2006 CCWS Rd.7--Molson Grand Prix of Toronto

[mlittle]

With the teams and drivers of the Champ Car World Series having survived the weekend crashfest a/k/a Cleveland, the series now travels across the border to the Great Frozen North(.... ........), also known as Canada, specifically its' largest city, Toronto, home of the sole remaining Canadian professional baseball team(the Toronto Blue Jays) in Major League Baseball, the tallest communications structure in the world(the CN Tower), and, since 1986, one of the best races in NA motorsports, the Molson Grand Prix of Toronto(formerly the Molson Indy Toronto). For 20+ years, some of NA motorsports' greats have etched their names onto the winners' list in Toronto....including Bobby Rahal(1986 winner), Emerson Fittipaldi(1987 winner), Alex Zanardi(1998 winner) and Michael Andretti(1989, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 2000 and 2001 winner). The past four years have seen four different drivers(da Matta, Tracy, Bourdais and Wilson) win; will the streak continue, or will a previous winner reclaim the top spot on the podium? Here is the event schedule for the weekend.....(note, all times U.S. EDT, -4 hrs. GMT)

Practice Session #1}10:15 am, 7 July 2006
Practice Session #2}2 pm, 7 July 2006
Qualifying Session #1}2:20 pm, 7 July 2006
Practice Session #3}10:30 am, 8 July 2006
Practice Session #4}2 pm, 8 July 2006
Qualifying Session #2}2:20 pm, 8 July 2006
Final Practice Session}8:30 am, 9 July 2006
Molson Grand Prix of Toronto, 12:30 pm, 9 July 2006, to be broadcast live on CBS Sports(domestic US network television) and on TSN(Canadian cable network), with radio broadcast on the Champ Car Radio Network, XM Satellite Radio, Ch. 205, along with CBC Sports Radio and Radio Canada International(RCI).

As always, I'll have qual. and race reviews, commentaries, observations and whatever passes by during the event weekend.

[mlittle]

For the second consecutive year, contractual/sponsorship problems will sideline a ChampCar driver; last year, it was HVM's Ronnie Bremer; this weekend, it's Rocketsports' Nicky Pastorelli who will watch from the stands this weekend. According to team sources, one of Pastorelli's sponsors defaulted on a payment to the team, forcing them to sit Pastorelli for the Toronto round. The team added that they are assisting Pastorelli in finding sponsorship for the remainder of the year.

[mlittle]

Series officials this morning issued a technical bulletin announcing that, for Sunday's Molson Grand Prix of Toronto, the horsepower levels on the Ford-Cosworth XFE-2 turbo V8 will be set at 725hp rather than the normal 750hp, with the "boost" setting on the engines increased from 50hp to 75hp(total horsepower is still at 800hp).

[mlittle]

Here are some of the interesting non-racing highlights of today's action in Toronto.................

1}New agent for Allmendinger. ChampCar's newest star, Forsythe Championship Racing driver A.J. Allmendinger, has hired CSS Stellar Mgmt. as his business agent; the renowned firm also represents F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya and IndyCar Series driver Dario Franchitti. The move, according to sources, will allow Allmendinger to concentrate on driving exclusively. It also helps that he will drive for FCR through the 2006 season, which takes a burden off of him during the year.

2}More sponsorship signs abounding..........according to ar1.com, not only is attendance up today from past years, but more companies are advertising at the track, as evidenced by the new sponsor signs throughout the track.

3}Drivers roaming the paddock for rides.............sources report that former ChampCar drivers Darren Manning and Ronnie Bremer were in the paddock, looking for rides during the remainder of the 2006 season. Bremer drove in 2005 for both HVM and Dale Coyne, while Manning drove in 2003 for Walker Racing, then for the IRL's Target/Ganassi Racing squad in 2004 and part of 2005.

4}Perfect weather...........weather forecasts for the weekend are what airline pilots refer to as "severe clear"..........almost no clouds in the sky, and blue skies above. Perfect weather for some racing.

[mlittle]

What was beginning to look like the Sebastien Bourdais show is seemingly turning into the A.J. Allmendinger contest, as the new Forsythe driver continues his streak of success, setting a late flyer to take provisional pole Friday in Toronto, guaranteeing a front-row starting spot and the championship point that goes with it. Allmendinger set a lap of 58.621 sec., besting former RuSport teammate Justin Wilson by over .2 secs. CTE-HVM's Nelson Phillipe was third, while rivals Paul Tracy and Sebastien Bourdais were P4 and P5 respectively. Here are the top-5 from the QS-1 session..............

