Dark clouds and steady rain hung over Portland International Raceway guaranteeing Justin Wilson (#9 CDW Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone) his fifth career Champ Car World Series pole position. source: champcarworldseries.com With the rain slowing down the lap times, the Brit's time from Friday's qualifying session earned him the top spot. The move also cements Wilson in the Champ Car record books as the Mazda Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland Presented by Joe's Sports and Outdoor will be the first ever Champ Car event to utilize standing starts. Portland is synonymous with Champ Car history hosting its inaugural event on June 12, 1909 and is also the sight of the closest finish in Champ Car history. Robert Doornbos (#14 Minardi Team USA Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone) set the quickest time during today's rainy session keeping him on the front row for the race. The second place starting position marks the Dutchman's best Champ Car qualifying effort of the year. Doornbos was almost relegated to the third starting position as Tristan Gommendy (#22 Pay By Touch-Megaspiera Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone) actually set the fastest time of the session, but on his next lap went off the track in Turn 7 and stalled the car. The resulting red-flag meant Gommendy was penalized his fastest lap and instead of starting on the front row, he will have to settle for his best career start of fifth. Sebastien Bourdais (#1 McDonald's Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone) will line up third tomorrow with RSPORTS driver Alex Tagliani (#8 LXN2 Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone) rounding out the second row. A pair of rookies were fifth and sixth on the speed charts as Frenchmen Gommendy and Simon Pagenaud (#15 Aussie Vineyards Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone) make up the third row. The second Team Australia driver Will Power (#5 Aussie Vineyards Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone) will start seventh. Graham Rahal (#2 Medi|Zone Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone) set the second fastest lap of the wet session, but it was good enough to improve upon his eighth qualifying spot. Dan Clarke (#4 Minardi Team USA Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone) will line-up ninth and PKV Racing's Neel Jani (#21 RedBull Gulfstream Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone) will start 10th. Forsythe Championship Racing's Oriol Servia (#7 Indeck Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone) and Paul Tracy (#3 Indeck Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone) were both disappointed in the weather as they were unable to improve upon their 11th and 13th starting spots respectively. Champ Car history will be made as the Mazda Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland Presented by Joe's Sports and Outdoor will begin with a standing start at 1:00 p.m. local (4:00 p.m. ET) on Sunday. The event can be seen live on ABC Sports and fans can also follow all of the action via the official website of the Champ Car World Series, www.champcar.ws. For free video content from Champ Car World Series, please log on to www.thenewsmarket.com/ChampCar to preview and request video. You can receive broadcast-standard video digitally or by tape from this site. Registration and video is free to the media.
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