Cleveland, OH (My Sportsbook) - Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais posted the fastest lap in provisional qualifying for Saturday night's Cleveland Grand Prix Champ Car event. The No.2 Newman/Haas Racing driver circled the 2.106- mile Burke Lakefront Airport road course in 58.349 seconds (129.935 m.p.h.).

Bourdais has won two of the four races this season, but teammate Bruno Junqueira, having earned three second-place finishes, holds the series points lead.

Bourdais won last year's Cleveland Grand Prix, defeating Paul Tracy by 2.241 seconds.

"I had never raced on an airport before, so I was pretty happy because we started fast straight out of the truck," said Bourdais of his 2003 victory.

"I was able to learn fast and got the pole position and then we had a great race with Paul Tracy and won.

"It's bumpy because it's concrete and the patches aren't the same level. The top speed is not very high because the straights are not very long but the speeds in the corners are always third, fourth gear corners and you've got to be ready. It's pretty difficult. With the bumps you have to hold your breath so it makes it really tough on you."

Tracy was second fastest at 58.361 seconds. Junqueira (58.500), Patrick Carpentier (58.516) and Ryan Hunter-Reay (58.529) completed the top-five.

The final qualifying session is scheduled for Friday at 1:45 p.m. (et) and the race will begin on Saturday at 5 p.m. (et).