Helio Castroneves claimed pole position for a series-high fifth time this season at Firestone Indy 400 qualifying on Saturday.
The Brazilian driver posted a lap of 348.794kph and was joined on the front row for yesterday's Indy Racing League event by Marlboro Team Penske teammate Sam Hornish Jr.
Andretti Green Racing's Tony Kanaan will start third, and Ed Carpenter of Vision Racing qualified a career-best fourth.
PHOTO: AP
After Penske's fourth 1-2 start this season, Castroneves wouldn't mind if he and Hornish turned out to be just as dominant when it counts.
"I hope it's a boring race," Castroneves said. "But IndyCar racing is never like that."
That's especially true at Michigan International Speedway, where the IndyCar series has its longest race other than the Indianapolis 500.
The past four IRL events at Brooklyn have featured an average of 18.5 lead changes -- more than any current track on the circuit since 2002 -- with thrilling, three and four-wide racing on the high-banked, 3.2km oval.
Castroneves likes the way his car is handling, a key factor when all cars have the same Honda engine, but knows he can't get cocky at a track where he finished 21st, 10th and 17th over the past three years.
"A lot can go wrong with your car when it takes 400 miles and almost three hours to finish a race," Castroneves said. "The only time you can relax a little is if you have a big lead. Otherwise, you are intensely concentrating because of the side-by-side racing with cars in front and behind you, too."
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB