Favourites: Lack of practice won't hurt

CART championship leader Brack will start from the pole as the points standings determine the grid for the second race in a row after seepage problems left damp patches on the track and caused Friday's qualifying session to be canned. Andretti, who is CART's all-time victory leader with 41, will start fourth.

With a revised schedule for Saturday, the drivers will have a minimum of two hours and 10 minutes of running before racing.

"Not running shouldn't be a problem," said Brack, who has won four out this year's six oval Champ Car races this year. "We did the same in Germany [last weekend] really, and that worked out fine. So I don't think that will be a big problem. But I hope that the leaking has stopped."

The Swede added that having the pole doesn't constitute that much of an advantage.

"I earned it this week because I'm leading the championship, and Gil de Ferran was on the pole last week for the same reason," he said. "We don't get a [championship] point for it, so it doesn't really matter because on an oval it doesn't matter where you start.

"I think if you're leading the championship you've done something right," Brack added. "So I think it's a fair way of doing things. I don't see how you can make things any fairer."

Andretti, who has led nearly 400 laps at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in his career, is familiar with the 'weeper' problem that is afflicting the new oval at Rockingham.

"These are worse than the Speedway, I think - especially in Turns 2 and 4," Michael said. "There's no way we could run with the track like it is."

"I think they're doing all they can do," he added. "I feel bad for the officials. It's a tough situation for them, it's a tough situation for the fans and the competitors. Everybody has been away for so long, and after all that's happened in the United States, everyone just wants to get home. So it's a very tough time right now."

Like Brack, Andretti doesn't worry about a lack of practice time and the drivers should not need long to get up to speed on the Northamptonshire track which has been likened by many to the Nazareth oval.

"If we have to, we do it," Andretti said. "It's the same for everybody. We can handle that if that's what it comes down to, and we can still put on a good show."