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2006 CHAMP CARS         

ROUND 4: June 4 The Milwaukee Mile Milwaukee, WI

RACE RESULT   (TOP OF PAGE)

WINNER, S BOURDAIS:

• "The McDonald's car was a rocketship today. It really looked like we were going to run away with it, and I guess on lap 15 or something, the guy started to see a small leak on the right rear, then I started to think different. At that point I was very confident we were going to have a good result because the car was really good and we didn't panic and everybody knew what he had to do, and me first, and the most important thing was to finish this race, not make any mistakes, and we were already really concentrated. Then I started to hit traffic and go very quickly and play catchâ€'up a little bit, and it all worked out. I think we just ran down everybody one by one, and once we got in the lead, we just ran with it. It was an awesome feeling. I think it feels very good to have everybody change his opinion about Newman/ Haas Racing and Sebastien Bourdais on the short oval. It was one thing I really felt that needed to be a little corrected, I think. We had fairly decent cars in the past two years, not as good as the front runners, but we were still making the race happen last year and we got a sixth place out of it, which was really a disappointment. But going into this year, the team really stepped up its game, and I can't reward these guys enough for the job they've â€'â€' all the hard work they've been doing because everybody knows it. You need a good driver to have a result here, but without the car, you're just nothing. I know exactly where I'm coming from, and I know exactly where we're at today, and I know how much work is behind that. It's a great feeling, a great way to get my first win here in Milwaukee on the short oval. It's only my fourth time on that kind of track, and that feels awful good."

2ND, J WILSON:

• "I started out going to the first corner and I saw Bruno go down low so I kept my foot in it and went down on the low side of everyone. I was very pleased and the car the working well. That was a critical point in the race ahead of Bruno. I'm not sure what happened after that, but it was nice to be ahead of all the incidents. Ultimately I wasn't quite quick enough, but really it was good for the performance of the CDW #9 crew. They've done a great job and gave me a good car. It's all down to the team and the car, and if they give me the equipment, I can do the job. I'm very pleased with the opportunity today."

3RD, N PHILLIPE:

• "The season ended well for me last year and when I was able to join CTE Racing I was thrilled because I felt very motivated and confident going into the 2006 season. My relationship with the team blossomed immediately and each time we roll the car out, I know I have the tools to do a great job. We gained a lot of momentum with our fourth place result in Houston and I have been looking to this race because historically the team has an exceptional car at The Mile. This year was no different, my engineer Will (Phillips) presented me with the best oval car I have ever had. The accident on Friday set us back a bit, as we had to go to our spare car. The crew did a great job as always and we rebounded well. I am just so happy to have this podium, I knew it was coming and I couldn't be happier. We gave the fans a great performance today, especially during my battles with Sebastien and Justin, I had a blast."

6TH, K LEGGE:

• "I am actually disappointed with my race today because we had such a great car all weekend. It felt really good at the beginning of the race then, unfortunately, about a quarter of the way into the race something went wrong with the front wing. From that point on I was struggling with a massive push, massive (understeer) and the more I turned the wheel the more I would scrub the front tires away. I was just holding on trying not to hit the wall. Fortunately, the rear was very secure, which is what you want on an oval, but it was a big struggle…it was a tough race. If someone had said yesterday that I was going to finish sixth I would have been happy with that, but now I am not so sure. It is a learning process and I made it to the end of the race, so that is good. The Bell Micro -- PKV Racing team did a fantastic job. The pits stops and strategy were great and I am really proud of my team."

DNF, M DOMINGUEZ

• "I'm not sure what happened, I have to see the replay to know exactly how things went. I went inside to pass Bruno (Junqueira) coming into Turn 3 and I got under him and I thought we had enough room but coming to the exit of the turn we started pushing up and we touched and spun. It's a shame because you hate to finish off a weekend like this; we could've had another good result. We'll just put it behind us and move on to Portland."

DNF, P TRACY

• "It's very frustrating; this is the second time that Mario and I touched in four races. I saw Mario and Bruno go into Turn 3 side by side and they were very close, they touched and started spinning and I did my best to avoid it. I went in between them and I thought I was going to have enough room. Mario was in a slow spin and he barely touched me, I floored the gas pedal to try to keep if off the wall but it didn't work and I smacked the wall and that was it for the weekend."

WILSON RACE REPORT

• Justin takes first oval podium at the Milwaukee Mile
• Justin powered his #9 CDW RuSPORT car to a second place finish at the Milwaukee Mile 225, scoring his third podium out of four races in 2006 and his first ever on an oval.
• Justin led for 61 laps but the car wasn't quite fast enough to take the win. Polesitter Sebastien Bourdais made a strong recovery from an early puncture to win by a margin of 3.6s for Newman-Haas. Nelson Philippe took his maiden podium in third spot for CTE-HVM after a feisty performance which saw him go wheel-to-wheel with Justin in the closing laps of the race.
• "It was a tough race, between trying to chase down Sebastien while at the same time holding off Nelson," said Justin. "Nelson had great speed in the straights, but didn't have quite as much downforce as I did in the corners. I thought I could hold him off on the outside, but then he'd steam back up on the exit of the turns. So it was tough, but I'm just really pleased. It's a great result to finish on the podium on an oval, which is something I'm not used to. I just have to thank the CDW team because it's all about the car here and they did a fantastic job."
• Justin's RuSPORT team-mate A.J. Allmendinger finished 4th, while Britain's Katherine Legge, in finishing 6th, recorded the best ever Champ Car result by a female driver and also became the first woman to lead a race.
• Justin's result consolidates his 2nd place in the championship, 31 points behind Sebastien Bourdais, with a 29-point gap to Mario Dominguez in 3rd. The next race in the series is at Portland, Oregon in a fortnight.

TAGLIANI DID NOT START RACE

• TEAM AUSTRALIA (C GORE): "The most important issue is safety and being able to put the car together in such a way that it needs to be for oval racing, which is crucial due to the fact that there is no room for error in an oval. Another issue is the time that it will take to be able to have the car ready for the race tomorrow"

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