Speedy Dan Lives Up To His Name
Written by Scott Keller · September 22, 2006
Dan Clarke is a rookie who has made a lot of mistakes this year while also showing sheer speed. Friday afternoon in Elkhart Lake, WI, he and his team used some great strategy to take the provisional pole.
The often maligned Brit has drawn the ire of a few fans this year for his lack of composure at times, but this guy can flat-out drive. He’s definitely a future star in Champ Car, especially as his decision making skills catch up with his car control skills.
Clarke made a name for himself in a not-so-good way earlier this year in Cleveland when he took out second-place running Mario Domiguez on the last lap of the race. Dominguez was driving for Dale Coyne at the time, and was poised to give Coyne his first podium of the season. Clarke lost control while making a pass, and ruined Dominguez’s day.
Since then, he has shown some incredible speed, only to have some bad luck ruin a couple great drives. His great result today was the result of a good teamwork, and a good drive by Speedy Dan. The CTE crew decided to shed rain tires for racing slicks as the track dried, and the decision paid of nicely.
Here are the results of today’s qualifying session.
– Fastest Lap — – Time Behind –
Pos Driver # Team Lap Time Mph km/h Leader Previous
1 D. Clarke 14 CTE Racing - HVM 1:55.123 126.585 203.718
2 C. Zwolsman 34 Mi-Jack Conquest Racing 1:55.599 126.063 202.878 0.476
3 A. Tagliani 15 Team Australia 1:57.517 124.006 199.568 2.394 1.918
4 A. Allmendinger 7 Forsythe Championship Racing 1:58.507 122.970 197.901 3.384 0.990
5 S. Bourdais 1 Newman/Haas Racing 1:58.945 122.517 197.172 3.822 0.438
6 J. Wilson 9 RuSPORT 1:59.076 122.382 196.954 3.953 0.131
7 W. Power 5 Team Australia 1:59.286 122.167 196.608 4.163 0.210
8 K. Legge 20 PKV Racing 1:59.388 122.063 196.441 4.265 0.102
9 A. Ranger 27 Mi-Jack Conquest Racing 1:59.486 121.962 196.278 4.363 0.098
10 B. Junqueira 2 Newman/Haas Racing 1:59.977 121.463 195.475 4.854 0.491
11 P. Tracy 3 Forsythe Championship Racing 2:00.165 121.273 195.169 5.042 0.188
12 J. Heylen 11 Dale Coyne Racing 2:00.835 120.601 194.088 5.712 0.670
13 O. Servia 6 PKV Racing 2:01.082 120.355 193.692 5.959 0.247
14 T. Kasemets 18 Rocketsports Racing 2:01.381 120.058 193.214 6.258 0.299
15 M. Dominguez 8 Rocketsports Racing 2:01.882 119.565 192.421 6.759 0.501
16 N. Philippe 4 CTE Racing - HVM 2:02.273 119.182 191.804 7.150 0.391
17 J. Caceres 19 Dale Coyne Racing 2:03.690 117.817 189.608 8.567 1.417
In Atlantics, there were few surprises. Pagenaud and Rahal battled for the pole, and Pagenaud eeked out a lap only 24 one-hundredths faster than Rahal. What a battle these guys have been in for the championship!
Here are the results for todays Atlantics qualifying session.
Qualifying 1 – Fastest Lap — – Time Behind –
Pos Driver Car# Team Lap Time Mph Kph Leader Previous
1 Simon Pagenaud 15 Team Australia 2:19.063 104.793 168.643 0.000
2 Graham Rahal 18 Mi-Jack Conquest Racing 2:19.304 104.611 168.350 0.241
3 Andreas Wirth 37 Forsythe Championship Racing 2:21.556 102.947 165.673 2.493 2.252
4 Joe D’Agostino 34 Newman Wachs Racing 2:22.561 102.222 164.506 3.498 1.005
5 Michael Patrizi 5 Team Australia 2:22.846 102.018 164.178 3.783 0.285
6 Jonathan Bomarito 23 PR1 Motorsports 2:22.856 102.010 164.165 3.793 0.010
7 Ryan Lewis 30 Mi-Jack Conquest Racing 2:23.121 101.822 163.862 4.058 0.265
8 Raphael Matos 6 Sierra Sierra Enterprises 2:23.290 101.701 163.667 4.227 0.169
9 Colin Fleming 14 Gelles Racing 2:23.341 101.665 163.609 4.278 0.051
10 James Hinchcliffe 3 Forsythe Championship Racing 2:23.611 101.474 163.302 4.548 0.270
11 J.R. Hildebrand 36 Newman Wachs Racing 2:23.647 101.449 163.262 4.584 0.036
12 Danilo Dirani 1 Condor Motorsports 2:24.018 101.187 162.840 4.955 0.371
13 Robbie Pecorari 28 Gelles Racing 2:24.757 100.671 162.010 5.694 0.739
14 Leonardo Maia 7 Forsythe Championship Racing 2:25.073 100.451 161.656 6.010 0.316
15 Tim Bridgman 2 Jensen MotorSport 2:25.225 100.346 161.487 6.162 0.152
16 Alan Sciuto 12 Polestar Racing Group 2:25.809 99.944 160.840 6.746 0.584
17 Richard Philippe 33 Forsythe Championship Racing 2:25.922 99.867 160.716 6.859 0.113
18 Antoine Bessette 21 Polestar Racing Group 2:27.142 99.039 159.383 8.079 1.220
19 Alex Sperafico 10 Brooks Associates Racing 2:27.241 98.972 159.276 8.178 0.099
20 Justin Sofio 26 Mathiasen Motorsports 2:29.151 97.705 157.237 10.088 1.910
21 David Martinez 4 US RaceTronics 2:29.445 97.513 156.928 10.382 0.294
22 Mike Forest 32 PR1 Motorsports 2:29.515 97.467 156.854 10.452 0.070
23 Brian Thienes 19 McAtee Motorsports 2:31.651 96.094 154.644 12.588 2.136
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