CHAMP CARS Bourda sets mark, bags pole

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Champ Car points leader Sebastian Bourda has broken teammate Bruno Junqueira's Mexican Grand Prix qualifying record, and won the pole Saturday for the season finale.
Bourdais covered the 2.8-mile road course on softer tires after using hard-compound rubber for the second-fastest time Friday. His time of 1 minute, 25.919 seconds Saturday topped Junqueira's 2-year-old track record of 1:25.941.
The Newman-Haas teammates will share the front row for the race because Junqueira led the qualifying Friday. Frenchman Bourdais had a fast lap of 116.733 mph and Junqueira's Cosworth/Lola went 115.889.
Bourdais gained a point to raise his series-leading total to 336, putting him 22 ahead of Junqueira. Bourdais, rookie of the year last season, needs a finish or better to win the crown.
Art of braking
While the French-born Bourdais has shown the knack for getting his car around the Hermanos Rodriguez road course, he says his championship hopes might depend on whether the pack behind him has mastered the art of braking into the dangerous first turn.
"That's going to be the really scary moment of the race right there," Bourdais said. "If anybody locks up the brakes and runs into the back of the McDonald's car, it's over.
"This weekend, it's not about how fast we can go; it's about how tough we are and how we can stay on the racetrack."
In 2002, confusion and bumping at the first turn sent Junqueira off the course and Paul Tracy into a gravel trap.
Second row
Rookie Justin Wilson and Jimmy Vasser share the second row with Oriol Servia and reigning series champion Tracy in the third.
Teams are required to use both regular and softer, "alternative" tires at some point in the race -- with all clearly preferring the alternates.
"They are able to run about three seconds faster than last year," Junqueira said.
The softer rubber is about a second a lap faster than the standard tires supplied to all teams by Bridgestone. Requiring teams to use both at times of their choosing during the race means that some cars will be faster than others at different points, making passing easier.