Da Matta on provisional Cleveland pole.
Cristiano da Matta topped his win at the Portland International Raceway with provisional pole for this weekend's Champ Car Grand Prix of Cleveland at the Burke Lakefront Airport.
The Brazilian PKV Racing driver negotiated the wide but bumpy 2.1-mile airfield course in a best time of 58.436-seconds, just four hundredths of a second faster than Paul Tracy. Da Matta's time guarantees the 2002 Champ Car Champion an extra championship point and a front row starting spot for Sunday's 94-lap race as he bids for two wins in a row for the rapidly improving PKV team.
Cristiano da Matta topped his win at the Portland International Raceway with provisional pole for this weekend's Champ Car Grand Prix of Cleveland at the Burke Lakefront Airport.
The Brazilian PKV Racing driver negotiated the wide but bumpy 2.1-mile airfield course in a best time of 58.436-seconds, just four hundredths of a second faster than Paul Tracy. Da Matta's time guarantees the 2002 Champ Car Champion an extra championship point and a front row starting spot for Sunday's 94-lap race as he bids for two wins in a row for the rapidly improving PKV team.
Tracy was prevented from making one final stab at da Matta's provisional pole mark when Justin Wilson's late session spin brought out the red flag. The Canadian Forsythe Racing driver stopped the clocks in a best time of 58.440-seconds after leading much of the 35-minute session.
Tracy's teammate Mario Dominguez and 2003 and 2004 Cleveland winner Sebastien Bourdais set third and fourth fastest times respectively with Team Australia driver Alex Tagliani rounding out the top five.
Wilson's late session spin cost the Englishman his best time although he still lined up eighth fastest, one place ahead of his RuSPORT teammate AJ Allmendinger.
Rocketsports Racing's Timo Glock was the best-placed rookie in tenth place while series returnee Tarso Marques was 15th fastest in Dale Coyne's #19 Lola-Ford.
