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Bourdais Bags Time Warner Cable Road Runner 225 At The Milwaukee Mile
MILWAUKEE (June 4)— Race day at The Milwaukee Mile may have started out like
a typical day for Champ Car driver Sebastien Bourdais – starting from pole
position for the third time in four races this season - but it was the end of
the race that proved to snap the string of sour luck at America’s Legendary
Oval, for both driver and team in the Time Warner Cable Road Runner 225.
Bourdais won Sunday in convincing fashion, scoring his fourth straight Champ
Car World Series victory, and his ninth series win in the last 11 races.
Domination would be a word to describe the Frenchman’s recent successes, but
not a term used to describe his luck on ovals. That is, until today.
Bourdais’ breakthrough oval win at The Mile in front of 28,357 sun-soaked
fans was the first win for Champ Car powerhouse Newman – Haas Racing since
1986. In three previous Milwaukee starts for the team, Bourdais crashed
twice and finished sixth after an infraction while running in contention.
Driving for legendary actor Paul Newman and Chicago businessman Carl Haas,
Bourdais led the field to the green flag Sunday afternoon next his teammate
Bruno Junqueira. Bourdais led the opening 20 laps before a cut tire
forced him to make an unscheduled pit stop, which dropped him far back in the
field, a lap down to the leaders. From there, Bourdais used a
combination of pit strategy and a fast car to overcome the adversity.
“This car was a rocket ship today, it really looked like we were going to
run away with it, and I guess on lap 15 or something, the guy started to see a
small leak on the right rear, then I started to think different,” he
recalled. “The car was really good and we didn't panic, and everybody
knew what he had to do, and me first, and the most important thing was to
finish this race, not make any mistakes, and we were already really
concentrated.”
“Then I started to hit traffic and go very quickly and play catch‑up a
little bit, and it all worked out.”
The turning point for Bourdais came during a caution flag on lap 55 as
Bourdais ducked into the pits while the rest of the leaders remained on the
track. By putting himself on a different sequence from the rest of the
front runners, Bourdais was able to race his way back into contention and take
advantage of the fact that other drivers had to pit later, giving the
defending series champion preferred track position.
As the laps clicked off and lead lap cars had to pit, Bourdais eased into the
lead on lap 101, set a fast pace and never looking back to take the checkered
flag.
LEGGE LED EARLY
Champ Car’s first full-time female driver Katherine Legge used pit strategy
to lead twelve laps early in her first oval attempt. Mentored by team
co-owner Jimmy Vasser, Legge was very impressive in her first-ever oval
start. In the storied history of The Milwaukee Mile, Legge also became
the first Champ Car driver to lead a lap, as five women have competed in the
series.
WILSON SOLID, CAREER BEST FOR PHILIPPE
Second-row starter Justin Wilson kept the nose of his RuSPORT Lola near the
front throughout the event. Eventual runner-up Wilson paced 61 laps
during the middle stages and was the only driver to keep Bourdais in sight,
finishing three seconds behind Bourdais at the finish. The personable
Brit improved from his fourth place finish of a year ago.
“I was quite please the car was working well. Unfortunately, we
weren’t quite quick enough but we got a good performance from the CDW crew,
they did a great job, gave me a good car…it’s all down to the team and the
car. I’m quite pleased I got the opportunity today,” Wilson said.
Third year driver Nelson Philippe finished a career-best third after a
spirited duel with Wilson.
“It was pretty good fun,” Wilson stated. “Nelson was running low
downforce, so he was quick down the straights, but couldn’t quite carry the
speed through the corners. He would come down on the inside, I could see him
out the side of the car, our wheels were getting close. Then, I looked in my
mirrors coming out of two and saw Nelson’s car weaving all over the place,
so I guess he lost downforce. It got pretty loose on him. I'm just
really happy to have made the podium on an oval. I can count this as my
third oval. I didn't really think Vegas counted because it was just flat
out ‑‑ this is one where you have to drive, and you feel that you
can drive this track.”
Phillippe overcame a brush with the wall the produced the fourth of five
caution flags for debris from his the bodywork his car shed upon impact.
“It feels definitely amazing (to finish on the podium),” the 19 year-old
Frenchman beamed. “It's been a long time coming. I've been
really close a couple of times to being in the top 3, and finally I achieved
it today. The main thing is I've got to give it up to my CTE-HVM team
because without them I wouldn't be here. They gave me an awesome car, it
was great in traffic.”
Philippe’s team visited victory lane at The Mile with driver Ryan Hunter-Reay
in 2004 drove for the same team.
“A bad car on an oval is no fun. When you have a good car, its fun,
today I had a good car. I never had so much fun on an oval. It was
great. I scared myself with Justin a couple of times, but hat’s part
of it.”
Wilson’s teammate, Californian A.J. Allmendinger finished fourth after
leading a handful of laps early on, while Oriol Servia rebounded from some
wall skirmishes in practice on Friday and Saturday to rally for fifth after a
hard-fought battle with Phillippe and Almendinger.
TRACY OUT BEFORE IT STARTED
Defending race winner and heavy pre-race favorite Paul Tracy never really got
a chance to defend his race title as he became involved in a three-car crash
on the opening lap, damaging his car severely enough to retire from the
event. The incident began when Tracy’s teammate Mario Dominguez made
contact with Bruno Junqueira in turn four, which turned Junqueira’s car
sideways and into the turn four wall. As Junqueira spun, he clipped Tracy’s
car which sent him also spinning down the track before coming to rest against
the retaining wall.
“Mario (Dominguez) just drove in way to hard and ran into the side of Bruno
(Junqueira),” a disappointed Tracy stated shortly after storming back to the
pit lane on foot. “It’s frustrating because now there are two good cars
crashed out.”
MILWAUKEE MILE STATEMENT ON RACE LENGTH, attributed to Craig Stoehr, Milwaukee
Mile Chairman:
“We are very pleased by the support of our fans for the Time Warner Cable
Road Runner 225 today. We wanted to clarify the situation surrounding
the shortened race distance.
“Champ Car officials declared Sebastien Bourdais the winner on lap 197, in
accordance with Champ Car’s time limit and agreement with their television
broadcast partner.
“Although we share our race fans’ disappointment the event did not run the
full distance, we have no control over Champ Car’s policies and we believe
this was still the most well-attended and exciting Champ Car event The Mile
has had in some time.”
UNOFFICIAL FINISH
Sebastien Bourdais
Justin Wilson
Nelson Philippe
A.J. Allmendinger
Oriol Servia
Katherine Legge
Andrew Ranger
Dan Clarke
Charles Zwolsman
Nicky Pastorelli
Will Power
Jan Heylen
Cristiano da Matta
Mario Dominguez
Bruno Junqueira
Paul Tracy
Alex Tagliani
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