LEXINGTON, Ohio (AP) A late red flag helped Patrick Carpentier win the provisional pole Friday for the CART Mid-Ohio Grand Prix.

Carpentier posted a fast lap of 121.253 mph with about 90 seconds to go in the one-hour qualifying session when Tony Kanaan and Toro Takagi both spun out. Kanaan was able to continue, but Takagi lost power, bringing out both the red flag signaling a temporary stoppage and the checkered flag ending the session.

Carpentier gained one point for being the fastest first-day qualifier and earned a guaranteed front-row spot for Sunday's race. With 73 points, he is fourth in the driver standings, one point behind Bruno Junquiera and Michel Jourdain Jr., who are tied for third.

The 30-year-old Canadian, winner of CART's other Ohio race in Cleveland last month, hasn't started on the pole in four years. His fast lap Friday was more than 3 mph slower than the track record, held by Dario Franchitti and Gil de Ferran.

Carpentier learned quickly that he had benefited from Takagi's spin.

"You need to catch a little bit of a break sometimes," he said. "I crossed the line (after his fast lap) and my team came on the radio and said 'P1 (position one), P1.' Right after that, I heard, 'red flag, red flag.' I immediately asked my crew if I was still P1 and they said yes. Starting up front here is very important, so we're happy with the result."

Cristiano da Matta was second, followed by Newman-Haas Racing teammate Christian Fittipaldi. Da Matta's top speed of 121.154 mph came on his third qualifying lap, while Carpentier took 11 laps to reach his pole speed. Fittipaldi was more than a half-second slower than his teammate.

Da Matta, who leads the driver standings by 38 points and has five victories and five poles this season, said he feels good about his chances of taking away the pole from Carpentier in Saturday's final qualifying.

"I feel I have the car to fight for the pole," he said. "Somebody told me I was on the pole, I think, until 15 seconds before the red flag. I just have to find a better way."

Fittipaldi, who announced earlier this week that he will be driving for Petty Enterprises in NASCAR next year, said that although he anticipated times would be faster Saturday, he didn't think the track record lap time of 1:05.3, which translates to a speed of 124.394 mph, would fall.

"I figure the pole time tomorrow will between 1:06 and 1:06.5," he said. "We just need to continue to improve the car and qualify in the top three."

Rounding out the top 10 in Friday qualifying were Alex Tagliani, Tony Kanaan, Scott Dixon, Michael Andretti, Takagi, Kenny Brack and Junqueira.

Max Papis, returning after five races, was 16th among the 18 cars. Papis is replacing Adrian Fernandez, who broke his left hip at Vancouver two weeks ago.

Being among the top qualifiers at the 2¼-mile, 13-turn road course in the hills of north central Ohio is important because it has few good spots for passing. No one has won a race here from farther back than eighth, and nine of the previous 20 winners have come from the pole.

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