Team Australia had its best start to a round of the Champ Car World Series at the Portland International Raceway today. source: teamaustraliamotorsport.com Rookie points leader Will Power was the surprise of the field, logging the fourth-best time with a 59.160-second (119.513 mph) qualifying lap in his Team Australia/Aussie Vineyards Lola. Power, from Toowoomba in Queensland, actually led the session through the first 10 minutes, but not satisfied with that, went out and hung up his best time on the last of his 13 laps. Power's Team Australia team mate Alex Tagliani was equally impressive, claiming the fifth position in the opening-day order with a time of 59.275 seconds (119.281 mph), despite being plagued with a few engine gremlins through the day. Armed with a new driver's suit, a new teammate and a new outlook on racing, A.J. Allmendinger went out and set a new season-high for himself in the first round of qualifying for Sunday's G.I. Joe's Grand Prix. Allmendinger, who moved this week to Forsythe Championship Racing after running all of his Champ Car career with RuSPORT, used the red-rimmed alternate Bridgestone Potenzas to steal the first-day pole from championship leader Sebastien Bourdais. Paul Tracy took the third spot with a best time of 59.121 seconds (119.592 mph). Tracy, like Bourdais, set his best time on his first set of tires, and both drivers have two sets of the Bridgestone alternates at their disposal for Saturday's final qualifying.
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