 Weather conditions were hot and sunny with a slight breeze, and it was expected that lap times would improve, since teams were more knowledgeable of the track conditions and more rubber had been laid on the racing line.Bourdais looked set to challenge Tracy, but he ran wide leaving Paddock Hill bend on his last qualifying lap and put the left-hand side of his car into the gravel.This created enough decompression to pull his hand off his steering wheel.