Nearly every technology company in Silicon Valley is working to make their product better and faster and the same can be said for the teams and drivers in the Champ Car World Series. At the San Jose Grand Prix at Redback Raceway, it was Justin Wilson who made his CDW car the fastest, claiming the pole position for Sunday’s race with a lap at 49.039 seconds (105.932 mph). Wilson was the only driver to sit at the top of the time charts twice during the qualifying session that was only slowed once by a red flag.

“We put the option Bridgestone tyres on for both of our stints this afternoon. They worked very well for us and I am just happy that we could put the #9 CDW car on the pole today. Hopefully we’ll take it all the way for the win tomorrow.”

Graham Rahal (#2 Medi|Zone Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone) led both practice sessions today and was the first to set the pace in qualifying. Unfortunately, the 18-yearold rookie could not better his early time and wound up with the sixth starting position.

Up next at the point was fellow rookie Neel Jani who held the top spot for some time before being knocked off by Wilson. The Swiss driver, Jani, will start fifth. Wilson’s reign at the top was stopped with three minutes to go in the session when Oriol Servia posted his best lap. The Spaniard stopped the clocks at 49.106 seconds (105.787 mph) which was good enough for fourth on the grid. Simon Pagenaud then claimed the top spot, but because he brought out a red flag after spinning in Turn 6, his time at the top was short lived.

Pagenaud’s penalty for the red flag meant he lost his fastest lap of the session. His second quickest lap was only good enough for ninth on the grid. Wilson retook the top spot with 90 seconds to go and only Dan Clarke (#4 Minardi Team USA Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone) challenged for pole. The speedy Brit came within six-hundredths of his countryman but was unable to set the fastest time.

Provisional pole sitter Sebastien Bourdais struggled throughout qualifying, posting only the sixth best time. The three-time defending champion will start from the front row based on his performance during qualifying on Friday.

Alex Tagliani will start seventh with Tristan Gommendy slotted in eighth. Gommendy is returning to his PKV Racing machine after injuring his back at Edmonton last week and missing the event. Bruno Junqueira will start tenth with Paul Tracy starting eleventh. Two of the top four drivers in the series standings struggled during today’s session as Robert Doornbos, who is second in the standings, will start 15th and Will Power who is third in the title chase, will start 12th.