McDONALD’S® DRIVER BOURDAIS RETURNS TO STREETS OF HOUSTON AS THE DEFENDING WINNER AND HOPES TO CLOSE GAP ON SERIES POINTS LEADER; MEDI | ZONE DRIVER RAHAL WILL CONTINUE TO GAIN VALUABLE EXPERIENCE HOUSTON, Texas (April 19, 2007) --- Both McDonald’s® driver Sebastien Bourdais and Medi | Zone driver Graham Rahal departed the 2006 Grand Prix of Houston with something that would help them later in the season. Bourdais earned his second of four consecutive wins on the city streets around Reliant Arena and built a sizeable cushion in his bid for a third consecutive title while Rahal discovered the formula that would enable him to go on to win an Atlantic series-high five wins en route to second place rank by seasons end. Both are hoping for more of the same this weekend. “The confidence built through starting the season strong with four wins last year was very much of a positive,” said Bourdais, who led a total of 33 laps and set the fastest lap time in the 2006 Houston race. “We had a bad event in Las Vegas but the McDonald’s team came back to win in Long Beach and I hope we can carry that momentum over to Houston.” This year’s event will be run on Sunday afternoon rather than Saturday night like last year. Bourdais recovered from losing provisional pole on Thursday due to disqualification (under weight), and wound up with a lower than usual starting position of fifth place. At the start of the event he charged to the front and pressured race leader Mario Dominguez into a mistake to take the win. He following his season-opening win in Long Beach up with one in Houston then went on to win in Monterrey, Mexico and on the oval in Milwaukee. He has fond memories of his charge to the front at JAGFlo Speedway at Reliant Park. “It was a pretty hectic race in Houston last year for the McDonald’s team,” said Bourdais, who vaulted from 13th into third in the series point standings, only 19 behind leader Will Power after his win last Sunday in Long Beach. “Definitely the hardest piece of work was passing Mario. The first four drivers to pass were kind of not easy but were surprised that I was actually forcing the issue so early on in the race. And by the time I got to Mario I think he was aware that I was on the move and he was pretty quick so it was pretty tough. It would have taken quite a few efforts to actually get to pass him but it worked out when he made the mistake.” The Grand Prix of Houston marks the third consecutive race in the 2007 Champ Car World Series season. Teams have been presented a new challenge with the addition of the all new Panoz DP01 chassis and long hours have been put in to ensure the best possible result. Newman/Haas/Lanigan team members worked until midnight on the eve of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach and returned to work at 4:30 a.m. on race day. After a redeye home from Los Angeles after the race, they spent a day at home before traveling to Houston on Tuesday morning to prepare the race cars for the 1.658 mile street course in Houston. While the team was hard at work, McDonald’s driver Bourdais put in more hours behind the wheel driving his motor home from Los Angeles to Houston. “To just go to one race after another is something I used to be very familiar with,” said Bourdais. “When I was in Europe I used to race six of seven weekends in a row between the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the month of June with F3000 and the FIA GT and other races. These three races in a row are definitely bringing me back in the day. Claire, Emma and I were able to make a road trip out of it in our new motor home but it will be good to get to Houston.” More time behind the wheel is also something Medi | Zone driver Graham Rahal is looking forward to. After having his Champ Car debut end on the first racing lap in the season-opener in Las Vegas, Rahal was able to qualify fifth in Long Beach and take the checkered flag for the first time in eighth place. He is looking forward to building on that experience this weekend. “After getting a full race behind us in Long Beach the Medi | Zone team is looking forward to Houston,” said Rahal, 18, who spent some time in a flight simulator at NASA’s Johnson Space Center on Thursday morning. “I now have some Champ Car racing experience to build on and we can only keep improving in Houston. Last year in Houston I didn’t finish the (Atlantic) race but we were very competitive. I was running second and got a little greedy and decided I was going to go for the win. I got inside Raphael Matos and I know he saw me because I was far enough beside him but he turned in and we made contact and that was the race for me. It was five laps from the end of the race but it was a good race for us last year because it was the first race where I could prove I was competitive. We went on to Monterrey, Mexico the next weekend and won the race. If I hadn’t had such a good weekend in Houston, the Monterrey win may never have happened because we wouldn’t have realized how capable we were of winning.” Rahal finished second in the 2006 Champ Car Atlantic championship after a title hunt that concluded in the season finale. After his eye-opening weekend in Houston last year he went on to win Round 3 of the Atlantic championship in Monterrey, which was the first of a series high five that season. Rahal is looking forward to the possibility of a strong result on a smoother track this year at Round 3 in Houston. “I think the layout in Houston is awesome,” said Rahal who started third in the Atlantic race here last year. “Given that the circuit will be a little smoother can only make the racing better. I really, really enjoyed how the city was behind the race. We had a very good turnout last year and I hope it can be even better this year. I think Houston is one of the better tracks in terms of opportunities to pass. I think it will be quite exciting and given that the circuit will be smoother will make it easier on the bodies and it will be a lot of fun.” Champ Car’s previous namesake, CART, competed in Houston from 1998 to 2001 on a track around the George R. Brown Convention Center and the best result for Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing was a third place by Michael Andretti in 1999. Team co-owner Carl Haas was the CEO of the entity that promoted the event with team sponsor Texaco. The series returned to the city last year when Michael Lanigan, now a partner in Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, became the promoter. A strong result would provide even more reason to celebrate. “It’s important for Mike (Lanigan) to have good results in Houston because it’s become a hometown event for him since he is the promoter,” added Rahal. “At the same time I don’t think it puts any more pressure on us to perform better because we expect to do well every weekend. We put the same amount of pressure on ourselves to do well at every single race weekend we go to but obviously in Houston we would love to get some good results for Mike.” The Grand Prix of Houston will get underway with the first round of qualifying at 2:10 p.m. local time on Friday. The final grid will be set with Saturday qualifying at 1:30 p.m. local time with the race set to take the green flag at 2:00 p.m. local time on Sunday afternoon. Fans can watch all the action live on ESPN at 3:00 p.m. Eastern time and 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. 