Team Rahal Saturday Report From UK

Jourdain ninth on first day at historic Brands Hatch

WEST KINGSDOWN, KENT . . .. Team Rahal's Gigante driver Michel Jourdain Jr. claimed ninth on the provisional grid as the CART Champ Car World Series made its debut on the world famous Brands Hatch track. Jourdain, looking to continue his run of top-five starts in the 2003 season, battled to ninth after the team fought a brake balance problem in the morning and ever changing track conditions during qualifying.

"Brands Hatch is a beautiful track, I just wish we were racing on the big circuit," said Jourdain. "I think we could put on a great show on the big track and give the fans something special, but it is what it is and I am enjoying it a lot. We had a little trouble with the brake balance this morning and we made some adjustments that took us just a little too far. Hopefully tomorrow the weather will stay ok and we can make some improvements and move ahead of some of the other teams."

The CART Champ Car World Series dictated single car qualifying for the Brands Hatch event as each competitor was allotted a pair of warm-up laps followed by four times laps.

"I really like the single car qualifying, but we could use another lap or two," said Jourdain. "Six laps here (two warm-up and four timed laps) is equal to about three laps at Portland, which doesn't give you a lot of time to get your tires up to temp. Still it is equal for everyone. We just need to find a way to make the car faster on Sunday and I am confident we can do just that."

Qualifying for Round 4 of the 2003 CART Champ Car World Series, the London Champ Car Trophy, will resume tomorrow afternoon on the historic course at Brands Hatch. CBS will air a Champ Car season preview and qualifying show at Noon EDT Sunday. The inaugural London Champ Car Trophy is scheduled for the UK's Bank Holiday on Monday at 2:00 p.m. local time.