Houston, TX (My Sportsbook) - Two-time defending series champion Sebastien Bourdais captured the provisional pole for the Champ Car Grand Prix of Houston. The No.1 Newman-Haas Racing driver circled the new 1.7-mile, 10-turn street course around Reliant Field and the Astrodome in 59.110 seconds (102.927 m.p.h.). The Frenchman earned one championship point for the provisional pole and a guaranteed front row starting position for Saturday night's race. Bourdais, who is the odds-on favorite to make it a "three-peat" in 2006, won the season opening Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on April, 9th. Teammate Bruno Junqueira was second fastest with a time of 59.617. The two teammates were the only drivers to break the one-minute barrier. Paul Tracy (1:00.032) was third quickest followed by A.J. Allmendinger (1:00.047) and Alex Tagliani (1:00.047). A total of 16 drivers took to the track including five rookies: Will Power, Katherine Legge, Dan Clarke, Charles Zwolsman and Jan Heylen. Power was the quickest, placing ninth, with a time of 1:00.690. Final qualifying is set for Friday at 5:25 p.m. (et) with the race scheduled to begin on Saturday at 9 p.m. |
