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2006 CHAMP CARS         

ROUND 3: May 21, 2006, Fundidora Park Monterrey, MEX

RACE RESULT   (TOP OF PAGE)

WILSON RACE REPORT

• Justin celebrates 2nd place in Monterrey
• Justin took his second podium of the 2006 Champ Car season in Monterrey, Mexico, finishing in 2nd place, three seconds behind Sebastien Bourdais at the chequered flag in a race where fuel strategy was key. Justin's team-mate A.J. Allmendinger took third to secure RuSPORT's first double podium this year.
• The race got off to clean start around the twisty Fundidora Park circuit. A.J. ducked to the inside of Justin into turn 1, but Justin retook him on the outside of the same corner to keep 2nd place as he pursued polesitter Bourdais. All of the front-runners started the race on the softer red Bridgestone tyre and Justin kept within a second of the Frenchman during the first stint as both drivers conserved fuel.
• As the field pitted under a full course yellow on lap 25, great pit work by Justin's CDW crew saw him jump ahead of Bourdais and he then led comfortably for the 28-lap middle stint. At the second and final stops, however, the Newman-Haas driver was able to run a lap longer and that was enough to vault him into the lead for the final stint.
• Bourdais had saved his second set of red tyres for his final stint, but with no need to conserve fuel Justin put in an impressive hard-charging performance on the harder black Bridgestones in an effort to take back the lead. Though he got close - particularly on lap 58 as they came up to lap Katherine Legge - the pace wasn't quite there and Justin had to settle for 2nd at the flag.
• "I'm pleased with 2nd and it's great that A.J. was up there on the podium for RuSPORT as well", said Justin afterwards. "Obviously it's a little bit disappointing that we didn't get the win, but we gave Sebastien a run for his money today. The CDW guys gave me great pit- stops, but Sebastien had the edge on us fuel-wise. I was pushing really hard in the final stint and the encouraging thing is that we could keep up with Sebastien when we were on the black tyres and he was on reds. It's not like Long Beach where he ran away with it and it shows that we're making progress."
• The result puts Justin back into 2nd place in the drivers championship on 77 points to Bourdais' 102 as the series heads to the Milwaukee Mile for the only oval race of the season on 4th June.

ATLANTIC WINNERS REPORT

• GRAHAM RAHAL CELEBRATES FIRST ATLANTICS RACE WIN IN MONTERREY, MEXICO WITH FLAG-TO-FLAG VICTORY Graham Rahal celebrated his first Champ Car Atlantics race victory in Monterrey, Mexico today in fine style, claiming the win from a pole position start, the first one of his Atlantic career, and leading each of the 32 laps of the race at Parque Fundidora. After the first round qualifying session on Friday, Rahal was placed fifth on the provisional grid. He topped this yesterday with his first Atlantic Championship pole position. This is only the third race weekend of Atlantics for the 17-year-old and since the start of the championship he has been showing impressive speed, culminating in his best showing to date this weekend. He topped both of the practice sessions and easily captured the pole by posting a time nearly two-tenths-of-a-second quicker than the next- fastest series qualifier, a time which also put him in the record books, with the fastest Atlantics qualifying lap at this Mexican circuit. In addition, his pole brought him the accolade of being the second-youngest pole-winner in the 33-year history of Atlantic competition. Rahal took the green flag this afternoon from his pole spot and he quickly took control of the race, streaking away from the field and building a gap between himself and the chasing pack led by Simon Pagenaud. Rahal lapped consistently, with Pagenaud sitting just one second behind him. As the race reached half distance Pagenaud made a mistake, running wide and losing time, which gave Rahal a comfortable four second lead ahead of the eventual runner-up. As the 32 lap race counted down the young American driver maintained his four second gap and Pagenaud was unable to make any inroads into his lead. Driving a faultless race Rahal kept his cool and celebrated taking his first Atlantics career victory. The win catapults him up the Championship standings to third place overall, and second in the Rookie of the Year fight. Rahal said after the race, “It was good to come here and take the win, after a tough event at Houston last week when we ran up front but didn’t finish. I’ve had a great weekend, with the car really performing well. Today I just kept putting in the fast laps and eventually wore out everyone else. My crew worked really hard and gave me an excellent car. It’s great to have scored my first Atlantics pole and win in the same weekend. We’re definitely in the championship hunt.” Graham’s father, Bobby, witnessed his son’s first Atlantic victory from the trackside and he couldn’t have been much closer to the action, taking on pit board duties for the team, showing Graham his position on the board for each of the 32 laps of the race. He was delighted with his son’s win, saying, ”I’m very proud of Graham. He’s run well all weekend, he’s been strong, and hasn’t put a foot wrong. What more can you ask for?” Of his pitboard duties he adds, “It’s kept me busy during the race; I need to be doing something and I’m pleased I could be part of this special day for Graham.” Graham Rahal’s win from pole position marks only the second time in five Atlantic races at the Mexican track when the pole-winner has claimed victory. The Atlantic series continues on June 24 at Portland, Oregon for round four of the twelve round Championship which supports the Champ Car World Series and offers a prize of $2 million to the winner.

