6-3-2006
Camara Leads Schmidt Trio in Watkins Glen Qualifying
Klein leads early, all three drivers end up in the top 10
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (June 3) Rookie Jonathan Klein came within minutes of recording his first Indy Pro Series pole Saturday at Watkins Glen International Raceway. But a spin by Klein, a drying race track and a late decision by series officials to extend the qualifying session by five minutes dropped him to sixth on the final starting grid for Sunday’s Corning 100 Indy Pro Series race.
One of those who improved in the final minutes, Jaime Camara, heads the three-car Sam Schmidt Motorsports effort as he placed his #11 Celg/Goias Dallara fifth with his final flying lap, just ahead of Klein. Jay Howard, driving the #7 Lucas Oil/Isilon Dallara for the Schmidt team, will start from ninth after sliding off the damp track and making contact with the barriers on just his third lap.
Klein spent the first half of qualifying becoming comfortable with the damp conditions, then vaulted to the top of the time charts with just 10 minutes remaining in qualifying, after pitting for adjustments and set up changes to his Klein Tools/Turn Key Forging and Design machine.
But shortly after setting his fast time, Klein bottomed out his chassis exiting Turn One, spun and made light contact with the barriers. Instead of ending the session under caution, the decision was made to extend qualifying by five minutes on a drying race track. As track conditions had improved during the caution, Klein dropped to sixth overall when his competitors ran their final flying lap of qualifying.
But Klein’s misfortune benefited teammate Camara. As the track began to dry in the final minutes, Camara moved up the order. In his final green flag lap, Camara posted an average speed of 105.744 mph around the 3.77-mile Watkins Glen circuit to claim fifth.
Howard started the session strongly, posting a lap of 104.176 mph on just his second lap. But the 2005 U.S. Formula Ford Zetec champion slid off course in Turn 6 on the next lap, impacting the barrier and ending his day. For a time it appeared that Howard would hold on to a fifth-place starting position, but he too slid down the order as others improved in the final moments of the extended session and Howard will start ninth.
Jay Howard, #7 Lucas Oil/Isilon Dallara
“I just went off, trying too hard on a still-wet circuit, and made some contact with the barrier. There’s not too much else to say. I didn’t hit it too hard, but it was enough damage to end our session. For a while there, it looked like it wouldn’t hurt us too bad. I think I was still fifth on the grid halfway through the session. But then the track dried out some more and we slipped back [to ninth]. I feel bad for the guys, because we came here with some pretty high expectations. So I’ve just got to make up for it tomorrow.”
Jamie Camara, #11 CELG Dallara/Firestone
“It’s not bad, but I was expecting a little bit more today. We don’t have a lot of rain experience with these cars, and I think we need to work a little more on our rain set up. The track was good, just really slick, particularly Turn 7 and Turn 9. There was very little grip in those turns, but the rest of the track wasn’t too bad. We have a really good car in the dry, and the weather forecast for tomorrow is pretty good, so I’m optimistic about our chances in the race.”
Jonathan Klein, #27 Klein Tools/Turn Key Forging and Design Dallara/Firestone
“This is the first time I’ve driven the Klein Tools/Turn Key Forging and Design car in the rain, so every lap I was just working on getting more and more comfortable. That is where we found our speed – just with me getting more experience in these conditions every lap. We kept trying to change the set up and we ended up bottoming out real hard in Turn One, which put me over the curbs. That unloaded the front of the car; I spun and kissed the wall a little bit. There’s only minimal damage. It’s just a shame they extended the session for no reason, because we would have had the pole, but I guess that’s the way it goes. We’ll do what we can in the race and go from there.”
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