MIAMI Junqueira reworks damaged car into CART pole-winning position

Miami has a very narrow course with few, if any, passing zones.
MIAMI (AP) -- Bruno Junqueira's day began with a crash that destroyed the front of his car. A few hours later, his car was the best on the track.
Junqueira claimed the provisional pole for the Grand Prix of the Americas on Friday, turning in the fastest lap during qualifying for the CART event by a wide margin over rookie Mika Salo.
The finish assured Junqueira a front-row spot for Sunday's race. More importantly, it earned him a championship point and pulled him within 17 of series leader Paul Tracy.
Pure driving
"This is one of the best qualifying days of my life, if not the best," Junqueira said. "This is pure driving. Nobody knew the track."
By the end of the day, it became obvious that no one knew it better than Junqueira, the Brazilian who now makes his home in downtown Miami.
He broke the front suspension and did other damage to his car when he went airborne over a slippery bump in a practice session, relegating him to an unfavorable back-of-pack start spot for the afternoon qualifying session.
Not even he thought he'd have a chance of winning the provisional pole. After turning a lap of 45.024 seconds over the tight 1.15-mile temporary street circuit, Junqueira predicted he'd be fortunate to finish among the top eight.
But Salo's best lap was 45.686 seconds, and only one other driver -- Sebastien Bourdais, whose best time was 45.770 seconds -- finished within a second of Junqueira.
"Starting up front is very important here," Junqueira said. "But 130 laps here will be very difficult. It's very easy to make a mistake on this track."
The complete grid for Sunday's race will be determined after today's qualifying.
Tracy finished 14th Friday. He crashed during the slip-and-slide morning practice, then only managed a best lap of 47.401 seconds. He did not take a third lap.
That mistake capped "a terrible day," said Tracy, who was the first to attempt to qualify Friday.
"I misunderstood what was said on the radio during qualifying this morning, and I pitted one lap early," Tracy said.
Starting position is always critical in CART -- the average starting spot for the 15 winners so far this season is 1.6 and no winner has come from further back than fourth after qualifying.
It's going to be even more crucial in Miami, a very narrow course with few, if any, passing zones.
"Qualifying makes a difference here," said Oriol Servia, sixth in qualifying. "It's going to be very difficult to overtake other cars. It's going to be a key factor to start well."