Contrasting fortunes, contrasting moods for Pagenaud and Power

Power, who had never previously been outqualified by a teammate at this track, was outpaced by all three fellow Team Penske drivers today, and had little to share with the media about why he had struggled to line up fourth.

The five-time Sonoma polesitter said: “We pretty much didn't have it all qualifying. Just thereabouts. I think we've been like that in practice, as well. Just hanging in there [with] a top-six car. Same in qualifying.

"Definitely we were worse on the red [soft-compound] tires.

 But that's all I could do in qualifying; that was everything I had and the car had.

“I think we have to look at my braking,” he continued. “I had some braking issues, and a very different brake bias than these guys [teammates]. Might be something there that we're missing.” 



An effusive Pagenaud, by contrast, was left beaming after his remarkable seventh pole position of the 2016 season saw him use a set of worn red tires to beat Helio Castroneves on fresh reds.

The championship leader said: “It feels great. We certainly prepared really well in practice. Everything went perfectly all weekend so far.

 It was about preparing the car for the red Firestone tires, which we know I'm always more comfortable on, so I can always extract a little bit more from myself.



“We had good balance on the car. The first lap after we put the red Firestone tires on, I went on the radio and said, ‘Wow, this is going to be good.’ Unbelievable that we could actually replicate the lap time in the Fast Six with used tires.



“Certainly I did everything I could by challenging every high-speed corner that I could. I was on the edge, but it was a really good lap."

Strategic worries

Having put himself in prime position to avoid any potential first-lap accidents, Pagenaud also talked about the downside of leading when it’s anticipated that this will be a race decided by strategy and four pitstops.

“Let me tell you, it's a good position, but it's also a bad position,” he mused, “because I can't control what's going to happen behind, when people are going to start to pit. I can't see what anyone is going to do. I'm going to go through turn 11, and people can pit behind me. I can't control that.



“We are going to have to be the leader of any strategy really. We're going to have to have a strong discussion tonight on what we need to do to make sure we don't take risks, because we're not in position to take too many risks on strategy, but also that we can secure [the championship]. That's the biggest thing.



“I think we need to err on the safe side, even if it's to finish second. I think it's OK as long as we win the championship.

 But today I think we again showed strength. That's what it was all about – to show if we are to win the championship, we deserved it on many points.

”

Both title contenders asserted that tire degradation will be one of the primary factors in any decision about when to pit, but Power also stated that he’s hoping for mixed up strategy.

“There are actually a lot of stops – I think it's going to be a four-stopper. That makes for a lot of interesting stuff, strategy-wise. Last thing we need now is a straightforward race because Simon will be tough to beat if that's the case. I think it will be very difficult to pass.
”