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| August 04, 2012 News |
| Indy Lights: Vautier Secures Trois-Rivieres Pole |
 | Tristan Vautier exited the two-segment knockout qualifying session in Trois-Rivieres with another Indy Lights pole
(Photo: INDYCAR-LAT USA) |
After setting the fastest laps in both practice sessions, Frenchman Tristan Vautier remained the Firestone Indy Lights driver to beat in Round 10 qualifying on Saturday (August 4) at the Grand Prix de Trois-Riveres, earned the pole with a new outright lap record.
For the second year in a row, Indy Lights qualifying on the historic Trois-Rivières street circuit was decided by a two-segment knockout session, similar to the Firestone Fast Six in the IZOD IndyCar Series. The first segment was a 30-minute session in which all cars battled for the top six advancing spots. Vautier led that session with a lap of 57.5010 seconds, followed by Team Moore Racing's Gustavo Yacaman. Last year's polesitter and race winner Esteban Guerrieri, and teammates Sebastian Saavedra and Carlos Munoz all advanced to the final segment.
Segment two was a 10-minute shootout to decide pole position. Teams toyed with strategy for the first few minutes, and no cars went out on track until two minutes after the green flag dropped. Dempsey was the first car out.
The top three drivers went under the standing outright track record set last year by Guerrieri at 57.4541 seconds. Vautier's pole time of 57.1394 is now the new standard for drivers to beat.
"After having done the two fastest times of practice, you are the target, especially if your pace is really, really good," Vautier said. "So everybody works hard to get up to you and you have to keep improving when your margin is smaller, so that was really the tough part. I’m glad the car stayed really good, and I’m going to have to put a lap together.
"It was so hard with the heat because the tires were going away quicker, even though the Firestone tires are so great. With the heat, the peak of the tires doesn’t stay very long, so it was important to put it together at the right time in the run, because after it was too late. We managed to do it, but we’ve got to keep working really hard tomorrow, keep improving to stay in front and hopefully do a great race tomorrow.”
Edmonton race winner Munoz will start alongside the pole winner after going P2 in the final run, edging Yacaman, Guerrieri, Dempsey and Saavedra.
Round 10 of the Firestone Indy Lights season headlines the 2012 Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres on Sunday (August 5), with the green flag slated to wave at 1:45 pm local time
The top-three will be posted following every session on the EFCN Facebook page, and EFCN Twitter page.
Indy Lights
Round 10 - Qualifying Results
August 4, 2012
Circuit Trois-Rivieres - Trois-Rivieres, Quebec
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Fast Time| 1. | Tristan Vautier | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 57.1394 | | 2. | Carlos Munoz | Andretti Autosport | 57.2005 | | 3. | Gustavo Yacaman | Team Moore Racing | 57.3530 | | 4. | Esteban Guerrieri | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 57.4847 | | 5. | Peter Dempsey | Belardi Auto Racing | 57.5743 | | 6. | Sebastian Saavedra | AFS Racing/Andretti Autosport | 57.6820 | | 7. | Victor Carbone | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 58.0239 | | 8. | Oliver Webb | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 58.0665 | | 9. | Juan Pablo Garcia | Jeffrey Mark Motorsport | 58.2994 | | 10. | Jorge Goncalvez | Belardi Auto Racing | 58.5828 | | 11. | David Ostella | Team Moore Racing | 59.0208 | |
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