Bourdais takes pole for Grand Prix of Portland
PORTLAND — Sebastien Bourdais had plenty left a week after racing 24 hours in Le Mans to earn the pole Saturday for the Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland.
Bourdais took advantage of last week’s break in the Champ Car series to return to his native France and race in the Le Mans endurance event. Showing little sign of fatigue, he posted a fast lap of 59.229 seconds at an average speed of 119.678 mph.
He leaped over teammate Bruno Junqueira, who had won the provisional pole on Friday, to earn the top spot for today’s race.
“I slept 14 hours a day, two days in a row,” he said. “I’m young and quite used to it. When you love what you do, you don’t think about it.”
Bourdais, who took the pole and the race at Monterrey earlier this year, earned one series point to tie Ryan Hunter-Reay for third place in the series standings.
Bourdais turned his fast lap on alternate tires from Bridgestone. The construction of the alternate tire is similar to a standard, but it has a softer tread compound.
The tires, marked with a red stripe on the sidewall, are supposed to provide a better grip — and possibly more speed — at the expense of durability. Drivers got only two sets of the tire and one must be used for a stint during today’s race.
That sets up a strategic decision.
“It’s hot, so it’s going to be hard on the tires,” said Bourdais, estimating that the softer tires trimmed his time by 0.2 seconds.
That was enough to squeak by Junqueira’s time of 59.266 on Friday.
Junqueira, the series point leader, was prevented from recapturing the pole Saturday when he was penalized for blocking Roberto Gonzalez.
“I slowed down to get space,” he said. “I saw the other car behind, so I got back to speed. The other didn’t even close on me. I think they made a wrong call.”
Junqueira will start next to Bourdais, his Newman-Haas Racing teammate, in the front row.
“I’m very upset because last race they made a mistake against me,” he said. “Not that I’m saying they have anything against me.”
The second row will be comprised of Canadian Paul Tracy and rookie Justin Wilson, from England.
Tracy, who won the pole here last year, crashed into a wall of tires as he made a late run.
He wasn’t injured and the car sustained only minor damage.
Hunter-Reay is coming off a dominant pole-to-pole win at the Milwaukee Mile two weeks ago.
He finished 10th and will start in the fifth row today.
Clear skies and warm temperatures are predicted for the 94-lap, 186.06-mile race. Bourdais said that will make a big difference in terms of the settings on the car for suspension.
“It’s a much different setup than last year; it was cooler with wind and rain,” he said. “We just have a few normal race-day adjustments to make.”
This weekend’s event is the fourth on the series schedule.