RAIN MAN; Bruno Junqueira finally gets his first win of '03.(Competition)

Byline: BILL McGUIRE

1In the middle of nowhere, about two miles south of tiny Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin (population just over 1000), 15 miles west of Lake Michigan and an hour or so north of Milwaukee, is one of the world's last great natural-terrain road courses. A full four miles in length with 14 turns, three tachometer-straining straights and challenging elevation changes, Road America is one of a few places left where real, old-school professional road racing is performed.

Part of the classic game involves racing in the rain. After several false starts- the race was red-flagged twice for more than three hours, and the first nine laps were run under caution due to poor visibility caused by the steady downpour-the fans who remained into the early evening for the CART event were treated to a fair-if brief-display of the craft. (The race was shortened to 34 laps from its original 60.) The Newman-Haas Lolas of Bruno Junqueira and Sebastien Bourdais put on a flawless performance, leading 1-2 from start to finish. Newman-Haas also went 1-2 in reverse order at Brands Hatch back in May.

"It was really special for us going 1-2 here,'' Bourdais said. "What can I say? We have Bruno leading the points now and I'm gaining spots and moving up in the championship as well. For sure, this is the best racing circuit in the U.S. and I hope to be back here for many more years to come.''

Alex Tagliani came from a 13th-place start to finish third through well-executed pit stops and by avoiding all the troubles in front of him. "I think it was a fantastic job by my pit crew all day,'' Tagliani said. "They deserve a lot of credit here. The podium finish is a gift for them for the effort they put forth today.''

Junqueira, who has done everything this year except actually win a race, qualified with a lap of 1:43.703 at 140.524 mph, good enough for the pole but not nearly as quick as Dario Franchitti's 145.924-mph lap record set in 2000. Road ...