source: cart.com Patrick Carpentier (#7 Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) has had his fair share of success at the Milwaukee Mile oval in his eight-year career, earning a prime spot on the Mile honor roll with a track-record pole run in 1997 as well as podium finishes in 2000 and 2003. The Canadian showed again Wednesday that he knows the fast way around the 1.032-mile oval that sits on the grounds of Wisconsin State Fair Park, making an orbit in 20.86 seconds to lead the first day of the Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford testing at the venerable Milwaukee Mile. The time, recorded unofficially by Cosworth Racing, was faster than those of each of the last four polewinners at the Mile. "I'm really happy with how we have run in the last two tests (Milwaukee and Portland)," Carpentier said. "I like the track here a lot. For me, the wing configuration we run here really suits me well. You can attack the corners and the car doesn't slide around on you very much. You can feel it in the corners and you have to be on top of it because the car will move some, but you can still go hard." Carpentier led a trio of drivers than broke into the 20-second range on a day that started with warm, sunny skies, but ended under heavy clouds and falling temperatures. Ryan Hunter-Reay (#4 Herdez Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) and 2003 Milwaukee polesitter Alex Tagliani (#8 Johnson Controls Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) also slipped under 21 seconds, Hunter-Reay stopping the clocks at 20.93 while Tagliani posted a time of 20.98 seconds. The podium sitters from Long Beach were next on the speed sheets led by Bruno Junqueira (#6 PacifiCare Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) at 21.00, Paul Tracy (#1 Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) hitting 21.12 in the morning session and Sebastien Bourdais (#2 McDonald's Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) with a time of 21.14 seconds. The quick time at the Mile was particularly pleasing to Bourdais, who is looking to rebound from one of the only races last year in which the #2 was not a factor.
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