1st}A.J. Allmendinger, Forsythe Ch. Racing..................58.621 sec
2nd}Justin Wilson, RuSport.........................................58.830 sec
3rd}Nelson Phillipe, CTE-HVM......................................59.203 sec
4th}Paul Tracy, Forsythe Ch. Racing............................59.274 sec
5th}Sebastien Bourdais, Newman-Haas Racing.............59.313 sec

[mlittle]

Man, the view from the observation lounge at the CN Tower is breathtakingly stunning.............now, the notebook........

1}It's the timing.........it's been an interesting season for A.J. Allmensinger since joining Forsythe Championship Racing prior to Portland. There, he won provisional pole, then led 100 of 105 laps and won the race. Last round, he won final qual. and then won a hectic Cleveland race. This weekend began as in Portland.....with him winning the QS-1(provisional) session. Question is.......can he make it three straight?

2}Win some, lose some...........For once, the paddock in Toronto looked healthier than it has in previous years, as CTE-HVM Racing, Team Australia, PKV Racing, MiJack-Conquest Racing and Ford had large hospitality tents up, joining regulars Forsythe, Newman-Haas and RuSport(now the place doesn't look like a ghost town........ ) On the other hand......the car count, which thanks to Tonis Kasemets, had returned to 18 cars, is back to 17 cars..... thanks to Nicky Pastorelli, who's sponsorship woes have sidelined him for this round.

3}It'll be a red day tomorrow.......of all the drivers on the grid, Nelson Phillipe was the only one who opted not to use the Bridgestone option tires(the "reds"), and still he provisionally set the third-fastest time of QS-1, suggesting that when QS-2 takes place tomorrow, there may be challenge awaiting Allmendinger for pole.

[mlittle]

Although former teammate A.J. Allmendinger held the point for most of QS-2 Saturday, RuSport's Justin Wilson(#9 CDW FC/L), the defending race winner at Toronto, reeeled off two quick laps at the end of the session to capture the pole for Sunday's Molson Grand Prix of Toronto. Behind the former teammates there should be plenty of fireworks in P3 and P4, as perennial rivals Paul Tracy and Sebastien Bourdais qualified on row 2(Tracy-P4, Bourdais-P3). Here now is the starting grid for the Molson Grand Prix of Toronto....

1}Justin Wilson, #9 CDW.............................................58.182 sec/108.590 mph
2}A.J. Allmendinger, #7 Indeck/Forsythe.......................58.264 sec/108.437 mph

3}Sebastien Bourdais, #1 McDonald's............................58.345 sec/108.287 mph
4}Paul Tracy, #3 Indeck/Forsythe..................................58.576 sec/107.860 mph

5}Oriol Servia, #6 Gulfstream.......................................58.920 sec/107.230 mph
6}Andrew Ranger, #27 MiJack-Tide................................59.059 sec/106.978 mph

7}Nelson Phillipe, #4 A Bird & A Bear Ent........................59.092 sec/106.920 mph
8}Cristiano da Matta, #10 Western Union........................59.102 sec/106.900 mph

9}Bruno Junquiera, #2 Hole in the Wall Camps................59.116 sec/106.875 mph
10}Alex Tagliani, #15 Aussie Vineyards..........................59.120 sec/106.867 mph

11}Mario Dominguez, #19 Sonny's Real Pit BBQ..............59.637 sec/105.941 mph
12}(R)Will Power, #5 Aussie Vineyards...........................59.687 sec/105.852 mph

13}(R)Jan Heylen, #11 Diamall/Muermans......................1:00.132 sec/105.069 mph
14}(R)Charles Zwolsman, #34 GoldenPalace.com............1:00.176 sec/104.992 mph

15}(R)Katherine Legge, #20 Bell Micro/Optium................1:00.276 sec/104.818 mph
16}(R)Dan Clarke, #14 A Bird & A Bear Ent....................1:00.688 sec/104.106 mph

17}(R)Tonis Kasemets, #18 Flexovit Abrasives................1:01.182 sec/103.266 mph

[mlittle]

In 1994, American Al Unser, Jr. won three consecutive races, Long Beach, Indy and Milwaukee. Today, A.J. Allmendinger equaled that record, winning a close battle on the streets of Toronto to take his third consecutive win of the year in the 2006 Molson Grand Prix of Toronto.

