San Jose Grand Prix - Day 3

WINNERS PODIUM 2ND NEEL JANI, 1ST ROBERT DOORNBOS, 3RD ORIOL SERVIA

MINARDI TEAM USA'S #14 ROBERT DOORNBOS TAKES THE CHECKERED FLAG

SJGP GRAND MARSHALL PATRICK MARLEAU WITH DAN RUSANOWSKY

Notes from Day 3 of the San Jose Grand Prix will be posted soon. An abbreviated photo gallery from Day 3 of the San Jose Grand Prix is available here.

San Jose Grand Prix - Day 2

THE SECOND DAY OF QUALIFYING FOR THE SAN JOSE GRAND PRIX

THE SJ MERC WAS ONE OF RED BULL/PKV #21 NEEL JANI'S SPONSORS

PIT ROW AT THE SAN JOSE GRAND PRIX

The Champ Car drivers had one hour and fifteen minutes on a cool track to improve lap times in the morning practice session. Graham Rahal of Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing was the first to break 50 seconds with a time of 49.786 (avg/104.343mph). In a short succession, #7 Servia and #34 Heylen both use the runoff in turn 6. Rahal lowers his time to 49.786.

#3 Paul Tracy hits #28 Mario Dominguez and loses his front win on turn 6. Tracy assessed a red flag penalty, and an 8 minute stint in the pits. After a green flag and a few more practice laps, Tracy locks up his breaks and hits the tire barrier near turn 7 and the main grandstands. His car is towed back to pit lane. Rahal improves to notch the fastest lap time at 49.366, three tenths faster than yesterday's pole.

The final round of qualifying is given the green flag at 2PM. Drivers are given 15 minutes to warm up, 10 minutes to work on their cars, and 30 minutes of qualifying where each driver can record 15 laps. Track temperature is 116 degrees, very hot in pit lane as well. Rahal again is the first driver to crack 50 seconds with a 49.749 (avg/104.420mph), he follows that with a 49.259 (avg/105.032mph).

#15 Pagenaud spins on turn 6 and returns to put road under his own power. #7 Servia takes the pole with a 49.106 only to lose it to #9 Wilson with a 49.039 with 3 minutes remaining in qualifying. #9 Wilson will be joined by #1 Bourdais who earned the provisional pole on Friday. #4 Clarke will be third, #7 Servia fourth, and #5 Jani earned the fifth position for the race on Sunday.

The 2007 San Jose Grand Prix Champ Car race will be broadcast on ESPN2 at 3PM (PT). More information is available from sanjosegrandprix.com and champcarworldseries.com. A photo gallery from qualifying and the 2007 Miss San Jose Grand Prix contest is available here.

- Top 5 Champ Car qualifying times from Day 2:

1 J. Wilson (#9) RSPORTS, 49.747
2 D. Clarke (#4) Minardi Team USA, 49.092
3 O. Servia (#7) Forsythe Racing, 49.106
4. N. Jani (#21) PKV Racing, 49.151
5. G. Rahal (#2) Newman/Haas/Lanigan, 49.178

- Quotes after the second day of Champ Car qualifying:

Justin Wilson #9 CDW Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone - "The obvious advantage of being on the pole here in San Jose is hopefully being first to the first corner, and after that dictating the pace of the race. Then you can just get into a rhythm and start to pull away. Whereas in the past last two years, I started the race in San Jose 9th and 12th. It had been a tough battle of just trying to leapfrog the cars in front either in the pit stops or on the racetrack because you're always trying to catch up. Now, we have the advantage of just being able to sit back and relax and see how the race unfolds. I am just happy that we could put the #9 CDW car on the pole today, and hopefully take it all the way for the win tomorrow for my team, CDW, and all our partners."

Oriol Servia #7 INDECK Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone - "I'm very happy, obviously we wanted to be on pole and definitely had a car to be there, but we just couldn't do it. It was all about putting together a perfect lap, I had many laps where we were up a tenth but there was a lot happening today, we just kept having little lockups and small problems every lap. Today it was about hundreds not tenths so tiny things like that really hurt you. I'm pleased that we are competitive and we are in the game, I think we definitely have good car to fight for the win tomorrow."

