CCWS Rd. 14--Grand Prix of Mexico

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After 13 rounds, tons of aspirin, motrin, lager, and thousands of frequent flyer miles, the 2006 Champ Car World Series season is at its' endpoint, as the series returns to Mexico and the high-altitude environs of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. To quote current GP2 driver(and former ChampCar alum) Timo Glock, "it's a big balls" kind of track(Mod's note....those are Glock's words, not mine..... ). With the championship fight decided it will likely be a free-for-all as drivers will attempt to win one last time with the venerable Lola B2K chassis and Cosworth XFE-2 turbo engine before they are officially retired from active use(to be replaced with the Panoz DP01 and Cosworth XFE-3 turbo engine). Past winners(pole/race) include.............

1980: Bobby Unser, Rick Mears
1981: Bobby Unser, Rick Mears
2002: Bruno Junquiera, Kenny Brack
2003: Paul Tracy, Paul Tracy
2004: Sebastien Bourdais, Sebastien Bourdais
2005: Justin Wilson, Justin Wilson

Here is the event schedule..........
Practice Session #1} 11:15 am, 10 November 2006
Practice Session #2} 3 pm, 10 November 2006
Qualifying Session #1} 3:20 pm, 10 November 2006
Practice Session #3}11:30 am, 11 November 2006
Practice Session #4} 3 pm, 11 November 2006
Qualifying Session #2} 3:20 pm, 11 November 2006
Final Practice Session} 11 am, 12 November 2006
Grand Prix of Mexico} 3 pm, 12 November 2006

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According to the news report at Autosport, A.J. Allmendinger's ChampCar career has ended, as Forsythe Championship Racing released the California native, replacing him for the season finale with current IndyCar Series driver Buddy Rice, who currently drives for the Rahal-Letterman Racing team over in the IndyCar Series. Rice was a former Atlantics competitor earlier in the decade who was passed over by most everyone in CART, so in a sense this is his long-awaited audition for a ChampCar seat.

NOTE: in addition to Autosport, autoracing1.com and speedtv.com are also reporting on the above item

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The grid for the 2006 ChampCar season finale in Mexico City has expanded, as Forsythe Championship Racing announced earlier today that current Atlantic Championship competitor David Martinez will drive a third FCR entry in the upcoming Grand Prix of Mexico. The decision marks the first time since Mexico City 2004 that FCR ran three cars at a ChampCar race.

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According to speedtv.com, Forsythe Championship Racing's Paul Tracy, who's had a somewhat long, painful, disappointing season, may miss the season finale in Mexico City after breaking his right scapula in a golf-cart incident. Apparently, Tracy and some of his friends were enjoying a round of golf when, according to PT,

"we were jumping sand traps with a golf cart, something on the right-front broke and the golf cart tipped over. It fell on top of me and threw everybody else clear. You don't have to tell me, (but) it was dumb."

Since his scapula injury last week, he has been receiving treatment from noted orthopedic surgeon Dr. Terry Trammell, and there are hopes that he can be in sufficient shape for next week's race.

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After 136 consecutive starts(dating back to 1999), Forsythe's Paul Tracy will not be able to race in the ChampCar season finale in Mexico City due to the scapula injury he suffered last week in Las Vegas(read preceding post.....). The team has decided to run just two cars for the race, running ChampCar debutants Buddy Rice and David Martinez in this Sunday's race.

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ChampCar officials announced Wednesday that RuSport Racing's Justin Wilson, who missed the previous round in Surfers Paradise due to a broken wrist, will be allowed to do a 10-lap pre-running of the Mexico City circuit under the guidance/advice of Dr. Terry Trammell; the reason cited was the change to the circuit, which(thankfully IMO) dropped the "Mickey-Mouse" chicane prior to the legendary Peraltada corner(think Monza's Parabolica....... ). Following the test, both Wilson and Trammell will decide whether the Brit can run the event weekend.

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Top-5 from practice session #1.............

1}J. Wilson, RuSport.....................1:27.214 sec
2}S. Bourdais, Newman-Haas........1:27.322 sec
3}O. Servia, PKV..........................1:28.346 sec
4}A. Tagliani, Team Australia.........1:28.800 sec
5}B. Junquiera, Newman-Haas.......1:28.813 sec

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Top-5 from practice session #2.............

1}R. Briscoe, RuSport......................1:27.803 sec
2}N. Phillipe, CTE-HVM.....................1:28.402 sec
3}B. Junquiera, Newman-Haas..........1:28.597 sec
4}O. Servia, PKV.............................1:28.670 sec
5}J. Wilson, RuSport........................1:28.859 sec

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While the best performance of the day in the QS-1 session was Justin Wilson fighting the effects of the broken wrist he suffered Down Under, he came up just a bit short...........around .1 sec short, to 3-time series champion Sebastien Bourdais. Indeed, it was a banner day for the British Commonwealth, so to speak; besides the lanky Brit, two Australians(Power and Briscoe) placed provisionally in the top-5.........

Here are the top-five from Friday's provisional session...........
1}S. Bourdais, Newman-Haas..............1:25.449 sec
2}J. Wilson, RuSport...........................1:25.560 sec
3}(R)W. Power, Team Australia............1:25.624 sec
4}B. Junquiera, Newman-Haas.............1:26.118 sec
5}R. Briscoe, RuSport.........................1:26.494 sec

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Top-5 from Saturday's third practice session...........

