Bourdais paces open testing

The reigning F3000 champion is widely expected to race with the championship winning squad this year, and showed the ChampCar paddock just why is he is sought after by the team.

Bruno Junqueira set the second-best time at the 2.238 mile circuit, also driving for the Newman/Haas squad. Forsythe Racing driver Patrick Carpentier set the third quickest time.

"You certainly don't expect to come out here as a rookie and be quick," said Bourdais. "But we ran well while testing at Sebring, and it is only a test. This is why I came to the U.S. to race in ChampCars. You want the opportunity to succeed and drive for the best team."

Twelve drivers representing nine teams were in action at Laguna Seca, including the on-track ChampCar debut's of the Rocketsport and Conquest outfits.

Sebastien Bourdais Newman/Haas 1m10.154s
Bruno Junqueira Newman/Haas 1m10.195s
Patrick Carpentier Player's/Forsythe Racing 1m11.098s
Michel Jourdain Jr. Team Rahal 1m11.169s
Oriol Servia Patrick Racing 1.11.378s
Roberto Moreno Herdez Competition 1m11.400s
Paul Tracy Players/Forsythe Racing 1m11.684s
Mario Dominguez Herdez Competition 1m11.684s
Adrian Fernandez Fernandez Racing 1m11.725s
Alex Tagliani Rocketsports 1m12.416s
Joel Camathias Dale Coyne Racing 1m12.537s
Mario Haberfeld Mi-Jack Conquest Racing 1m14.217s