The AFS KV AFS driver claimed his first Verizon IndyCar Series pole position topping a wild knockout qualifying session that took place during a rain shower.
"I love the rain. It was crazy at first because we didn't know what to expect from the track - if it was going to be wet, if it was going to be dry," said Saavedra. "We were comfortable yesterday, as it got hotter, we just needed to work a little bit more - especially with the rain. We made a huge leap this morning and then the whole session was just weird. It started to rain and went from wet, to dry, to super dry, to super wet. I loved it."
Saavedra, whose previous best qualifying effort on a road/street circuit was ninth in the first two events of 2013 (St. Petersburg and Barber Motorsports Park), inherited the top spot in the closing minute of the Firestone Fast Six when the No. 28 DHL car of provisional pole sitter Ryan Hunter-Reay spun and made contact with the wall on the frontstretch of a rain-soaked 2.439-mile, 14-turn layout.
According to the Verizon IndyCar Series rulebook, Hunter-Reay's quickest two laps of the 10-minute session were disallowed
"We definitely gave that one away," said Hunter-Reay. "It's a fun track. Since we got here it's been dry-wet-dry-wet. It was changing conditions and it was a lot of fun, but it ended the wrong way, so congrats to Saavedra - good job and good pace. It's going to be a really great championship race (tomorrow) and there will be a lot of passing - especially with these long straights. There will be a lot of different strategies on downforce and tires. I think there will be a lot of (teams) mixing it up like you always do with the Verizon IndyCar Series."
Saavedra is the fourth different pole sitter in as many races this season and he'll be joined by another surprise driver, Jack Hawksworth of BHA/BBM with Curb-Agajanian. Six different teams were represented on the first three rows for the standing start on the Speedway's frontstretch. Hunter-Reay ended up third and will start alongside Simon Pagenaud, who was quickest in the morning practice session and set the lap record (1:09.6716) on the reconfigured track in Segment 1 of qualifying on dry pavement in the No. 77 Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports car.
Series championship points leader Will Power, driving the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car, and reigning series champion Scott Dixon in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing entry are on Row 3.
Verizon IndyCar Series
Indianapolis Motor Speedway - Indianapolis, IN
Grand Prix of Indianapolis Qualifying - May 9, 2014
1. (17) Sebastian Saavedra, Dallara-Chevy, 01:23.8822 (104.675)
2. (98) Jack Hawksworth, Dallara-Honda, 01:24.0788 (104.431)
3. (28) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 01:24.8882 (103.435)
4. (77) Simon Pagenaud, Dallara-Honda, 01:25.2881 (102.950)
5. (12) Will Power, Dallara-Chevy, 01:25.5216 (102.669)
6. (9) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Chevy, 01:25.6548 (102.509)
7. (11) Sebastien Bourdais, Dallara-Chevy, 01:24.5187 (103.887)
8. (2) Juan Pablo Montoya, Dallara-Chevy, 01:24.6209 (103.762)
9. (10) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Chevy, 01:24.7099 (103.653)
10. (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Chevy, 01:24.8839 (103.440)
11. (27) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Honda, 01:25.1318 (103.139)
12. (15) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 01:25.4748 (102.725)
13. (25) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.2488 (124.990)
14. (8) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Chevy, 01:10.2261 (125.030)
15. (67) Josef Newgarden, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.3601 (124.792)
16. (14) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.2804 (124.934)
17. (18) Carlos Huertas, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.4264 (124.675)
18. (19) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.4141 (124.697)
19. (34) Carlos Munoz, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.5097 (124.528)
20. (41) Martin Plowman, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.4591 (124.617)
21. (26) Franck Montagny, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.5571 (124.444)
22. (16) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 01:10.5996 (124.369)
23. (83) Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Chevy, 01:10.6413 (124.296)
24. (20) Mike Conway, Dallara-Chevy, 01:10.6535 (124.274)
25. (7) Mikhail Aleshin, Dallara-Honda, 01:11.2704 (123.198)
Sebastian Saavedra scored the Verizon P1 pole award for Saturday's Grand Prix of Indianapolis Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. / Photo: Chris Jones
http://accesswdun.com/article/2014/5/274740