Brazilians dominate qualifying at Indianapolis

The AssociatedPress

INDIANAPOLIS -- Bruno Junqueira pushed the limits Saturday, winning the pole position for the Indianapolis 500 with a four-lap average of 231.342 mph.

The quiet Brazilian was the first driver to make a qualifying attempt and the first of 24 to make it into the field for the May 26 race.

Time trials are scheduled today and again on May 19. Once the field is filled, the slowest qualifiers can be bumped by faster cars until the end of the final round at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"Being first is not easy," said Junqueira, the driver who replaced 1999 Indy champion Juan Montoya at Chip Ganassi Racing. "There's more pressure because I don't know what time we have to do and how much to push."

He got it just right, though, starting with a lap of 231.635 and going just a bit slower on each trip around the 2 1/2-mile oval before completing the 10-mile run with a lap of 230.952.

That was very similar to the simulated qualifying run in Friday's practice that made the 25-year-old Junqueira one of the favorites to win the pole.

A year ago, when he was a raw rookie for Ganassi in the CART series and at Indy, Junqueira qualified 20th and finished fifth here.