• Welcome back to Rockingham Motor Speedway in Corby, England, for CART FedEx Championship Series qualifying! At the conclusion of this morning's 2:15 practice session, #33 TAGLIANI of Player's/Forsythe Racing found himself on top of the speed chart just before the checkered flag waved with a lap of 24.811 seconds (214.598 mph/345.362 km/h). Skies are clear in the U.K. this afternoon and the temperature at 1:50 p.m. has settled at a very comfortable 72° F (22° C).

• This afternoon's qualifying session is scheduled to run from 2 p.m.-3:30 p.m. and will determine the starting grid for tomorrow's Sure For Men Rockingham 500-–Round 15 of the CART FedEx Championship Series.

• NOTEWORTHY: Qualifying for the inaugural Champ Car race at Rockingham last year was washed out, thus leaving the door wide open for this year's crop of international open-wheel pilots to establish a qualifying mark on the blistering fast 1.479-mile oval.

• The Champ Cars will qualify individually, in reverse order of the top combined practice speeds. Each qualifier will be allowed up to four warm-up laps before the two timed GREEN FLAG laps that will determine qualifying positions.

• At 2:01 p.m., CART FedEx Championship Series Starter Jim Swintal waves the GREEN FLAG to commence qualifying for the Champ Cars. #19 MANNING is first out and begins the first of four possible warm-up laps before his two timed GREEN FLAG qualifying laps.

• At 2:04 p.m., #19 MANNING turns a fast time of 25.441seconds (209.284 mph) on his second lap. #9 JOURDAIN is next.

• At 2:08 p.m., #9 JOURDAIN turns a fast time of 25.616 seconds (207.854 mph) on his second lap to put him second on the speed chart. #55 DOMINGUEZ is next.

• At 2:10 p.m., #55 DOMINGUEZ turns a fast time of 25.592 seconds (208.049 mph) on his second lap to put him second on the speed chart. #44 DIXON is next.

• At 2:13 p.m., #44 DIXON turns a fast time of 25.417 seconds (209.482 mph) on his second lap to put him on pole. #20 SERVIA is next.

• At 2:16 p.m., #20 SERVIA pulls off course after a warm-up lap and the Visteon/Patrick Racing crew goes to work in pit lane. Servia is out of the car without posting an official time after waiving off the attempt. #11 FITTIPALDI is next.

• At 2:20 p.m., #11 FITTIPALDI turns a fast time of 25.251 seconds (210.859 mph) on his first lap to put him on pole. #52 NAKANO is next.

• At 2:23 p.m., #52 NAKANO turns a fast time of 25.300 seconds (210.451 mph) on his second lap to put him second on the speed chart. #8 VASSER is next.

• At 2:26 p.m., #8 VASSER turns a fast time of 25.260 seconds (210.784 mph) on his second lap to put him second on the speed chart. #51 FERNANDEZ is next.

• At 2:28 p.m., #51 FERNANDEZ turns a fast time of 25.228 seconds (211.051 mph) on his second lap to put him on pole. #10 KANAAN is next.

• At 2:32 p.m., #10 KANAAN turns a fast time of 25.048 seconds (212.568 mph) on his first lap to put him on pole. #39 ANDRETTI is next.

• At 2:35 p.m., #39 ANDRETTI turns a fast time of 24.928 seconds (213.591 mph) on his second lap to put him on pole. #4 JUNQUEIRA is next.

• At 2:38 p.m., #4 JUNQUEIRA turns a fast time of 25.003 seconds (212.950 mph) on his second lap to put him second on the speed chart. #26 TRACY is next.

• At 2:40 p.m., #26 TRACY turns a fast time of 25.034 seconds (212.687 mph) on his second lap to put him third on the speed chart. #12 BRACK is next.

• At 2:43 p.m., #12 BRACK turns a fast time of 24.908 seconds (213.763 mph) on his second lap to put him on pole. #32 CARPENTIER is next.

• At 2:46 p.m., #32 CARPENTIER turns a fast time of 25.182 seconds (211.437 mph) on his first lap to put him sixth on the speed chart. #27 FRANCHITTI is next.

