McDONALD’S DRIVER BOURDAIS SAYS AU REVOIR AT THIS WEEKEND’S GRAN PREMIO TECATE CHAMP CAR SEASON FINALE; MEDI | ZONE DRIVER RAHAL AIMS TO GET 2007 WIN AND FIFTH PLACE SEASON-ENDING STANDING MEXICO CITY (November 7, 2007) --- With his fourth consecutive title wrapped up and only one race to go before he departs to live his lifelong dream of competing in Formula One, McDonald’s driver Sebastien Bourdais could take it easy this weekend and rest on his laurels that include a 42 percent win average, 43 percent average of starting from pole and an amazing 60 percent average of finishing on the podium in his 72 Champ Car races to date. But Bourdais, true to form and a true champion, will do everything in his power to end this weekend’s Gran Premio Tecate Presented by Banamex season finale – and Champ Car career – on the top spot of the victory podium in what is sure to be an emotional event for all of Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing (NHLR). “I hope the McDonald’s team can put on a good show again in Mexico City,” said Bourdais who clinched his first title in 2004 with a win at the 2.7 mile Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez and followed it up with another here last year. “Obviously you don’t want to finish your career in the series with some frustration or regret. We’ll give our very best and hope we can finish in style. Obviously I owe these guys my total dedication. We've been working really hard together for these past five years. You know, I just couldn't stand myself if I didn't give it all I had until the very end. They deserve the very best, and we're going to do just that until the very end.” In December of 2002, Bourdais earned his position at Newman/Haas Racing at a driver shootout and quickly proved he deserved the selection by winning three races and five poles in his rookie season as well as 2003 Rookie of the Year honors. Since then he and the McDonald’s team have earned four consecutive championships and set many records along the way. His personal best season win total is seven in 2004 and 2006 and he could better his own mark with a victory this weekend which would tie him with Michael Andretti (1991) and Al Unser Jr. (1994) for most wins in a single season in the CART / Champ Car modern era (1979-present). In order to end his Champ Car career with a win, one of the drivers he will have to beat is Justin Wilson, whom Bourdais passed here last year in a breathtaking final lap battle. “The race was an exciting one,” Bourdais said of the 2006 event. “I guess we put on a heck of a show for the fans. There were a lot of speed differences at times because some guys had the Bridgestone alternate tires on while others had the primary tires on so there were different paces. That’s what really allowed us to pass Justin. He decided to go with new tires on the last stop and we didn’t change them to save time and kept the old, wet (rain) tires on what was pretty-much a drying track towards the end and he was struggling. We had a good run and it was, for me, one of the best races in a long time.” Bourdais has been one of, if not the, most dominant drivers in Champ Car history but it’s said that all good things must come to an end. That won’t happen until the conclusion of Sunday’s season finale though and as the desire to win at NHLR will take precedence over emotion, the McDonald’s team will be concentrating on ending Bourdais’ reign at Champ Car with another win on Sunday. However, the Frenchman is quick to point out that although this is his final race with the team, the relationships that have been forged will continue. “We have one more race to go before we turn the last page of my Champ Car career and it’s done and over,” said Bourdais. “All I hope is that people remember that we went after it and we gave it our very best, and we haven't won these four championships just kind of waiting for the points to accumulate and just being consistent. We obviously tried to put on the best show we could, and we had a lot of fun doing it. We've won the championships but not only done that. I think I grew up as a man and as a driver. I learned a lot from a lot of obviously very experienced people, and I've learned from the best. But these guys, they're really close friends and everything, so I think we'll still stay in touch, and, like I said ‑‑ it's not because I'm going to move on to another challenge that I'm going to forget. Not at all; it's going to be something that will stay a part of me forever.” While Bourdais is close to finishing his Champ Car career, Medi | Zone driver Graham Rahal is still just beginning his. The 18-year-old has one more event in his rookie season and one more opportunity to meet a goal he set – to win a race this year. In 13 races this season, he has finished on the podium four times including becoming the youngest podium finisher with his second place in Houston. In 10 of the 13 races, he has been in contention for the win by running in the top-five, including leading three races and setting