Gommendy grabs provisional pole

Mont-Tremblant, QC (Sports Network) - Frenchman Tristan Gommendy topped Champ Car provisional qualifying in Friday's first of two sessions at the Mont- Tremblant road course. The No.22 PKV Racing driver circled the 2.621-mile circuit in one minute, 16.776 seconds (122.898 m.p.h.).
The provisional pole win earned Gommendy one championship point and a guaranteed position on the front row. His previous best start was a fifth in Portland. The rookie driver's best finish to date was a fifth-place in the season opener at Las Vegas.
Second best on Friday was the more well-known French driver Sebastien Bourdais (1:16.783) followed by Will Power (1:16.841), Justin Wilson (1:16.843) and Robert Doornbos (1:16.850).
Alex Figge led the early going, but admittedly the "big guns" waited almost 10 minutes before starting their runs. With still 15 minutes to run, Bourdais went to the top of the charts. Power and then Gommendy posted better laps than the three-time series champion as the clock marked just 10 minutes to go.
Gommendy and Power still led a very close top-seven as the drivers prepared for their final runs. All 17 drivers were on the track with five minutes remaining, but none could match Gommendy's time.
Less than two-tenths of-a-second separated first and seventh place.
Final qualifying is set for Saturday at 2 p.m. (et) with the race set to drop the green flag on Sunday at 2 p.m. (et).