Alex Tagliani #8 RSPORTS Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone — "I want to thank my #8 RSPORTS crew; they gave me a fantastic car this afternoon. We were on a pole lap today, but (Mario) Dominguez t-boned us on our quick lap at the end of the session today. We were on a 48.9 lap, and when he made a mistake in front of me and did not move out of the way he destroyed our lap. The lack of respect cost us the pole, but other then that I am very proud of what my team did to give me a good car."

- Top 5 Champ Car Atlantic qualifying times from Day 2:

1 J. Bomarito (#23) PR1 Motorsports, 55.286
2 F. Perera (#11) Condor Motorsports, 55.544
3 R. Wickens (#3) Red Bull Team Forsythe, 55.548
4. R. Matos (#6) Sierra Sierra Enterprises, 55.566
5. M. Lee (#44) Conquest Racing, 55.723

Marivel Salgado named 2007 Miss San Jose Grand Prix

2007 MISS SAN JOSE GRAND PRIX MARIVEL SALGADO

Grade school teacher Marivel Salgado was named the 2007 Miss San Jose Grand Prix on Saturday. Out of 19 finalists, Marivel was selected to join the winning drivers on the podium, and to represent San Jose in the Face of Champ Car competition to promote the series across the globe. Sarah Guerrero was named 1st runner up for Miss SJGP, and Areli Ahrens was named 2nd runner up.

San Jose Grand Prix - Day 1

FORSYTHE RACINGS'S #2 PAUL TRACY TAKES TURN 7 IN QUALIFYING

#4 KATHERINE LEGGE PREPARES FOR HER FIRST QUALIFYING LAP

NEWMAN/HAAS/LANIGAN RACING'S #2 GRAHAM RAHAL DURING QUALIFYING

The track for the San Jose Grand Prix was built quickly this year. All week long there were small groups of curious locals inspecting each turn, grandstand, and potential area of conflict for Sunday's Champ Car World Series race. The third iteration of the 1.443 mile San Jose race (2.322km) will be broadcast live on ESPN2 Sunday at 3PM.

The first practice on Friday saw fan favorite Mario Dominguez fill in for Ryan Dalziel in the #28 Pacific Motorsports Car after an injury to Dalziel this week while training. Practice given the green flag to start at 10:15. Dominguez drove into the runoff on turn 1 drawing a red flag, and an 8 minute penalty. Paul Tracy posts 3 consecutive fast laps, with the lowest at 51.363. Servia spins in turn 6 and does a donut to return to the track. Sebastien Bourdais follows that by driving into the runoff on turn 6. Graham Rahal makes contact with the wall and slides into the runoff for turn 6, which should be the most treacherous part of the track on race day.

The first round of Champ Car qualifying allows the drivers 15 minutes to warm up, 10 minutes of red flag time to fine tune the cars, and 35 minutes to log 15 laps with the best time possible. Three minutes after the green flag to start the practice session, Paul Tracy slides into the tire wall at turn 2. Justin Wilson (50.488) and Robert Doornbos (50.440) turn in the two fastest times in the last 2 minutes. In qualifying, Will Power is the first to break the 50 second mark with a lap time of 49.822 (averaging 104.267). Graham Rahal brushes the wall at turn 2, followed by an amazing last lap by Bourdais. He rises from worst to first with a 49.509 on his 14th and final lap to capture the provisional pole and a guaranteed spot in the front row on Sunday.

A photo gallery from the first day of qualifying is available here.