the fastest lap of the race for the first time in the previous event in Australia. The 17-turn, 2.7-mile Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez layout couldn’t suit his style more if he had designed the course himself. “I’m looking forward to racing in Mexico City for the first time,” said Rahal, who started his rookie season by splitting time being a professional race car driver and high school senior. “The track definitely suits my style because it has very fast corners and is very windy for a long duration. It’s definitely quick and favors my style so hopefully the Medi | Zone team can finish the season with a good result and hang on to fifth place.” Like many of the events this season, Rahal will have to learn the course as the Atlantic series, where he finished runner up in 2006, has not competed here. Ending the season on the podium would also aid him in his quest to retain his current fifth place rank. With 220 points to date and a maximum of 34 points available this weekend, Rahal is one of five drivers with an outside chance of taking fourth place from Will Power who has 234. The points battle is so tight that even 10th place Alex Tagliani (197) is within 34 points of Rahal who knows there will be a fierce fight this weekend but he will continue to take a methodical approach to learning the layout and earning the highest possible finish in the season standings. “Having to adapt quickly to new layouts is something I think we all have had to get used to in this series,” said Rahal, who will be one of five drivers to compete on the course for the first time. “We have all grown up having to get used to new circuits very quickly. You basically have to show up and do a good job. I watch as much tape as possible, pay close attention on the track walk and look at as much data as I can.” The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is named for the famous Mexican brothers Pedro and Ricardo Rodriguez who both lost their lives behind the wheel. Champ Car made its first appearance on the circuit in 1980 and 1981, but did not return again until 2002. In the five years of racing here, Newman/Haas Racing, now named Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, has earned two wins (Bourdais 2006, 2004), one pole (Bourdais 2004) and five podium finishes (2nd – Junqueira 2004, Bourdais 2003, da Matta 2002). Rahal is hoping to add to NHLR’s numbers this weekend. “I came to the race last year as a spectator,” said Rahal. “It was very interesting because it was run in the wet and dry and everyone had to anticipate the changes. It was very difficult. I found it very exciting to watch because (Justin) Wilson had only one arm and he led most of the race. Hopefully it will be another good race this year and we can be one of the contenders.” In an effort to enhance passing and create more racing, the Champ Car World Series will increase the horsepower on its Power-to-Pass function (P2P) from 50 to 100. Drivers will also receive 75 seconds of P2P time, an increase 15 seconds over the normal 60 seconds. The Gran Premio Tecate Presented by Banamex gets underway on Friday with the first round of qualifying at 2:00 p.m. CST. The final grid will be set on Saturday at 2:00 pm CST and the season-ending race will go green Sunday at 2:00 pm CST and will be broadcast live on ESPN2 from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. EST. FINAL CHAMP CAR RACE IN MEXICO CITY: Will be his fifth race here. In 2006 he started second and led a total of 24 laps but was in second place on the final lap before he charged past Justin Wilson in Turn 6 of 15 to win. Also set the fastest race lap. In 2005, started third but had a problem with the ECU and had to pit early where he had a troubled stop and later retired in 17th after contact with Cristiano da Matta. Started from pole in 2004, set the fastest race lap and led all 63 laps to win the race and championship but not before he overcame a Lap 41/63 mistake where he spun after having built a 17-second lead. Started fourth in 2003 and finished second. CLINCHED 2007 TITLE IN PENULTIMATE RACE: 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 pit again. Returned to the race in 11th place but contact in Turn 4 on the 31st of 68 laps ended his race…Led 58 laps and won from pole in Long Beach to rebound to a third place rank…Was the provisional polesitter in Houston and set the fastest lap time in final qualifying but CCWS ruled he had interfered with the lap time of Power and took away that lap. He started second but took the lead at the start by cutting the chicane and was told to give the position up to Wilson on the next lap but regained the lead on Lap 14 and only relinquished it after pit stops. Set the fastest race lap en route to victory…Started third in Portland and brought the team their 100th victory in dominating fashion. After his third place start he temporarily dropped to fifth but stretched his fuel two laps longer than race leader Wilson on the first stint and closed an +18-second