QUALIFYING   (TOP OF PAGE)

NEWMAN-HAAS / BOURDAIS QUALIFYING REPORT

• McDONALD'S DRIVER BOURDAIS EARNED FOURTH CONSECUTIVE TECATE GRAND PRIX OF MONTERREY POLE; HOLE IN THE WALL CAMPS DRIVER JUNQUEIRA TO START FOURTH
• Sebastien Bourdais, No. 1 McDonald's Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone:
• "Well, it was a little bit of a crazy session. We went out there and didn't really know what to expect with the option tires. But Bridgestone had pretty similar compounds, just a little grippier. We didn't guess it exactly right, so we got the red flag, pit, made a change, went back out, and definitely the balance was a little better. We really capitalized on that. I had clean track, two laps in a row. That was exactly what I was looking for. We just got it right. I could not be any happier for the McDonald's team. I think it's quite an achievement to do that four years in a row. I just really like this racetrack. I hope it's going to be good to us tomorrow because it's always been a bumpy ride for the race. We'll see what happens. I just think track position is extremely important here. You really want to start from the pole. We just made sure we were going to be right there. For sure you'd like to save the tires, but as I said in Long Beach when we did it, you look like a star when it succeeds. But when you miss the pole because you got greedy, you sat down for the second set, you really look awful stupid. It's a tough call. You've got to decide. We played it safe this time."
• - FAST FACTS: Will be his fourth race here. Started from his second consecutive pole in the series in his rookie season in 2002 as well as set a track record. Led the first 16 laps but a faulty radio led to a missed pit stop. Also had a troubled pit stop and later brushed the wall entering the pits, which ultimately led to retire from the race in 17th place. Again started from pole in 2003, led 43 laps as well as set the fastest race lap en route to victory. Started from third pole in 2005 and led the first 17 laps but contact with Paul Tracy while attempting to pass him caused an extra pit stop to replace his flat tire and ultimately limited his finish to fifth place. Earned his FOURTH CONSECUTIVE POLE HERE TODAY and 20th in 48 races...Currently leads the series point standings with 19 over Mario Dominguez...Will attempt to become the first open wheel driver to win three consecutive championships since Ted Horn did so from 1946-1948.
• Bruno Junqueira, No. 2 Hole in the Wall Camps Ford-Cosworth/Lola/ Bridgestone:
• "The car was pretty good. I think I could get really close to Sebastien. I think it could have been P1 and P2 for Newman/Haas for sure in the session. It was frustrating to get so much traffic but mostly because it was intentional traffic. On the first run I started the lap and Mario was in front of me and my second lap was a pretty good lap but he (Mario) made a small mistake in Turn 11, the last turn, and put so much dirt on the track so I just tried to survive there. I lost so much time. On the next lap my tires were dirty in Turn 1 and I went off. Then on my last lap I put everything together and put the car in P2 for the session so I was pretty confident I could get really close to Sebastien and challenge him on the second set. Then I got Oriol in front of me the whole time on my second set. He was trying to run a lap then would slow down which would block me, then run a lap, slow down and I would have to slow down as well. This happened all three laps. I tried to back off to open a gap but he would too so I was never able to put a lap together and give the team and myself some good results. We have a great race car. It's going to be really hot and it will be hard on the drivers. It will be very easy to make a mistake so we will need concentrate very hard."

