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SAN JOSE GRAND PRIX: Friday Report
By Charlie O. Mallonee July 27, 2007 |
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Bourdais Claims the Provisional Pole Sebastien Bourdais claimed the provisional pole in the Open Qualifying session for the San Jose Grand Prix on Friday. Bourdais waited until his 14th time around the circuit to post his 49.509 second lap time for a speed of 104.926 mph and the provisional P1 slot. The Frenchman, who is rumored to be headed to F1 next season, jumped from 17th to 1st on the timing charts with his 49.509 lap. Per Bourdais, "The first run I spent more time on the escape road than on the track. We have a brake issue on the McDonald's car but I finally got one opportunity and I still don't know quite how it worked out, but we made it stick, and the brakes didn't play any tricks with me, so I was pretty happy about the outcome because it didn't look really good for a long, long time." For most of the open session it looked like Justin Wilson or Will Power would claim the provisional pole. Wilson and Power traded spots with each holding the top time twice during the session. Wilson eventually claimed the second best time with a 49.797 second lap. "I'm pleased that we're making progress and we can do it on the street circuit this year, which is quite nice compared to the last couple of seasons”, said Wilson. “We've just got a little bit more work to do and I'm sure we can do it and hopefully get the CDW car right up there and qualify on the pole tomorrow." Each driver will have the opportunity to take the track by themselves on Saturday in order to claim a front row position and attempt to take the P1 spot away from Bourdais. A 45 minute practice session will begin at 1:15 PM EDT/10:15 AM PDT. The single car qualifying session will start at 5:00 PM EDT/2:00 PM PDT and will last for 60 minutes. As with any road course, the starting position on the grid is all important. No driver will want to be any farther back than row three. The drivers in row nine will feel like they are starting the race in Monterey. Qualifying is always fast and furious. We will have a full update on the qualifying session and our predictions for the Sunday race posted on the site Saturday night. If you have questions or comments about the qualifying results, email me by 8:00 PM PDT, and we will address your views and inquiries. Don’t forget, if you can’t attend the race in person, you can watch all the action on ESPN2 beginning at 3:00 PM PDT/6:00 PM EDT. Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Contact Charlie O. Mallonee at raydeoman@gmail.com |
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