Oriol Servia has admitted that the near collision between himself and Forsythe team-mate Mario Dominguez in Houston on Sunday cost him a second successive podium since taking over from the injured Paul Tracy, but added that he was satisfied with his own performance. source: crash.net The Spaniard eventually finished the third round of the Champ Car World Series in fourth place, but had been running as high as second at the time of the incident which, ironically, occurred in pit-lane rather than on the track. During his first stint, Servia joined most of the field in saving fuel while keeping in touch with the leaders, and the strategy paid off by allowing him to load less fuel than his rivals at the first round of pit-stops, climbing to second position and running just a second behind leader Sebastien Bourdais. He was able to comfortably hold the spot and was looking to repeat his Long Beach podium finish - until the second round of stops. Running ahead of Dominguez, Servia had to delay his launch in order to avoid a collision with his team-mate, who was coming into his pit stall at the same time as the #3 was trying to exit. The time lost ultimately cost the Spaniard two positions on track, dropping him to fourth, where he ran to the finish. "I was getting ready to leave just as Mario was coming in - I had to wait to avoid hitting him and that definitely cost us the podium," the stand-in said, "But, overall, I'm very happy. The team gave me a great car and we were so close to having another great finish. I still think we needed a little more speed to keep up with Sebastien, but we were very close." Servia's long-term position in the team remains open to discussion, with boss Jerry Forsythe apparently claiming that, if he had won the race, the Spaniard could be offered a ride for the rest of the season. With Tracy likely to be back in harness for Portland in six weeks' time, that would appear to cast doubt on Dominguez's position. The Mexican is understood to have had a deal for only the first three races, and admits that he will have to work hard off the track to keep his place. "I wish Paul a quick recovery," he said magnanimously, "I know him well and I know that he will do everything it takes to get back in the car as soon as possible. I'm going to work very hard during the next few weeks to be able to secure the support I need to be able to finish out the year."
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