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CHAMP CAR: Friday Mexico City Notebook
Written by: David Phillips
SPEEDtv.com   http://www.speedtv.com
11/08/2007
Mexico City, Mexico
 
Local heroes Dominguez and Martinez grabbed much of the attention. (LAT photo) » More Photos

GOOD DAY FOR MEXICO David Martinez, who originally hails from Monterrey, turned in a fine performance Friday afternoon by posting seventh-fastest time of qualifying. Martinez finished up the session 1.3 seconds adrift of provisional pole winner Sebastien Bourdais but just .074sec ahead of Forsythe Championship Racing teammate Paul Tracy.

In contrast to his debut with the Forsythe team at Surfers Paradise, Martinez had the benefit of having raced a Champ Car at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez last year when he subbed for the injured Tracy in the Indeck Lola-Ford-Cosworth and finished ninth. That experience makes a world of difference for Martinez.

"Here it is much easier," said Martinez. "I have last year's braking points as reference where I had no experience at Surfers Paradise -- if you missed your braking point you had nothing to hit but a concrete wall, which would cost you the session. So I'm very comfortable here and I also know a bit better what I need from my car's setup."

Martinez was one of a handful of drivers to run Bridgestone alternate tires in the second half of the qualifying session. Most drivers reckoned the alternates were worth from a half to as much as a full second a lap. But while most drivers will have twice as many sets of alternates to use on Saturday, Martinez is happy with his plan.

"I'm still a rookie and learning about everything," he said. "I have the experience of one run on the alternate tires to sleep on tonight, and I am sure I will be able to use my second set better tomorrow."

Martinez's compatriot Mario Dominguez didn't enjoy quite as much success Friday, putting the Tecate-sponsored Pacific Coast Motorsports Panoz 10th on the provisional grid. Then again, considering he has been suffering from pneumonia and spent time in the hospital earlier this week, Dominguez did a pretty good job. Although he was appreciative of the work of the medical professionals, Dominguez says he also benefited from local support.

"The fans here are so supportive, it is very rewarding," he said. "I am feeling better, I think with a good nights sleep I will be even better and strong for sure on Sunday. We made a lot of progress in the Tecate car today, but we definitely need to improve. We made several changes between the two sessions to find some grip and I think we went the right way. "
Bourdais fell foul of the rules before adding to his final career stats. (LAT photo) » More Photos

BOURDAIS STILL ON FOR TORO ROSSO -- AS FAR AS HE KNOWS If there's anything to the rumor du jour that David Coulthard will move "down" Red Bull's Formula 1 pecking order to Toro Rosso
to make way for Fernando Alonso at Team Red Bull -- thus bumping Sebastien Bourdais from his ride at Toro Rosso -- the Frenchman hasn't heard it.

"As far as I know I'm testing for Toro Rosso in Barcelona next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday," said Bourdais, who would theoretically be paid handsomely by Red Bull to spend another season with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing under the above scenario. "But then, the drivers are always the last to know."



Get the inside scoop on Dario Franchitti's switch to NASCAR in our December issue, on sale now.


I FEEL YOUR PAIN It was like déjà vu all over again at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez when Will Power arrived at the circuit Friday with a cast on his left wrist, courtesy of his shunt with Katherine Legge at Surfers Paradise.

You'll recall that Justin Wilson also came to last year's Champ Car race in Mexico City with a cast on his wrist (albeit his right wrist) after snagging a stack of tires used as an apex marker at Surfers Paradise. Power cracked a couple of bones in his left wrist in his coming-together with Legge and so drove with a cast in the morning practice -- and duly recorded fourth-best time. He took off the cast in the afternoon qualifying. The good news is that he recorded third best time of the day. The bad news . . .

"In practice we had it strapped on really tightly," said Power, "but the brace is too restrictive. You get your hand jammed up and you can't turn. So before qualifying I took off the strapping and then I had a moment out on the track and hurt it a little bit more. I've just got to deal with it and do like Justin did last year and deal with the pain and get it done."

Wilson knows whereof Power speaks.

"It makes life a lot harder driving with one hand," he said. "It's possible, as Will is finding out. But it's strange because I remember last year on the Friday morning I ran with the brace and everything felt OK. But I felt the brace were a bit too clumsy, so I decided to take it out for qualifying. I went out and I hurt my wrist in qualifying, just like Will did today.

"The pattern is quite interesting. We say, once it feels good, I can run without it. You go out there and you clip a curb or get sideways and it strains it again. I'm sure tomorrow Will will have the brace back on, slightly modified, and it will be working just fine."
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