CHEVROLET RACING IN THE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
GOPRO GRAND PRIX OF SONOMA
SONOMA RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2016
SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, won the pole for Sunday’s GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma, the 2016 Verizon IndyCar season finale, with a quick lap of one minute, 16.2565 seconds. Pagenaud entered the race weekend with a 43 point lead over teammate Will Power for the championship title, by earning the Verizon P1 award, his seventh of the season, he now heads into Sunday’s finale needing to finish fifth or better to claim his first career Verizon IndyCar Series championship. Pagenaud led a 1-2-3-4 Chevrolet Aero Kit with integrated 2.2 liter V6 engine qualifying sweep.
HOW GRATIFYING WAS BEATING YOUR TEAMMATE HELIO CASTRONEVES WHO WAS ON A NEW SET OF STICKER REDS?
“It’s very gratifying, but the biggest thing is how good the car has been through the whole qualifying session. We talked about it this morning in practice and we have been working on making the car as good as it could before the reds. It was always about guessing, we don’t get to test the red firestone tires. Every time we put them on it’s a dream. It’s awesome. I’m so proud of the HP Chevrolet team. What a dream season, seven poles, I mean it’s unbelievable. I want to thank Verizon as well and the new LTE advanced network, which is super-fast. Obviously, I’m super excited. I knew we could do it, but this has not been my favorite track in the past. It doesn’t seem to be the case anywhere anymore.”
DID YOU THINK AT ALL ABOUT CHAMPIONSHIP AND THE ONE POINT YOU GOT AT ALL DURING QUALIFYING?
“No, that is the most enjoyable day. Especially when you do one lap qualifying because the tires here they get so beat up by the track. The tires are awesome, but it’s just there is so much power in the cars and the hairpins and you just murder the rear. So you only have one real lap to do it, so you’ve got to put it all together in that one lap. That is what I call the animal instincts and you don’t think you just go. This is the best moment when you can drive this way.”