Champ Car drivers unsure of Portland's standing start
PORTLAND - Sebastien Bourdais says there's the potential for a few stalls at the starting line in the Portland Grand Prix. His teammate, Graham Rahal, says things will go just fine from the standing start.
The annual Pacific Northwest stop for Champ Car will be the first in the history of the series to use the standing start. And, as with all firsts, the drivers are curious to see how it works.
Standing starts are typically a Formula One fixture, while Champ Car has used a rolling start. The race Sunday on the road course at Portland International Raceway will start from a dead stop on the front of the straightaway.
Bourdais, the series points leader, has been critical of the move after many cars stalled during testing as they dropped their clutches.
Stalls at the starting line could mean rear-end collisions before the race on the 1.964-mile permanent road course gets under way, he said.
“It's a fine line between the perfect start and a total disaster,” Bourdais said.
Bourdais, who has won the past two races at Long Beach and Houston, looks to earn the 100th win for the Newman-Haas-Lanigan Racing team. The Frenchman, who has won three straight series championships, won in Portland in 2004.
However, No. 100 for the team could also be in the hands of rookie Rahal, who is making his Portland Champ Car debut 20 years after his father, Bobby Rahal, won the race.
Rahal was second to Bourdais in Houston, becoming, at 18, the youngest driver to earn a podium finish in the series. He's ranked second in the rookie standings behind Dutchman Robert Doornbos.
The younger Rahal, who graduated from high school last weekend, is in favor of the standing start and has experience with it in the Champ Car Atlantic series last year.
“I think once you've figured out your technique, it's fine,” Rahal said. “And I think the fans will love it.”
After coming in third at Las Vegas, Canadian Paul Tracy has missed the last two races because of a compression fracture in his lower back. It happened when he hit a wall during a practice session at Long Beach.
“We started the year with a strong result in Vegas, and we knew we were starting to build momentum, but this injury completely interrupted our plans for the championship. It's going to be tough, obviously, coming from behind in the points, but all we can do is go out there, win races, collect as many points as we can and see what happens,” the 2003 series champion said.
Tracy never has won in Portland.
Oriol Servia, who subbed for Tracy this season, earned a ride for Portland - the fourth of sixteen races this season - in the No. 7 Forsythe Championship Racing car.
“It's just tough to remember what number I am every weekend,” Servia joked.
Bourdais is the series' points leader, followed by Australian Will Power.
Qualifying was scheduled for Friday, with provisional qualifying today. The forecast called for occasional rain for Sunday's race.
“The problem for us is when it rains on and off, we don't know which setup to put on the car - the wet setup or the dry setup,” Bourdais said.
Last year's Grand Prix of Portland winner was A.J. Allmendinger, now a NASCAR rookie.
source : www.theworldlink.com
PORTLAND - Sebastien Bourdais says there's the potential for a few stalls at the starting line in the Portland Grand Prix. His teammate, Graham Rahal, says things will go just fine from the standing start.
The annual Pacific Northwest stop for Champ Car will be the first in the history of the series to use the standing start. And, as with all firsts, the drivers are curious to see how it works.
Standing starts are typically a Formula One fixture, while Champ Car has used a rolling start. The race Sunday on the road course at Portland International Raceway will start from a dead stop on the front of the straightaway.
Bourdais, the series points leader, has been critical of the move after many cars stalled during testing as they dropped their clutches.
Stalls at the starting line could mean rear-end collisions before the race on the 1.964-mile permanent road course gets under way, he said.
“It's a fine line between the perfect start and a total disaster,” Bourdais said.
Bourdais, who has won the past two races at Long Beach and Houston, looks to earn the 100th win for the Newman-Haas-Lanigan Racing team. The Frenchman, who has won three straight series championships, won in Portland in 2004.
However, No. 100 for the team could also be in the hands of rookie Rahal, who is making his Portland Champ Car debut 20 years after his father, Bobby Rahal, won the race.
Rahal was second to Bourdais in Houston, becoming, at 18, the youngest driver to earn a podium finish in the series. He's ranked second in the rookie standings behind Dutchman Robert Doornbos.
The younger Rahal, who graduated from high school last weekend, is in favor of the standing start and has experience with it in the Champ Car Atlantic series last year.
“I think once you've figured out your technique, it's fine,” Rahal said. “And I think the fans will love it.”
After coming in third at Las Vegas, Canadian Paul Tracy has missed the last two races because of a compression fracture in his lower back. It happened when he hit a wall during a practice session at Long Beach.
“We started the year with a strong result in Vegas, and we knew we were starting to build momentum, but this injury completely interrupted our plans for the championship. It's going to be tough, obviously, coming from behind in the points, but all we can do is go out there, win races, collect as many points as we can and see what happens,” the 2003 series champion said.
Tracy never has won in Portland.
Oriol Servia, who subbed for Tracy this season, earned a ride for Portland - the fourth of sixteen races this season - in the No. 7 Forsythe Championship Racing car.
“It's just tough to remember what number I am every weekend,” Servia joked.
Bourdais is the series' points leader, followed by Australian Will Power.
Qualifying was scheduled for Friday, with provisional qualifying today. The forecast called for occasional rain for Sunday's race.
“The problem for us is when it rains on and off, we don't know which setup to put on the car - the wet setup or the dry setup,” Bourdais said.
Last year's Grand Prix of Portland winner was A.J. Allmendinger, now a NASCAR rookie.
source : www.theworldlink.com
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