• At 2:49 p.m., #27 FRANCHITTI turns a fast time of 25.001 seconds (212.967 mph) on his first lap to put him third on the speed chart. #6 DA MATTA is next.

• At 2:52 p.m., #6 DA MATTA turns a fast time of 24.954 seconds (213.369 mph) on his second lap to put him third on the speed chart. #5 TAKAGI is next.

• At 2:54 p.m., #5 TAKAGI turns a fast time of 24.958 seconds (213.334 mph) on his second lap to put him fourth on the speed chart. #33 TAGLIANI is next.

• At 2:58 p.m., #33 TAGLIANI turns a fast time of 25.158 seconds (211.638 mph) on his second lap to put him ninth on the speed chart.

• At 2:59 p.m., #20 SERVIA attempts to qualify after waiving off his first attempt earlier in the session.

• At 3:00 p.m., #20 SERVIA turns a fast time of 25.292 seconds (210.517 mph) on his second lap to put him 14th on the speed chart.

• At 3:01 p.m., #44 DIXON withdrawals his 16th-place qualifying effort and will re-qualify his Team Target machine.

• At 3:04 p.m., #44 DIXON turns a fast time of 25.362 seconds (209.936 mph) on his only allotted timed lap to put him back in 16th on the speed chart.

• With a time of 24.908 seconds (213.763 mph) on his second qualifying lap, #12 BRACK of Target Chip Ganassi Racing wins the pole position for tomorrow's CART FedEx Championship Series Sure For Men Rockingham 500. #39 ANDRETTI of Team Motorola will flank #12 BRACK on the outside of row one in the second position after posting a time of 24.928 seconds (213.591 mph) on his second lap. CART FedEx Championship Series points leader #6 DA MATTA of Newman/Haas Racing completed the top three with an orbit of 24.954 seconds (213.369 mph) on his second lap.

CHAMP CAR TOP-THREE QUALIFIER QUOTES

• KENNY BRACK (#12 Target Toyota/Lola/Bridgestone): “I think it went well today. It's been a tough year of course for us. We've always had the speed, it's just been a matter of putting it all together. This is a tough track with a different configuration than we're used to. Turn 4 is the most difficult point for the drivers. I think passing will be tough because these cars are so closely matched. We had a lot more time to dial in the car this year. A lot more than last year because of the weather.” (On the track location) “It's nice to be in Europe and do well. There were a lot of Swedish fans here last year. Hopefully there will be a lot of Swedes here tomorrow instead of seeing all the Brazilian flags. This race is good for CART because of the strong European following and the popularity.”

• MICHAEL ANDRETTI (#39 Motorola Honda/Lola/Bridgestone): “Team Motorola did a very good job, along with help from Team KOOL Green. We just tweaked the car here and there throughout the whole session. I just closed my eyes and held it down and here we are.” (On the mood here compared to last year) “It was hard to really focus on this event last year. I think we all just really wanted to get home last year.”

• CRISTIANO DA MATTA (#6 Havoline Toyota/Lola/Bridgestone): “I'm happy overall. Since the start of the day, the car was running very well. The car is much better than what we had here last year. I don't think I had the speed to beat Kenny [Brack]. But for the race I think I have a car that will be consistent until the end. It will be important to have a car like that in order to run with him [Brack] to the end.”

• Bridgestone Tire engineers report that track temperatures ranged from 85° F (29° C) to 93° F (34° C), and air temperature from 70° F (21° C) to 73° F (23° C), during Champ Car qualifying.

• This concludes the CART FedEx Championship Series pit notes for Friday, September 13, 2002, from the UK. We'll see you tomorrow morning for more “Real Racing. Real Sport,” on race day as the Champ Cars gear up in tomorrow's warm-up session at 9:30 a.m. followed by the 1:30 p.m. local time (8:30 a.m. ET, SPEED Channel Live) start of the CART FedEx Championship Series Sure For Men Rockingham 500 . Good night!