Tracy

	Junqueira

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Bruno Junqueira wound up on the provisional pole Friday after CART points leader Paul Tracy lost his fast lap for blocking Junqueira and other drivers during qualifying for the Vancouver Molson Indy.

The announcement was made after CART stewards, headed by chief steward Chris Kneifel, spent 4½ hours watching videotape of the qualifying session and gathering data from the teams involved.

CART issued a statement saying Tracy violated the rule barring drivers from "not running at full qualifying pace'' and not letting faster cars pass.

That gave Junqueira the top qualifying spot heading into Saturday's final time trials, as well as earning one point for winning the provisional pole and guaranteeing the Brazilian driver a front row starting spot in Sunday's street race.

Tracy's lost his fast lap of 1 minute, 1.706 seconds, 103.906 mph, and reverted to his second best lap of 1:01.845, 103.644, which placed him second on the provisional grid and cut his series lead over Junqueira to 14 points.

Tracy and his team had no comment after the decision was announced.

The anger aimed at Tracy after the qualifying session came from Newman/Haas Racing, which fields cars for Junqueira and third-place qualifier Sebastien Bourdais, and Rocketsports Racing, whose entry is Alex Tagliani. He was fourth on Friday.

Both teams threatened to protest, complaining that Tracy, who posted his fast lap early in the 30-minute session, did some major blocking on the tight 1.78-mile street circuit in the last few laps.

The protests were never filed, but CART immediately began an investigation of the charges.

Junqueira managed to put in his fast lap of 1:01.706, 103.672, on his last trip around the track, after finally passing Tracy. But he was very frustrated after losing what he said was a faster lap when he came up behind Tracy before that.

"It's kind of frustrating because you're halfway through the lap and you're already much, much faster and you see the guys very slow in front of you,'' Junqueira said. "To be fair, it's a difficult thing to go out and watch on the rules. The guy that's slow has to let the other guys pass.''

Blocking has become a major issue this season, with Tracy, who is often CART's bad boy and who has been on probation several times over the years. In the midst of much of the controversy he has won three poles and led first-day qualifying four times -- a total of seven points -- prior to Friday.

Tracy, a four-time winner this season and coming off an emotional win two weeks ago in his hometown of Toronto, insisted he was blocked by slower traffic, too.

"I got blocked on my laps but I'm not throwing protests around and I don't complain,'' Tracy said coldly before the decision. "I've been doing this for 13 years. That's the way the game is.

"What can I say? What goes around comes around. I've been blocked hundreds of times over my career.''

Junqueira wasn't sympathetic to the man he is chasing for the Champ Car title.

He said he didn't know what Tracy said, "but I did not see the guys in front. It was pretty early on the lap.''

Sitting next to Tracy at the post-qualifying news conference, Junqueira talked to his competitor without looking at him.

"Maybe you got blocked, but I think you back off too much,'' Junqueira said. "I think you let the guys go for like 10 seconds because I couldn't even see the guys in front, Jimmy (Vasser) or Adrian (Fernandez).''

Tagliani, whose best lap was 1:02.032, said, "I'm just disappointed we didn't get the opportunity to get a fast lap with Tracy blocking me, and there's data and witnesses to prove this.

"He did a 1:06 and I was doing a 1:02, but he wouldn't let me go by. He got the (provisional) pole and he'll do whatever it takes to preserve it. It's the hardest thing for a driver that knows they've got the fastest time so far to move over and let someone else challenge him and possibly take that way. (But) that's no way to compete.''

Formula One, which had similar problems in qualifying, went to single-car qualifying this season, with the cars lined up by practice times and the fastest drivers going out last to build excitement.

Asked if CART should follow suit, Tracy said, "It's a suggestion. We did it at Brands Hatch (in England) and I think all the drivers enjoyed it.

"It would give a nice lead-up to the final few cars coming out on the track, and it's entertaining to the fans. But, to be honest, if CART listened to a lot of the suggestions that people had for them maybe they wouldn't be in the trouble they're in right now.''

CART has struggled in recent years to keep top drivers and teams and to increase its poor TV ratings. Now, the public company is looking for a buyer and has said it could run out of money midway through the 2004 season if more money is not raised.