BOURDAIS HEADING BACK TO WHERE THE WINNING BEGAN
After scoring his 27th Champ Car World Series victory in
Edmonton, Canada, last weekend, Sebastien Bourdais has his
sights set on heading back to Europe where his winning ways
all began.
The then rookie scored his first Champ Car victory the last
time the series visited Europe back in 2003.
Bourdais won at Brands Hatch and Lausitz that year and backed
that up with another victory at Cleveland.
He has come a long way since making his Champ Car debut from
pole position at St Petersburg – landing in the US from
Europe as the reigning Formula 3000 champion.
"I did not know what to expect when I first came to
the US, all I knew is I was getting into the reigning championship-winning
team and that I was going to have to perform if I wanted to
stay," Bourdais said.
The Frenchman has not only earned his spot, but secured a
place in Champ Car history as the first driver to earn three
consecutive championships.
Born in Le Mans, it was no surprise that he followed in the
footsteps of his racing driver father. Now based in Florida
with his wife and young daughter, Bourdais is eagerly awaiting
the chance to race closer to home.
"The best part of living in America is we have a great
place in Florida and the weather is fantastic, living on the
water has been really nice and I had never had the opportunity
to do that before," Bourdais said.
"The quality of life has been really great. The one
thing that we miss obviously is friends and family. The location
we are at is awesome. Generally in the US the people are really
friendly, real easy to approach. So that was a big help."
For 2007, Bourdais has taken family life on the road with
his wife Claire and daughter Emma staying at the track aboard
a large motor home.
"We’ve had the motor home this year, it’s
been very enjoyable actually to be able to stay at the track
and not worry about checking in, checking out, going back
to the hotel, taking a car." the Newman Haas Lanigan
Racing star said.
"It’s good to just be there on site and enjoy
my time with Emma and Claire."
RYAN IS NOT THE FLYING SCOTSMAN
While the film based on Scottish cycling legend Graeme Obree
– the "Flying Scotsman" – is set to
be released in the UK on Sunday, Scottish Champ Car rookie
Ryan Dalziel has not been as fortunate on two wheels.
Fresh from recording his best qualifying and race results
at Edmonton on the weekend, Dalziel suffered an accident while
training on his bicycle on Tuesday and suffered a broken collarbone.
Dalziel will now miss this weekend's San Jose Grand Prix
for Pacific Coast Motorsports and will be reassessed prior
to the Road America event on August 12.
He is expected to be back behind the wheel when the Champ
Car World Series returns to Europe for the Zolder (Belgium)
and Assen (Netherlands) events on August 26 and September
2 respectively.
Dalziel is not the only driver on the recovery trail. PKV's
Frenchman Tristan Gommendy suffered a back injury after crashing
in Friday qualifying in Edmonton and was forced to sit out
the remainder of the weekend.
He is hopeful of returning to the PKV squad this weekend
in San Jose.
SO WHAT IS A CHAMP CAR?
So what is a Champ Car and how is it different from
Formula One?
To the casual observer, it may be hard to tell the difference.
They are both single seater race cars – very fast single
seater race cars with 750-horsepower under the driver's right
foot.
The big difference with the Champ Car World Series compared
to F1 is that every competitor in the field is driving the
same car – the US-built DP01 chassis powered by a turbocharged
2.65 litre, V8 Cosworth engine.
In Formula One, every team must build their own cars. While
some F1 teams use the same engine, their 2.4 litre V8 motors
are not turbocharged.
While both the Champ Car and F1 engines produce similar horsepower,
the budgets required to propel the cars at well over 300km/h
are dramatically different.
To win in Champ Car costs merely a fraction of what is required
to be successful in F1. This provides a level playing field
for Champ Car entrants where driver skill, rather than a team's
bank balance, is the secret to success.
BOURDAIS GRABS THE ADVANTAGE IN EDMONTON
Sebastien Bourdais' victory, coupled with problems for two
of his chief rivals has resulted in the French star leaving
the Canadian leg of the Champ Car World Series calendar with
a 20 point margin last weekend.
Bourdais scored his 27th victory at Edmonton while Mont-Tremblant
winner Robert Doornbos (Netherlands) tangled with Alex Tagliani
and Toronto victor Will Power retired with steering problems.
All three leading championship contenders – Bourdais,
Doornbos and Power – all left Canada with one victory
apiece.
Britain's Justin Wilson finished second in Edmonton ahead
of Bourdais' team-mate, young American Graham Rahal. Wilson
has now closed on the leading trio in fourth place in the
title race.
While Power left Edmonton lamenting his early race demise,
his Team Australia squad still earned the Canadian Triple
Crown award with his French teammate Simon Pagenaud finishing
fourth. Team Australia finished the three Canadian races with
an average finishing position of 5.2 – just beating
Newman Haas Lanigan Racing's combined average of 5.5
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