FRANCHITTI QUALIFIES 4TH, DIXON 5TH IN SONOMA

IZOD IndyCar Series Qualifying/Practice for the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma

Qualifying
P1 Will Power (No. 12 Honda) at 1:18.6017 seconds
P2 Helio Castroneves (No. 3 Honda) at 1:19.0916 seconds
P3 Ryan Briscoe (No. 6  Honda) at 1:19.1112 seconds
P4 Dario Franchitti (No. 10 Target Honda) at 1:19.1464 seconds
P5 Scott Dixon (No. 9 Target Honda) at 1:19.3892 seconds

Practice 2
P1 Martin Plowman (No. 17 Honda) at 1:19.0350 seconds
P2 Dario Franchitti (No. 10 Target Honda) at 1:19.0390 seconds
P3 Will Power (No. 12 Honda) at 1:19.0403 seconds
P6 Scott Dixon (No. 9 Target Honda) at 1:19.1429 seconds

Notes
• In his five starts at Infineon Raceway, Franchitti has finished on the podium four times (First-2009, Second-2006, and Third-2007, 2010).  He has not finished out of the top-three since his first race at the course in 2005, when he finished eighth. 

• In Dixon’s 182 career starts, he has racked up 63 podium finishes, putting him 14th on the all-time podium list.  His first top-three finish came at Nazareth Speedway in 2001, when he scored his first career Indy car victory.  Dixon has seven podiums to through the first 13 rounds of the 2011 season and has finished inside the top-three in four of the last five races.

TCGR Quoteboard
Dario Franchitti: “We worked really hard on getting both of the Target cars ready for qualifying and to have good balance on the Firestone black tires. We tried putting the red tires on and the car was terrible. We tried to put up a fast lap and get the time we needed. We made a couple of changes throughout the session but just didn’t quite have it. We have a lot of work to do tonight because we are going to have to use the red tires for one segment of the race tomorrow.”

Scott Dixon: “The Target car was good this morning in cool weather but once the track heated up we really struggled with the grip,  I’m surprised we didn’t gain that much on red tires and Penske seemed to stay the same as what they were the morning, so it’s a little bit frustrating.  We obviously messed up quite a bit there.  I think this is just about our worst qualifying on road courses this year .  I think that both cars will be strong in the race but it’s really tough to qualify especially when you’re here in Sonoma when you can’t pass.”

Practice 1
P1 Dario Franchitti (No. 10 Target Honda) at 1:19.4269 seconds
P2 Will Power (No. 12 Honda) at 1:19.5633 seconds
P3 Helio Castroneves (No. 3 Honda) at 1:19.6638 seconds
P4 Scott Dixon (No. 9 Target Honda) at 1:20.0421

Notes
- In six career starts at Infineon Raceway, Dixon has posted one victory (2007), two podiums, three top-five and four top-10 finishes.  He also started from the pole for the 2006 race in Sonoma.  Dixon has completed every lap run at the track (470 of 470) since the first race there in 2005, and has led three of six races for a total of 57 laps.  He is one of only five drivers to have competed in every race at the track, and one of two who have been running at the finish in all six events as well (Tony Kanaan).

- Franchitti has made five career starts in the heart of Napa Valley.  In those races he has picked up one win (2009), four podiums, four top-fives and five top-10s.  He is also the only driver to have qualified on the pole for the race twice (2007, 2009).  His average start at Infineon is 6.2 and his average finish is 3.4.  He has completed every lap in his five starts (390 of 390) and has led 137 laps, the most of any driver at Sonoma.