deficit to take over the leader after the second stop, which he held through his third and won by a 13.5 second margin over Wilson…He started from pole and set the fastest race lap in Cleveland but lost ground in the point standings due to an engine failure after leading 27 laps ended his race while second …Qualified third in Mont Tremblant and took the lead on the first lap when polesitter Gommendy’s car wouldn’t start and second place Power stalled. Led the first 27 laps but spun on the wet track on slick tires and dropped back to 11th but recovered to finish second to Robert Doornbos…Earned both points for fastest qualifier in Toronto to start the race from pole with a two-point lead over Doornbos but was hit by him with five laps to go while fifth and retired in ninth place. Doornbos was able to continue to finish sixth and take over the points by two over Power and three over Bourdais…Qualified second in Edmonton but took the lead at the start and led until his first stop when he dropped to third to avoid a car while trying to leave his pits. Ran two laps longer and regained the lead after the second stop to win after setting the fastest race lap…Was the provisional polesitter in San Jose and started second but took the lead going into Turn 1 although Wilson regained the position a few turns later. Bourdais stalled the car under the first caution while trying to save fuel and dropped to eighth but regained a few spots to finish fifth while race winner Doornbos closed to within 10 points…Earned the max. points at Road America with pole on Friday & Saturday, set the fastest race lap and won to increase his lead over second place to 37 points…Started from pole, led 51/71 laps and won the Belgium race by 13.5 seconds as well as set the fastest race lap…Started from pole in Holland but his attempt to utilize P2P to regain the lead from Wilson on Lap 1 dropped him to 5th due to a glitch. P2P was banned later in the race for safety reasons. Stalled in the pits and finished seventh for a 58 point lead over second place Wilson (301-243)...Needed to finish 12th or better to clinch his fourth straight title in Australia but did it in style after winning from a fourth place start. Entered the pits for his first stop in third but left in the lead (of those who pit; 4th overall), had a mid race battle with Wilson but beat him by a 6.7-second margin for an insurmountable points lead of 332-270 over the Englishman. FOUR IN A ROW RARE IN SPORTS: Bourdais captured the Vanderbilt Cup for the fourth time since 2004. No Champ Car driver has ever won four straight titles. 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. 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. 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. 30 WINS IN 72 RACES (41.6 percent): (’03 – three wins; ’04 – seven wins; ’05 – six wins; ’06 – seven wins; ’07 Long Beach, Houston, Portland, Edmonton, Elkhart Lake, Belgium, Australia). He earned his 20th victory in his 49th start with a win in Milwaukee which beats the former record of 79 starts to reach 20 wins, held by Foyt. Mario Andretti (80), T. Bettenhausen (96) & R. Mears (97) are the only other drivers to reach 20 wins in 100 starts. 31 CCWS POLES IN 72 RACES (43 percent): (’03 – five poles; ’04 – eight poles; ’05 – five poles; ’06 – seven poles; ’07-- Long Beach, Cleveland, Toronto, Elkhart Lake, Belgium, Holland). His 31 poles put him sixth on the all time career pole position list behind Mario Andretti (67), A.J. Foyt (53), Bobby Unser (49), Rick Mears (40) and Michael Andretti (32). Sebastien Bourdais, #1 McDonald’s Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone: “I hope the McDonald’s team can put on a good show again in Mexico City. Obviously you don’t want to finish your career in the series with some frustration or regret. It would be great to have a good weekend again. We’ll give our very best and hope we can finish in style. “The race was an exciting one. I guess we put on a heck of a show for the fans. There were a lot of speed differences at times because some guys had the Bridgestone alternate tires on while others had the primary tires on so there were different paces. That’s what really allowed us to pass Justin. He decided to go with new tires on the last stop and we didn’t change them to save time and kept the old, wet (rain) tires on what was pretty-much a drying track towards the end and he was struggling. We had a good run and it was, for me, one of the best races in a long time. “I could feel that I had made the right decision because it was pretty obvious that we were going to be graining up brand new and softer tires quite bad and I had been suffering from that most of the stint before until they cleaned up a little bit. I knew what I was doing I just didn’t know if I would run out of time or catch him at the right place. “It’s a really fun track. Obviously it’s very bumpy which is the only downside but it makes it more challenging because its difficult to read it and the grip is not it’s best. Obviously