Auto Racing | Bourdais will shift to F1 circuit in '08

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. — After a five-year detour, Sebastien Bourdais is going to get his shot at Formula One.

Bourdais, chasing an unprecedented fourth consecutive Champ Car World Series title, said Friday he will drive for the Scuderia Toro Rosso team in F1 next year.

"It's been a long time coming," the 28-year-old Frenchman said. "I'm very satisfied that, finally, I'm going to get a shot at Formula One and also because [the team has] got some potential."

Bourdais, who was rookie of the year before starting his Champ Car title streak, has 28 poles and 27 victories in 68 starts heading into Sunday's Generac Grand Prix at Road America. He earned the provisional pole for the race.

Bourdais, who drives for Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, said, "It's great that it's finally happening, but it's a little bittersweet on this end because I've got a lot of friends and a lot of great memories."

Paul Newman, retired actor and co-owner of the team, said, "He's made his point. We're going to miss him fiercely, but moving on is the right thing for him right now."

Bourdais isn't likely to be a factor in the Formula One championship picture for at least a couple of years.

"That's something you have to accept at some point," he said. "In the meantime, I wasn't going to make it at Ferrari or McLaren or any of the top teams, it looks like."

Rain helps Gordon

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Jeff Gordon started from the back of the field in NASCAR's first road race of the Nextel Cup Series season after his team was penalized for a technical violation. This time, he will start from the pole.

A misting rain that hovered above Watkins Glen International became too heavy and forced NASCAR to cancel qualifying for Sunday's Centurion Boats at The Glen. It was the third time in four years qualifying has been washed out at the track.

Gordon leads the series points race, and the top 35 cars in the field of 43 were set by points.

Notes

• American driver John Edwards, 16, set a Champ Car Atlantic championship qualifying record (122.207 mph) and won the provisional pole for Sunday's Atlantic season finale at Road America.

• Tony Kanaan's qualifying speed of 218.086 mph gave him the pole for today's Meijer Indy 300, an IndyCar Series race in Sparta, Ky.