Friday, October 19, 2007 Lexmark Indy 300 – Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia Round 13 of 14 in the Champ Car World Series 2007 Season McDONALD’S ® DRIVER BOURDAIS 8TH AFTER CRASH IN PROVISIONAL QUALIFYING FOR THE LEXMARK INDY 300; MEDI | ZONE DRIVER RAHAL 13TH 1st: Oriol Servia 1:30.862 / 110.739 mph 8th: Sebastien Bourdais 1:32.883 / 108.330 mph (2nd when crashed; lost fast lap for red flag) 13th: Graham Rahal 1:34.049 / 106.987 mph Sebastien Bourdais, No. 1 McDonald’s Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone: “It just seems like it's my corner over there. I clipped the tire mat on the right side of the apex and it ripped the whole left side off when I hit the wall. I have crashed there three times already in five years. I’m kind of getting used to it but I feel bad for the guys. The McDonald's car was pretty good; it's just unfortunate. I just got the tire on the left side of the track and it grabbed the whole suspension and that was that. We'll give it another try tomorrow. At least Justin didn't get the pole point. Congrats to Oriol. Obviously it's better if you don't crash a car. But I don't quite know yet whether the tub is damaged or not. We'll see what happens. It's always the same situation where you've got to push and we're giving it a real try out there. I would really like to start on pole, but there are quite a few guys that are trying to. If you don't try, you're not going to start there. It's a step back, for sure, but it's not in final qualifying, so it's not too damageable. Last year it was a little bit of a different accident. Obviously I clipped the tire mat on the right side at the apex. That sent the car airborne, ripped up the whole left side when I landed. This year it's a little bit as usual. The tire bundle kind of sticks out onto the racetrack. It's not aligned with the wall. You kind of aim at something on the racetrack, and for the most part that wall you're looking at, and I kind of forget about being clear of these tires. Usually you just kind of slide on it. This time it just happened to grab the whole suspension. It's a little bit of a stupid game sometimes. It doesn't take much one way or the other.” FAST FACTS: Leads the point standings by 58 points over Wilson (301-243)…Will be his fifth race here. Clinched his third consecutive title here last year with an 8th place finish after starting 2nd but the euphoria was lessened by contact on Lap 28/58 while attempting to pass second place Will Power. (See Fact Sheet for more info). In 2005, he could have clinched his second consecutive series title by finishing last (19th) here but earned it with a win from 2nd place after he led 38 of 57 laps. In 2004, he could have clinched title here but his teammate Junqueira won the race to prolong the battle. Was the provisional polesitter which allowed him to increase his lead to 28 points over second. Set the third fastest time in final qualifying but started second based on his prov. pole. Junqueira was able to gain a position on him after his second stop and he ultimately finished second and lost ground in the points lead (335-313)…Started on pole in 2003 but finished 17th. He and Paul Tracy made contact early in the race but he held second place until he lost control of his race car and crashed when rain began to fall, followed by hail and a temporary halt to the event…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: “The Medi | Zone car was good through out the session. We had one lap that was going to be significantly quicker. After Turn 7 the lap time was up nine-tenths but it was the lap that Sebastien crashed so I didn’t get to complete it. Right after I got out of Turn 7 it went red. From there on out it was just frustrating because, that was our first run and literally from then on out we had red flags or traffic. I was behind Neel Jani and he held Katherine and I up. The first one was going to be the good one but unfortunately when Seb hit it ruined our session. I enjoy the course. It’s fun; Turn 7 is awesome as it the fast chicane. I really do think we had a Top 10 car.” FAST FACTS: Will be his first Champ Car race in Australia...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). In their previous 16 years of racing here, NHR has earned FIVE WINS (Bourdais 2005, Junqueira 2004, Da Matta 2001, Tracy 1995, Mansell 1993), SEVEN POLES (Servia 2005, Bourdais 2003, Da Matta 2002, Mi. Andretti 1995 & 1991, Mansell 1993-1994) and NINE PODIUM finishes (2nd – Bourdais 2004; 3rd - Fittipaldi 1998, Mi. Andretti 1997, Ma. Andretti 1994). NHLR hopes to add to these numbers. The morning practice will take place from 10:00-11:15 AM local time while final qualifying will begin at 2:00 PM.