2007 Mazda Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland

The 2007 Mazda Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland was the fourth round of the 2007 Champ Car World Series Season. It was held on June 10 at the Portland International Raceway, in Portland, Oregon. It featured the first standing start in Champ Car history. Sébastien Bourdais claimed the victory to make it three wins in four races this season.

United States 2007 Mazda Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland
Race details
Race 4 of 14 in the 2007 Champ Car season
Portland International Raceway Track Layout
DateJune 10, 2007
Official nameMazda Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland Presented by Joe's Sports and Outdoor
LocationPortland International Raceway
Portland, Oregon, United States
CoursePermanent Road Course
1.964 mi / 3.142 km
Distance103 laps
202.292 mi / 323.626 km
WeatherOvercast with temperatures reaching up to 68 °F (20 °C); wind speeds approaching 13 miles per hour (21 km/h)[1]
Pole position
DriverJustin Wilson (RSPORTS)
Time58.000
Fastest lap
DriverSébastien Bourdais (N/H/L Racing)
Time59.331 (on lap 84 of 103)
Podium
FirstSébastien Bourdais (N/H/L Racing)
SecondJustin Wilson (RSPORTS)
ThirdRobert Doornbos (Minardi Team USA)

Qualifying results

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Pos Nat Name Team Qual 1 Qual 2 Best
1   Justin Wilson RSPORTS 58.000 1:11.670 58.000
2   Robert Doornbos Minardi Team USA 58.214 1:11.629 58.214
3   Sébastien Bourdais N/H/L Racing 58.308 1:12.063 58.308
4   Alex Tagliani RSPORTS 58.363 1:11.941 58.363
5   Tristan Gommendy PKV Racing 58.399 1:12.443 58.399
6   Simon Pagenaud Team Australia 58.448 1:12.714 58.448
7   Will Power Team Australia 58.469 1:11.699 58.469
8   Graham Rahal N/H/L Racing 58.639 1:11.647 58.639
9   Dan Clarke Minardi Team USA 58.692 1:12.327 58.692
10   Neel Jani PKV Racing 58.805 1:12.414 58.805
11   Oriol Servia Forsythe Racing 58.926 1:14.039 58.926
12   Jan Heylen Conquest Racing 59.181 1:13.745 59.181
13   Paul Tracy Forsythe Racing 59.418 1:12.249 59.418
14   Bruno Junqueira Dale Coyne Racing 59.696 1:12.877 59.696
15   Alex Figge Pacific Coast Motorsports 59.708 1:14.742 59.708
16   Katherine Legge Dale Coyne Racing 1:00.421 1:13.591 59.257
17   Ryan Dalziel Pacific Coast Motorsports 1:04.275 1:15.389 1:04.275

Rain on Saturday meant that the pole was effectively decided during the Qualification 1 session on Friday. Robert Doornbos led the wet Saturday session to start second beside Justin Wilson.

Race

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Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1   Sébastien Bourdais N/H/L Racing 103 1:45:42.774 3 32
2 9   Justin Wilson RSPORTS 103 +13.5 secs 1 28
3 14   Robert Doornbos Minardi Team USA 103 +35.2 secs 2 26
4 5   Will Power Team Australia 103 +43.3 secs 7 24
5 8   Alex Tagliani RSPORTS 103 +61.4 secs 4 21
6 4   Dan Clarke Minardi Team USA 103 +62.0 secs 9 19
7 22   Tristan Gommendy PKV Racing 102 + 1 Lap 5 17
8 15   Simon Pagenaud Team Australia 102 + 1 Lap 6 15
9 2   Graham Rahal N/H/L Racing 102 + 1 Lap 8 13
10 3   Paul Tracy Forsythe Racing 102 + 1 Lap 13 11
11 7   Oriol Servia Forsythe Racing 102 + 1 Lap 11 10
12 21   Neel Jani PKV Racing 102 + 1 Lap 10 9
13 19   Bruno Junqueira Dale Coyne Racing 102 + 1 Lap 14 8
14 28   Ryan Dalziel Pacific Coast Motorsports 101 + 2 Laps 17 7
15 34   Jan Heylen Conquest Racing 100 Mechanical 12 6
16 29   Alex Figge Pacific Coast Motorsports 100 + 3 Laps 15 5
17 11   Katherine Legge Dale Coyne Racing 99 Mechanical 16 4

Despite worries about stalled cars and carnage, the first standing start in Champ Car history was executed perfectly as all 17 cars got away from the grid. The race was notable for its lack of caution flags. Only two cars failed to finished, with both Katherine Legge and Jan Heylen both running into problems just before the checkered flag.

Pole sitter Justin Wilson lead easily from the start. Sébastien Bourdais was in fifth place as late as lap 25 after stretching his fuel economy. By short-filling his fuel tank during his first pit stop, Sébastien Bourdais came out on track in second place and was then able to run faster than anyone else on the track, finally passing Wilson after the second pit stop. Once in first, he easily drove away to his third consecutive victory and the 100th in Newman/Haas/Lanigan team history.

Caution flags

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None

Notes

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Laps Leader
1-26 Justin Wilson
27 Robert Doornbos
28-29 Sébastien Bourdais
30-53 Justin Wilson
54-56 Will Power
57-79 Sébastien Bourdais
80 Justin Wilson
81-103 Sébastien Bourdais
 
Driver Laps led
Sébastien Bourdais 51
Justin Wilson 48
Will Power 3
Robert Doornbos 1

Championship standings after the race

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Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
  1   Sébastien Bourdais 105
  2   Will Power 94
  3   Robert Doornbos 87
  4   Alex Tagliani 78
  3 5   Justin Wilson 69
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included.

Attendance

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Attendance for the 3 day race weekend was 72,211 with approximately 30,000 people on hand for the Sunday Champ Car main event. This was lower than hoped for by Champ Car and the race organizers leaving the future of the Portland race in doubt as the race's contract with Champ Car expired after the 2007 race.[2] This was the last Champ Car race held at Portland, as the 2008 race was not absorbed into the IndyCar schedule. On October 12, 2017, it was announced that the IndyCar series will return to Portland during the 2018 Labor Day holiday weekend - Aug 31-Sept. 2, 2018.

References

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  1. ^ "2007 Mazda Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2013-10-15.
  2. ^ Story not found - OregonLive.com
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Previous race:
2007 Grand Prix of Houston
Champ Car World Series
2007 season
Next race:
2007 Grand Prix of Cleveland

Previous race:
2006 Grand Prix of Portland
2007 Mazda Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland Next race:
2018 Grand Prix of Portland
IndyCar Series event