Montreal, Quebec, Canada - It may have taken an extra day, but Round 11 of the Yokohama Presents The Champ Car Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda was well worth the wait.
American Graham Rahal made a daring pass for the lead early on a drying race track at Montreal's Circuit Villeneuve on Monday morning and fought off a tremendous charge late to earn his fifth victory of the season.
The Champ Car Grand Prix de Montreal Atlantic race was run today after heavy rains on the 2.709-mile road course forced the postponement of the event on Sunday. Continuing the race on the third lap of 26 this morning on a still wet track, Canadian polesitter James Hinchcliffe led the 24-car Atlantic field to the green flag restart.
Hinchcliffe led the first five laps of the race, but on Lap 6 the Toronto native came together with both series leader Simon Pagenaud, who started second, and Rahal, who was third at the start. Pagenaud and Hinchcliffe made contact with each other, pushing both cars wide in the sixth turn, opening the door for Rahal. The 17-year-old son of racing legend and former Atlantic racer Bobby Rahal seized his opportunity and moved into the lead.
Pagenaud and Hinchcliffe recovered from the incident and they slotted into second and third place, respectively.
Pagenaud, who held a slim lead over Rahal in the series championship chase entering Montreal in the penultimate round of 2006 Atlantic racing, was not about to rest on his laurels. The French Team Australia rookie gave chase the whole race and he put serious pressure on Rahal in the closing laps, making a couple attempts to pass for the lead.
Rahal was able to hold on, however, winning by just .073 of a second for the closest finish of the Atlantic season. The win was the sixth podium of the year for Rahal while Pagenaud earned his sixth top-three result of the year. Hinchcliffe came home in third place on home country soil for his third podium of 2006.
The victory enabled Rahal to creep closer to Pagenaud in the battle for the series crown and the $2 million champion's bonus. Pagenaud now carries a 12-point lead over his rival into the final Atlantic race of the season - the Grand Prix of Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, September 22-24.
