Junqueira takes Motegi pole.

Bruno Junqueira will start tomorrow's Potenza 500 at Motegi from pole position after beating off Tony Kanaan and Paul Tracy in a tense qualifying session.

The Brazilian leap-frogged Kanaan to take pole, but then had to sit and watch as Tracy gave it his best shot in the second of the Team Green cars. The Canadian came up short, and will 'only' start third.

He will share the second row with Junqueira's Chip Ganassi team-mate, Kenny Brack, after the former winner placed fourth, albeit underlining his new team's oval potential.

Team Green also performed strongly in the first oval qualifying of the year, with Dario Franchitti claiming fifth and Michael Andretti, in the satellite Motorola outfit, seventh. The pair are separated by leading Ford runner Patrick Carpentier, who translated his strong practice form into sixth in qualifying.

The top ten is completed by points leader Cristiano da Matta, Long Beach polesitter Jimmy Vasser and rookie Townsend Bell.

Full report and times to follow....

Leading qualifiers - Motegi

1. Bruno Junqueira Ganassi
2. Tony Kanaan Mo Nunn
3. Paul Tracy Team Green
4. Kenny Brack Ganassi
5. Dario Franchitti Team Green
6. Patrick Carpentier Players
7. Michael Andretti Motorola
8. Cristiano da Matta Newman-Haas
9. Jimmy Vasser Rahal
10. Townsend Bell Patrick