Champcar stuff goes here...

Wilson steals the pole in Toronto
Racing series   CHAMPCAR  
Date  2006-07-08

By Nancy Knapp Schilke - Motorsport.com

While A.J. Allmendinger and Sebastien Bourdais traded the top spot in the final round of qualifying Saturday, the Brit sneaked in at the last minute to steal the pole for Sunday's Molson Grand Prix of Toronto.

"I just managed to put it all together and make it count. The car felt great. It's been working well all weekend. Just really pleased to have finally put that one lap together and make it count," said Wilson about his final qualifying lap.

Justin Wilson laid down a flyer at 58.182 (108.590mph) to earn his third Champ Car World Series pole, his first Bridgestone Pole this season. He bested his former RuSPORT teammate and yesterday's provisional pole sitter Allmendinger by 0.082-seconds. It was not easy with one red flag for Dan Clarke and the traffic before he could get some clear laps.

"Yeah, just getting a little bit of traffic, getting held up. No matter where I was on track, I always had Oriol Servia in front of me. It was getting a little bit frustrating. Had to stay calm," explained the pole winner. "Fortunately, he'd gone out early, so he pulled off, left me two clear laps."

The Englishman's first race win came last year on the 1.755-mile Exhibition Place temporary street circuit in Toronto, Canada last year. He looks to repeat that feat on Sunday.

"You're pushing the car over the limit on many occasions, then you get to those very tricky corners, you hit the concrete patch, you have to tiptoe through the corner. It's just being able to switch between the different techniques," remarked Wilson on the circuit. "My crew have done a fantastic job, given me a car that's very drivable."

Now driving for Forsythe Racing, Allmendinger will start on the front row, even if he had not been second fastest today since he was guaranteed the front row by virtue of being the fastest racer in the first round of qualifying on Friday. The American who now resides in Toronto with his fiancee had a flyer at 58.264 (108.437mph) just minutes before Wilson garnered his fast lap.

"The car has been close all weekend. It kind of brings me back to Portland where we were just close all weekend, got it exactly right for the race. My engineering staff has been amazing so far this year getting the car perfect for the race," commented Allmendinger. "Congratulations to Justin and the whole CDW team that just nipped me at the end."

On Sunday's race, Allemdinger simply stated: "I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I think we can have a good race throughout the whole distance."

Third quickest today and earning the third slot on the grid was the points leader Sebastien Bourdais. The two-time reigning champion ended up with his fastest lap in his Newman/Haas Racing machine at 58.345 (108.287mph).

"Well, I think the McDonald's car was really back to business today, so it was really enjoyable to drive. First run could have been better timing. We got some traffic, had to back off, probably just like everybody else, and then the track got better for sure," said the Frenchman who ended up out of action for a bit in Turn 5 as he seems to have some bad luck going his way recently.

"Then on the second run, if I thought the first run was bad, it was a disaster because I did not even do a lap. The last one was looking pretty good. I was a 10th and a half ahead. Jan Heylen was trying to get out of the way of the quick cars, unfortunately he crossed the line in turn five just in front of me. I lost the rear of the car, then I had to take it easy on turn six."

Bourdais understands luck and how it can turn, he also is a fighter who still has a small cushion in the points as he aims for his third title at the end of the season: "It's always disappointing when you feel you have the car to get the job done. I guess today there were probably three cars to be able to be on this pole. So, you know, good job to these two guys. We'll fight hard tomorrow anyway."

Sitting alongside Bourdais on the second row is the hometown favorite Paul Tracy. The Canadian's lap of 58.576 (107.860mph) placed his Forsythe Racing Champ Car fourth.

"I'm not happy with our qualifying effort, I struggled the whole session just trying to find a gap, every time I started a fast lap somebody would slow down in front of me and I had to start all over again," explained an unhappy Tracy. "We put the red tires on for the final stint but we just couldn't improve anymore, for some reason we just can't figure out how to make the car work on the reds and it's really been a problem for qualifying."