WILSON / RUSPORT FRI REPORT

• Justin takes provisional pole in Monterrey
• Justin got his first day in Monterrey off to a flying start, taking provisional pole on the final lap of Friday's qualifying session. His time of 1:14.305 (101.937 mph) was 0.353 seconds ahead of Newman- Haas' Sebastien Bourdais. Justin's team-mate A.J. Allmendinger was third fastest, capping a good first day for RuSPORT after the pair paced Friday morning's practice session.
• Justin and Sebastien traded fastest laps during the session, but when red flags came out after a Dan Clarke spin with four minutes left, Justin had to back out of a flying lap that was a tenth faster than the Frenchman's with three corners to go. Fortunately the track went green two minutes later and Justin's softer red Bridgestone tyres came back up to temperature in time for one more flying lap. Justin earns a valuable championship point for today's result and is guaranteed a front row spot on the grid for Sunday's race.
• "The CDW car has been working great all weekend", said Justin, "but I also I owe a lot to the Bridgestone tyres. We took a gamble with the option tyre in our second stint, but it really paid off. When the red flags came out I thought we'd lost the pole, and our one set of red tyres for qualifying tomorrow. But we managed to get one more lap in and make it count. There was still time left in the car and myself, and we're looking forward to getting out there again tomorrow.
• RuSPORT Captures Two of Top Three Spots in Provisional Qualifying for Tecate Grand Prix of Monterrey
• Justin Wilson Posts Fastest Time on His Final Lap, A.J. Allmendinger Takes Third Spot
• MONTERREY, Mexico, May 19, 2006 -- Provisional qualifying is now complete for the Tecate Grand Prix of Monterrey Presented by Roshfrans, and it turned out to be an exciting day for RuSPORT. After a red flag temporarily halted the session, Justin Wilson (#9 CDW / RuSPORT Lola / Ford-Cosworth / Bridgestone) used his last lap to post the best time of the day, stopping the clocks at 1:14.305. His teammate, A.J. Allmendinger (#10 RuSPORT Lola / Ford-Cosworth / Bridgestone) finished the session with the third-fastest lap time at 1:14.860, just behind Friday's second-place qualifier, Sebastien Bourdais.
• The result earns Wilson one point in the 2006 Champ Car World Series championship standings, where he currently sits in third position. The provisional pole also guarantees him a spot on the front row for Sunday's Tecate Grand Prix of Monterrey, at Fundidora Park. The race will mark the sixth time in Wilson's career that he has started on the front row in a Champ Car World Series event.
• "The CDW car has been working great all weekend, but I also I owe a lot to the Bridgestone tires," said Wilson. "We took a gamble with the alternate tires in our second stint, but it really paid off. When the red flags came out I thought we'd lost the pole, and our one set of red tires for qualifying tomorrow. But we managed to get one more lap in and make it count. There is still speed left in the car and myself, and we're looking forward to getting out there again tomorrow."
• "It was a good day," said Allmendinger. "We were happy to be quickest in practice, earlier in the day, and in qualifying, it wasn't too bad. With this track, there's just a fine line between having a great car, having just a good car, or having a bad car. Right now, I almost feel like we did in Long Beach...the car is close, but it's not perfect. We need to work on it a little bit more. I didn't think we were close enough to use the red tires, so I told my race engineer, Chris Lerch, that I wanted to save them for tomorrow. We're close, and I think we've got something good to build on for tomorrow."
• "The entire team did a great job, today," said RuSPORT president Jeremy Dale. "The cars were quick from the moment we unloaded them, and that's a big key to today's success. The team did an excellent job giving both of our drivers very quick cars, and the drivers did the most with what they had. Justin would probably be the first to say that his provisional pole position has a lot to do with running on the Bridgestone alternate red tires, and that was a strategic decision that he and his race engineer, Todd Malloy, made near the end of the session. It looks like it was a correct decision, because Justin came away from the session with a point. A.J. is right there, as well. He didn't have good track position today, and was in-and-out of traffic. But he's got a very quick car, and I think right now, between Sebastien Bourdais, Justin and A.J., those are the three quickest cars. I wouldn't be surprised if Bruno Junqueira plays catch-up, because he was very strong here last year, and I wouldn't be surprised if Paul Tracy plays catch-up, as well. Tomorrow should be an interesting day."

