MONTEREY, Calif., Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Gil de Ferran of Brazil won his third pole in the last four races Saturday for the CART Shell 300 Grand Prix of Monterey at Laguna Seca.
De Ferran has been nearly perfect lately in a bid to defend his series championship. He averaged 117.453 miles per hour in a Honda/Reynard, covering the 2.238-mile, 11-turn permanent road course in one minute, 8.596 seconds.
Penske teammate and countryman Helio Castroneves will join de Ferran on the front row after posting a fast speed of 117.313 mph. Castroneves is the defending champion, leading 81 of 83 laps in last year's race and easily holding off de Ferran.
Honda, whose engines have dominated the circuit for the last five years, announced Friday it will stop producing engines for CART vehicles after the 2002 season.
De Ferran, who has five poles this year, is coming off a win in Houston where he led all 100 laps from the pole, earning the maximum points and taking over the series lead from Kenny Brack, 164-153. There are three races remaining this season.
De Ferran also won the previous race in England and has not been lower than eighth in his last seven races. He comes to a circuit where he has done well in the past, notching his first career win here in his 1995 rookie season and finishing in the top six in four of six starts.
Rookie Scott Dixon of New Zealand, who set the pace in practice, briefly held the pole position but settled for third in a Toyota/Reynard. Brazil's Roberto Moreno qualified fourth, also in a Toyota/Reynard.
Bryan Herta and Canada's Paul Tracy will comprise the third row. Both are two-time winners at the terrain road course near the hills of the Monterey Peninsula.
Herta led all 83 laps in 1999, his second straight win from the pole here. Tracy won for the first time in 1993 and followed with a win from the pole the next year.
