Qual 1: Bourdais on top

"I'm just very happy that we took care of the front row today," said Bourdais. "On the first set of tyres I got some traffic and then the red flag came out, so I came into the pits. Then on the second set I was kind of going fast and slowing down because I was catching Nelson Philippe, but not quite fast enough to pass him.

"I looked at the stopwatch on my steering wheel and said 'now, whatever I am doing I still have two laps to go,' so I sacrificed one and built a gap. On the next lap the tyres were up to temperature, I tried again and it worked perfectly."

Dominguez had been quickest in morning practice, but had to play second fiddle to Champ Car's ace qualifier in the afternoon.

"I'm not as happy as I would have been had this guy [Bourdais] not taken the pole from me on the last lap," smiled Dominguez. "But the [Herdez Competition] team have given me a very good car this weekend."

Paul Tracy arrived in Denver still reeling from the penalty meted out to him for initiating 'avoidable contact' with Bruno Junqueira in the closing stages of the Road America race. Tracy remains adamant that he was not at fault in the incident, and also pointed to officiating inconsistencies which saw other perpetrators escape without penalty.

The Canadian's mood was not improved by a frustrating qualifying session that saw his hot laps negated by red-flag stoppages. The defending series champion still wound up third fastest, but felt he was capable of much more.

He said: "I am extremely frustrated that the session was red-flagged at the end there, because Ryan Hunter-Reay had done a donut, I guess, and kept going, and [the officials] figured that was a reason to throw the red. It's very, very frustrating when you're driving on the limit and you only have one opportunity on the tyres to get a time, and it gets interrupted with a red flag. We'll just try and regroup and hopefully have better luck tomorrow."

Mario Haberfeld was an excellent fourth fastest in Derrick Walker's Reynard, easily the best showing this season for the ageing Brackley marque. At Denver last year, the Brazilian posted the fastest lap in both practice and the race driving the same chassis for Conquest Racing. The consensus in the paddock is that the Reynard suffers less than the Lola from loss of downforce in the thin air of the Mile High City.

Junqueira has an unbeaten record on Denver's streets, having won here each of the last two years, but could manage only the fifth best time in provisional qualifying, 0.8s adrift of Newman/Haas team-mate Bourdais. The Brazilian brushed the wall on his first run and didn't get another opportunity to go out before the end of the session.

"I think I had a car to fight with Sebastien and Mario," he reckoned. "Unfortunately I made a mistake and couldn't go out for my second turn. It's very easy to make a mistake out here."

Ironically, Junqueira's error might have a silver lining, since it means he has an extra set of fresh tyres at his disposal for the rest of the weekend. With Bridgestone having brought a relatively soft compound to the slippery, low-grip street course, tyre wear is expected to be a factor on race day.

Jimmy Vasser was sixth for PKV Racing, continuing his good run of form from Road America last weekend. The 1996 series champ will tie Al Unser Jr for the all-time Champ Car record of consecutive starts when he takes the green flag on Sunday.

Patrick Carpentier was next up in the second of the Forsythe entries, just ahead of Michel Jourdain Jr, whose RuSPORT team is based in nearby Loveland, Colorado. Embarrassingly, stablemate AJ Allmendinger nosed his car into the tyre barriers before completing so much as one flying lap - emphatically not what he wanted in front of Denver-based sponsor Western Union. On the brighter side, the young American was third quickest in practice and clearly has the pace to make amends on Saturday.

Hunter-Reay and Road America winner Alex Tagliani rounded out the top 10. The Canadian's Rocketsports team-mate Guy Smith continues to familiarise himself with the Champ Car and ended the day in 13th place, two spots behind fellow Yorkshireman Justin Wilson.