Qualifying 2: Da Matta bounces back

Championship leader leaps from provisional 16th to pole

Newman-Haas star Cristiano Da Matta added a fifth pole position to his 2002 haul at Vancouver, beating home favourite Paul Tracy by 0.163s. The Brazilian had languished in 16th place after problems during Friday's first qualifying session, but will now start Sunday's race as favourite.

"Today was probably my most rewarding pole because of all the difficulties yesterday," said Da Matta, who set his time relatively early in the session. "Usually, when I am done qualifying, I get out of my car, look at the monitor and know immediately where I qualified. Today there were 25 minutes left. It felt like two hours, and when the session ended and I was still on pole it was even better because I was so tense."

Tracy failed to challenge for pole after an error on his final run cost him valuable time. "I had a clear track and it was all up to me," said Tracy. "But I over-drove the car a bit. We'll see what happens tomorrow."

Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon will start from the second row, while series returnee Oriol Servia, replacing Townsend Bell at Patrick Racing, will start 15th.