ALTERNATE TIRES END UP ON POLE DEFENDING-CHAMP TRACY IS FASTEST, RUNNING RECORD LAP.Byline: A.J. Perez Staff Writer LONG BEACH - Paul Tracy Paul Tracy (born December 17, 1968 in Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario) is a professional automobile racer in the Champ Car World Series. He also goes by the nickname "The Thrill from West Hill". went soft on the competition during qualifying and it earned him the pole for today's Toyota Grand Prix Grand Prix n. pl. Grand Prix Any of several competitive international road races for sports cars of specific engine size over an exacting, usually risky course. of Long Beach. Using a set of the spongy spongy /spon·gy/ (spun´je) of a spongelike appearance or texture. spong·y adj. Resembling a sponge in appearance, elasticity, or porosity. alternate Bridgestone tires, Tracy turned a record lap late in Saturday's qualifying session in his Forsythe Racing Ford-Cosworth-powered Lola that earned the two-time defending Long Beach Grand Prix
The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach is the premier circuit in the Champ Car World Series. It is an open-wheel race held on a temporary road course in Long Beach, California. champion his second pole in his 14th entry here. ``I wanted to make sure I could get a good time on the standard tires,'' said Tracy, who has won the race four times. ``Once I knew I could get that time, I knew I could go even faster on the alternate tires. I just had to go out there and find some space to do it.'' On his 12th lap, Tracy covered the 1.97-mile temporary street course in 1 minute, 7.485 seconds (104.984 mph) with four minutes remaining in the 35-minute qualifying session. His lap beat Gil de Ferran's mark in 2000 when he clocked a 1:07.494 (104.969 mph). That time came on a new course that has since gone unchanged with engines that had 150 more horsepower and cars equipped with traction control. Maybe more amazing than the fact Tracy turned the fastest qualifying lap in five years is that his new teammate, Mario Dominguez, was third-quickest behind 2004 pole-sitter Bruno Junqueira Bruno Junqueira (born November 4, 1976) is a Brazilian racecar driver and veteran of the Champ Car World Series. Junqueira started racing go-karts in Brazil and dominated Formula Three Sudamericana before moving to Formula 3000. (1:07.644, 104.737 mph). Dominguez joined Tracy with Forsythe less than two weeks ago and didn't test with his new squad. The four-year Champ Car “CART” redirects here. For other uses, see CART (disambiguation). Champ Car, an abbreviation of "Championship Car", has been the name for a class and specification of cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades. veteran did test a day with his old team, HVM HVM High Volume Manufacturing HVM Hardware Virtual Machine HVM High Velocity Missile HVM Hypervelocity Missile HVM Havre, Montana (border patrol sector) HVM High Velocity Machines Racing, in March, but spent less than a day in the car. ``I'm really very, very happy considering I didn't know anybody on the team until Thursday,'' Dominguez said. ``This is our second day working together. It's been a real crash course, to say the least.'' Dominguez's quick lap (1:07.803, 104.737) came on his 15th trip around the track and it knocked Junqueira's Newman/Haas teammate, Sebastein Bourdais, out of the top three for the first time in 15 races. ``I guess it had to happen sometime,'' Bourdais said. ``We just weren't fast enough (Saturday) to keep it going. We'll just try to have a good race (today). If (starting fourth) is a bad day, I'll take it.'' Timo Glock Parameter not given Error... ''Template needs its first parameter as beg[in], mid[dle], or end. Parameter not given Error... of Rocketsports was the top rookie in qualifying and will start the race sixth behind Justin Wilson
Justin Wilson (born 31 July, 1978, Rotherham, England) is a British racing driver from England. of RuSport. Four of the seven rookies are grouped at the bottom of the starting grid. Fabrizio del Monte Fabrizio del Monte (born December 5, 1980 in Latina, Italy) is an Italian racing driver. He drove three seasons in European Formula 3000 before driving three Champ Car events in 2005, often on the strength of sponsorship. , who will start in the 19th and final position, was four seconds off the pace. Tracy's pole victory caps an interesting seven days. ``It was just one of those things when you just wake up and say, 'Hey, let's go get married,' '' Tracy said of his marriage to longtime girlfriend Patty. ``We've been engaged for seven months.'' Junqueira, who Tracy passed on the first turn of the first lap last season, denied the pole was a wedding present. ``I'm not that nice,'' Junqueira quipped. A nice eight-day anniversary present would be his fifth Long Beach Grand Prix win, putting him one victory behind Al Unser Jr. But history doesn't bode well for Tracy: When he won his other pole here in 1994, his transmission failed with 25 laps left. A.J. Perez, (562) 499-1338 aj.perez(at)presstelegram.com CAPTION(S): photo, box, map Photo: Driver Paul Tracy celebrates after winning the pole for today's Long Beach Grand Prix. Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press Box: TOYOTA GRAN PRIX OF LONG BEACH Map: Race course outline PRESS-TELEGRAM |
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