Unlike the main undercard, the Atlantic Championship race, which saw a bit of racing carnage on-track, the 17 starters in the ChampCar race made it safely through the Prince's Gate corner(turn 1). Polesitter Justin Wilson(#9 CDW FC/L) led the early going, followed by Bourdais and Tracy, who made it through the first few corners without seeing one car parked on the other.... For about the first nine or so laps, it was a rather calm race, for Toronto......then the first caution of the day came out, as rookies Katherine Legge(#20 Bell Micro/Optium FC/L) and Jan Heylen(#11 Diamall/Muermans FC/L) got together in turn 3 and spun, partially blocking the track. As a result, most of the drivers decided to come in on their first stops of the day for fuel and tires, except Nelson Phillipe(#4 A Bird & A Bear Ent. FC/L), Oriol Servia(#6 Gulfstream FC/L) and Bruno Junquiera(#2 Hole in the Wall Camps FC/L), who moved to the front, with Junquiera inheriting the lead. Back on pitroad, an excellent stop allowed Allmendinger(#7 Indeck/Forsythe FC/L) to leapfrog around Wilson once they were back on track, setting the stage for Allmendinger's charge to the front.

Meanwhile, the lead had cycled over to CTE-HVM's Phillipe, who held P1 for 22 laps until having to pit on lap 35; this handed the lead over to Allmendinger. Meanwhile, "the Thrill from West Hill"(Tracy) began moving towards the front, making several attempts to pass rival Bourdais until finally getting around him and then, several laps later, passing Wilson for second. Once past the lanky Brit, PT began to cut into his teammate's 5-sec. lead. By the second round of stops, Tracy had narrowed the lead down to around 2 seconds.

As everyone came in for another round of stops, the lead passed from Allmendinger to Servia, who led for several laps, then over to Phillipe, who led until having to pit for fuel and tires. By the time everyone had cycled through, Allmendinger was back on the point. Soon, it became a 2-horse battle, as the American had built a near 3-sec. lead over the hometown favorite, with the next person back over 20 seconds back. Unfortunately, that large gap went out the window, courtesy of an incident between Phillipe and Servia at the approach to turn 3; Servia braked early, surprising Phillipe, who hit the back of Servia's car, sending both of them down the escape road and into the tire barriers.

There was a silver lining for everyone, though; the caution period removed doubts as to whether anyone would run out of fuel. When the green flag flew with four laps to go, Allemendinger was up to the challenge, holding off Tracy and Bourdais for a 1.8 second win over Tracy. Bourdais finished third, while polesitter Wilson finished 4th. Rounding out the top-5 was 2002 series champion Cristiano da Matta in the second RuSport entry. Here are the top-10 from today's race.......

1st}#7 A.J. Allmendinger..............................86 laps
2nd}#3 Paul Tracy.......................................-1.851 secs
3rd}#1 Sebastien Bourdais...........................-2.433 secs
4th}#9 Justin Wilson.....................................-4.169 secs
5th}#10 Cristiano da Matta...........................-6.761 secs
6th}#15 Alex Tagliani...................................-8.382 secs
7th}(R)#5 Will Power....................................-9.662 secs
8th}#2 Bruno Junquiera................................-12.176 secs
9th}(R)#34 Charles Zwolsman......................-1 lap
10th}#27 Andrew Ranger.............................-1 lap

[mlittle]

How's that saying.........."a day late, but not a dollar short." Here's the Sunday notebook.........

1}He's barely hanging on.....to 4th. For all the things that have happened in the ChampCar season this year, here's one example...despite not having the best of seasons', second-year driver Andrew Ranger is still in 4th place. That's the good news; the bad news is that A) he's tied for 4th w/Alex Tagliani, and B)that close behind are......Paul Tracy, Mario Dominguez, Bruno Junquiera, and Cristiano da Matta.

2}Mixed reactions to Montoya's decision. One major topic of conversation in the ChampCar paddock was Juan Pablo Montoya's decision to leave the high-tech world of Formula 1 for the push-rod world of NASCAR. Some, such as semi-retired driver Jimmy Vasser, think Montoya will succeed. Some, like Paul Tracy, were ambivalent, saying that he'd have to adapt his driving style to the patience/finesse of a 3400-lb stock car. At least Montoya will get a jump on 2007; reports are that he'll drive a few Busch Series races once the F1 season ends.

3}Decent ratings for the Toronto race............after seeing a low of 0.3/2 in 2004(when the race was on Spike TV), the Toronto race's overnight ratings were 0.8/3, marking the second cons. year the TV broadcasts have gotten better(2005's was a 0.5/2).