Junqueira

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. -- Bruno Junqueira earned his second straight pole at Road America on Saturday as he looks for his first race victory of the season.

Junqueira won the second qualifying round ahead of Sunday's Mario Andretti Grand Prix with a lap time of 1 minute, 43:703 seconds. His Newman/Haas Racing teammate Sebastien Bourdais, a rookie, qualified second in 1:44.242.

Patrick Carpentier used his last lap to jump into third place with 1:44.306.

Most drivers were able to improve their times from Friday, despite rainstorms Friday night and Saturday afternoon.

But Junqueira continued to dominate at the permanent road track, the site of his first CART victory, in 2001.

He ran faster than his competitors in every practice, and his run Friday, at 1:43.917, would have also earned the pole.

He again didn't bother with the 10-minute practice before qualifying.

"I think it rained so much this morning, then I didn't feel that the track would be up to speed,'' he said. "I know the car I have, and I'm just waiting for the time to go on the track.''

For Carpentier, surging to grab the third spot was especially important for his team after a difficult race last week. Carpentier was in second when he crashed into Mario Dominguez, ending his day.

"I'm pretty happy this week,'' Carpentier said. "I think we have a good car.''

He said the car performed better Saturday after some changes, allowing him to build more momentum.

"It was more stable, and I could attack the corners a little bit more,'' he said.

Junqueira moved within 18 points of Paul Tracy, who fell to sixth place Saturday after running third in Friday's qualifying.

Junqueira said he must win Sunday if he wants to overtake Tracy in the points standings before the season ends. Road America's long straightaways and fast corners suit his style.

"It's a time of year that's important to me,'' he said.

But nobody's counting out Tracy, who earned his fifth victory in 11 races last weekend at the Vancouver Molson Indy.

"It's a long race so anything can happen,'' he said before qualifying. "The key is being able to run fast all the time, not just during one lap.''

Carpentier said starting at the front would be an advantage because of the rule that requires drivers to pit every 13 laps.

"You have to stop on lap 13, and everybody does. It's a bit harder to go from the back to the front,'' he said.

Junqueira said drivers aren't conserving fuel as much, making the race faster.

"Now there's no fuel conservation and it's much more difficult'' to pass, Junqueira said. "If it doesn't rain, we're going to go faster and faster in the race.''

But Junqueira said his quick times in qualifying don't guarantee a win. He finished third last year because of a poor pit stop.

"It's a very difficult race track to push hard, hard all the time,'' he said. "It's very difficult to break away and open a gap.''