McDONALD’S® DRIVER BOURDAIS AND MEDI | ZONE DRIVER RAHAL HOPE TO PUT DIFFICULT WEEKEND IN LAS VEGAS BEHIND THEM WITH A STRONG FINISH IN THE 24TH ANNUAL TOYOTA GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 11, 2007) --- After a disappointing weekend in 2007 Champ Car World Series season-opener in Las Vegas last weekend, Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing (NHLR) drivers Sebastien Bourdais and Graham Rahal are hoping familiar surroundings will lead to familiar results at this weekend’s Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. “The Las Vegas event was difficult for the McDonald’s team between bad luck with the tire punctures and the mistakes,” said Bourdais who charged from the back of the pack into third place before contact ended his day. “We have run well in Long Beach with podium finishes since 2004 and winning the past two races so it would be good to carry that over and do it again this year and get our season going.” The 2006 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach was the beginning of a four race win streak for Bourdais last season and the bulk of his seven for the season. He not only repeated his 2005 win here last year, he scored the maximum points after setting the fastest time in both qualifying sessions, setting the fastest race lap and winning the event. He is hoping to return to that sort of weekend on the 1.968-mile course on the streets of Long Beach. “You need something – I wouldn’t say you need luck – but you need things not to be against you in order to win a championship,” added Bourdais, who drove his motor coach from Las Vegas to Long Beach in order to see more of the United States. “Even more this year, that will be the case while we work on the reliability of these new cars.” Bourdais has the rare opportunity to win four consecutive championships this year if he can again capture the Vanderbilt Cup. He would be making history as no Champ or Indy Car driver has ever won four straight championships. Four in a row is very rare in professional sports. In fact it has never been done in either NASCAR or the NFL and it hasn’t been accomplished in the last twenty years in the NBA, NHL or MLB. Bourdais and his McDonald’s team are putting in long hours in attempt to accomplish this goal. “To be able to make history with a fourth consecutive championship for the McDonald’s team is a big motivation but I don’t need that to go at it and work hard,” said Bourdais who has won in two of his four starts here and finished third in another. “The guys put in so many hours in the off-season and again at Las Vegas. I think realistically the team has been doing a fantastic job for three years in a row now and when you get to the top the only thing you want to do is stay there so we don’t need extra motivation.” Since the series started racing in Long Beach in 1984, the team has earned five wins, 9 poles and 13 podium finishes with Mario and Michael Andretti, Nigel Mansell, Bruno Junqueira and Bourdais. That record has earned the team an invitation to be included in the Long Beach Walk of Fame on Thursday at 2 p.m. PT near the race track. Driver Brian Redman and race promoter Chris Pook will be inducted in addition to Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing. Although his Champ Car debut ended early in Las Vegas, rookie driver Graham Rahal would like nothing more than to earn a strong result for the Medi | Zone team in Long Beach and add to the list of team results. He is currently experiencing a steep learning curve but having to learn the track layout in Long Beach like he did in Las Vegas isn’t on the list. “Both the Medi | Zone and McDonald’s teams had a tough start to the season in Las Vegas but we’re going to put that behind us and focus on getting the job done in Long Beach,” said Rahal, who started seventh and finished fifth in the Atlantic series. “It’s a place that the team has run well on recently and a place that I have experience on as well. I made my Atlantic debut in Long Beach last year. We were on pole in qualifying until the very last lap. I was told over the radio ‘Hey you’re on pole; you don’t need to worry about pushing.’ I thought everybody else was finished when they told me and I came into the pits and I was seventh so that was a bummer. In the race, on the very first lap I hit the wall -- the left hander in the hairpin on the front straight. I just brushed the wall and bent the inside suspension so the car had massive understeer the whole race. Otherwise I think we could have finished on the podium but we finished fifth.” A total of eight rookies will compete in the Champ Car race in Long Beach, but only three have never raced on the track: Robert Doornbos, Neel Jani and Tristan Gommendy. Four other rookies in addition to Rahal competed in the Atlantic series here and hope to have a slight edge. Rahal may not have been born when the first Champ Car race was run on the streets of Long Beach but he understands the significance of the event. “Long Beach is a historic event,” said Rahal, 18. “In a lot of ways it’s like Monaco or any of these types of events. Number One, being next to the ocean is awesome; people love it. The atmosphere of the city is great; they really get into the event. That’s why the race has become so popular. It’s been around so long that a lot of people not only enjoy going to the race but they also know when it’s going to happen and that they can count on it each year. For me, it’s an exciting event to go to. It’s tough to compare it to the Indy 500 but it’s got to be up there with the best events.” The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach is a week-long street festival with plenty of activities for all ages. While most drivers are able to relax at the end of the day and partake in these events, Rahal will be balancing school with his racing duties – at least for another month. “While I’m in Long Beach my high school career will slowly be coming to a close so I won’t have to worry about it too much but I do know there will be things I need to stay on top of since I will be missing school while I’m there,” said Rahal, a senior at New Albany High School in Ohio. “It’s going to be tough to keep up but I will try to do it early in the week and hopefully I’ll just be able to relax and focus on what I have to do on track later in the week.” The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach will get underway with the first round of qualifying on Friday at 2:00 p.m. local time. The final grid will be set with Saturday qualifying at 2:00 p.m. local time with the race set to take the green flag at 12:30 p.m. local time on Sunday afternoon. Fans can watch all the racing action live on NBC beginning at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time. As always, fans can follow the action from every on-track session via the Race Director feature on the official website of the Champ Car World Series, www.champcar.ws. TWO-TIME DEFENDING WINNER IN LONG BEACH: Will be his fifth race here. Scored the maximum of points here in 2006 after starting first, leading 70/74 laps, setting the fastest race lap en route to a win. Started fourth and won in 2005 after he led 37 laps. Started second and finished third in 2004. Started fifth in 2003, led three laps and was in fifth place when his engine failed after 70/90 laps which resulted in a 16th place finish. SO FAR IN 2007: Crashed in final qualifying in Las Vegas season-opener and started 16th in the 17 car field. Overcame two unscheduled stops for punctured tires and charged into third place but brushed a wall and had to make another pit stop. Returned to the race in 11th place but his day ended when he made contact in Turn 4 on the 31st of 68 laps. HISTORY MAKING THIRD CONSECUTIVE TITLE IN 2006: Became the first open wheel driver to win three consecutive championships since Ted Horn accomplished the feat from 1946-1948 and only the second in the 98 year history of the sport. Both Horn and Bourdais clinched their titles in the penultimate event but Horn was unable to attempt four after he died in a crash in the season finale…Bourdais earned seven wins, seven poles and finished on the podium 11 times in 14 races…Season awards include being named an AARWBA first team All American for the third consecutive year; being one of six nominated for Speed TV Performer of the Year, earning the Second Quarter Driver of the Year; being one of 9 nominated for National Speed Sport News’s Economaki Champion of Champions Award; named “Road Racer of the Year” by Racer Magazine; ranked No. 1 in SPEED Driver Rankings for the year (compiled by STATS, Inc.) after having reached the top spot five different times during the season. NASCAR champ Johnson was second; honored by the City of St. Petersburg as a “Hometown Hero.” RECORD FOUR CONSECUTIVE WINS: Became only the fourth driver in the CART/Champ Car era (1979-present) to earn four consecutive wins in the series (Long Beach, Houston, Monterrey, Milwaukee). Others include Al Unser Jr. (1990), Alex Zanardi (1998), and Cristiano da Matta (2002 with NHLR). His Milwaukee win was his 9th in the past 11 races. No driver has earned five consecutive wins in the CART / Champ Car era (1979-present). Overall, the last time a driver earned five straight wins was when Al Unser accomplished the feat in 1970. FOX SPORTS BEST NON AMERICAN ATHLETES: Recently made a list complied by Fox Sports of the 10 best non American athletes. Others on the list include reigning F 1 champ Fernando Alonso, Brazilian soccer stars Ronaldinho and Adriano, golf stars Luke Donald (England) and Padraig Harrington (Ireland) as well as four others. 