Las Vegas, Nevada—Sunday, April 8, 2007—Paul Tracy and the Forsythe Team proved today that they will be a force to be reckoned with during the 2007 Champ Car World Series Season by finishing third at the inaugural Vegas Grand Prix.
Starting from the front row, Tracy took the lead when the green flag dropped and held it for nine laps until Will Power managed to squeeze through at the braking zone for Turn 1. Tracy said, “It went really well today. I was able to get a really good start and get by Will (Power) on the first lap."
Entering the season opening Champ Car World Series weekend in Las Vegas this week, Will Power (#5 Aussie Vineyards) divulged his plan for the first three races, laying out a plan where he would carry a 15-point lead in the standings to Round Four at Portland. And now after today's Vegas Grand Prix lit the lamp on the 2007 Champ Car season, Power is halfway to his goal, having gotten the jump on the field with his first Champ Car victory. Power dominated Sunday's season opener, setting the fastest lap of the race on his way to a 16.787-second margin of victory for not only his first win, but the first Champ Car win ever for an Australian-born driver. Power led 38 of the day's 68 laps, and benefited from a fuel problem that befell early-race leader Paul Tracy (#3 Indeck) to roll to his first win.
Robert Doornbos (#14 Muermans/Jumbo Supermarkten/Mediamall) had a comfortable margin ahead of Tracy as his second-place finish gave the new Minardi Team USA a podium.
The series will pack up and roll to Southern California for next week's Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, which will be the second of three races in three weeks.
Las Vegas, Nevada – April 6th, 2007 – In the very first qualifying session of 2007, the very first qualifying session with the new DP01 cars, Paul went out and handed everyone a Vegas style smackdown grabbing Provisional Pole and scoring the first points of the season. PT moved into P1 with 12 minutes left in the 30 minute session and he stayed there until the checkered. A year-round resident of Las Vegas, Tracy (#3 Indeck Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone) has traveled the streets of his adopted hometown on many occasions, but never at the speeds he approached today in pacing first-round qualifying for the 3 Indeck Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone. Tracy took the first official championship point of the 2007 Champ Car World Series season, setting a track record with a best time of 1:19.784 (110.097 mph) around the 2.44-mile street course. His performance earned him a front-row start for Sunday's season opener as well as the vital championship point for leading the session, as he came in .214 seconds ahead of rookie Simon Pagenaud (#15 Aussie Vineyards Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone).
The first qualifying run of the year was dominated by Vegas residents in its early stages as Tracy chased and eventually caught RSPORTS veteran Alex Tagliani (#8 LNX2 Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone), who led through the first 25 minutes of the session. Tracy spun his top time with less than four minutes left on the qualifying clock, sparking a furious final thrust that saw four drivers swap the top three spots in the space of 120 seconds. Pagenaud showed that his $2 million prize for winning last year's Champ Car Atlantic title was money well earned as he came out in his very first Champ Car qualifying session and snared the second spot on the dais, carding a top time of 1:19.998 (109.803 mph). His time was the best among the eight rookies in the field on a day where four of the rookies ended up in the top 10.
Three-time and defending series champion Sebastien Bourdais (#1 McDonald's Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone) rebounded from early-session mechanical trouble to take the third spot on the speed sheets, stopping the clocks at 1:20.197 (109.530 mph). Bourdais ran just two laps in the first 25 minutes of the session before going out with eight minutes left on the clock, posting his best time on the last of his eight laps of the day.
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