CART: Herta Becomes First Back-to-Back Pole Winner Since 92
13 September 1998
|
Herta averaged 118.229 mph for his fastest lap on the 2.238 mile permanent road course. He improved from 11th following provisional qualifying to become the first driver to win consecutive poles at Laguna Seca since Michael Andretti in 1991-'92.
Herta established the track record of 118.666 mph during qualifying for last year's event. He collected the sixth pole position of his career and his third pole of the season, following top qualifying efforts at Long Beach and Portland, respectively.
Herta earned a PPG Cup point, giving him 68 and moving him out of a tie with Gil de Ferran, who has 67. He also claims the $10,000 Marlboro Pole Award, with the opportunity to add an additional $15,000 in bonus money if he can register his first career FedEx Championship Series victory Sunday.
The bonus, which rolls over at a rate of $15,000 for every event which concludes without a win from the pole, starts fresh after a record jackpot of $330,000 was claimed by Dario Franchitti at Vancouver last week.
Herta commented, "Getting the car repaired after Friday morning's contact with Alex Zanardi was the biggest single thing we did good this weekend. After some damage to the car yesterday, the crew really busted themselves to get the car ready for today. After seeing the problems the slower group had (today), take advantage of a little more green (flag) time gave us what we needed to go for it."
Editors Note: The images displayed in this article (plus many more) can be viewed in The Racing ImageGalleries and the Visions of Speed Art Gallery.
