Friday, July 20, 2007 Rexall Grand Prix of Edmonton – Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Round 8 of 14 in the Champ Car World Series 2007 Season McDONALD’S ® DRIVER BOURDAIS ON PROVISIONAL POLE FOR THE REXALL GRAND PRIX OF EDMONTON AND MOVED TO SECOND IN THE POINT STANDINGS; MEDI | ZONE DRIVER RAHAL EARNS HIGHEST PROVISIONAL SPOT WITH THIRD 1st: Sebastien Bourdais 58.709 / 120.983 mph (earned 1 point & guaranteed front row start) 3rd: Graham Rahal 59.112 / 120.158 mph Sebastien Bourdais, No. 1 McDonald’s Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone: “It was a good session for the McDonald's team. It didn't look good at all for most of it. But the last two laps we did on the run, we were fast and consistent and the balance was reasonably good. So, no, I was pretty happy. Obviously, I hope Tristan doesn't suffer a major injury. But for the ones who had put a good lap on the first run, it was pretty good for us that it didn't go back green because obviously it would have been really hard to get a gap, being so far down pit lane because of our pit selection from the bad result we had in Toronto, it would have really hurt us. I was not too upset that the session didn't go back to green, to be honest. (ON THREE WINS & THREE DNF’S THIS SEASON:) “Well, obviously, you know, there's one on me from Vegas where I made a mistake, and that's it. I just screwed up. Then in Cleveland, we had a mechanical. Then we made the whole loop around, I guess, of bad circumstances and we got taken out in the last one (Toronto). For sure it's not the way our season needs to be going if you want to be a championship contender, but we're still in it pretty much starting from scratch from this weekend. It's a new season again, I guess, on a much shorter period. So we're just going to have to hopefully get cleaner runs and no problems anymore, and that should work out. But, yeah, for sure, basically we've had as many problems in the first half of the season than we've probably had in the last three seasons. So it's not perfect, but we'll try and make the best of it.” FAST FACTS: Trails new points leader Doornbos by two points (164-162)…Will be his third race here. He won one race and finished second in the other and started from pole once…In 2006 he led 55 laps from pole but struggled with the handling of his race car during the second stint on regular Bridgestone tires and finished second to Wilson to maintain his pre-race 23-point lead over second place. In 2005 he extended his points lead from 15 to 21 over second place after his win from a 10th place start here. He crashed in Friday’s provisional qualifying and rain on Saturday prevented improvement. …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…He has the rare opportunity to win four consecutive championships this year if he can again capture the Vanderbilt Cup, which would extend his run that began in 2004. Bourdais would be making history as no Champ 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 NFL and it hasn’t been accomplished in the last twenty years in the NBA, NHL or MLB. Graham Rahal, No. 2 Medi | Zone Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone: I'm not sure that there's anything specifically about this track (that makes me successful here). I've always liked the airport circuits, here and Cleveland. But at the same time, I think after the last two weeks, the whole MEDI|ZONE team has taken time to recover, get caught up on some rest. I think we've come back here refocused for the second half of the season. I think it's showing. Today was an awfully good day for us. I think it's unfortunate that we couldn't run a second set of tires because I certainly think we could do better on our time, but certainly that's how it works. We're just happy to be third. (ON WHY THIS TRACK SUITS HIS DRIVING STYLE:) “We were here last year in Atlantics. In these cars, as Simon rightly said, they are far different. I think it definitely suits my style. I like the fast corners. And being that it's pretty physical, it plays into my hands. Being a bigger guy, I think I have the upper edge when it comes to physical strength. So I think when you look at it that way, it's a good weekend for me. I think it seems the airport circuits always work well for me. In Cleveland last year, we won both races in Atlantic. Then this year unfortunately P.T. hit us but we came back and had a strong run. And then here we finished second last year. I think so far things are heading the right direction. I don't know if it's just the airports or what it is, but I certainly like it.” FAST FACTS: Will be his second race here and first in a Champ Car. Started third and finished second in the 2006 Atlantic race here…Finished second in the 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). NHR has won ONE race (Bourdais 2005), ONE pole (Bourdais 2006) and THREE podium finishes here (2nd – Bourdais 2006; 3rd – Servia 2005). Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing (NHLR) hopes to add to these numbers… This weekend’s Rexall Grand Prix of Edmonton is the third of three events in the Champ Car “Canadian Triple Crown” and Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing (NHLR) drivers Sebastien Bourdais and Graham Rahal are ranked third in the mini championship. The morning warm-up will take place from 10:15-11:30 AM ET while final qualifying will begin at 2:00 PM ET.