Right on Target; Bruno Junqueira wins Indy 500 pole, as Brazilians capture six of the top 14 starting spots.(Brief Article)

One Indianapolis 500 pole does not make an elite race car driver, but it does make a statement. And relative newcomer Bruno Junqueira certainly made one last weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The 25-year-old Brazilian, who for years has been shadowed by others, stepped out in a big way by dazzling a strong Indy field in qualifications. His first lap of 231.635 mph was not only the first of the day, it was the best. His four-lap average of 231.342 was the quickest at Indy since Arie Luyendyk set the track record (236.986) in 1996.

After a week of consistently practicing in the top three, Junqueira, a former Williams farmhand in Formula One and an F3000 champion, must be considered among those to beat in the May 26 race. Veteran engineer Mitch Davis is even more convinced of Junqueira's position in the field. ``Bruno could be the next Juan Montoya,'' he said. ``It's the way he and the whole team have jelled since last year.''

Does anyone remember where Junqueira was about this time last year? He was certainly not the talk of Gasoline Alley. He and fellow CART rookie Nicolas Minassian had struggled in the pre-Indy portion of the schedule and, with the pressure of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing building, team owner Chip Ganassi scrapped them for the 500 in favor of veterans Jimmy Vasser and Tony Stewart. Ganassi even pulled Vasser away from Team Rahal for the month. After pole day, when Vasser and Stewart qualified securely, Ganassi perked up and gave his CART boys, who were already on the payroll, a second-weekend shot. Junqueira's effort was so strong that his speed was 11th-best overall and faster than Vasser and just a tick off Stewart. In the race he delivered an incredibly steady performance, finishing fifth, sandwiched by Vasser (fourth) and Stewart (sixth). Ganassi released Minassian in midseason, replacing him with Memo Gidley, and decided to keep Junqueira for 2002 in part because he was still under contract. Last month, Junqueira delivered his first oval-track win, at Motegi, Japan, giving him two career CART wins in eight months.

And yet as Indy approached, the team's managing director Mike Hull conceded that if Stewart had opted to return to the team for May, Junqueira likely would have been the odd man out now that 1999 500 winner Kenny Brack is around. ``He's certainly got this place figured out,'' Ganassi said of Junqueira at Indy.

Despite his success in F3000 and CART, Junqueira even has trouble standing out in Brazil, which has become the hotbed of American open-wheel racing. Gil de Ferran is the two-time-defending CART champion and Helio Castroneves was last year's Indy winner. While Junqueira was a big story at Indy last weekend, the ...