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Practice: Tracy beats the rain

The Champ Cars got in a full-50 minute practice session in the dry and got halfway through another before the rains came to Portland International Raceway. Paul Tracy was fastest in the opening session on 60.019 seconds (118.103 mph) and Alex Tagliani had managed a 60.139 before the forecasted wet weather arrived with a vengeance and soaked the 1.969-mile road course.

With more rain forecasted for the next couple of days, Tracy and a handful of others slogged around in the wet in case the race is run in similar conditions. Turbo problems had kept the Canadian off the track during the dry portion of the second session.

Adrian Fernandez was second fastest in the second session and second overall, while CART championship leader Michel Jourdain was P2 in the first session and third in the second. Darren Manning jumped from eighth to fourth between sessions.

Manning's Walker Racing Reynard will enjoy sponsorship support from Air China for the rest of the season in a deal announced Friday morning at Portland.

The rain didn't faze Mario Haberfeld, who had the ignominious distinction of spinning into the same Turn 8 tyre wall in the dry and the wet. The Brazilian rookie was ninth fastest.

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