MOTORSPORTS ROUNDUP | Saturday's other events

Champ cars: MONTREAL -- It took Sebastien Bourdais until the final moments of qualifying this time, but it seems as if nothing can slow the Champ Car points leader. He captured the pole position Saturday for the Montreal Molson Indy -- his sixth pole of the season and third in a row. After surprising rookie A.J. Allmendinger knocked Bourdais off the pole with about three minutes remaining in the 35-minute qualifying session, the Frenchman could have settled for the runner-up spot, which he guaranteed himself by taking the provisional pole Friday. Instead, Bourdais made one last run on the 2.709-mile, 13-turn Circuit Gilles Villeneueve road course and drove his Newman/Haas Racing Lola to a lap of 1 minute, 19.897 seconds -- 122.062 mph -- that kept Allmendinger from winning his first career pole with his lap of 1:20.272 (121.492 mph). Bourdais made a small mistake that slowed him as the clock wound down. But his last lap was nearly perfect, earning the second-year driving star his 11th career pole. Bourdais, who beat his Friday time by more than two seconds, added another championship point, raising his lead over teammate Bruno Junqueira to 58 points entering today's race.Mario Dominguez qualified third at 1:20.316 (121.425), followed by Junqueira at 1:20.458 (121.211) and a trio of Canadians -- defending series champion Paul Tracy at 1:20.803 (120.694), Patrick Carpentier at 1:20.836 (120.644) and Alex Tagliani at 1:20.889 (120.565).
Jimmy Vasser, who qualified 11th in the 18-car field, will set a record of 193 consecutive starts when he takes the green flag today. He tied the previous record held by Al Unser Jr. in Denver.IRL: NAZARETH, Pa. -- Helio Castroneves put himself in the best position to win the 100th IRL race by taking the pole for the final event at Nazareth Speedway. Now, the defending race champion hopes to present car owner Roger Penske with a victory today in the Firestone Indy 225. Penske built the track in 1986, but later merged his racing facilities with those of International Speedway Corp. ISC said in May the mile oval would close after this season.Formula One: SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium -- Jamo Trulli edged Michael Schumacher for the pole in today's Belgian Grand Prix, hoping to repeat his triumph of three months ago in Monaco, where he also claimed the pole en route to his first F1 victory. He was lucky in Monte Carlo when Schumacher crashed running behind a safety car. He beat the odds Saturday in qualifying in on-and-off rain at Spa, and he'll need more good fortune today to beat the dominating German who has won six times at Spa -- his favorite circuit.
Source: Associated Press
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.