Rookie thrives on road course

SONOMA, Calif. - Rookie Ryan Briscoe won his first career pole Saturday, posting the best time at Infineon Raceway for today's Argent Mortgage Indy Grand Prix.

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Briscoe, 15th in the IRL IndyCar point standings, recorded a speed of 108.248 mph around the 12-turn, 2.26-mile road course, slightly better than the 108.130 he had in practice on Friday.

Helio Castroneves, who like Briscoe shares extensive road course experience, qualified second at 107.664, followed by Tony Kanaan at 107.346.

The IRL, staging its first race on a permanent road course, established a unique qualifying format.

After all 21 drivers finished their single-lap runs, positions seven through 21 were locked in and the top six drivers ran for 10 minutes in an effort to improve their positions. All remained the same.

Thomas Enge qualified fourth at 106.903, followed by Castroneves' Marlboro Team Penske runningmate Sam Hornish Jr. at 106.669.

Briscoe, who led a race-high 43 laps on St. Petersburg's street course in April before being involved in an incident with another car, said he was racing a backup Target Chip Ganassi Racing entry.

"The car's been working really well. When you've got a good car, it makes my job driving a lot easier," he said.

"We're here with good equipment and competitive equipment."

Both he and Castroneves predicted a tough, competitive race today.

"I'm going to take it nice and easy. With my experience, I know you don't win a race on the first lap," Castroneves said.

CHAMP CAR: Sebastien Bourdais has figured out how to post a fast qualifying time on Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Now, all the reigning Champ Car champion needs to do is get a handle on the race.

For the second straight year, Bourdais won the pole for the Montreal Molson Indy, turning Saturday's final qualifying session into a one-man show on the 2.709-mile, 15-turn road course winding around Notre Dame Island.

His fastest lap was clocked at 1 minute, 20.396 seconds, a speed of 121.305 mph.

Four of Bourdais' 13 laps would have been good enough for the pole, and a fifth would have put him second on today's 18-car grid.

Oriol Servia struggled through most of the 35-minute session before finally uncorking a lap of 1:20.698 (120.851 mph), which was good enough to give Newman/Haas Racing the entire front row.