CHAMPCAR/CART: Milwaukee: Walker Racing Friday Report

Wet weather dampens Walker Racing's qualifying hopes

Walker Racing rookies Darren Manning and Rodolfo Lavin will start 11th and 14th respectively for Saturday's Milwaukee Mile Centennial 250 after heavy rains approximately an hour and half prior to the scheduled 8:30 p.m. Central start for final night qualifying prevented the field from taking to the track. The Champ Car field will start the first night race in the series' history based on the combined practice times from the weekend.

Rodolfo Lavin (R), #5 Corona Competition Team Ford-Cosworth XFE-Reynard-Bridgestone

Mid-day Practice 13th 21.743 (170.869 mph)

Combined Practice 14th 21.687 (171.310 mph)

Starting Position 14th

"The Corona car was good in the first five or six laps of a run, so I definitely think we could have benefited from qualifying. We could have maybe have picked up a few positions there because I don't think that others could go as fast as quickly as I was able to. The race is very long -- 250 laps -- so we have to do good pit stops and we'll try to claim positions as much as we can."

Fast Facts: While the 31 May event will mark his first Champ Car start at Milwaukee, Lavin has seven previous starts at the Milwaukee Mile contesting races in Toyota Atlantic (2001 -- 2002) and Indy Lights (1996 -- 2000), Finished second at the 2002 Toyota Atlantic Milwaukee event and earned a fourth place starting position in 2001, also in Toyota Atlantics

Darren Manning, (R), #15 Walker Racing Ford-Cosworth XFE-Reynard-Bridgestone

Mid-day Practice 6th 21.338 (174.112 mph)

Combined Practice 11th 21.338 (174.112 mph)

Starting Position 11th

"It's a shame we couldn't put in a qualifying run because I know there was more speed in the car. We had it handling really well at the end of the practice session this afternoon, but I didn't get the most out of the car due to traffic. We could have easily posted another top-ten start, so it's disappointing. Starting 11th puts us almost half a lap down from the start on such a short track so I'm going to have to work hard tomorrow. Pit stops will be vital to us since overtaking will be quite difficult."

Fast Facts: Has scored top-ten finishes (ninth at 2002 Rockingham race and sixth in Germany) in his two previous oval starts, Has scored four consecutive top-ten finishes and has five top-ten finishes in just six starts, Currently second in the Rookie of the Year battle.

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