July 27, 2007 – Team Australia's Will Power was third fastest in opening qualifying for this weekend's San Jose Grand Prix in California today – round nine of the Champ Car World Series.
After a disappointing weekend in Edmonton last weekend where he failed to finish because of a chassis fault, Power rebounded to lead the opening practice session this morning at Redback Raceway.
In the later half of the session, the Australian turned a lap of 50.097 (103.695 mph) in his Aussie Vineyards racing machine to top the timesheet. Behind him was his Team Australia team mate Simon Pagenaud who turned a top time of 50.286 (103.305 mph).
Although both drivers went quicker in the afternoon qualifying, the pair could not maintain the gap on the rest of the field with Power dropping back to third and Pagenaud battling brake problems on his way to eighth.
Defending series champion and championship leader Sebastien Bourdais took the provision pole with a time of 49.509 seconds around the tight and demanding San Jose layout.
English driver Justin Wilson was second with a time of 49.747, followed by Power (49.22), Bruno Junquiera (49.852) and Alex Tagliani who had an identical time.
In fact, the first 14 cars were separated by less than one second.
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WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY...
Will Power – "There is no doubt it is going to be quicker tomorrow and it never rains in San Jose," said Power. "Unfortunately we had the car for provisional pole today, but we could not get a clear lap and (Sebastien) Bourdais grabbed the pole and an extra point. We still have two sets of red tyres for tomorrow so we just need to ensure we get good track position and make use of them. The Team Australia crew has given me the equipment to do the job."
Simon Pagenaud – "I don't know what happened, the Aussie Vineyards car just doesn't react the same way that it did this morning," said Pagenaud. "We are struggling with braking issues. It's tough to explain. We need to look over the data to understand better and hopefully tomorrow we will go quicker."
Derrick Walker – "When you look at all Will's best corners and put them together in one lap he should have been P1," said Walker. "He got close to that lap, but in the end just ran out of clean track to get in a decent run. "We still have the red tyres for tomorrow, so it will be interesting. Simon was not that happy with his car and is looking for a bit more stability under braking and they are both looking for less under steer. Traffic is a bit of a problem here and it will be the luck of the draw in final qualifying tomorrow, but we will be out there having a go."
Craig Gore – "It was a strong start from Will in the morning practice, but things got away on us a little," said Gore. "Team Australia loves nothing more than a good old fashioned street fight and I think we have certainly got one of those on our hands over the next couple of days."
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RESULTS: Friday Qualifying
1. #1 Sebastien Bourdais 49.509
2. #9 Justin Wilson 49.747
3. #5 Will Power 49.822
4. #19 Bruno Junquiera 49.852
5. #8 Alex Taglini 49.852
6. #14 Robert Doornbos 49.918
7. #7 Oriol Servia 49.936
8. #15 Simon Pagenaud 49.944
9. #22 Tristan Gommendy 49.981
10. #3 Paul Tracy 50.079
2007 Champ Car World Series Points Standings - After Round 8 of 16
1. #1 Sebastien Bourdais 194
2. #14 Robert Doornbos 174
3. #5 Will Power 169
4. #9 Justin Wilson 165
5. #15 Simon Pagenaud 143
5. #8 Alex Tagliani 134
7. #21 Neel Jani 129
8. #2 Graham Rahal 126
9. #3 Oriol Servia 121
10. #19 Bruno Junqueira 108
2007 Roshfrans Champ Car Rookie of the Year - After Round 8 of 16
1. #14 Robert Doornbos 174
2. #15 Simon Pagenaud 143
3. #21 Neel Jani 129
4. #2 Graham Rahal 126
5. #28 Ryan Dalziel 95
6. #22 Tristan Gommendy 80
7. #29 Alex Figge 50
8. #42 Matt Halliday 18
RACE SCHEDULE
Local San Jose (US Pacific) Times
Practice 2
Saturday 28 July 2007
10:15am – 11:30am
Qualifying 2
Saturday 28 July 2007
2:00pm – 3:00pm
Warm-Up
Sunday 29 July 2007
11:00am – 11:30am
Race
Sunday 29 July 2007
3:00pm – 5:00pm
UNITED STATES TV SCHEDULE
Sunday 29 July 2007
ESPN2
6:00pm US Eastern
ABOUT SAN JOSE STREET CIRCUIT
Location: San Jose, California, USA
Circuit Type: Temporary Street Circuit
First Champ Car Event: 2005
Track Length: 1.448 miles (2.33 kilometres)
CHAMP CAR RECORD BOOK
Defending Champ Car Race Winner: Sebastien Bourdais
Defending Champ Car Polesitter: Sebastien Bourdais
2006 RESULTS
Will Power – #5 Aussie Vineyards Team Australia Champ Car
Qualified: Sixth
Finished: Sixth
Simon Pagenaud – #15 Aussie Vineyards Team Australia Champ Car Atlantic
Qualified: Fifth
Finished: Ninth
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