Herta Poised to End Drought

Qualifying seems to come easy for Bryan Herta, but winning a champ car race in the CART FedEx series seems to be another thing.

For the second year in a row, Bobby Rahal’s team driver won the pole for today’s Texaco/Havoline 300, speeding his Ford Cosworth-powered Reynard around Laguna Seca’s 11-turn, 2.238-mile road circuit Saturday at an average speed of 118.229 mph.

It’s the sixth pole of his career, and third this season, but it fell shy of the 118.666-mph track record he set last year.

Dario Franchitti, the Scot who has won the last two races--at Elkhart Lake, Wis., and Vancouver--got the outside pole with a 117.869 mph lap. Jimmy Vasser, last year’s winner, will start third at 117.700.

Herta is still looking for his first win in the CART FedEx series, however, having gone 65 consecutive races without taking a checkered flag. He was never closer than the 1996 race at Laguna Seca, where he was passed by Alex Zanardi coming out of the Corkscrew turn on the final lap. Herta led 40 of the final 41 laps but not the last.

Zanardi always seems to be a thorn in his side. Last year, after leading the first 21 laps, Herta tangled with Zanardi, dropped back to eighth and was never again a factor.

Friday, during practice before the first round of qualifying, an overzealous Zanardi ran over Herta’s left wheel--after the session had been flagged to a stop--and damaged Herta’s car. The crew made some quick changes and he managed to post a lap of 117.096, good enough for 12th position.

“That might not have looked good yesterday, but it was worth the effort because it got me in the fast [qualifying] group today,” Herta said. “Running with the slow group can cause you a lot of trouble.”

Zanardi, who was barred from qualifying Friday because of the Herta incident, found that out. Frustrated by one red flag after another that cost him potential fast laps, the two-time CART champion ended up fifth at 117.576. Zanardi only returned from Italy on Wednesday after being with his wife, Daniela, for the birth of their son, Niccola, on Monday in Bologna.

Road race qualifying sessions are split in two 30-minute segments with the fastest cars from the previous session in one group, and the slowest in the other.

Despite the number of incidents involving Zanardi, Herta insisted that there is no animosity between them.

“Friday was just a silly, unfortunate incident,” Herta said. “I know that there is a perception that there are problems between Alex and me, but I would like to diffuse that idea. He is a hard racer, and when you race as hard as he does, and as hard as I do, things happen.

“I know that if he leaves the series, it will be a loss for CART.”

An announcement that Zanardi will drive in Formula One next year is expected soon.

Asked what he would do if he came to the last lap of today’s 83-lap race right on Zanardi’s rear bumper, Herta grinned and said, “I’d like that scenario.”

The race, which starts at noon, figures to be extremely competitive as less than a second separates the first 19 cars, from Herta to Rahal, his boss and teammate, on the 28-car starting grid.