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, POLE WINNER
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.”
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 2ND
“Man, that was so close! The Hitachi Chevy has been fast all weekend and we showed it again today in qualifying. We felt good with our approach and the car was really consistent. I made just a little mistake and that probably cost us in the end because Simon was so fast, especially on red tires. Congratulations to Simon – that is good for him in the championship – and what a great job by Team Penske to qualify 1-2-3-4. It just shows how well we are working together. It’s still good to start P2 but I’d rather be on top tomorrow instead of today so we need to focus and try to finish the year strong with a win.”
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 2 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 3RD
“It was a good run for our hum by Verizon car. We had a really good day today and we knew we had a shot at it. I could just could the gas down on in a couple of corners because the car had a little oversteer, especially in (turn) seven. But overall I am happy with it. It’s nice to see Penske sweep the front two rows. I know we did it in St. Pete but didn’t start that way after Will couldn’t race. It’s neat to be a part of.”
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 4TH
WHAT WAS THE DIFFERENCE IN QUALIFYING?
“We were just not quite on the pace every round, basically. Just didn’t quite have it. Can’t really put my finger on why, will have to look at the data, but just, yeah, it wasn’t right on it. Kind of been the story all weekend, we’ve kind of been there, but not right there.”
HOW DO YOU THINK THE RACE CAR IS GOING TO BE TOMORROW IN THE RACE?
“I think the race is going to be a very different story than qualifying just because the tires degrade so much, which hopefully creates an opportunity there for us to make our way to the front. Honestly, if it’s a straight forward race it’s going to be pretty tough to beat Simon (Pagenaud). He is obviously very quick, but as IndyCar throws curveballs here and there so you never know and we will just keep our head down. Anything can happen. We tried to get pole, but that wasn’t possible, so we will just move on to the next one and try to have a really good race.”
DO YOU HAVE TO GO A LITTLE BIT OFF STRATEGY TO MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN?
“Yeah, that is a good question. I just think that the tires are going to govern most of the strategy tomorrow just because they go off so bad. It’s not like you could go long. I think the fall off is going to be more than two seconds. If you are hanging out there going slow you will probably get yourself in trouble. I don’t know how it’s going to play out, but we will take every opportunity and just do everything we can to win the race.”
SCOTT DIXON, NO. 9 TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 7TH
“We had some major vibrations on the qualifying run with the black tires and then when we switched to the red tires it got even worse. I was actually surprised we were able to get through to the second round. Overall we’ve been struggling with overall grip. The times are just so close. The Verizon IndyCar Series is just so close and cut throat these days. You can miss by just a little and be on the outside looking in.”
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 11 PLANTRONICS – KVSH RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 9TH
“A pretty good bounce back for the Plantronics – KVSH Racing Team. It has been a tough weekend. Like I’ve said, we didn’t test here and didn’t have a good baseline from last year when we struggled quite a bit, but, for once the car got stronger on reds (alternate tires) where we have been struggling here on blacks (primary tires) to generate grip. So, overall I was pretty happy with qualifying. I put a good lap in during Q1 (first round of qualifying) which put use solidly in for Q2. Then in Q2, I put a solid lap in again, unfortunately they sent Scott (Dixon) a little bit too late and we got within a second and a half behind him, which looks like it should not influence you, but there is so much downforce on the cars and so much turbulence behind, the slightest lack of downforce just kills your lap. So, the two, two and a half seconds I gained early in the lap, I lost in the last sector because I couldn’t stop the car. Frustrating, but overall pretty satisfied with the work that the team has done because Olivier (engineer Olivier Boisson) had to scratch his head and come up with ideas and solutions to try and get the car faster and he sure did that. So now we will see what kind of tire life we’ve got and what kind of pace we’ve got in the race because that is another question mark. Hopefully, we can get a good start tomorrow, get in the right train and see what we can get out the last race of the season.”
JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 21 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 10TH
“We did a good job as a group getting a decent result in qualifying. It’s a good Top 10 starting spot. We would have liked more, I think everyone would have, but that’s ok! We’re still in a strong position to attack tomorrow. We’re still going to have a great racecar, we know how to build a fast racecar here. I have all the confidence that we’ll be quick and can capitalize from our starting spot!”
CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 83 TRESIBA CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 12TH
“It was a good day for Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing getting into the top 12. Definitely disappointing in Q2 not to have had a better lap, but with the challenge of the tires only being good for one lap you have to have a perfect lap. I didn’t quite get the best out of it in the second round of qualifying. We’re starting 12th and we have 85 laps to move forward tomorrow during the race. I know that these guys in the pits have been rock solid, especially the second half of the year. We’ll have a good car tomorrow to go race with especially as we go through a fuel stint and the car changes. It’s going to be a little hotter and a little windier tomorrow, but I think that challenge plays right into our hands.”
TONY KANAAN, NO. 10 NTT DATA CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 13TH
“We’re not very happy with our qualifying run today. I think we’re just struggling to find the right setup for the No. 10 NTT DATA Chevrolet and everyone is still trying to find more grip. The back half of the field isn’t where we want to be starting tomorrow, but I’m confident we can close the gap for tomorrow and find the speed we need to contend at the front.”
MAX CHILTON, NO. 8 GALLAGHER CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 18TH
“It’s a very challenging circuit and it’s such a great part of the world to come here and race in. I gave it 100% and all I had out there. I really wanted to qualify well here and finish the season on a high note. We had a great qualifying effort last race making the Fast 6 and I wanted to do that again here. This track is similar to The Glen but a bit smaller. We have our work cut out for us tomorrow but it’s a tough and physical race and we’ll be up for the challenge tomorrow.”
SPENCER PIGOT, NO. 20 SAMSUNG/FUZZY’S VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 19TH
“The balance shifted more than we thought from black tires during practice to reds during qualifying. We did two sets of reds for our qualifying run. The first set was tricky; it was hard to get rear grip. The second set, we were just trying to put a lap together because we hadn’t had a solid one on the first run. It was a tough session but we’ll give it a shot tomorrow during the race!”