Team Australia's Alex Tagliani and Will Power have made a flying start to this year's Champ Car World Series after the opening qualifying session for this weekend's Toyota Long Beach Grand Prix in California. source: teamaustraliamotorsport.com Tagliani sits fourth after the opening qualifying session while Power is the highest placed rookie in seventh. In the first practice session of the day Tagliani was second only to defending series champion Sebastian Bourdais while Power was 10th. Some moves in the wrong direction saw the pair drop to fourth and 16th respectively in the second practice session, but a solid recovery has both Aussie Vineyard Lolas in the top seven. Female driver Katherine Legge, having her first Champ Car start, currently sits 15th in the 18-car field. There will be another qualifying session tomorrow. It was a terrific start for the team which has only had one two-day test session since the end of the 2005 season. Newman-Haas pair Bourdais and Bruno Junqueira led qualifying from former champion Paul Tracy and young American AJ Allmendinger. Only Justin Wilson stood between Tagliani and Power, a young driver from Toowoomba in Queensland, having just his third Champ Car start after making his debut at the Lexmark Indy 300 on the Gold Coast last year. Team Australis's Champ Car Atlantic team also had solid start to the season with Frenchman Simo Pagenaud topping the time sheets with a time of 1:17.304 from Jonathan Bomarito and Graham Rahal. Young Aussie James Davison was 17th fastest in the 29-car field which will have another qualifying session tomorrow. The Atlantic formula is regarded as the breeding ground for future Champ Car stars.
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