Round 12--Lexmark Indy 300

All about the Champ Car World Series (CCWS)

Moderators: Ed, mlittle

Who will win the Lexmark Indy 300?

Poll ended at Mon Oct 24, 2005 3:26 pm

Sebastien Bourdais
2
67%
Paul Tracy
0
No votes
A.J. Allmendinger
1
33%
Timo Glock
0
No votes
Oriol Servia
0
No votes
Oriol Servia
0
No votes
Alex Tagliani
0
No votes
none of the above
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 3

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Post by mlittle » Sat Oct 22, 2005 2:20 pm

Da Matta on a flyer; improves to P1 with a 1:33.897!

Wilson on a flyer; the former F1 driver, now with Colorado-based RuSport Racing, now jumps into P1. As the track is far dryer than yesterday, chances are whoever is P1 in this session WILL be the polesitter for the race tomorrow.
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Post by mlittle » Sat Oct 22, 2005 2:22 pm

Top 5 in the session after 10 mins.: Wilson, Da Matta, Servia, Dominguez, and Tagliani.

Race control reports that Rodalfo Lavin will receive a drive-through penalty for a chicane shortcut. Da Matta retakes P1 from Wilson with a 1:33.396. The times are starting to fall fast now!
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Post by mlittle » Sat Oct 22, 2005 2:25 pm

PT on a flying lap now...takes P3 in the session for the moment. His teammate, Mario Dominguez, now takes P1 with a time of 1:33.357. Provisionally, Dominguez slots into 1st, with Bourdais into 2nd.

PT retakes P1 from Dominguez. Most of the drivers, according to live timing/scoring, have completed(including their outlaps) around 5-7 laps....expect most to pit, switch out tires, and begin the second qual. stint shortly.
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Post by mlittle » Sat Oct 22, 2005 2:27 pm

Race ctrl. reports Fabrizio Del Monte will receive a drive-through penalty for shortcutting a chicane, as will Mario Dominguez.

After 15 mins., top-5 in the session are Tracy, Dominguez, Da Matta, Wilson and Vasser, although, because Bourdais already is guaranteed a front-row spot, everyone after Tracy currently will slot into P3 and behind.
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Post by mlittle » Sat Oct 22, 2005 2:28 pm

Race control waves the red flag; they're reporting debris in the turn 7 area. Top 5 in the session still unchanged.
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Post by mlittle » Sat Oct 22, 2005 2:32 pm

They've picked up the debris and the green is back out; the session resumes!
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Post by mlittle » Sat Oct 22, 2005 2:33 pm

Race ctrl. reporting that series points leader Sebastien Bourdais will get a drive-through penalty for, yes, shortcutting a chicane. He's the fourth or fifth driver in the session to do so.

Top 5 in the session still unchanged.
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Post by mlittle » Sat Oct 22, 2005 2:36 pm

Now Oriol Servia will get a drive-through; can these guys drive through the chicanes rather than the pits for short-cutting the chicanes?

Now that there are around 10-11 mins. left in the session, expect the drivers to take every possible lap left to them in the session; most should have around 7 or 8 laps left, although Dominguez, Da Matta and Servia have 5 laps left(including their outlaps!).
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Post by mlittle » Sat Oct 22, 2005 2:40 pm

And Dominguez draws the first arrow; takes P1 with a 1:32.872!

Allmendinger now P3 in the session, putting him 4th on the combined qual. chart. The top 7 in the session, from Dominguez to Servia, are separated by less than 1 sec.
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Post by mlittle » Sat Oct 22, 2005 2:42 pm

Dominguez on another flying lap.....1:32.667; Da Matta improves to P2 with a 1:32.957.

Four minutes in the session...top 5 at the moment are Dominguez, Da Matta, Tracy, Allmendinger and Bourdais.
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Post by mlittle » Sat Oct 22, 2005 2:43 pm

And Servia now takes P1 with a 1:32.616! According to live timing/scoring, the top 6 have improved on their fast laps, yet the positions are unchanged!
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Post by mlittle » Sat Oct 22, 2005 2:49 pm

Race control reporting that Paul Tracy has brushed the wall and has damage to the car....will they call a red flag and end the session?

