Qualifying 2: Bourdais claims pole

The French rookie stamped his name on the record books in taking the pole, setting a new track record of 1m14.938s to earn his second pole in as many Champ Car starts. The feat marks only the second time in series history that a driver has accomplished this, matching the mark set by Nigel Mansell in his rookie year of 1993.

"After the practice sessions, we were pretty happy this morning, but it's always hard to imagine that you can do such a lap during qualifying," Bourdais said. "Yesterday, it was really difficult to handle the car. The team did a fantastic job. The car today was really good. It's such a big surprise all the time to be so much on the pace. I just can hope it will be like this all season long."

Michel Jourdain Jr led the Mexican contingent on home soil, and was start from a career best fifth position, with countryman Adrian Fernandez alongside him. Bruno Junqueira briefly spun during the session and will start seventh, ahead of Mario Dominguez and Ryan Hunter-Reay. Briton Darren Manning will start 13th.