1}S. Bourdais, Newman-Haas....................1:26.231 sec
2}J. Wilson, RuSport.................................1:26.417 sec
3}(R)W. Power, Team Australia..................1:26.437 sec
4}B. Junquiera, Newman-Haas...................1:26.682 sec
5}R.Briscoe, RuSport................................1:27.288 sec

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Top-5 from Saturday's 4th practice session...............

1}B. Junquiera, Newman-Haas.................1:26.341 sec
2}S. Bourdais, Newman-Haas..................1:26.451 sec
3}R. Briscoe, RuSport.............................1:26.783 sec
4}J. Wilson, RuSport...............................1:26.836 sec
5}(R)W. Power, Team Australia................1:27.555 sec

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As the sun begins to set on the 2006 season, here is the starting grid from tomorrow's season finale...............

1}Justin Wilson, #9 CDW FC/L.................................1:24.801 sec/117.763 mph
2}Sebastien Bourdais, #1 McDonald's FC/L...............1:24.986 sec/117.506 mph

3}Bruno Junquiera, #2 Hole in the Wall Camps FC/L..1:25.491 sec/116.812 sec
4}(R)Will Power, #5 Aussie Vineyards FC/L...............1:25.624 sec/116.631 sec

5}Ryan Briscoe, #10 Western Union FC/L..................1:25.643 sec/116.605 mph
6}(R)Dan Clarke, #14 Imagine Appeal FC/L..............1:25.942 sec/116.199 mph

7}Oriol Servia, #6 Gulfstream FC/L..........................1:26.088 sec/116.029 mph
8}Alex Tagliani, #15 Aussie Vineyards FC/L..............1:26.087 sec/116.004 mph

9}David Martinez, #3 Telmex/Indeck FC/L................1:26.146 sec/115.924 mph
10}Nelson Phillipe, #4 A Bird & A Bear Ent. FC/L........1:26.278 sec/115.747 mph

11}Mario Dominguez, #8 PEMEX/GISCA FC/L............1:26.450 sec/115.516 mph
12}(R)Charles Zwolsman, #34 MiJack FC/L...............1:26.480 sec/115.476 mph

13}(R)Katherine Legge, #20 Bell Micro FC/L..............1:26.607 sec/115.307 mph
14}Buddy Rice, #7 Indeck/Forsythe FC/L..................1:26.736 sec/115.136 mph

15}(R)Antonio Pizzonia, #18 Curacao FC/L................1:26.948 sec/114.855 mph
16}Andrew Ranger, #27 Wal-Mart/Tide FC/L..............1:27.089 sec/114.669 mph

17}(R)Jan Heylen, #11 Diamall/Muermans FC/L.........1:27.214 sec/114.505 mph
18}Andreas Wirth, #18 Australia Zoo FC/L................1:27.824 sec/113.686 mph

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Hola, everyone!!!!

After making my way through the paddock and hospitality areas(and consuming enough tequila and Corona Extra to pretty much float back to the States..... ) here is the Saturday notebook........

1}Farewell, Lola! When legendary grand marshal Jim Swintal does his traditional on-track waving of the checkered flag to the race winner, it will mark the end of an end. For 40+ years, Lola Cars Ltd. has won 194 races in NA motorsports, beginning with Graham Hill's win at the Brickyard in the 1960's; they've also won a combined 10 championships with drivers the likes of Mario Andretti, Bobby Rahal, Al Unser, Jr., Nigel Mansell, Cristiano da Matta and Sebastien Bourdais. Next year, the Panoz DP01 will replace the Lola B2K as the series' spec-chassis; however, the transitition should be seamless as many of Lola's personnel assigned to ChampCar have already begun working for Panoz Motorsport Group in Georgia.

2}So, which races is it? In September, ChampCar announced two European races for 2007 on their schedule; the only question was which venues would it be. According to most sources inside the paddock, Assen, Holland has been approved; the same sources also report that, barring major improvements to the circuit, Zolder, Belgium won't. An announcement is slated for next week at the series' post-season banquet in Indianapolis.

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As the sun sets on an exciting 2006 Champ Car World Series season, here is a brief recap on this afternoon's events.........

~~First lap chaos.......the race wasn't even a few hundred feet under green when the first caution of the race transpired, courtesy of local driver Mario Dominguez, who tapped the right rear of Katherine Legge's car, sending her into the inside pitwall; Legge's car, other than losing the front wing, wasn't damaged and she would finish in 16th
~~Rain and sun.......a brief period of rain midway through the race threw pit strategies into the wastebin, as drivers had to pit for Bridgestone rain tires
~~A last-lap pass for the win......despite leading 40 laps, RuSport's Justin Wilson came up just a few turns short of the victory, as series champion Sebastien Bourdais banged wheels with Wilson and got past him to win today's race
~~Congratulations!! With his first-ever podium finish, Team Australia's Will Power clinched the 2006 rookie of the year award over challenger Dan Clarke

Top-10 finishers from today's race..............
1}#1 Sebastien Bourdais.............................66 laps
2}#9 Justin Wilson......................................-3.527 sec
3}(R)#5 Will Power.....................................-46.536 sec
4}#2 Bruno Junquiera.................................-1:04.023 sec
5}#15 Alex Tagliani....................................-1:18.032 sec
6}#6 Oriol Servia.......................................-1:28.744 sec
7}#4 Nelson Phillipe....................................-1:29.997 sec
8}#27 Andrew Ranger.................................-1 lap
9}#3 David Martinez....................................-1 lap
10}#7 Buddy Rice.......................................-1 lap