Sebastien Bourdais made it three wins in the past three years at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach with a dominant display in round two of the Champ Car World Series. source: crash.net / Flagworld.com Rebounding from a nightmare weekend in Las vegas, the reigning champion left no-one in any doubt as to his position as top dog in the series, winning effortlessly from pole and only ceding the lead of the race as the various pit-stop strategies unfolded. Under early pressure from Vegas winner Will Power, Bourdais began to ease away from the field by one-third distance, and was seldom troubled after that. Only when Oriol Servia and, later, Tristan Gommendy found themselves at the front owing to strategy was the McDonalds car behind, but, neither time, was the situation permanent. When Gommendy peeled off for a late fuel-only stop, Bourdais resumed the lead and even a last-gasp safety car period to clear up Alex Figge's wreck was not enough to prise the Toyota GP title from his grasp. Servia came home second to complete the feel-good story of the weekend. The Spaniard had stepped in for the injured Paul Tracy ahead of second qualifying, putting the #3 Forsythe car 14th on the grid. However, a combination of tactics and the ability that Servia has shown over past seasons quickly elevated him through the field, with a podium finish likely to make him first choice as Tracy's repalcement for the next few rounds. Power claimed the final podium place with a last lap pass on the feisty Alex Tagliani, the Australian taking advantage of greater remaining 'push-to-pass'. Justin Wilson also took advantage of Tagliani's lack of late-race pace, snatching fourth from the Canadian just a few turns from home. Bruno Junqueira gave Dale Coyne Racing its second top six result in successive races, moving himself into an unlikely fourth in points in the process, while rookies Neel jani, Graham Rahal and Ryan Dalziel filled the next three places, the Scot having jumped Junqueira's team-mate, Katherine Legge, on the final lap. Twelve months on from the shunt that helped trigger his exit from Forsythe, Mario Dominguez made an early exit by crashing out on lap seven. However, Figge's late accident aside, there was very little attrition, giving Champ Car cause for optimism after a troubled debut for the new Panoz in Vegas.
Recent Articles
|
Racing Multimedia
Recommendations |