Friday, August 24, 2007 Champ Car Belgium Grand Prix – Zolder, Belgium Round 11 of 14 in the Champ Car World Series 2007 Season McDONALD’S ® DRIVER BOURDAIS SECOND FAST IN PROVISIONAL QUALIFYING FOR THE CHAMP CAR BELGIUM GRAND PRIX; MEDI | ZONE DRIVER RAHAL FOURTH 1st: Will Power 1:13.810 / 121.545 mph (earned 1 point & guaranteed front row start) 2nd: Sebastien Bourdais 1:14.023 / 121.195 mph 4th: Graham Rahal 1:14.224 / 120.887 mph Sebastien Bourdais, No. 1 McDonald’s Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone: “Not being fastest today is a shame but in the meantime, we did not use our Bridgestone alternate tires, which look like they are half-a-second faster so tomorrow when we have two sets to use so we should be good. I think the McDonald’s team did well today, it is our first time here and some guys have raced here before. For us, we don’t need to gain in the championship, we just need to keep running near the front to finish off this championship.” FAST FACTS: Leads the point standings by 37 points over Doornbos (250-213)…1st and 2nd CCWS wins came in Europe. Will be his third Champ Car race in Europe. After DNF’s (did not finish) in his first three Champ Car events as a rookie in 2003 (St. Pete & Monterrey – contact; Long Beach – engine), the first time he finished a Champ Car race was also the first time he drove to victory after he paced 95 laps at Round 4 in Brands Hatch, UK, including the final 33…Became the first driver in series history to win from pole in his oval racing debut in Lausitz, Germany after he led 74 laps and earned back-to-back victories in the series with a thrilling win over Mario Dominguez by 0.084 seconds…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: “Our practice session ended this morning due to a shifting battery that went dead, which also happened to Seb one lap earlier but we ran well in qualifying. The Medi | Zone car definitely feels pretty good so I’m pretty happy. We should have been maybe a touch quicker but at the end of the day, a tenth, if that’s what it was wouldn’t have been close enough to (Will) Power. He’s definitely got something on us. We’re good on the Bridgestone’s -- both black and red so if we just keep it consistent we should be fine in the race. The track is pretty cool and pretty quick. I think the only issue is it is a bit narrow, maybe which makes it a little more dangerous but I don’t think it’s that big of a problem.” FAST FACTS: Will be his first Champ Car race in Europe...Finished runner-up to the champion in the Atlantic standings in 2006 after the fight went to the Road America finale and he retired in 20th due to an electrical failure after starting third. Also competed in two Formula BMW events here in 2004 and once in Start Mazda in 2005…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 TWO races in Europe (Bourdais – Lausitz, Germany &Brands Hatch, England in 2003) and ONE pole (Bourdais – Germany 2003). They have earned a total of FIVE podiums in Europe (2nd – Junqueira, Brands Hatch, UK 2003 & Cristiano da Matta, Rockingham, UK 2002; 3rd – da Matta, Rockingham 2001). The series raced in Europe in 2001(Lausitz, Germany & Rockingham, England), 2002 (Rockingham, England) and 2003 (Brands Hatch, England & Lausitz, Germany). NHLR is hoping to add to those numbers. The morning practice will take place from 10:40-11:55 AM local time while final qualifying will begin at 2:30 PM.