Will Power has secured his second pole position of the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series season, on Friday at Texas Motor Speedway. It’s his first since the season opener at St. Petersburg in March.
The two styles of tracks could not be any more different. At the 1.5-mile oval in Texas, Power nearly hit the rev limiter on his lap but managed to avoid it and not lose any mph. As a result, the Verizon Team Penske driver averaged more than 219 mph, and was a full 1.6 mph up on second-placed Marco Andretti.
“Our race car has been pretty good,” Power told IndyCar Radio. “It was wide open, trimmed out, and the gear was right. I think Marco should have been on pole, but he hit the rev limiter.”
Power seems optimistic for the race. He has his only career oval win there in the second half of the twin races held in 2011.
“It’s going to be an interesting race,” he said. “The downforce level is about right. Some cars will go out more than others. Hopefully we’re at the front of all that.”
Andretti was second ahead of his Andretti Autosport teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dario Franchitti and E.J. Viso, who was the first car to run.
The rest of the top 10 on the grid includes: Helio Castroneves, Josef Newgarden, Charlie Kimball, Ed Carpenter and James Jakes.
Grid positions aren’t entirely important given how fast the Firestones will go off over a course over a stint, and how well drivers manage the tires and hold onto the car with the current level of downforce.
Oriol Servia clocked in 18th, Pippa Mann 21st, in their first qualifying runs since Indianapolis.
Also of note, Simona de Silvestro will lose 10 spots from her 12thh place qualifying effort due to an engine change, while Takuma Sato (missed spot in pre-qualifying tech inspection) and Tristan Vautier (engine change) did not make qualifying attempts and will start at the back.
