4/09/2007

Unusual Champ Car Race

The Champ Car race in Las Vegas was strange on many levels. Multiple champion Sebastian Bourdais had a bad day.  That never seems to happen to Newman-Hass-Lanigan.
Bourdais, who had won the previous five inaugural races in Champ Car, was never a factor in this one. He started 16th after a crash in qualifying on Saturday, overcame three flat tires in the first 24 laps to reach third place and then hit a concrete barrier on lap 30 and ended up 13th.``It's probably the worst race I've ever had by far,'' Bourdais said.
I counted eight rookies in the field. They all seemed to do a pretty good job of racing safely and competently.
Pagenaud, a 22-year-old Frenchman who beat out Rahal for last year's Atlantics championship by 16 points, ran with the leaders most of the way, but went out with an electrical problem and finished 12th.
What the hell happened to Graham Rahal. First I heard he got hit. Now it appears he just crashed.
Rahal, the 18-year-old son of three-time CART champion and Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal, watched his father win a Vintage Car race on the same track Sunday morning, then crashed on the first lap in the Champ Car event and finished last.
Australian Will Power (please, that name!) won over rookie Robert Doornbos.
"It was a pretty cruisy race, really,'' Power said, grinning. "I was saving fuel and saving brakes because the brake pedal was really getting pretty long. And, with no one pressing you, no one to attack, I was just hoping nothing went wrong.'' Last year's top rookie said he was ``relieved'' when the 1-hour, 45-minute timed event snaking through the streets of downtown Las Vegas ended.``When I heard there were about three laps to go, I figured we probably had it, but I still just wanted to get it done before something happened,'' Power said.
Thanks for the quotes, Yahoo. The next race is next weekend, April 15 in Long Beach, California.