Denver Starting Grid

[marcus]

STARTING GRID FOR GRAND PRIX OF DENVER

1.Sebastien Bourdais 59.942 (10th Career Pole)
Newman/Haas Racing
27th Career start


2. Bruno Junqueira 1:00.525 (12th time starting 2nd)
Newman/Haas Racing
66th career start


3. Paul Tracy 1:00.588 (15th time starting 3rd)
Forsythe Championship Racing
218th Career start


4. Patrick Carpentier 1:00.595 (6th time starting 4th)
Forsythe Championship Racing
135th Career start


5.Mario Dominguez 1:00.721 (3rd time starting 5th)
Herdez Competition
46th Career start


6. Oriol Servia 1:00.813 (3rd time starting 6th)
Dale Coyne Racing
81st Career start


7. A.J. Allmendinger 1:00.907 (2nd time starting 7th)
RuSPORT
9th Career start


8. Ryan Hunter-Reay 1:01.072 (3rd time starting 8th)
Herdez Competition
27th career start


9. Mario Haberfeld 1:01.198 (1st time starting 9th)
Walker Racing
27th Career start


10. Justin Wilson 1:01.265 (1st time starting 10th)
Mi-Jack Conquest Racing
9th Career start


11. Alex Tagliani 1:01.266 (7th time starting 11th)
Rocketsports Racing
86th Career start


12. Jimmy Vasser 1:01.334 (13th time starting 12th)
PKV Racing
213th Career start


13. Michel Jourdain Jr. 1:01.345 (5th time starting 13th)
RuSPORT
147th Career start


14. Nelson Phillipe 1:01.522 (1st time starting 14th) Career best qualifying
Mi-Jack Conquest Racing
6th Career start


15.Rodolfo Lavin 1:01.794 (4th time starting 15th)
Forsythe Championship Racing
27th Career start


16. Guy Smith 1:02.113 (2nd time starting 16th) Equal Career best qualifying
Rocketsports Racing
2nd Career start


17. Gaston Mazzacane 1:02.412 (1st time starting 17th)
Dale Coyne Racing
7th Career start


18. Roberto Gonzalez 1:02.507 (3rd time starting 18th)
PKV Racing
11th Career start



FAST FACTS

Last year Pole Sitter was Bruno Junquiera with a time of 1:01.438 , Im not sure how much the changes to the track have affected lap times compared to last year but Bourdais set a time 2.018 seconds faster than last years pole.

There have been some changes to the track layout this year find out more in this article

[marcus]

qualifying is complete , thread is now open to discuss

[Kicking-back]

Good effort from Servia, that.

And Philippe's gone a lot better than expected.

[marcus]

what can you say about Bourdais but that guy is quick , only man under a minute lap time , simply superb , 10th pole from just 27 starts

an interesting note about Bourdais is that in his 27 starts he has only qualified out of the top 6 once ( a 13th at his first ever oval race at Milwaukee last year) amazing performance.


should be a good race , I hope someone can serve it up to him , bruno is right there and Tracy is waiting to pounce.

[Jordi]

Now that Tag has won his first race, it's Oriol's turn...

[f1manoz]

Bourdais is a FREAK! He's just too good.

Credit where credit is due to Philippe as well - at least he's off the back row. But I'll reserve judgment until the end of the race.

[drivergrOupie]

Waaaaaaaaaaay to goooooooooooooo nelson!!!!!!!!!! waaaaaaaaaay to show gentillozi wat a stoopid misteak he made!!!!!!!

[Dov]

It looks like another round of Team N/H vs Forsyth Racing.....if Junky, PT and Patreek want to catch SeaBass for the championship then they better get ahead of him tomorrow and hope that he crashes or he has car problems. Congrats have to go out to Dominguez (P5), Servia (P6), Dinger (P7), RHR and Haberfeld (P9)! What's wrong with Tags?! He's had some poor qualifying efforts of late. The same goes for Jourdain Jr.....he should feel comfortable enough with his new team by now. Does anyone know yet if Nelson brought LeasePlan with him to Conquest Racing?

[marcus]

doesnt look like it Dov if there is any indications from this picture during practice.

http://www.champcarworldseries.com/C...0813P_0044.jpg

[marcus]

or this one http://www.champcarworldseries.com/C...0813P_0020.jpg which I think is an awesome pic and now graces my desktop as a wallpaper

[Dov]

I think your right, Marcus! That is a nice pic! There's so many good pictures of Champ Cars which makes it nearly impossible to choose just one for my wallpaper.

[marcus]

man just look at those curbs there though , i dunno what turn that is but thats gotta rattle ya back teeth if you cut the corner a bit fine

[Dov]

I see what you mean, but they don't come close to the curbs at Surfers Paradise or even Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal!!

[Liz]

Amazing how close the times between Tracy (1.00588) and Carpentier (1.00595). The start tomorrow ought to be something to write home about! And I'm impressed that although Dominguez did not go out today (blew the turbo in morning practice), he will still line up P5.

[Dov]

Liz, are you saying that Dominguez starting position is based on his time from Friday qualifying? If that's true then that is damn impressive!

[Omega99]

Good stuff. Phillipe is somehow faster in a Reynard. He drove like he had something to prove, probably because he did. He'd best be successful in the race though. I'd like to see him be more aggressive on race day, though.

Tag hasn't really had a great weekend. He's never had great success at Denver. But, a good strategy could get him another solid result. My prediction id that N-H and Forsythe storm away from the rest of the field.

[enemy-ace]

Bourdais thinks he could have found another second. Thats kind of scary. I just hope the other players have something for him. Bruno's confidence must really be hurting. He's gone from being the Number 1 to being a clear Number 2.
Interesting to see Phillipe where he is, but I think it may have something to do with him being in a Reynard and the high altitude in Denver. The Reynards work well in cool weather as well. I expect to see him drop back. Lets just hope he doesn't get in the way too much.
Guy Smith seems to be having a litle trouble getting up to speed. Wish it were Memo in that car still.
Nevertheless he's a good driver, hope he does well.
Let's go Racing!!!

[macdaddy]

A Coyne car in the top-six!
Go Oriol!
We Canucks have to wait until 11:30PM ET for the race, though!

[Kicking-back]

Those who're criticising Guy Smith should remember he's had no testing in a Champ Car and has not been to Denver before.

[enemy-ace]

True! But he also has a lot more racing experience than Phillipe (who outqualified him, and that should count for something. He is up against it but I would expect him to be on it a little quicker than he has been.

[BootsOntheSide]

Should be an interesting race, especially if PT or Pat can challenge the NHR cars off the grid. Lavin's back in his usual territory - it must be frustrating for the crew who are used to preparing cars for proven stars to have to work with him, while Pat gets second-rate treatment.

Interesting to see a few Reynards doing quite well - Haberfeld could've been higher than 9th, and Philippe's done okay.

[Snrub]

Has anyone else noticed that Pat has been much close to PT the last couple of races? Kind of intereting given the recent stuff that's been coming out.

As for Bourdais being "too good", was he too good @ Elkhart when he was passed despite having a faster car?

[Kicking-back]

There is a school of thought which says Reynard aren't at a disadvantage in Denver.

Being so high up, the air density's different and you don't generate as much downforce in any car.

[drewdawg727]

Philippe definitely needs a buzzcut...

[drivergrOupie]

Originally posted by drewdawg727
Philippe definitely needs a buzzcut...

His hair is just fine. why does everyone insist on making an issue of it? he looks good with all that hair. reminds me of fabio, who is just a total hottie. he WILL make history by the end of this year as the winner with longest hair.