Qualifying 2: Slick pole for da Matta

The Brazilian turned a quick lap of 1m09.473s before the Toyota engine in his Newman-Haas Lola blew on the main straight. But rather than pulling off and forcing a red flag - which would have caused da Matta to forfeit his pole-winning lap - he drove the smoking car around the circuit, leaving many of his opponents fuming.

The Ganassi pair of overnight pole man Kenny Brack and Bruno Junqueira came closest to beating da Matta. Despite having a guaranteed front row spot, Brack hung it out and managed a lap of 1m09.575s before da Matta's oil slowed the track. The Lola-Toyota combination swept the first three grid places and all seven Toyota-powered cars made the top ten.

"That was a pretty tense session for me with the problem I had at the end," da Matta remarked. "I'm happy to get the pole, but I wanted to fight all the way to the end of the session with Kenny and Bruno."

The Newman-Haas team got on the radio to da Matta and advised him to "find a safe place to pull off so you don't cause a red flag," but that didn't happen.

"I know some guys are pretty mad at me because I put oil on the track, but there was not much I could have done," said da Matta. "If I caused a red flag, I would have lost my lap. I have to think about myself first, not my opponents."

CART Chief Steward Wally Dallenbach is reviewing the incident, but the qualifying order will not be affected if any penalties are levied.

"I think he could have run a little more off-line," opined Brack. "It's unfortunate for Cristiano that the engine blew up, but he should have been a bit more courteous and gotten off the line as soon as possible.

"Maybe the rule needs to be reviewed, because both outcomes are a bit unsportsmanlike."

Junqueira improved from sixth to third on the grid, swapping places with Patrick Carpentier, while Tony Kanaan and Christian Fittipaldi remained fourth and fifth despite improving their times.

The surprise story of the weekend continues to be Team Green's lack of speed. Dario Franchitti led the three car attack in 14th place, with Paul Tracy 16th and Michael Andretti dead last in 19th place.