IRL’s Wilson takes pole for Toronto

Associated Press

TORONTO

Justin Wilson won his first IndyCar Series pole to end Team Penske’s streak at eight Saturday in the Honda Indy Toronto, turning a series track-record lap of 104.827 mph on the 11-turn, 1.755-mile street circuit.

Wilson, the winner from the pole in the 2006 Champ Car race at the tight and bumpy Exhibition Place track, gave owner Dreyer & Reinbold Racing its first IndyCar pole since Sarah Fisher led the field at Kentucky Speedway in 2002.

“We’ve had a couple of tough races, so to come back and get the pole here is just fantastic,” Wilson said. “Everyone at Dreyer & Reinbold has worked so hard.

“It’s a good weekend so far. We have to keep it up. We’ll keep pushing for the race. It’s easy in this stage to sit back and relax, but we have a lot of work to do.”

Wilson saved a set of red-lined tires — the softer and less durable of the two Firestone models — for the 10-minute, six-car qualifying finale.

“That was the move of the day,” said Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay, the fourth-place qualifier at 103.847. “We couldn’t beat him after that.”

Wilson is the first driver to reach the final six-car session — called the Fast Six — without using a set of the red tires in the first two segments since the alternate-tire program was introduced last season.

“I was OK with the first round,” the Englishman said. “The second round, I was a little nervous, but the car was that fast that we pulled it off.”