Subscription

Car Racing

Motorcycle Racing

Racing in Oz

Shop

2006 CHAMP CARS         

ROUND 9: July 30 Streets of San Jose San Jose, CA

RACE RESULT

NEWMAN-HAAS RACE REPORT (BOURDAI 1ST, JUNQUEIRA DNF)    (TOP OF PAGE)

• McDONALD'S DRIVER BOURDAIS EARNED FIFTH WIN OF SEASON AT THE CANARY FOUNDATION GRAND PRIX OF SAN JOSE PRESENTED BY TAYLOR WOODROW; HOLE IN THE WALL CAMPS DRIVER JUNQUEIRA COLLECTED IN LAP 2 INCIDENT
• - McDonald's0x00ae driver Sebastien Bourdais increased his pre-race lead of 23-points over second place Justin Wilson to 31 after earning his fifth win of the season and led 69 of today's 97-lap Canary Foundation Grand Prix of San Jose Presented by Taylor Woodrow. He earned his second consecutive win in as many races in San Jose in dominant fashion, only giving up the lead for two drivers on an alternate fuel strategy and for three when Paul Tracy held the lead after jumping the start. He earned his 23rd pole in the series on Saturday and started from the top spot on Sunday on the red alternate Bridgestone tires. The race started under caution because the field was not lined up correctly.
• On the second attempt, the field approached the start/finish line and Paul Tracy pulled alongside Bourdais and into the lead as the green came out. Entering the tight Turn 1 hairpin at approx 25 mph, Tracy locked up a his brakes, Bourdais slowed and A.J. Allmendinger ran into the back of him and damaged his front wing which required an extra pit stop to replace the part. On the following lap Will Power ran into the back of Oriol Servia and also collected Bruno Junqueira. All but Junqueira continued and the second caution period of the race came out on Lap 3.
• During the same lap, race control ruled that Tracy had passed Bourdais prior to reaching the start/finish line and ordered him to relinquish the position. The race was restarted on Lap 5 and Bourdais steadily began to build a lead of 3.4 seconds over Tracy by Lap 13. On Lap 17 Tracy slid into a tire barrier and subsequently dropped to fourth place which then gave Bourdais a seven second lead over second place Cristiano da Matta.
• On Lap 32 Dan Clarke got by da Matta and Bourdais held a nine second lead over second place. The next caution period came out from Laps 36-40 when Katherine Legge slid into the tire wall in Turn 6 and the majority of the field made their first of two anticipated pit stops on Lap 37 when the pits opened. Bourdais returned to the track on his second set of "alternate" Bridgestone tires and maintained the lead. When the race was restarted he held a one second lead over second place Clarke but increased it to two by Lap 49 when Clarke stopped in the runoff area due to gearbox failure. A few laps later Paul Tracy missed the apex and drove into the runoff area in Turn 6, spun his car around and jumped back on track in the path of oncoming fourth place runner Alex Tagliani and the damage resulting from contact between the two was irreparable. The incident led to a confrontation while the two were walking back to their pits. All but Charles Zwolsman and Oriol Servia used the caution period to make their final pit stops therefore Bourdais returned to the track in third place behind the duo. Once the race was restarted on Lap 59 he attempted to get by Zwolsman who lost the lead to Servia but was unable to do so until Lap 73. He regained the lead on Lap 80 when Servia pit and from Laps 82-85 the final caution of the race was brought out when Legge and Andrew Ranger made contact. For the final restart, Bourdais had 38 seconds remaining of Push to Pass while second place da Matta had 15 and Justin Wilson, who had started 12th but was now third had only 9.
• The race was restarted on Lap 85 of 97 and Bourdais was not challenged.
• He had repeatedly set and bettered the fastest lap of the race throughout the event and his time on Lap 94 stood as the fastest of the race. He took the checkered flag 6.686-seconds ahead of da Matta for his fifth win in nine races this season. He collected 31 points for the win, one for leading and one for setting the fastest race lap for a total of 255 to Wilson's 224 with five races to go in the season.
• Following are his post race comments:
  "Well, I think it was a brilliant day for the McDonald's team," said Bourdais. "We just had the perfect setup. The car would take a few laps to really go up to speed. But once it was there, it was just unstoppable. It was a great feeling. I was able to, without taking stupid chances, really run fast towards the end of the race when the fuel didn't matter any more. At the start, I was just really, really surprised that they threw the green flag when P.T. did what he did, really jumping it. Clearly he was ahead already as soon as we put full throttle. You know, he had been asked to be on my rear wing. That wasn't exactly what I was looking for. You know, I just had to give him the position. That was quite frustrating. I was really happy to see that race control decided to correct that. Once we got in the lead, we really didn't have anybody that seemed to be able to get to us. Obviously, it's a little bit of a shame for Clarke. He seemed to have a pretty good car. In the meantime, I'm pretty sure he wasn't saving fuel when all of us were. He could stay with me for quite some time after the first pit stop. But I was just kind of holding him just to make sure , far enough to make sure he wasn't going to try anything, in the meantime saving as much fuel as I could, maintaining that pace. The deal changed a little bit as soon as he had the mechanical. I didn't have to push quite as much. I could save a lot more fuel. We never kind of could show where we were going to stop or anything because both stops were under yellow.
• Anyway, it was a great day for us. I really enjoyed driving the car.
• The car was rubbering in and getting very nice to drive. I think I hope the fans really liked it because it seemed like it was quite hectic behind me."
• - Hole in the Wall Camps driver Bruno Junqueira retired from the Canary Foundation Grand Prix of San Jose Presented by Taylor Woodrow after a Lap 2 incident where he was hit by Will Power after the Australian ran into the back of Oriol Servia's race car then collected Junqueira. Both Power and Servia were able to continue although Power was penalized and had to serve a drive through penalty for avoidable contact but Junqueira's car suffered left suspension damage and he was unable to continue. He collected four points for 17th place and dropped from a ninth place rank to 12th with a total of 112.
• Following are his post race comments:
  "Will Power braked in the middle of the track and hit Oriol," said Junqueira. "I was very close so I couldn't avoid being collected. My car was good this morning in race trim and we set the fourth fastest time in the warm-up. It was good in the race and we had the potential to get a good result so its disappointing for myself and the team because we have worked hard to get some good results."