2006 WINNER IN HOUSTON: Will be his second race here. Last year he recovered from losing provisional pole on Thursday due to disqualification (under weight), started qualified fifth and won the event. He charged to the front and pressured race leader Dominguez into a mistake. Led a total of 33 laps and set the fastest race lap to increase his lead over second place to 18 points after Round 2 of 15. Was the second of four consecutive wins last season. 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…Won from pole in Long Beach to rebound to a third place rank with 40 points to leader Power’s 59. 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 (38 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: “It was a pretty hectic race in Houston last year for the McDonald’s team. Definitely the hardest piece of work was passing Mario. The first four drivers to pass were kind of not easy but were surprised that I was actually forcing the issue so early on in the race. And by the time I got to Mario I think he was aware that I was on the move and he was pretty quick so it was pretty tough. It would have taken quite a few efforts to actually get to pass him but it worked out when he made the mistake. It was a great venue, the fans loved the Champ Car race. I think smoothing out the track is a big positive. The layout was already interesting. It was diverse and really, really nice for a street course it just needed to be less rough and just by doing this they are going to make the show that much better. I think with a smoother race track it really is going to be a first class event. ON HOUSTON AS SECOND OF RECORD FOUR CONSECUTIVE WINS IN ’06: “I’ve said that to start the season on the right foot doesn’t win you a championship but not to have it can lose you a championship. And the confidence built through starting the season strong with four wins last year was very much of a positive. Then the wheel turned definitely. We had big success at the beginning and then we started to pile on quite a few incidents with a terrible start that should have never thrown green at Portland and having PT run over the top of my car in Cleveland and after that as well. It was just things not going our way, not being against us but just not going our way. And so it was definitely very important for the McDonald’s team to start the season strong. We had a bad event in Las Vegas but the McDonald’s team came back to win in Long Beach and I hope we can carry that momentum over to Houston. HOW TO COPE WITH THREE RACES IN A ROW: “To just go to one race after another is something I used to be very familiar with. When I was in Europe I used to race six of seven weekends in a row between the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the month of June with F3000 and the FIA GT and other races. These three races in a row are definitely bringing me back in the day. Claire, Emma and I were able to make a road trip out of it in our new motor home but it will be good to get to Houston. It would be very special to repeat a win in this race because it is a home race of sorts now that (Houston promoter) Mike (Lanigan) is part of the team. It would be nice to give the win to Mike and a second one in a row in Houston for the team.” IN HOUSTON: Will be his second race here and first in a Champ Car. Started third in the Atlantics race here last year and was in second place when he collided with Raphael Matos while attempting to take the lead with three laps to go and finished 15th. 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 a swerving Dan Clarke who hit him prior to Turn 1 on the first racing lap. Retired in 17th place… Qualified fifth in Long Beach but pit strategy of others and slow fuel flow on two pit stops led to an eighth place finish…Is ranked 14th in the series standings with 19 points to leader Power’s 59. 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.” Graham Rahal, #2 Medi | Zone Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone: “After getting a full race behind us in Long Beach the Medi | Zone team is looking forward to Houston. I now have some Champ Car racing experience to build on and we can only keep improving in Houston. Last year in Houston I didn’t finish the (Atlantic) race but we were very competitive. I was running second and got a little greedy and decided I was going to go for the win. I got inside Raphael Matos and I know he saw me because I was far enough beside him but he turned in and we made contact and that was the race for me. It was five laps from the end of the race but it was a good race for us last year because it was the first race where I could prove I was competitive. We went on to Monterrey, Mexico the next weekend and won the race. If I hadn’t had such a good weekend in Houston, the Monterrey win may never have happened because we wouldn’t have realized how capable we were of winning. “I think the layout in Houston is awesome. Given that the circuit will be a little more smooth can only make the racing better. I really, really enjoyed how the city was behind the race. We had a very good turnout last year and I hope it can be even better this year. I think Houston is one of the better tracks in terms of opportunities to pass. I think it will be quite exciting and given that the circuit will be smoother will make it easier on the bodies and it will be a lot of fun. “It’s important for Mike (Lanigan) to have good results in Houston because it’s become a hometown event for him since he is the promoter. At the same time I don’t think it puts any more pressure on us to perform better because we expect to do well every weekend. We put the same amount of pressure on ourselves to do well at every single race weekend we go to but obviously in Houston we would love to get some good results for Mike. “While I’m in Houston everyone else will be in school so I’ll be skipping a few more days which is always fun. For me it’s difficult to balance school and racing but over the years I’ve gotten more and more used to it. I’ve been doing this for seven or eight years now since elementary school basically so I have had to get used to it. It’s difficult but hopefully when I return home from Houston I’ll be able to get right back on pace and get everything finished.”