Cleveland, OH (My Sportsbook) - Cristiano da Matta captured the provisional pole for Sunday's Cleveland Grand Prix Champ Car race. The No.21 PKV Racing Lola driver circled the 2.106-mile, 10-turn Burke Lakefront Airport road course in a 58.436 seconds (129.742 m.p.h.).

Da Matta, winner of last week's Portland Grand Prix, earned one championship point for the provisional pole and a guaranteed front row starting position for the race.

"Obviously, coming off the win in Portland I am very excited about going to Cleveland," da Matta said earlier this week. "For me and the team it is so good when you know that the work you are doing is taking you in the right direction."

Paul Tracy, who led for most of the session, was second quickest with a best lap of 58.440. Tracy won last year's pole with a lap of 57.546 seconds.

Mario Dominguez (58.546), series points leader and two-time defending Cleveland GP champion Sebastien Bourdais (58.576) and Alex Tagliani (58.705) completed the top-five.

Only two drivers have won the Cleveland GP in back-to-back years, Alex Zanardi (1997, 1998) and Bourdais (2003, 2004). No driver has every won in three consecutive times.

A total of 18 drivers took to the track including six rookies. The top qualifying rookie was Ronnie Bremer, who clocked in at 12th fastest.

Final qualifying is set for Saturday at 2 p.m. (edt) with the race scheduled to begin on Sunday at 2 p.m.