CHAMPCAR/CART: Elkhart Lake: Lola Cars Saturday qualifying report

Junqueira and da Matta on top again; Trade places in terse CART Road America qualifying.

It was hot and humid at Road America as the CART Champ Cars convened to qualify for the 21st Motorola 220 on the 4.048-mile road course, with track temps of 93-99 and air temps of 85-89 degrees. Conditions were less suitable than Friday for quick lapping.

With one minute remaining in the hour-long session, Bruno Junqueira took control of time trials, logging a lap of 1 minute 42.151 seconds (142.659mph) in the #4 Target Lola/Toyota to take pole position. Da Matta will start second, resting on his Friday lap of 1 minute 42.640 seconds (141.980mph) driving the #6 Havoline Lola/Toyota. Nine drivers qualified within one second.

"What I like about this track is the variety of corners, fast, slow, all types of corners," Junqueira said. "Everything has gone well for me so far this weekend and, yes, the pressure is on, 100% in the final minutes of qualifying to get the most out of the car." Da Matta's quick Saturday lap was only good for sixth place, yet his provisional pole guaranteed the point leader a front row start. "The final minutes are difficult, week in and week out. Some tracks are more sensitive to changes in weather and conditions; it's very important to gauge the right time to go for it," da Matta explained.

Paul Tracy's lap of 1 minute 42.927 seconds (141.584mph) put the #26 Team KOOL Green Lola/Honda in fourth place on the grid. "The car's been good all weekend; we've just had a few problems," the Canadian explained. Scott Dixon secured fifth starting spot with a lap of 1 minute 42.983 seconds (141.507mph) in the #44 Target Lola/Toyota noting, "The car has been consistent from the start. We really haven't changed much since we arrived yesterday morning." With an "off" during final qualifying, Dario Franchitti fell to sixth on the grid using his Friday quick lap in the #27 Team KOOL Green Lola/Honda of 1 minute 42.990 seconds (140.595mph).

Kenny Brack's #12 Target Lola/Toyota claimed seventh place with today's tour of 1 minute 43.001 seconds (141.482mph), the Swede claiming "we're not in bad shape, as we've improved a lot from yesterday." Adrian Fernandez' off-course excursion after the team's gear swap in the #51 Tecate/Quaker State/Telmex Lola/Honda dropped the Mexican to eighth on the grid.

The Motorola 220, a 60-lap contest begins at 2pm CDT and will be televised live on Speed Channel.

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