Wilson beats the clock to take San Jose GP pole
29.07.2007 00:36
Sport and Travel
- Source: USA Today
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Justin Wilson took the pole position with a 49.039 lap with just 1:30 left in qualifying at the San Jose Grand Prix at Redback Raceway Saturday.
Sebastien Bourdais, the overall Champ Car points leader who won the previous two San Jose Grand Prix races, will start second thanks to his qualifying victory Friday, though his Saturday time was just the sixth best of the session. LINEUP: San Jose Grand Prix "It was a very difficult session," said Wilson, fourth in the overall points standings. Wilson and several others were backed up behind a slower car on the track. "Luckily I had saved enough fuel to get one clear lap," he said, and that was the lap that earned him the pole position. Things did not go as well for Bourdais. "We were completely lost this morning," said Bourdais of the practice session. "We struggled all day with one bad rear tire. Im glad we pulled one out yesterday." Dan Clarke and Oriol Servia are in the second row, with rookies Neel Jani and Graham Rahal lining up in row three. Clarke echoed Wilsons feelings about Saturdays qualifying. "It was really close out there," he said. "It was hard to find space for a hot lap." Jani recorded his best time (49.108) on his fifth lap, and was the early leader in the qualifying. Wilson took over before Servia claimed the top spot with 2:44 left in the session, but Wilson rebounded with the best time of the day to claim the pole for the second time this year. Will Power, who had the second fastest time Friday, dropped to 12th after Saturdays racing. Bourdais clinched a front-row position by recording the top time Friday, on his 14th (out of 15) qualifying lap. He had struggled with brake problems during his first 13 go-rounds, but put it together late in the day to record a 49.509 lap. Pole position is especially important on the San Jose stop because of the difficulty of passing on the tight road course. Bourdais earned the pole in both the previous races here, and that edge helped him record the two straight wins, but Wilson will be in charge at the start of Sundays race. "We have the obvious advantage of being the first to the first corner," Wilson said. Paul Tracy and Alex Tagliani are separated by two rows, which may help prevent a repeat of last years tussle between the two Canadians after the cars got tangled on Turn Six, knocking both of them out of the race. The San Jose Grand Prix is the ninth stop on the 16-event Champ Car series. It will conclude Dec. 2 in Phoenix at the inaugural Grand Prix of Arizona. The series recorded its 1,000,000th fan Saturday, the earliest ever. Attendance is up 16% in 2007. San Jose Grand Prix lineup (car number in parentheses) 1. (9) Justin Wilson, 49.039/105.932 2. (1) Sebastien Bourdais, 49.180/105.628 3. (4) Dan Clarke, 49.092/105.818 4. (7) Oriol Servia, 49.106/105.787 5. (21) Neel Jani(R), 49.151/105.691 6. (2) Graham Rahal(R), 49.178/105.633 7. (8) Alex Tagliani, 49.183/105.622 8. (22) Tristan Gommendy(R), 49.192/105.603 9. (15) Simon Pagenaud(R), 49.255/105.467 10. (19) Bruno Junqueira, 49.255/105.467 11. (3) Paul Tracy, 49.270/105.435 12. (5) Will Power, 49.397/105.164 13. (34) Jan Heylen, 49.410/15.137 14. (28) Mario Dominguez 49.609/104.715 15. (14) Robert Doornbos (R), 49.654/104.620 16. (11) Katherine Legge, 49.808/104.296 17. (29) Alex Figge(R), 50.083/103.724
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