His law student looks belie his competitive fire but young Sebastien Bourdais (#2 McDonals/Lilly Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) is serving notice that he will fight as hard as anyone to climb into the upper ranks of the Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford.
Bourdais used nearly every ounce of his energy in surviving a warm and humid evening in Cleveland, then summoned his final reserves to hold off a charging pack in a last-lap shootout to earn his third CART Champ Car World Series victory of the season, winning the U.S. Bank Presents The Cleveland Grand Prix.
The rookie points leader led the last 33 laps around the 2.106-mile Burke Lakefront Airport course, beating series points leader Paul Tracy (#3 Playes/Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) to the flag by 2.241 seconds in front of a crowd of 58,271 that witnessed the first-ever nighttime road course race in series history. Tracy would hold off a fierce challenge from Bourdai Newman/Haas teammate Bruno Junqueira (#1 PacifiCare Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) on what ended up being a last-lap shootout to claim second place and maintain the series points lead as the season makes the turn and heads to Round 10 in Toronto next week.
Despite having just eight races under his belt, Bourdais showed the steeled nerves of a veteran as he roared through the last 10 laps in search of his third win. He survived a brief moment of contact with Adrian Fernandez (#51 Tecate/Quaker State/Telmex Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) in Turn One that inflicted slight damage to his car, then saw his 11-second lead erased in one flick of the yellow flag as Jimmy Vasses (#12 American Spirit Ford-Cosworth/Reynard/Bridgestone) machine spun in Turn One with three laps to go to bring out the fourth and final caution of the day.
The Simple Green Champ Car Safety Team got the stricken car out of the way in time and the lapped car of Mario Haberfeld (#34 Mi-Jack Conquest Racing Ford-Cosworth/Reynard/Bridgestone) moved over to let the leaders through on the restart, but Tracy would not be able to make a dent in Bourdai lead as the rookie roared away to the win.
I'm just very proud to score my first win in US. It was an awesome race. I think Paul and myself pushed as hard as possible, that means 100 percent and even more, all through the race Bourdais saidAnd that's why we draft together. He said he couldn't handle the steering wheel anymore, but if you could see my blisters, you won't believe it. But it's been a very, very tough race, and obviously I'm very, very happy for the McDonald's/Lilly crew
With Bourdais gone, Tracy and Junqueira fought hammer-and-tong for the second spot. Junqueira made a strong move to take the spot in Turn Three, but Tracy fought back two turns later to reclaim the runner-up position after leading 67 laps and stretched his lead to eight points. Junqueira would settle for his third podium finish of the season, while Tracs teammate Patrick Carpentier (#32 Playes/Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) would take the fourth spot.
After 114 laps, I didn't want to take everything out, you know. I did a move on him on turn three. I out-braked him. For sure I lifted a little bit between three and four. I thought that he was going to give me a move on turn four and do a better exit. Then I slowed down too much to Paul. I think Paul made a great maneuver to keep outside and get around me outside. I said, "Oh, there is one driver in the world that could do that, and that guy is Paul Tracy."
