SURFERS PARADISE, Australia, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- Roberto Moreno jumped past series leader Gil de Ferran on his final lap Saturday (Friday night in the United States) to win the pole for the CART Honda Indy 300.
Moreno maneuvered his Toyota/Reynard at an average speed of 109.257 miles per hour, making his way around the steamy 2.795-mile temporary street course in 1 minute, 32.095 seconds.
Moreno's second career pole came in milestone starts for him and Firestone Racing, which has been making tires for the circuit the past six years.
De Ferran was second in his Honda/Reynard at 1:32.406 seconds. With two races left, de Ferran leads Kenny Brack by 26 points and teammate Helio Castroneves by 38 for the CART title.
Brack qualified 13th in a Ford-Cosworth/Lola--despite brushing the wall twice--for his worst position on a road or street course since he started 17th at Cleveland. Castroneves will be 11th.
Temperatures on the course ranged from 116-125 degrees on a hot, sunny day at Surfers Paradise. But that did not stop a record 74,858 fans from attending the qualifying session.
Cristiano de Matta qualified third at 1:32.552 in a Toyota/Lola. Rounding out the top five were Paul Tracy in a Honda/Reynard and teammate Dario Franchitti.
Other top-10 qualifiers were Michael Andretti, Alex Tagliani, Scott Dixon, Patrick Carpentier and Jimmy Vasser. Tracy, Franchitti, Andretti and Vasser are former winners of this event.
Sunday's Honda Indy 300 (Saturday night in the U.S.) will be 65 laps around the temporary course. It is the 20th of 21 races on the CART schedule, with next week's Marlboro 500 at California Speedway to follow.
