BRITISH ACE TAKES DUTCH LEG OF CHAMP CAR EURO DOUBLE
British ace Justin Wilson took his first Champ Car World
Series victory of the year in Assen today – taking the
second leg of the championship's European tour and elevating
himself into second place in this year's title race.
From the start of the Bavaria Beer Champ Car Grand Prix of
Holland - Presented by Audi, Gant, Hertz, Pioneer and Jumbo,
Wilson (#9 CDW Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone) made it known he
would be the man to beat, taking the lead in the opening corner
and holding off a variety of challengers to earn his fourth
career win.
Wilson led 39 of the 69 laps, on his way to the winner’s
circle, only losing the lead to Bruno Junqueira (#19 Sonny’s
Bar-B-Q Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone) who was on a different
pit strategy.
Joining Wilson on the podium were Conquest Racing’s
Jan Heylen (#34 Grafiprint Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone) and
Dale Coyne Racing’s Bruno Junqueira.
Neither driver had an easy trip to the podium. Heylen started
seventh and picked his way through the field on the fast TT
Circuit Assen. The Belgian’s charge through the field
combined with quick pit work from his crew led to Conquest
Racing’s first podium since Monterrey, Mexico in 2005.
While Heylen took one route to the podium, Junqueira and
the Dale Coyne Racing team used a separate plan, pitting under
the first yellow, having to pit again later with a flat tire
and then using timely cautions to keep the Brazilian driver
near the front of the field.
After finishing second last week at Zolder, it looked like
Dale Coyne Racing could take its first ever win, but a problem
with the pit lane speed limiter during Junqueira’s final
pit stop cost him valuable time and allowed Wilson and Heylen
to pass.
PKV Racing’s Tristan Gommendy (#22 Pay By Touch-MegaSpirea
Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone) and Neel Jani (#21 Red Bull-Gulfstream
Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone) finished fourth and fifth respectively.
The finish is a career best for the Frenchman Gommendy. For
the Swiss driver Jani, perseverance paid off as he overcame
a problem with his Power-to-Pass on lap 22 to earn his fourth
top-five finish this season.
Jani wasn’t the only driver affected by a problem with
Power-to-Pass as Sebastien Bourdais also dropped several positions
on the first lap with a similar issue. Following Jani’s
incident, Champ Car officials instructed all of the teams
not to use their Power-to-Pass during the remainder of the
event.
For Championship leader Bourdais, the race was a battle from
start to finish. After losing the lead in Turn 1, and having
his Power-to-Pass malfunction on the same lap, the three-time
champion sat fifth in the running order.
Following his first pit stop during the second full course
caution period, Bourdais dropped another two spots to seventh
and then during the final full course yellow, Bourdais stalled
on pit lane and rejoined the field in 16th position. Showing
his true form as a Champion, he steadily drove through the
field to salvage a seventh place result.
Coming home in the eighth spot was Oriol Servia (#7 Indeck
Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone) just ahead of American rookie Graham
Rahal (#2 Medi|Zone Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone). Rahal’s
top-ten performance along with Bourdais’ seventh place
result secured the Phanos Champ Car European Team Cup for
Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing.
QUOTES FROM THE TOP THREE FINISHERS
Justin Wilson: “It’s a great result for the #9
CDW/RuSPORT team. I’ve got to thank the whole team –
they’ve done brilliantly and they deserve this win so
much. The pit-stops were good and my engineer Mike Talbott
did a great job working out a set-up with no running in the
warm-up.”
Jan Heylen: “We finally had everything work out for
us after a rough start of the season. From the first session
on Friday, we knew we had a fast car and we were really encouraged
by all of our sessions leading up to the race because at each
session we were getting better and learning more."
Bruno Junqueira: “My car was pretty good today. Could
save fuel and still go pretty fast. I did a good pace throughout
the whole race, almost the entire time I was leading and I
felt very good. I think the team did a good job."
DRIVERS DELIGHTED WITH EURO TOUR
After two highly successful back-to-back events on European
soil, drivers from the Champ Car World Series are enthusiastically
looking forward to returning in 2008.
"It has been fantastic to come here and race at two
great events," Wilson said.
"Champ car has been to Europe before and had reasonable
success but not enough to keep it coming back year after year.
"Today was fantastic, last week was great and I was
saying to my guys on the grid, I think this track is 2.8 miles
and there is 2.8 miles of banking and grandstands all the
way around and it was full. It was incredible to see."
While Jan Heylen was disappointed in his home race result
after suffering gearbox problems, the Belgian made up for
it in neighboring Holland.
"For me to have the home race at Zolder, my home race,
that by itself was fantastic in itself. But just as Justin
said, both races have been a success.
"What stood out for me is how enthusiastic everyone
was. All the parade laps, the autograph sessions – everyone
was there to see the drivers.
"I am definitely looking forward to coming back again
next year. Both promoters have done a really good job and
I am sure they have learned a lot from it."
For Euro double-podium driver Bruno Junqueira, the return
to Europe brought back many memories of his younger days.
"People here and in Belgium were very knowledgeable
about the series. There were bringing pictures of myself from
when I raced in Formula 3000 – I looked so young!"
Junqueira said.
"The return to Europe has brought me a lot of good memories.
Racing is a very big sport in Europe and a lot driver from
over here race in Champ Cars and the fans follow our championship
very closely.
"The race today and the race in Belgium were just great.
I had a lot of fun."
Final Results
Pos Driver Country Time
1 Justin Wilson England 69 laps
2 Jan Heylen Belgium - 7.227 sec
3 Bruno Junqueira Brazil - 8.419 sec
4 Tristan Gommendy France - 9.037 sec
5 Neel Jani Switzerland - 22.262 sec
6 Simon Pagenaud France - 22.698 sec
7 Sebastien Bourdais France - 22.955 sec
8 Oriol Servia Spain - 23.406 sec
9 Graham Rahal USA - 23.949 sec
10 Ryan Dalziel Scotland - 29.554 sec
11 Dan Clarke England - 38.903 sec
12 Katherine Legge England - 44.860 sec
13 Robert Doornbos Netherlands - 60.638 sec
14 Will Power Australia - 61.204 sec
15 Alex Tagliani Canada - 1 lap
16 Alex Figge USA - 1 ap
17 Paul Tracy Canada DNF - 55 laps
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