Top 5 Champ Car qualifying times from Day 1:

1 S. Bourdais (#1) Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, 49.509
2 J. Wilson (#9) RSPORTS, 49.747
3 W. Power (#5) Team Australia, 49.822
4. B. Junqueira (#19) Dale Coyne Racing, 49.852
5. A. Tagliani (#8) RSPORTS, 49.852

- Quotes after the first day of Champ Car qualifying:

Sebastien Bourdais #1 McDonalds Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone (Qualified 1st) — "The first run I spent more time on the escape road than on the track. We have a brake issue, we know that. But we didn't have any time to fix it at lunchtime. We have variable brake values that keep on tricking me; one locks the rears and one locks the fronts, and I'm still not changing anything. It's very difficult out there. Second run we were just trying to find the gap, and every time we had something, where we were like, yeah, it's going to be all right, then someone would run in escape road and someone would end up backing off, so we couldn't do that. I finally got one opportunity and I still don't know quite how it worked out, but we made it stick, and the brake values didn't play any tricks with me, so I was pretty happy about the outcome because it didn't look really good for a long, long time."

Justin Wilson #9 CDW Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone (Qualified 2nd) — "I think we're just starting to find our speed and work things out. It was quite a difficult start to the year with all the changes going on, but we've managed to work through that and try and understand what this car needs. I'm pleased that we're making progress and we can do it on the street circuit this year, which is quite nice compared to the last couple of seasons. We've just got a little bit more work to do and I'm sure we can do it and hopefully get the number 9 CDW car right up there and qualify in the pole tomorrow."

Will Power #5 Aussie Vineyards Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone (Qualified 3rd) — "Absolutely nothing is going to be quicker tomorrow. It's not going to rain here, so for me, it's either number one today or nothing. Obviously we've got to go out and try to get the pole tomorrow so we can get front row start or second if Sebastien is on pole, and race away."

- As San Jose Grand Prix grand marshall, Sharks captain Patrick Marleau will launch the 3rd annual Champ Car World Series race in San Jose with the call, "Drivers start your engines." Former 49er's quarterback Steve Young (2005) and Air Force pilot Eric Pena (2006) served as the previous SJGP grand marshalls.

- This will be the first time the SJGP will see a standing start, instituted this year by Champ Car.

- Brazilian Raphael Matos (#6 ProWorks) can clinch the Champ Car Atlantic Championship with a win in San Jose. With six wins already in the 12-race season, Matos is well on his was to the $2 million prize toward a Champ Car World Series ride given to the Champ Car Atlantic Championship winner. Matos earned the pole and lead every lap en route to winning the 2006 race in San Jose, and he holds a 40 point lead over nearest competitor Franck Perera (#11 CJ Motorsport/Continental Cartage Inc).

Monterey's own Jonathan Bomarito (#23 Miracle Sealants/Konica Minolta/Dynacor) earned the provisional pole position after the first day of Champ Car Atlantic qualifying. Bomarito clocked the fastest lap at 56.018 seconds, and is guaranteed a front row position for the race on Sunday (live on ESPN360.com, 12:30PM PT).

Top 5 Champ Car Atlantic qualifying times from Day 1:

1 J. Bomarito (#23) PR1 Motorsports 56.018
2 F. Perera (#11) Condor Motorsports 56.056
3 R. Matos (#6) Sierra Sierra Enterprises 56.095
4 J. Hinchcliffe (#9) Sierra Sierra Enterprises 56.179
5 J. Edwards (#7) Red Bull Team Forsythe 56.258

Sharks sign defenseman Alexei Semenov to a 1-year contract

The San Jose Sharks signed 6-6, 235 pound defenseman Alexei Semenov to a 1-year $650,000 contract on Friday. TSN's scouting report on Semenov describes his "tremendous physical package", "mammoth frame", and "ability to move the puck up ice" as a few of his strengths, lists his coordination and consistency as things he needs to work on, and projects him as a top 6 NHL defenseman.

Last season Semenov played 23 games for Salavat Yulaev in the RSL registering 3 points and 32 PIMS, and 23 games in the NHL for the Florida Panthers where he earned 5 assists. Alexei left Rochester (AHL) after 4 games to play in Russia.

Semenov was a second round draft selection (36th overa