SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, #2 McDonald'sFord-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone:
- AT LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY: Will be his first race here, fourth on an
oval ('03 - Germany & Milwaukee; '04 Milwaukee), and second on a Super
Speedway (2-mile track in Germany was first).
- 2004 OVERVIEW: In 11 events this season, he has won SEVEN poles and
FIVE races as well as set the fastest race lap five times. Became the
first driver since former NHR driver da Matta (2002 - 19 total races)
to earn seven poles in one season.
- LEADS 2004 POINT STANDINGS WITH 275: Earned one point for being fastest
in final qualifying in Long Beach although he started second to his
teammate Junqueira, who set the fastest overall time in qualifying. Ran
the fastest lap of the race and finished third...Won the Monterrey,
Mexico race from his second consecutive pole at the track as well as set
a new track record for his fastest race lap and took over the points lead
for the first time in his CCWS career...Started second in Milwaukee but
crashed on 50/250 laps and dropped to fourth place in standings with 62
points...Won from pole in Portland after he led 85 of 94
laps...Provisional pole was taken from him in Cleveland on Thursday
after CCWS stewards ruled he blocked the qualifying lap of Ryan
Hunter-Reay. He started third and won his third race of five this season
after leading 88 of 97 laps to move him to second in the
standings...Started on pole, led 75 of 84 laps, ran fastest race lap and
earned his third consecutive victory in the series as well as his fourth
of the season to earn the points lead...Failed to match a series record
fourth consecutive victory in Vancouver when he started third, moved into
second on the first lap but finished fifth in Vancouver due to a
different fuel strategy employed by other teams. Set the second fastest
race lap...Started from his fourth pole of the season at Elkhart Lake
but finished third due to a race decided on fuel strategy...Won his
fifth pole in Denver but contact on the first lap dropped him to 15th
place. Charged back to lead the final 11 laps and win by a seven second
margin over Paul Tracy...Earned his sixth pole of the season and 11th in
CCWS career for a 39% average. Led 26 laps but contact with rookie
Allmendinger ended his race in 15th place to close his pre-race lead from
58 points to 34 over second place Junqueira, who went on to win the
race. Set the fastest race lap...Led the first lap in Laguna Seca from
his seventh pole of season but was hit by P. Tracy on L2 entering the
Corkscrew which resulted in a flat tire. Dropped to 14th, was in 9th
place when contact with R. Gonzales forced hit to pit for a new front
wing. Was in seventh place on the final lap when he went off course and
ultimately finished eighth. Points lead narrowed to 24 over second place
Junqueira, 275-251.
- EIGHT WINS: ('03 - England, Germany & Cleveland; '04 -
Monterrey, Portland, Cleveland, Toronto & Denver).
- 12 POLES: ('03 - St. Pete, Monterrey, Germany, Cleveland,
Australia; '04 - Monterrey, Portland, Toronto, Elkhart Lake,
Denver, Montreal, Laguna Seca).
BRUNO JUNQUEIRA, #6 PacifiCare Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone:
- AT LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY: Will be his first race here. Set the
fastest lap time in the pre-race test held here in August.
- 2004 OVERVIEW: Finished in the top-four eight times in 11 races,
including ONE win and FIVE second-place finishes. Set the fastest race
lap three times.
- SECOND IN 2004 POINT STANDINGS WITH 251: Started on pole, led one lap
and finished second in Long Beach...Drove to a second place finish after
starting fourth in Monterrey, Mexico...Qualified 10th and finished 5th
on the only oval race on the schedule in Milwaukee but moved into the
lead of the standings with his finish...Maintained points lead after
started and finished second in Portland. Was the provisional pole sitter
on Friday but received a penalty in Saturday's qualifying and settled
for a second place start. Ran the fastest race lap...Started sixth in
Cleveland but finished second despite dropping to 13th due to avoiding an
opening lap accident. Was his fourth second place finish of the season
and third 1-2 for the team. Also set the fastest race lap...Started
third in Toronto but was involved in an opening lap accident with Mario
Dominguez and retired in 18th place. Lost lead in standings to teammate
Bourdais who won the event...A suspension failure led to a crash in
final qualifying and he started eighth and finished fourth in
Vancouver...Started fourth in Elkhart Lake and ran as high as second
place before fuel strategy and contact led to a 15th place
finish...Started second in Denver but failed to win his third
consecutive race here and finished third. Led the first 39 laps...Won
his first race of the season in Montreal after he started fourth and led
the final 25 laps...Started eighth and finished second in Laguna Seca to
close his deficit to points leader Bourdais from 56 to 24 with three
races remaining...Second in point standings with 251 points to leader
Bourdais' 275 (-24).
