Sebastien Bourdais overcame a slow early pit stop to win his third straight Champ Car race on Sunday, edging Justin Wilson by 3.065 seconds in the Grand Prix of Monterrey.
Bourdais and Wilson went at each other all afternoon during a virtually crash-free race despite slippery conditions on the asphalt. The 3.3km Parque Fundidora road course curves around a rusty, long-closed steel mill in Mexico's third-largest city.
"I think we really gave each other a run for our money," Bourdais said. "Nobody could lay back or anything. It was running flat out the whole time."
PHOTO: AFP
The French winner finished in 1 hour, 39 minutes, 50.252 seconds and had an average best-lap speed of 96.099mph (154.623kph). England's Wilson finished in 1:39:53.318 and averaged 96.049mph (154.542kph) in his fastest time around the course.
The heat was a factor during the 76-lap race, with temperatures at 36?C at the start. On the track, they climbed to 51?C.
American A.J. Allmendinger was third, 14.132 seconds off the lead. He was followed by Canadians Paul Tracy, 47.222 seconds behind Bourdais, and Alex Tagliani, whose time of 1:40: 48.030 was nearly 58 seconds slower than the winner.
Bourdais, the only Champ Car winner this season after victories to start the year at Long Beach and last week in Houston, started first after winning Saturday's qualifying session, becoming the first driver since Randy Mears from 1988 to 1991 to win four straight poles at the same event.
The 27-year-old Frenchman has never started anywhere but up front since first coming to Monterrey in 2003. He last won on this course in 2004.
Bourdais held his lead for the first 23 laps on Sunday. But Wilson's crew was quicker when both cars pitted during a caution because of debris on the course, and the Briton moved into first place by three lengths.
"I really thought we had things under control. But then we got out of our box and I saw we were second and from there on I knew it was going to be a tough race," Bourdais said.
Allmendinger then pulled off a risky inside pass to briefly move Bourdais into third.
"I got around Sebastien on the restart, but more than anything I kind of knew I was probably using more fuel than he was and that he could go longer than me," Allmendinger said. "I was just thinking the first two races he had too many easy victories, so I wanted to make him sweat just a bit this time."
Bourdais, with his new bride watching from the pits, and Wilson started on option tires, which feature a softer compound and better grip. Bourdais switched to regular wheels during his first trip to the pits while Wilson went with another set of options, known as "reds."
Wilson led for 28 laps, but Bourdais' early move to regular tires eventually paid dividends. He reclaimed second place, then ran his gas tank down to fumes waiting for Wilson's second pit, which came in lap 55. Bourdais pulled off a lap later, then got back out faster and used the red tires, which quickly heated up to the track's blistering surface, to stretch his advantage to nearly five seconds in the closing laps.
"The second start, I just didn't do enough fuel saving," Wilson said. "We thought we were good, but Sebastian was just too quick at the end. It's how it is. We did everything we could this weekend."
Bourdais' Newman/Haas teammate and the 2005 Monterrey winner, Brazilian Bruno Junqueira, was black-flagged early for blocking Tracy and never recovered. He finished 10th.
"I don't feel I blocked, I felt I just held my line," said Junqueira, whose still trying to fully recover after breaking two vertebrae in a wreck at last year's Indianapolis 500. "I moved before Tracy moved and I thought that was OK, and then Tracy passed me."
Mario Dominguez, who came to Monterrey second behind Bourdais in the Champ Car points standings, was the only Mexican competing. He was sixth, 58.782 seconds off the lead.
The second-place finish gave Wilson 77 points on the year, 25 behind Bourdais. Dominguez fell to third with 69.
Penske Racing's Porsche RS Spyders finished 1-2 overall in the American Le Mans at Mid-Ohio to become the first LMP2 class team to accomplish the feat in series history.
Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard won in the No. 7 Penske Porsche, with Dumas finishing 0.424 seconds ahead of Lucas Luhr in the No. 6 sister car.
"As we came in to this weekend, we were most concerned about reliability from the last two weekends," team owner Roger Penske said. "I think this broke the ice, running against the Audis and the Dysons. You'll notice we've been real lucky with the four drivers we have; not one of them have made a mistake."
The two Porsche RS Spyders were the only cars to lap in the 1:13-1:14 range. This was the first overall win for Porsche in the American Le Mans Series. The No. 7 Porsche is only the second LMP2/P675 car to win an overall race in the series.
"When I had dinner last night with Timo, we decided the No. 1 target was clear: To win in the LMP2 class, just like in the first couple of races," Dumas said. "We figured we'd have to finish the race the best way we can. Then when I saw Timo had such a great start, I thought, `Oh, now we have a chance.' Then with a good strategy of coming in a little bit earlier than we needed, and then with luck and the competition with our teammate, we got to finish first. It was for sure a great race between the team cars."
Indianapolis 500 pole winner Sam Hornish Jr. escaped injury when he crashed his backup car during a practice session on Sunday.
Hornish was working on race setup and had just turned his fastest lap of the day at 226.256mph (364.045kph) when he crashed. He was following close behind Danica Patrick through a turn when his car skidded sideways. The two-time IRL IndyCar Series champion eventually slid down the track and bounced off the wall.
Hornish got out of the car under his own power and walked to the safety car for the mandatory ride to the infield medical center.
The Marlboro Team Penske driver, who has been fastest for all but one day the cars have run since practice opened on May 9, qualified on the pole with a four-lap average of 228.985mph (368.436kph) for next Sunday's race.
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