the fact that we are at a higher altitude, the top speed is quite high. There are some very different corners and so-called chicanes but it is pretty fast. There are some left and right corners with some slow, very minimum speed corners and it goes all through the ranks. It’s has everything. It really is a fun and challenging track. You need to find the right balance, the right setup which is always a big compromise because of the slow and fast corners.” IN MEXICO CITY: Will be his first Champ Car race here. RANKED 5TH SO FAR IN 2007: Had an electrical problem in Friday’s qualifying 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 and hit the wall 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 stops led to an eighth place finish…Started sixth in Houston and finished second to bring the team it’s first 1-2 finish since Las Vegas in 2005…Started eighth in Portland but struggled to pass Clarke and went off course twice while trying and ultimately finished ninth…Earned his highest start of fourth in his home race in Cleveland but a battle with Doornbos for position led to being hit from behind by Tracy and he went off course and subsequently to the rear of the field. Came back to lead four laps for the first time in his Champ Car career and had a late race battle with leader Tracy but had to pit for five gallons of fuel and finished eighth…Started ninth in Mont Tremblant, pitted for his last stop after he led seven laps but a shifting problem led to a stalled car and he rejoined the field 10th. Finished seventh to tie with Oriol Servia for eighth place…He started 15th in Toronto but an evasive move to avoid a pile up on Lap 1 led to him hitting the wall and a subsequent stop for a new front wing. Had to pit again for another front wing later in the race after running as high as second. Retired in 11th place after he made contact for the third time due to a broken steering rack…Started fourth and finished third in Edmonton…Started sixth, ran as high as fourth and finished sixth in San Jose after he charged back from a problem (stalled) on his first pit stop that dropped him to 13th…Started fourth, ran as high as second and finished third in Elkhart Lake to move from eighth to fifth in the point standings…Had a lap quick enough for P2 in qualifying but had to abort it and started 13th in Belgium. Different strategy saw him lead seven laps and finish 3rd…Started sixth in Holland, ran as high as fourth and finished ninth after two off-course excursions…Started ninth in Australia and ran as high as fifth before he was hit from behind by Philippe which dropped him to the back and he ultimately finished 11th but maintained his fifth place rank with 220 points. ALSO IN 2007: Rahal competed in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring and the Petite Le Mans. Drove a Lexus Riley for Southard Motorsports in the 24 hour race. The team retired 28th in class after a water pump failure…He competed for his father’s team Rahal Letterman Racing (RLR) for the first time in Sebring. The team 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…Ran the Petite Le Mans for RLR in the GT2 class. Team started 4th and finished 3rd despite three flats and a final lap spin by Milner. 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. 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 graduated from New Albany High School with a 3.8 GPA on June 3, 2007…When he is not racing 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.” ABOUT MEDI | ZONE: Medi | Zone is a leader of medically supervised weight loss, weight maintenance, wellness and performance programs, products, and services as well as the exclusive provider of the leading cutting edge health, wellness and performance systems by Dr. Barry Sears, the best selling author of the Zone Diet series. Medi | Zone owns and operates medically supervised weight loss, weight maintenance, wellness, and performance centers. Graham Rahal, #2 Medi | Zone Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone: “I’m looking forward to racing in Mexico City for the first time. The track definitely suits my style because it has very fast corners and is very windy for a long duration. It’s definitely quick and favors my style so hopefully the Medi | Zone team can finish the season with a good result and hang on to fifth place. “I came to the race last year as a spectator. It was very interesting because it was run in the wet and dry and everyone had to anticipate the changes. It was very difficult. I found it very exciting to watch because (Justin) Wilson had only one arm and he led most of the race. Hopefully it will be another good race this year and we can be one of the contenders. “Having to adapt quickly to new layouts is something I think we all have had to get used to in this series. We have all grown up having to get used to new circuits very quickly. You basically have to show up and do a good job. I watch as much tape as possible, pay close attention on the track walk and look at as much data as I can.”