Dominguez on one last flyer......and he comes up just short; Servia will take the pole for Sunday's race, Bourdais will start 2nd. Bourdais, however, has clinched the series championship with yesterday's provisional pole.

Your kidding me.....race control reports that Servia has run of fuel on the track!! He has come to a dead stop; he has run out of fuel! So have Jimmy Vasser and Will Power, they're out as well! Were they on very light fuel loads for the session?

Normally, unlike in F1, most CC(and now IRL road course qual.) sessions, are done on, you would think, full race trim(which should include full tanks of racing methanol fuel!)
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Observations from the Gold Coast, 21 October 2005

Post by mlittle » Sat Oct 22, 2005 3:19 pm

Well, with all my commentaries from the two qual. sessions, I'd almost forgot to make the usual observations....Here goes everything.....

1}Seen at Surfers, I: Making his way around the ChampCar paddock yesterday was former Toyota Atlantics owner Keith Hylton, who's steered the early careers of racers such as Ryan Hunter-Reay and Ryan Dalziel, hinted to many in the paddock that he may field an Atlantics team in 2006, with the eventual goal being a ChampCar team in 2007. All I can say is...the more, the merrier.

2}Here's hoping for a speedy recovery! Last weekend, reports came from Fontana that CCWS legend Al Unser, Sr. had been hospitalized for pancreatitis. From the NA motorsports desk, let's all wish Big Al a speedy recovery. Get well soon!!

3}What to expect tomorrow? If the last few years are any indication, that's like asking someone to predict the impossible! We've had cars shortcutting chicanes, a couple smack the tire-and-concrete walls, and we've even had a few run out of fuel in qualifying. And the race isn't until tomorrow! But there is one certainty; chances are, we'll see another first-time race winner. It's been 14 yrs. now, and the odds are that, come Sunday evening, it will be 15 yrs. in a row.

As always, I'll provide a race summary tomorrow, as well as observations on the weekend at Surfers. Good luck, and enjoy the racing!!
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SeaBass Wins on the Gold Coast

Post by mlittle » Sun Oct 23, 2005 7:27 pm

For the 15th consecutive year a first-time winner took the checkers at Surfers Paradise as Newman-Haas Racing's Sebastien Bourdais(#1 McDonald's FC/L) won in a dominating fashion, aided by miscues from some of the front-runners and excellent driving on his part.

At the drop of the green, the 19-car field roared down the frontstraight towards the first set of chicanes, and, as many expected, there was a chain-reaction crash as Cristiano Da Matta(#21 Bell Micro FC/L) rear-ended polesitter Oriol Servia(#2 PacifiCare FC/L), spinning Servia around. The incident also took out Forsythe's Mario Dominguez(#7 Indeck/Forsythe FC/L) with severe right-front susp. damage; Dominguez retired after 1 lap. The ensuing melee put Bourdais's nemesis, Paul Tracy(#3 Indeck/Forsythe FC/L) at the front of the line for the restart, and PT proceeded to check out, driving his car as if it were on rails. Tracy would lead the first 19 laps, while Bourdais and the two RuSport drivers, A.J. Allmendinger(#10 Intel/Acer FC/L) and Justin Wilson(#10 SanDisk FC/L) soon gave chase. Then the first set of stops began, with Servia pitting on lap 18 from the back of the pack. Then, after setting the then fastest-lap, Tracy would pit; his team short-filled him, hoping for a caution closer to the end. Little did they know that a gearbox failure a few laps later would end Tracy's day. On the next lap, Bourdais pitted from 1st, and he would hold on to 1st.

With PT's retirement from the race, it soon fell to American Allmendinger to give chase to Bourdais, but SeaBass would not be seriously challenged the remainder of the race, building leads of up to 10 secs. at times....until the second and final caution of the day, as Team Australia's Alex Tagliani(#15 Aussie Vineyards FC/L) "nudged" teammate Will Power(#25 Aussie Vineyards FC/L) into the turn 3 tirewalls; although the CC Safety Team gave Power a tow-start, his rear wing mounts were too badly damaged to replace the rear wing and Power retired. As the final round of stops cycled around, it became apparent to the more than 100,000+ Aussie fans in attendance that Bourdais would not be beat, as the Frenchman rolled to a 9.13 sec. win over Allmendiger, with 1996 racewinner Jimmy Vasser(#12 Gulfstream FC/L) the final podium finisher; Tagliani would finish 4th with Servia finishing 5th(remarkable since he had to make 3 stops on the day and charged from 17th up to 5th). For Bourdais, it's his 6th win of the year; more importantly, he becomes the 5th driver in ChampCar's "modern era"(since 1979) to win back-to-back titles, joining the likes of Rick Mears(1981-1982), Bobby Rahal(1986-1987), Alex Zanardi(1997-1998) and Gil de Ferran(2000-2001).

