341; 103.293 mph); No. 6 Ryan Briscoe; No. 26 Marco Andretti; No. 3 Helio Castroneves; No. 5 Oriol Servia; No. 10 Dan Wheldon.

Notables: Wilson moved to the top on his 12th of 13 laps. Earlier in the session he came to a stop in Turn 8. … Wilson wasn't in the top six at the halfway point of the 20-minute session. … Scott Dixon, who has been the race runner-up the past two years, did not advance (seventh). … Both Team Penske cars (Briscoe, Castroneves) advanced.

Round 2 – Top Twelve From Groups 1 & 2 (15-minute session)

Six cars advance - "Firestone Fast Six"
No. 8 Will Power (1:02.1355; 104.288 - fastest time recorded in all of the qualifying sessions ); No. 11 Tony Kanaan; No. 6 Ryan Briscoe; No. 02 Justin Wilson; No. 17 Ryan Hunter-Reay; No. 3 Helio Castroneves.

Notables: Castroneves jumped from 10th on the time chart to making the final round in the final minute. … Both Target Chip Ganassi Racing cars did not advance; Wheldon was eighth in Round 2. … Marco Andretti was 12th in the session.
Reference Here>>

Round 3 – The Firestone Fast Six (10-minute session)

Firestone Fast Six fill out the top six positions in the starting grid.

Final Grid For The Grand Prix of St. Petersburg 2008 (round #2 of the IRL season):

1 11 Kanaan, Tony D/H/F 01:02.5322 103.627 Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six
2 8 Power, Will D/H/F 01:02.6096 103.499 Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six
3 02 Wilson, Justin D/H/F 01:02.6426 103.444 Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six
4 3 Castroneves, Helio D/H/F 01:02.6462 103.438 Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six
5 6 Briscoe, Ryan D/H/F 01:02.7071 103.338 Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six
6 17 Hunter-Reay, Ryan D/H/F 01:03.0077 102.845 Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six
7 5 Servia, Oriol D/H/F 01:02.7427 103.279 Elimination Round 2 / Top 12
8 10 Wheldon, Dan D/H/F 01:02.7964 103.191 Elimination Round 2 / Top 12
9 06 Rahal, Graham D/H/F 01:02.8122 103.165 Elimination Round 2 / Top 12
10 34 Perera, Franck D/H/F 01:02.8749 103.062 Elimination Round 2 / Top 12
11 14 Manning, Darren D/H/F 01:03.0136 102.835 Elimination Round 2 / Top 12
12 26 Andretti, Marco D/H/F 01:03.2443 102.460 Elimination Round 2 / Top 12
13 9 Dixon, Scott D/H/F 01:03.2365 102.472 Elimination Round 1 / Group 2
14 27 Mutoh, Hideki D/H/F 01:03.2757 102.409 Elimination Round 1 Group 1
15 33 Viso, Ernesto D/H/F 01:03.3067 102.359 Elimination Round 1 / Group 2
16 15 Rice, Buddy D/H/F 01:03.3591 102.274 Elimination Round 1 / Group 2
17 4 Meira, Vitor D/H/F 01:03.4480 102.131 Elimination Round 1 / Group 2
18 36 Bernoldi, Enrique D/H/F 01:03.4568 102.117 Elimination Round 1 Group 1
19 7 Patrick, Danica D/H/F 01:03.5766 101.924 Elimination Round 1 Group 1
20 24 Howard, Jay D/H/F 01:03.7447 101.656 Elimination Round 1 / Group 2
21 20 Carpenter, Ed D/H/F 01:03.8007 101.566 Elimination Round 1 Group 1
22 19 Moraes, Mario D/H/F 01:04.1590 100.999 Elimination Round 1 Group 1
23 23 Bell, Townsend D/H/F 01:04.3880 100.640 Elimination Round 1 Group 1
24 2 Foyt IV, AJ D/H/F 01:04.4996 100.466 Elimination Round 1 / Group 2
25 25 Roth, Marty D/H/F 01:07.7041 95.711 Elimination Round 1 Group 1
26 18 Junqueira, Bruno D/H/F 01:09.3851 93.392 Elimination Round 1 / Group 2

Can anyone one believe that HALF of the top ten positions on the grid are occupied by drivers and teams that have transitioned from the ChampCar World Series (CCWS T-Teams in bold)?

Many of the experts were fond of saying that “it will take about six to ten races” for the T-Teams to become competitive, tell that to Will Power who posted the fastest time on the track at 62.1355 seconds. This time was about one-half a second faster than the eventual Pole Position speed of Tony Kanaan at 62.5322 seconds.

How about a P2 and a P3 starting position for Will Power and Justin Wilson respectively – Great stuff ... and Will Power will have no wing to stare at when he takes the checkered flag to start the race.

Good On! the CCWS T-Teams, if round two of 2008 at Saint Petersburg, Florida is any indication of the success that comes from a unified series, this will be an exciting year.

The second round race can be seen on ESPN starting at 11:30 am PT, Sunday, April 6, 2008.

Too bad we can't have all of these guys to race on Shoreline Drive at Long Beach THIS year!

... notes from The EDJE