Saturday, June 24, 2006
Sebastien Bourdais won the provisional pole on the final lap of qualifying.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Sebastien Bourdais saved his best for last.
Bourdais won the provisional pole Friday at the Grand Prix of Cleveland on his final lap, leapfrogging A.J. Allmendinger and Paul Tracy, who were the fastest for most of the Champ Car qualifying session.
Bourdais posted a lap of 56.851 seconds just before Allmendinger recorded 56.965 seconds on his final lap.
Tracy, the race's defending champion, was third with a time of 57.011 seconds. He pulled off his head sock on pit row and stared in disbelief at the results.
"It's a little bit frustrating to be standing there watching the monitor with five seconds to go and then see yourself go from first to third as the last two cars pass by the line," he said.
Bourdais, the series points leader, earned one championship point for finishing with the day's best time and now leads Justin Wilson by 31 points. Bourdais also guaranteed himself a start on the front row of Sunday's race.
Fastest time since 1999
Bourdais' time was the fastest since Juan Pablo Montoya posted a qualifying lap of 56.813 seconds in 1999 on the 2.106-mile road course at Burke Lakefront Airport. Jimmy Vasser set the course record of 56.417 seconds a year earlier
"Usually, there's an improvement between the first and second day, so there's a good chance the record could go down," Bourdais said. "It all depends on what the conditions are tomorrow."
Tracy, a three-time pole-sitter in Cleveland, attributed the fast times to the heavy rains that flooded the Cleveland area this week.
Several drivers spun out during a rain-soaked morning practice including Tracy, who went into a wall of tires on the slick track and knocked off the rear wing of his blue Forsythe. The rain stopped and the course dried in time for the afternoon qualifying session, helping produce some fast results.
"The track seems to be very clean," Tracy said. "Usually, there's big, huge rooster tails of sand coming off the back wings of the cars. The rain has just washed everything off the runways."
Sees improvement in track
Bourdais, who won the Cleveland race in 2003 and 2004, credited the race operators with improving the track's last corner and chicane. He also felt like the Bridgestone tires were providing more grip than last year.
The Frenchman was slowed on his earlier qualifying laps by cars spinning out in front of him. On his final time around, he put together what he called a clean run.
"It was a great lap. But I wish I could have done it a little earlier," he said.
The defending two-time series champion had his provisional pole taken away in Cleveland in 2004 when race officials ruled he blocked competitors during qualifying.
There was no chance of that happening this year as Allmendinger posted his fastest lap behind Bourdais.
Allmendinger pleased
Allmendinger, who won for the first time last week at Portland, Ore., said his car was working well and that overall he was pleased with the qualifying session.
"I hit every section perfect. I just never did it on the same lap," he said.
Bourdais, who started the year with four straight wins before Allmendinger's victory, wasn't at all comforted by the fact that he'll be on the front row heading into Cleveland's dangerous Turn 1, where at least one car is usually knocked out on the first lap.
"There's no safe spot," Bourdais said. "You can be on the pole and somebody's going to run over or into you."