PKV Racing's Oriol Servia slotted fifth fastest at 58.920 (107.230mph). The Spaniard earned his first career win last year in Montreal. His best this season was third in Cleveland. No doubt, Servia is hoping the charm of Canada will put him back on the podium. He and the rest of the field have their work cut out for them as Allmendinger is on a hot streak and Bourdais, until Cleveland, has always been one to beat. Add Wilson to the mix and Tracy who are itching for their first 2006 victories and the race could be quite spectacular even on a tight, twisting with little room to pass street circuit.

"I think the Gulfstream -- PKV Racing team had a decent performance today. I wouldn't call it brilliant, but I am happy, not satisfied, but happy with the way qualifying went," remarked Servia. "We continued to improve on what we developed in Cleveland, so that is good. It is hard to catch the guys in front, but we knew that it would be. We are going to continue to try and challenge them. "I think the Gulfstream -- PKV Racing car is a podium car for sure and that is what we need to do tomorrow--finish on the podium."

Sixth belonged to Andrew Ranger who last season became the youngest driver to earn a podium finish in Monterrey, Mexico. Since then the French-Canadian racer has had his share of ups and downs. Now in his second Champ Car season, he hopes to improve on this year's best finish of sixth, along with his Mi-Jack Conquest Racing team.

"We knew this morning after practice that the car was good. We really wanted to qualify in the top-ten today because it's important for the start of the race. I'm very, very happy. The team did an excellent job," Ranger said as he added his thoughts about tomorrow's race, "We just have to remain calm tomorrow at the start and during the race because anything can happen at the first turn and in turn three."

Frenchman Nelson Philippe landed his first podium at Milwaukee and now would like to move up a step or two. The CTE Racing - HVM will start from seventh. In his new ride since Portland, Cristiano da Matta placed his RuSPORT car eighth on the grid.

Rounding out the top ten were Bruno Junqueira (NHR) and Alex Tagliani (Team Australia). Sunday's green flag will start the seventh round of Champ Car competition at 12:30pm (EDT) with a warmup in the morning for the drivers.

I will be watching tonights race live on Race Director at 12:30am and then I am watching Italy V France in the World Cup live on SBS at 2:00am.

Go Italy!

Great. Thanks to my stupid slow piece of crap computer I can't watch the race live. I will now have to get up at 2:00am tomorow to watch Channel Ten's crappy coverage in over 24 hours.  

Power breaks Aussie Champ Car duck

Team Australia's Will Power became the first Australian to win a Champ Car World Series race with a triumph in the Vegas Grand Prix this morning.

Power started from pole and dominated throughout to take the flag ahead of Dutch rookie Robert Doornbos and Canadian Champ Car veteran Paul Tracy.

Three-time defending champion Sebastien Bourdais of France capped a frustrating opening weekend by failing to finish, along with his young Newman-Haas team-mate Graham Rahal.

Bourdais, who started from the last row of the grid after brushing the wall in final qualifying, crashed after 30 laps of the 68-lap race on the temporary circuit through the streets of Las Vegas.

Bourdais had made a superb move through the field up to fifth place when a puncture forced him into the pits, then his brush with the wall ended his day for good

Bourdais's rookie team-mate Graham Rahal, 18, made an even earlier exit after a first-lap crash.

Power, seeking to build on his rookie of the year season in 2006, was 16.787sec ahead of Doornbos.

Other former Australian podium winners in the US open-wheel circuit have included Geoff Brabham and former Formula One world champion Alan Jones, but Power became the first Australian to stand on the top step.

Power's team-mate, Simon Pagenaud of France, withdrew after 47 laps with engine problems.

Canada's Alex Tagliani and France's Tristan Gommendy rounded out the top five.

Power leads the Champ Car standings with 32 points, ahead of Doombos (27) and Tracy (26).

The series shifts to Long Beach, California, for the second race of the season next weekend.

-AFP

http://www.abc.net.au/sport/content/200704/s1892544.htm