Paul Tracy sets a new track record at Long Beach en route to claiming the
Bridgestone Pole Award with a lap of 1:07.485 (104.983 mph)
source:
paddocktalk.com
Tracy bettered the track record set in 2000 by Gil de Ferran by only 9
one-thousandths of a second. Without a doubt a stellar accomplishment in
consideration of the reduced amount of horsepower in today's Champ Cars. This is
Tracy's 23rd career pole position, and he surely will not be looking back on the
approach to Turn 1 come Sunday afternoon. It will be full steam ahead for the
Scarborough native.
Bruno Junqueira set the second fastest time during today's qualifying session
with a lap of 1:07.644 (104.737 mph). In the later stages of the qulaifying
session it looked as though Junquiera would have a srtong-hold on the pole
position, but was eclispsed by Tracy with less than two minutes remaining in the
session. Tracy's Forsythe Championship Racing teammate Mario Dominguez will
start third after a lap of 1:07.803 (104.491 mph). Truly a promising start to
the season for Dominguez, as today shed light on his true potential.
Defending series champion Sebastien Bourdais will start fourth and Justin Wilson
will start fifth. Justin Wilson was impressive throughout qualifying and
practice sessions on Saturday, leaping to the top positions of the timing charts
with consistency. And perhaps the most notable performance of the day was turned
in by rookie Timo Glock in the RocketSports entry. As a rookie to the series he
was in the true form of a series verteran, and deserves attention in Sunday's
race.