23 WINS IN 59 RACES (39 percent): (’03 – England, Germany & Cleveland; ’04 – Monterrey, Portland, Cleveland, Toronto, Denver, Las Vegas, Mexico City; ’05 – Long Beach, Edmonton, San Jose, Denver, Las Vegas, Australia; ’06 Long Beach, Houston, Monterrey, Milwaukee, San Jose, Montreal, Mexico City). He earned his 20th career Champ Car victory in just his 49th career start with a win in Milwaukee. The feat obliterates the former record of 79 starts to reach 20 wins, held by A.J. Foyt. Mario Andretti (80), Tony Bettenhausen (96) and Rick Mears (97) are the only other drivers to reach 20 wins in their 100 starts. 25 CCWS POLES IN 59 RACES (42 percent): (’03 – St. Pete, Monterrey, Germany, Cleveland, Australia; ’04 – Monterrey, Portland, Toronto, Elkhart Lake, Denver, Montreal, Laguna Seca, Mexico City; ’05 – Monterrey, Toronto, San Jose, Montreal, Las Vegas; ’06 – Long Beach, Monterrey, Milwaukee, Edmonton, San Jose, Denver, Montreal). Sebastien Bourdais, #1 McDonald’s Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone: “You need something – I wouldn’t say you need luck – but you need things not to be against you in order to win a championship. Even more this year, that will be the case while we work on the reliability of these new cars. The Las Vegas event was difficult for the McDonald’s team between bad luck with the tire punctures and the mistakes. We have run well in Long Beach with podium finishes since 2004 and winning the past two races so it would be good to carry that over and do it again this year and get our season going. “To be able to make history with a fourth consecutive championship for the McDonald’s team is a big motivation but I don’t need that to go at it and work hard. The guys put in so many hours in the off-season and again at Las Vegas. I think realistically the team has been doing a fantastic job for three years in a row now and when you get to the top the only thing you want to do is stay there so we don’t need extra motivation.” IN LONG BEACH: Will be his second race here and first in a Champ Car. Made his Atlantic debut here last year. Started seventh and finished fifth. SO FAR IN 2007: Had an electrical problem in Friday’s qualifying in the season-opening race in Las Vegas and had to qualifying his backup car on Saturday due to crashing in the morning practice. Started 10th but had to make an evasive move to avoid having Dan Clarke hit him prior to Turn 1 on the first racing lap. Retired in 17th place. CHAMP CAR EXPERIENCE: First test in a Lola Champ Car was for the team in Sebring, Fla. on September 13-14, 20006. Also ran in Homestead, Fla. and Houston in 2006. Tested the DP01 Panoz in Sebring, Houston and Laguna Seca in 2007. ALSO IN 2007: Rahal competed in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring. In the 24 hour race the team retired 28th in class after a water pump failure. In Sebring, Rahal Letterman Racing started eighth in the GT2 class and battled back to a sixth place finish after damage from an opening lap incident dropped them to 18th. RUNNER-UP TO 2006 ATLANTIC CHAMPION: Rahal finished second in the 2006 Champ Car Atlantic championship after a title hunt that concluded in the season finale. Led 129 laps to champion Pagenaud’s 31. He earned a series-high five wins (42 percent), four poles (33 percent) and six podium finishes (50 percent) in the 12 events and at 17 years old was the youngest race winner in series history (Monterrey, Mexico on 5-21-06)…He led the most laps (129, 32 percent) and set a series-high five fastest race laps …He was awarded the BBS of America Rising Star Award. ALSO IN 2006: Rahal also participated in other series including the A1 GP and IndyPro Series as well as the 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring sports car races. He won pole and led 21 laps en route to a second place finish at the IndyPro event during the US Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway…He finished sixth in the GT class and 16th overall in his debut at the 24 Hours of Daytona with Tafel Racing and also made his