Meanwhile, the Roshfrans Rookie-of-the-Year Award was settled, as Rocketsports' Timo Glock(#8 DHL Global Mail FC/L) clinched the award with a 6th-place finish, becoming the first German-born driver to do so. The Champ Car World Series concludes its' 2005 season with the Grand Prix of Mexico, from the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City on November 6th.

NOTES OF INTEREST:
1-By clinching the Vanderbilt Cup with his win, Sebastien Bourdais becomes the third driver to do so in the past four years(the exception being 2004, when Bruno Junquiera won at Surfers).
2-For the second straight year, Newman-Haas Racing will finish 1-2 in the overall standings, as Oriol Servia just needs to start the race in Mexico City to clinch the runner-up spot.
3-Sunday attendance at Surfers, according to even organizers, was reported at 105,297 people; the overall attendance was 316,459 people, a new record for the event.
4-By leading for 19 laps, Paul Tracy will, for the fourth cons. yr., have over 500 laps led in comeptition(currently has 512 laps led).
5-By completing every lap of the 57 scheduled, Bourdais is on pace to beat the modern era-record for laps completed set by Rick Mears in 1979(SeaBass has completed 1239 out of a total 1240 laps this year; Mears, in 1979, finished 1342 out of 1348 total).

Commentaries and observations to follow Sunday(well, Sunday, stateside, that is!)......
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Sunday Observations from the Gold Coast

Post by mlittle » Mon Oct 24, 2005 9:03 am

With the excitement of today's race now behind us, here are the observations from Surfers' Paradise.......

1}He did what? By winning his second consecutive series title, Sebastien Bourdais did what former Newman-Haas Racing drivers Mario Andretti, Michael Andretti, Nigel Mansell and Cristiano Da Matta never were able to do....win two titles for Paul Newman and Carl Haas. There was also an added benefit for the team, as well...with Servia's 5th-place finish, Newman-Haas Racing clinched a second-cons. 1st-2nd finish(2004's involved both Bourdais and Bruno Junquiera).

2}Rough day for the home team. Going into the race, you would think the advantage would be for Walker Racing/Team Australia's three-pronged assault of Alex Tagliani, Will Power and Marcus Marshall. Guess again....First, Power gets a "nudge" going into turn 3 from Tag, putting Power into the tirewalls and damaging the rear wing mounts, ending Power's day. Afterwards, according to reports, the public address announcers joked that Tagliani would be "deported" for the incident in question. All I know is that he had to be the most subdued 4th-place finisher of the year. One can only wonder what the post-race debrief Sunday evening must have been like...... :shock: :shock: :shock:

3}Will he, or won't he? Ever since Las Vegas, the big question surrounding 1996 CCWS champion Jimmy Vasser has been whether he will indeed retire and assume a full-time ownership role alongside co-owners Kevin Kalhkoven and Dan Pettit. When asked about it, he again played with the question, hinting that he might return for 1 more yr...or he might not return in 2006. As for Kalkhoven....

4}Surfers & ChampCar! Asked about rumors that the series might run a second race in Australia(at venues such as Adelaide, Sydney or Albert Park in Melbourne), KK vociferously denied such rumors, saying that while the series has considered a second event Down Under, "but, (that) out of loyalty to the Queensland government, I wouldn't want to do anything to compromise this event." What was unsaid was that, back in Jan. 2004, when KK and Co. fought off the IRL for control of the then-bankrupt CART series' assets, a major part of that effort came from the testimony of many prominent Queenslanders who had traveled to Indianapolis on KK's behalf. He added, "Surfers stood by us, and we'll (always) stand by them. This is one of our premier events."
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