Newman/Haas 1-2 at Milwaukee

The Frenchman turned in a lap of 21.182 seconds to average 175.394mph around the 1.032 mile oval and secure the 21st pole of his Champ Car career, but his first here.

"I am happy for me and the team because it has never been a smooth ride for us here," said Bourdais. "I was building up speed slowly over the course of the weekend, and was a little bit chicken, not making any major change. Confidence leads to over confidence and these ovals can bite you.

"I'm fairly pleased and confident with what we've got for tomorrow, and I'd just like a good solid points finish."

Teammate Bruno Junqueira was also very satisfied to complete a Newman/Haas 1-2. The Brazilian crashed at Turn 4 this morning, and had to take the back-up carfor qualifing, His initial attempt was called off because he felt the spare car was too loose.

However, following changes in the pits, he set his time at the end of the session and despite being restricted to just one lap, he pipped the RuSPORT pair of AJ Allmendinger and Justin Wilson.

"After the changes we made, it still wasn't ideal," commented Junqueira, "so I was a little bit conservative through Turns 3 and 4, but I'm very optimistic for the race.

"I had done some long runs before my accident and our set-up was good, the tyres were really stayed in shape. If we can get that set-up on our new car, then we will be looking good."

Allmendinger, too, is optimistic for the race. The American ace said: "Yesterday was a bit of a struggle as we were working on learning Bridgestone's new compound for this track. But the team did a great job, and although it was a bit too loose on my second lap, I believe we have a better race car than qualifying car. After my first two races here, I have figured out how to maintain pace and conserve the tyres on an oval."

Will Power was the star of qualifying and will start fifth for Team Australia. The rookie was just 0.25 seconds off pole, despite being unable to try out a qualifying set-up in this morning's practice session after engine difficulties.

Teammate Alex Tagliani could not participate due to the extensive damage to his car, incurred when he hit the wall at Turn 4 in this morning's practice session.

Cristiano da Matta of Dale Coyne Racing, who also shunted at Turn 4 this morning, similarly was unable to compete in qualifying and will start the race from the back of the grid.

Katherine Legge was second fastest rookie behind Power, and will start eighth, alongside PKV Racing team-mate Oriol Servia. Remarkably, this also puts her ahead of Paul Tracy, who suffered a huge moment on his second qualifying lap. The Forsythe Championship Racing driver will start 10th, for a race which he has won four times in the past.

Qualifying times:

Pos  Driver              Team              Time
 1.  Sebastien Bourdais  Newman/Haas     21.182
 2.  Bruno Junqueira     Newman/Haas     21.275  + 0.093
 3.  AJ Allmendinger     RuSPORT         21.398  + 0.216
 4.  Justin Wilson       RuSPORT         21.420  + 0.238
 5.  Will Power          Team Australia  21.438  + 0.256
 6.  Mario Dominguez     Forsythe        21.463  + 0.281
 7.  Oriol Servia        PKV             21.479  + 0.297
 8.  Katherine Legge     PKV             21.578  + 0.396
 9.  Nelson Philippe     CTE-HVM         21.594  + 0.412
10.  Paul Tracy          Forsythe        21.697  + 0.465
11.  Dan Clarke          CTE-HVM         21.980  + 0.798
12.  Andrew Ranger       Conquest        22.194  + 1.012
13.  Charles Zwolsman    Conquest        22.237  + 1.055
14.  Jan Heylen          Dale Coyne      22.417  + 1.235
15.  Nicky Pastorelli    Rocketsports    23.522  + 2.340
16.  Alex Tagliani       Team Australia
17.  Cristiano da Matta  Dale Coyne