Saturday, August 25, 2007 Champ Car Belgium Grand Prix – Zolder, Belgium Round 11 of 14 in the Champ Car World Series 2007 Season
McDONALD'S® DRIVER BOURDAIS EARNED FIFTH POLE OF THE SEASON FOR THE CHAMP CAR BELGIUM GRAND PRIX AND SECOND IN EUROPE IN THREE ATTEMPTS; MEDI | ZONE DRIVER RAHAL HAD TO ABORT FAST LAP AND WILL START 13TH
Sebastien Bourdais, No. 1 McDonald’s Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone: “It was a little harder than I thought. The 15 minute practice went really well with the standard tires. I thought when we put the red tires on it was going to be easier and the lap time would come really fast but we got a little bit of traffic and I made a couple of mistakes and didn't hit the tires when they were at their best. Then it got a little harder to get the lap time. I am just glad that it was sufficient today but it was a little stressful until the very end. I was on the limit. The sweet spot on the red tires was on lap two or three and I was stuck in traffic at that stage. Then when I started to push it was past the window – probably cost me a couple of 10ths but the McDonald’s car is very consistent."
FAST FACTS: Leads the point standings by 38 points over Doornbos (251-213)…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: “We went out on black Bridgestone’s and it immediately went red. Then on the second run we went out on the alternate tires and I was up four to five tenths of a second from my best pre-qualifying time which would have been a 13.0 or 13.1 but I lost it coming out of Turn 10. There was stuff going on in front of me with Sebastien trying to get around Ryan (Dalziel). It didn’t cause me to go off but I tried to brake later to gain some time and locked up the rear wheels and went off. I had to drive through the escape road. I lost the momentum and on the next, and final lap, I wasn’t able to repeat it. The track is very narrow so it’s going to be tough to
pass in the race but the Medi | Zone team will give me good pit stops and we can work our way to the front. We have a good car for the race.”
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 TWO poles (Bourdais – Belgium 2007, 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 warm-up will take place from 10:30-11:00 AM local time while the Belgium Grand Prix will begin at 2:00 PM.