- SIX WINS/23 TOP-THREE PODIUMS: Won SIX races (Elkhart Lake '01,
Japan & Denver '02, Elkhart Lake & Denver '03, Montreal '04)
and finished on the podium a total of 23 times (2nd - Portland &
Chicago '02, England, Laguna Seca & Vancouver '03, Long Beach,
Monterrey, Portland, Cleveland & Laguna Seca '04; 3rd - Elkhart
Lake & Mexico City '02, St. Pete, Long Beach, Cleveland and Toronto
'03, Denver '04).
- EIGHT POLES: ('01-Nazareth; '02-Japan, Elkhart Lake,
Denver, Mexico City; '03-Elkhart Lake & Denver; '04 Long
Beach).
What They're Saying About...
Sebastien Bourdais, #2 McDonald's Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone:
"Racing in Las Vegas is a lot about the team effort and how good they
are and how good your wind tunnel program is. (Engineer) Craig (Hampson)
is very good at sorting out the best package to show up with to make the
car as fast as we can. There are going to be some surprises though. The
outcome isn't going to rely so much on the driver but it's going
to be an exciting race because it's going to be close racing, hard
racing and very fast and we cannot afford to make a mistake in those
kinds of conditions.
"The McDonalds' car is going to be trimmed as
much as it can because, with the banking of the race track and the
layout, it's just going to be 'Go as fast as you can' racing
and in order to do that you have to take out so much downforce and drag.
We're going to be flat (on the gas pedal) a long, long, long time and
reliability could have been a big issue if we were to have the extra
boost the Push to Pass button gives as it's probably not too good for
the engine. I think it's a good decision that the series made.
Without it, it's going to be really hard racing already. Passing
will be a challenge but I think people are going to show up with solution
that could be somewhat risky with very, very low downforce to try
desperately to take out some drag. That could be interesting.
"For sure everybody has a shot to win because it
(driving on an oval) doesn't rely so much on the skill of the
driver. It's about where you are on the race track, and what the
scenario of the race is. Your race can turn upside down very, very fast
so there is lot of guessing to the approach of the race. We just have to
hope we make the right calls at the right time. We tested in the night
conditions and everything was good. The lights are great in Las Vegas.
They are used to having races at night time because it is so hot during
the day. It's going to be a lot of fun and it sounds like there will
be a big crowd. I hope they will continue the party the whole night long
and hopefully we can join them to celebrate a good finish. It should be
a very nice party weekend for the fans."
Bruno Junqueira, #6 PacifiCare Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: "This
is the first time Champ Car is going to race in Las Vegas and I'm
very excited about it. We did a test over one month ago and the
PacifiCare team was the fastest and I'm really looking forward to
having a good race in Las Vegas. Racing in Las Vegas is very good for
PacifiCare; they have offices in Nevada and they are very excited to have
a race there.
"The aerodynamic package is going to be like a road
course package with a little bit of change that will give the car more
speed. There is going to be a lot of downforce so it will be a very
close race. We're going to run two or three wide in the corner. I
think it's going to be a really exciting race for the fans and I hope
we can put the PacifiCare car in front.
"I think racing at night is fun; I like it.
Especially at Las Vegas; it's very hot so racing at night is a good
idea. I think it's going to be a big show in Las Vegas. Vegas is
all about going to the shows and I think everybody should go out to the
big show Saturday night which is going to be the race. Everybody is
going to race really hard since there are only three races to go and
it's an important time in the championship. It's going to be a
very close race with a lot of fighting. I think the fans can expect a
sensational finish at the end.
"We're going to run flat out all the way around
so we don't really need the Push to Pass for this race. You'll
get a slipstream from the car in front and that's what you'll
need to pass so we won't have Push to Pass in Las Vegas. You're
going to see a lot of passing and side-by-side racing. It's going to
be incredible."
-nhr-