JUSTIN WILSON RACE REPORT    (TOP OF PAGE)

• Justin celebrates well-deserved podium in San Jose
  Justin and the #9 CDW team put in an excellent performance at the San Jose Grand Prix, bouncing back from 12th on the grid to take 3rd at the chequered flag. Team-mate Cristiano da Matta was 2nd, making it RuSPORT's second double podium of the year, while Sebastien Bourdais won the race for Newman-Haas.
• After struggling with the car's handling in the practice sessions, come Sunday the #9 car had decent race pace. Justin drove a faultless race while a number of others - including both Forsythe drivers - tangled with other cars or the tyre barriers. This, together with great pit work by the CDW team and a few good overtaking moves, allowed Justin to work his way through the field and onto the podium. He gained a championship point for making up the most places during the race.
• The result was Justin's sixth podium from nine races this season and it keeps him firmly in the hunt for the drivers championship. He remains in second place, 31 points behind Sebastien, but extends his lead over A.J. Allmendinger to 14 points.
• "Yesterday's crash really hurt my pride more than anything - I can't remember the last time I put a car in the wall on my own!" said Justin. "I'm really pleased with the way the #9 CDW team bounced back and gave me the opportunity to get on the podium. I managed to avoid a lot of incidents and the pit-stops worked out well for us. I'm really happy for Cristiano as well. To get both cars on the podium is fantastic for RuSPORT and CDW."

RUSPORT RACE REPORT - DA MATTA 2ND, WILSON 3RD    (TOP OF PAGE)

• RuSPORT Captures Two Places on Podium in San Jose
• Cristiano da Matta takes second place for first podium finish of 2006, Justin Wilson improves from twelfth to third place on streets of San Jose
• SAN JOSE, Calif., July 30, 2006 , After a day filled with spins, crashes, and the occasional emotional outburst by other Champ Car drivers, Cristiano da Matta (#10 RuSPORT Ford-Cosworth / Lola / Bridgestone) captured second place in the 2006 Grand Prix of San Jose, his first podium finish of the 2006 Champ Car World Series season and the 20th of his Champ Car career. His teammate, Justin Wilson (#9 CDW / RuSPORT Ford-Cosworth / Lola / Bridgestone) improved from 12th on the starting grid to third place at the finish, and captured his sixth podium finish of 2006 and the ninth of his Champ Car career.
• For da Matta, the result allows him to move up from tenth to seventh in the Champ Car Driver's Championship, while Wilson's finish keeps him in second place behind the points leader, Sebastien Bourdais. Wilson also earned an additional championship point for improving the most places in the race.
• "I'm very happy with the result," said da Matta. "It's my first podium with RuSPORT, and I'm not only happy with the result, but happy with how we progressed throughout the weekend, and happy how we found speed in the car. I hope we're able to apply the things we've learned here to some other tracks, and enable us to be consistently fast."
• "I'm very pleased with how today went, especially since life was pretty difficult after qualifying," said Wilson. "The CDW crew did a fantastic job, and I managed to avoid all of the incidents and stay out of trouble. I'm really pleased that we kept the championship alive, and that we were able to keep fighting."
• "San Jose proved again today that the smartest drivers come to the front," said RuSPORT owner Carl Russo. "Just like last year, a mistake-free run yielded a good result. After having a tough qualifying session and qualifying fourth and 12th, both gentlemen made great decisions and ended up second and third on the podium. It was an outstanding drive by both Cristiano and Justin. For Cristiano, on his first podium with the team, a double congratulations."

Advertising Enquiry