The race for the Champ Car drivers' title is going to Mexico City in two weeks.
Bruno Junqueira won yesterday's Lexmark Indy 300 ahead of teammate Sebastien Bourdais, stalling Bourdais' run to the 2004 championship in a battle between Newman/Haas teammates.
The race finished under a slow-speed yellow caution flag in its scheduled 57 laps after Canadian Patrick Carpentier was injured when his car crashed heavily into a tire barrier four laps from the finish following a collision with the wall when his nosecone came off.
Carpentier was taken to Gold Coast Hospital and underwent at CT scan, which showed no injuries, a Champ Car official said.
The official said Carpentier suffered no other injuries, but would be kept in hospital overnight because he was unconscious for a period immediately after the crash.
It was Junqueira's second win of the season and seventh of his career. He becomes the 14th different winner of the Australian race.
Bourdais came into the race with a 28-point lead over Junqueira and needing only to pick up seven points more than his teammate to clinch the title. But Junqueira picked up 31 points for winning and two more for posting the fastest lap during the race and for leading a lap.
Bourdais picked up 27 for finishing second, giving the French driver a 22-point lead going into the final series race Nov. 7.
Junqueira finished 1.321 seconds ahead of Bourdais. Mario Dominguez, the 2002 winner, was third, and Canadian Paul Tracy, the pole-sitter who led for most of the first half of the race, was fourth.
"The weekend started really difficult for me, we had gearbox troubles and I nearly didn't qualify," said Junqueira. "It feels good to have the points race still going. The last two years here I led but didn't win."
Bourdais said the race could have finished better.
"It was a pretty good result, but not exactly the one we wanted," said Bourdais. "We wanted to finish in front of Bruno, but we were both on the podium so I'm happy with that."
Tracy, the 1995 winner here, lost the lead when he locked his brakes on the 40th lap, putting Junqueira in the lead for good.
Last year's winner, Ryan Hunter-Reay of the US was fifth, followed by another American driver, A.J. Allmendinger.
The placing clinched the rookie-of-the-year title for Allmendinger, who also won rookie honors and was champion of last year's Toyota Atlantic series.
After rain had affected the race three out of the last four years, and a number of major accidents at the start, this race was relatively incident-free over the first 40 laps of the 4.498km temporary street circuit.
Tracy won the pole Saturday, his third of the year, while Bourdais had guaranteed himself a front-row spot by winning Friday's opening qualifying session.
Another overall attendance record was set for the four-day event. Organizers said a record 107,321 attended the race.
After letting another big lead slip with an error-strewn performance at the French Open on Wednesday, top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka felt like getting as far away from the courts as possible. “Just want to quit tennis right now,” Sabalenka said after wasting a lead of a set and two breaks in a 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 loss to Diana Shnaider in the women’s singles quarter-finals. “We’ll see in few days. Hopefully I’ll get back on track mentally.” Sabalenka’s wait for a first French Open title continues despite the four-time major winner leading 4-1 in the second set and being two points from victory while
BIG NAMES GONE: Zverev is the clear favorite for a maiden Grand Slam title, reaching semi-finals for the fifth time in six years and finishing second on three occasions Alexander Zverev on Tuesday breezed past Rafael Jodar to stay on course for an elusive Grand Slam title at the French Open, while Jakub Mensik halted Joao Fonseca’s scintillating run in the quarter-finals. Zverev, the highest-ranked player left in the men’s draw, put an end to Spanish teenager Jodar’s impressive Roland Garros debut, easing into the semi-finals with a 7-6, (7/3), 6-1, 6-3 win. The 29-year-old Zverev is the clear favorite for a maiden Grand Slam title. He has finished runner-up on three occasions, including at the 2024 French Open. “I want to win the matches that are ahead of
For some, Cristiano Ronaldo remains the essential spearhead for Portugal’s FIFA World Cup bid, while others believe his presence would prevent Roberto Martinez’s strong side from flourishing. The debate around the five-time Ballon d’Or winner rages on, as it did at UEFA Euro 2024 and four years ago in Qatar — yet Ronaldo endures, ready to play in a record sixth World Cup. The 41-year-old remains a global superstar despite swapping the European elite for Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr, and is the leading men’s international goalscorer with 143 strikes. With 25 of those coming in 30 games under Martinez, the coach
Taiwanese sprinter Chen Yi-cen on Friday won the silver medal in the women’s 400m final at the Asian U20 Athletics Championships in Hong Kong, with a time of 53.16 seconds. Chen, 15, was the youngest among the eight finalists, and her performance also met the qualifying standard of 53.50 seconds for the Nagoya Asian Games in Japan in September and October. Chen first made her mark at the National Games in Tainan in 2023, at the age of 13, winning the women’s 400m final in 55.55 seconds to become the youngest gold medalist in the history of the event. Meanwhile,
RSS