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WINNER,
BOURDAIS (CHAMPION): "... I think it cannot be better, to celebrate
the championship by winning the race, having done the pole position
and set the fastest lap of the race. It's
just been a dominating weekend. I was so scared about, you know, not
being able to give it a clear shot with an incident at the start or
mechanical failure. Really a well deserved championship for the whole
McDonald's team and a fantastic achievement from the Newman/Haas Racing
team. Really just a perfect day for us"
2ND,
JUNQUIERA: "... I feel a little bit frustrated ...
Finished again second in the championship. So still a great result
... But I think this year I drove perfect, made no mistakes.
Maybe I didn't have much speed in qualifying, but I had seven of the
fastest race laps, and half of the race I was the fastest car out
there. But unfortunately, I didn't win the championship so I'm kind
of frustrated. Sebastien did a very good championship. I have to congratulate
him, not take anything from him"
3RD, ALLMENDINGER
(Rookie of the year): "... this weekend has been great
overall. We made a mistake in qualifying yesterday with the car setup,
and that's what put us back in seventh. I figured we were probably
third quickest in qualifying yesterday, too. But overall, I mean,
the team has done a great job throughout the whole year, rookie team
trying to learn the series, finding out how difficult it is."NOV
7, 2004
- 1 Sebastien
Bourdais, Newman/Haas, 63 laps
*** 2004 CHAMPION; he wins champion's prize
of $750,000 ***
- 2 Bruno
Junqueira, Newman/Haas +4.6s
- 3 A.J.
Allmendinger, RuSPORT +6.7s
- 4 Justin Wilson
+7.9
- 5 Jimmy Vasser
- 6 Patrick Carpentier
- 7 Oriol Servia
- 8 Mario Dominguez
- 9 Michel Jourdain
Jr.
- 10 Paul Tracy
- 11
Tagliani 12 Gonzalez 13 Lavin 14 *Valiante 15 Haberfeld 16 Philippe
17 Smith 18 Marques 19 Hunter-Reay
- *Series
debut for Michael Valiente
QUALIFYING:
GRID,
NOV 6, 2004
- 1 Sebastien
Bourdais, Newman/Haas 1m 25.919 (2003
pole Tracy,
1m 28.842)
"... I feel good, but I know there's still a long way to go.
The hardest part of the season is in front of us and there's definitely
going to be braking going into turn one tomorrow on the first lap.
I'm just really, really happy for the boys because they really did
a good job. This weekend is not about how fast we can go, it's about
how tough we are, how we can stay on the racetrack and have no mechanical
issues. So just we'll see tomorrow, but definitely two very good
runs, and today with an alternate set of tires that Bridgestone
has been bringing, and I'm very happy with the car. Every point
counts double now. I hope I've been showing that I deserve it (the
championship) but in racing it doesn't matter."
- 2 Bruno
Junqueira, Newman/Haas 1m 26.545
"...
It was a good day ... Both Newman/Haas cars are 1 and 2, much faster
than anybody. Looks like this year we found a good setup and I hope
we can have a good race. It's a long race tomorrow; the championship
is on the line. A lot of things can happen. I'm confident that I'm
going to have a really good car."
- 3 Justin
Wilson, Conquest Racing 1m 27.016
"...
I'm pretty happy. We've been making progress all weekend, then in
the warm-up session before qualifying, we were a long way off, and
getting a bit concerned that we changed the setup only very slightly
but lost our way. Fortunately, we changed it back. The car worked
again and we were able to go out and set a time"
- 4 Jimmy Vasser
- 5 Oriol Servia
- 6 Paul Tracy
- 7 A.J. Allmendinger
- 8 Patrick Carpentier
- 9 Ryan Hunter-Reay
- 10 Michel Jourdain
Jr.
- 11 Gonzalez
12 Valiante 13 Tagliani 14 Lavin 15 Dominguez 16 Marques 17 Haberfeld
18 Smith 19 Philippe
FRI, NOV
5, 2004
- 1 Bruno
Junqueira, Newman Haas Racing 1m 27.565 (2003
pole Tracy,
1m 28.842)
"... I feel happy with today's result. It is important to get
the pole, it is especially important to get the Championship point
and be starting on the front row for the race on Sunday ... This puts
some pressure on Sebastien for tomorrow. The car wasn't perfect today,
so we will make changes to improve the car for tomorrow. We will try
to work very hard to put it back on the pole tomorrow."
- 2 Sebastien
Bourdais, Newman Haas Racing
- 3 A.J.
Allmendinger
- 4 Justin Wilson
- 5 Paul Tracy
- 6 Roberto Gonzalez
- 7 Alex Tagliani
- 8 Ryan Hunter-Reay
- 9 Michel Jourdain
Jr.
- 10 Oriol Servia
- 11 Carpentier
12 Dominguez 13 Marques 14 Philippe 15 Vasser
BEFORE
RACE: QUOTES
-
BOURDAIS
(NEWMAN HAAS), championship leader: "... We still
have a strong shot at winning the championship but the McDonald's
team really needs to finish in Mexico City ... We can't afford
to have any mechanical failures or get caught up in an accident.
It's going to be a scary start over there this year."
-
JUNQUEIRA
(NEWMAN HAAS): "... Sebastien will need to make
a mistake or have a problem in Mexico City for the PacifiCare
team to win the Championship ... Well done Newman/Haas Racing
for guaranteeing a 1-2 finish in the championship no matter
what happens in Mexico City though. They did a good job this
season. The PacifiCare team is going to work hard and be there
in the front in Mexico City. If Sebastien has a problem, I'll
be there to win the championship. The race in Mexico is going
to decide the championship and it's going to be a really important
weekend. We have to try to do our best and win the race."
-
TAGLIANI:
"... The Mexico City circuit in the Autodromo
is a very challenging course. It's demanding and drivers need
to be prepared for the tight twists and turns," warned
Tagliani. "Drivers also need to be in top physical shape
because of the high altitude of the city. I've been training
hard in Australia and back home in Las Vegas to be physically
prepared ... We struggled, but learned a lot about the track
and set up in Mexico City last year, which we hope will help
us for better finish this weekend. The Rocketsports/Johnson
Controls team has been very consistent and better prepared this
season. We've worked hard and finished each race up until Australia,
which was unfortunate, but we're focused and will do our best
to compete with the top teams in the series. We're shooting
for a top-five finish to the season and will go for it in Mexico
City"
BRIDGESTONE
(A SPEYER): "... For the fourth time this season,
Bridgestone is utilizing the alternate tire concept to enhance
the racing competition. This weekend, however, may see the greatest
difference in lap times between the alternate and standard Potenza
specs because the compound make-ups have more variation in hardness
than in the previous uses. We believe the alternate tire adds
an exciting new element of strategy and we'll be curious as
to how and when the teams employ the 'red stripes,' as many
are calling the alternate Potenzas, to their best advantage.
It should help to make an electrifying conclusion to this exciting
turnaround season for the Champ Car World Series."
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2004
SEASON
2004
STANDING after race
1 Bourdais 369
2 Junqueira 341
3 Carpentier 266
4 Tracy 254
5 Dominguez 244
6 Allmendinger 229
7 Tagliani 218
8 Jimmy Vasser 201
9 Hunter-Reay 199
9 Oriol Servia 199
MEXICO
WINNERS:
2004: Bourdais
2003: Tracy
2002: Brack
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