MEXICO CITY, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- Bruno Junqueira of Brazil took the provisional pole Friday for CART's season-ending Gran Premio Telmex-Gigante at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
Driving a Toyota/Lola, Junqueira captured the pole with a final lap speed of 116.703 miles per hour around the revamped 2 3/4-mile facility.
Junqueira is second in the CART standings and the bonus point for winning the provisional pole moved him four ahead of Canada's Patrick Carpentier, who posted the sixth-fastest lap of the day.
Junqueira also has a guaranteed spot in the front row, regardless of what happens in Saturday's final round of qualifying.
Fellow Brazilian Christian Fittipaldi qualified second at 116.587 mph in a Toyota/Lola. Fittipaldi held the top spot until Junqueira's final run.
Dario Franchitti of Scotland was third at 116.424 mph. He also has a shot at second in the standings, which includes a $500,000 bonus. Franchitti trails Junqueira by just 11 points.
Jimmy Vasser and Brazilian Tony Kanaan rounded out the top five qualifiers.