debut in the 12 Hours of Sebring with Alex Job Racing (results tbd)…He joined Team Lebanon of the A1GP series for the final three races. He is of Lebanese descent. START IN RACING: Began racing karts in 2000 at the age of 11 and continued for four years. Before moving to the Formula BMW series in 2004 on a scholarship. Won one race and finished on the podium six times in 12 Star Mazda series events in 2005. Also claimed the 2005 SCCA National Formula Atlantic championship at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and started from pole to win the SCCA National event at Road Atlanta. DID YOU KNOW: Graham Robert Rahal, 18, was born in Columbus, Ohio on 1-4-1989 and resides in New Albany, Ohio…The 6’2” driver is one of four children of Bobby Rahal, three-time open wheel champion, Indy 500 winner and Hall of Fame race car driver…Has two sisters (Michaela and Samantha) and one brother (Jarrad)…He is a senior at New Albany High School with a 3.8 GPA and is scheduled to graduate in June …When he is not racing or catching up on homework he likes to work on cars, hang out with friends and family or play other sports for fun…To prepare for the physicality of racing he spends many hours doing cardiovascular training and weightlifting, skiing, running or bicycling…He drives a 2007 Atomic Orange Corvette Z06 and his favorite type of clothing is anything made by Puma…His favorite food is sushi and his weaknesses are ice cream and white chocolate mocha drinks at Starbucks…His favorite books are those written by Lance Armstrong (and anything he reads other than for school)…His favorite thing to watch on TV is any Ohio State Buckeye game, his favorite actor/actress are Owen Wilson and Eva Longoria and favorite movie is “Wedding Crashers.” ABOUT MEDI | ZONE: MEDI | ZONE is a leader of medically supervised weight loss, weight maintenance, wellness and performance programs, products, and services as well as the exclusive provider of the leading cutting edge health, wellness and performance systems by Dr. Barry Sears, the best selling author of the Zone Diet series. MEDI | ZONE owns and operates medically supervised weight loss, weight maintenance, wellness, and performance centers. Graham Rahal, #2 Medi | Zone Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone: “Both the Medi | Zone and McDonald’s teams had a tough start to the season in Las Vegas but we’re going to put that behind us and focus on getting the job done in Long Beach. It’s a place that the team has run well on recently and a place that I have experience on as well. I made my Atlantic debut in Long Beach last year. We were on pole in qualifying until the very last lap. I was told over the radio ‘Hey you’re on pole, you don’t need to worry about pushing.’ I thought everybody else was finished when they told me and I came into the pits and I was seventh so that was a bummer. In the race, on the very first lap I hit the wall -- the left hander in the hairpin on the front straight. I just brushed the wall and bent the inside suspension so the car had massive understeer the whole race. Otherwise I think we could have finished on the podium but we finished fifth. “Long Beach is a historic event. In a lot of ways it’s like Monaco or any of these types of events. Number One, being next to the ocean is awesome; people love it. The atmosphere of the city is great, they really get into the event. That’s why the race has become so popular. It’s been around so long that a lot of people not only enjoy going to the race but they also know when it’s going to happen and that they can count on it each year. For me, it’s an exciting event to go to. It’s tough to compare it to the Indy 500 but it’s got to be up there with the best events. “At Long Beach I think there are a couple of very good spots to pass. Turn 1 is definitely a passing opportunity and also in the fountain section as you come back toward the Hyatt is a good passing zone. Another passing area is down the back straight obviously. That’s more than we are used to. I think there are plenty of spots to get the job done. Some of these guys see every opportunity as an opening so you can make anything happen. “While I’m in Long Beach my high school career will slowly be coming to a close so I won’t have to worry about it too much but I do know there will be things I need to stay on top of since I will be missing school while I’m there. It’s going to be tough to keep up but I will try to do it early in the week and hopefully I’ll just be able to relax and focus on what I have to do on track later in the week.”