NEWMAN-HASS FRI REPORT    (TOP OF PAGE)

• McDONALD'S DRIVER BOURDAIS SECOND FAST IN PROVISIONAL QUALIFYING FOR TECATE GRAND PRIX OF MONTERREY; HOLE IN THE WALL CAMPS DRIVER JUNQUEIRA FIFTH
• Sebastien Bourdais, No. 1 McDonald's Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: "You know, if not for the result, I'd call it a miserable session for the McDonald's team. It was really bad. The first run we went out, I was just about ready to start and go fast. I caught Mario. He was definitely not willing to let me by. It seems to be the story of the season so far. Then I got pissed, made mistakes, one small one and couldn't clean the tires, got into somebody else, backed off, made another mistake. I just couldn't seem to put it together. The last two laps were going to be good but I did one good one and made again another mistake. It was like, it's going to be really difficult. I came in the pits and was a little surprised that we had pole although it was very, very slight because Justin was one-hundredth of a second or something like that behind us. I knew it was going to be a tough fight. I was pretty confident the car was good. We went back out, did one lap. The McDonald's car felt really good but the red flag came out. You know, from there on, it was kind of the end anyways because Justin was on option tires, and they seemed to be a big difference this weekend. They went back up to speed extremely quickly. I kind of did the sweeper for him in turn 10 and 11. I just couldn't do it on the last lap. When I can get it right, it seems to be working exceptionally well. Congratulations to him. This week and this year I think RuSport has definitely closed the gap. We should see that throughout the whole weekend. I hope we are still a little bit ahead. We'll check it out tomorrow."
• - FAST FACTS: Will be his fourth race here. Started from his second consecutive pole in the series in his rookie season in 2002 as well as set a track record. Led the first 16 laps but a faulty radio led to a missed pit stop. Also had a troubled pit stop and later brushed the wall entering the pits, which ultimately led to retire from the race in 17th place. Again started from pole in 2003, led 43 laps as well as set the fastest race lap en route to victory. Started from third pole in 2005 and led the first 17 laps but contact with Paul Tracy while attempting to pass him caused an extra pit stop to replace his flat tire and ultimately limited his finish to fifth place...Currently leads the series point standings with 18 over Mario Dominguez...Will attempt to become the first open wheel driver to win three consecutive championships since Ted Horn did so from 1946-1948.
• Bruno Junqueira, No. 2 Hole in the Wall Camps Ford-Cosworth/Lola/ Bridgestone: "Qualifying was just okay. We had some problems this morning and were a little behind where we wanted to be. I made a small mistake on my best lap on the first set of tires in qualifying so I knew there was more in the car. Then on my second set I couldn't get a good lap time in because of the red flags. We're going to work hard to get a better starting position in final qualifying. Overall it's close we just need to work a little to improve the car."

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