Milwaukee Mile
has another "First" Instead of a flyby, the had a ride by... 75 Harleys
in V formation took to the track after the national anthem
© Oak Park Journal photo
Sebastien
Bourdais is out front and leading the pack
© Oak Park Journal photo
Sebastien Bourdais Tames the
Milwaukee Mile, Wins Time Warner Cable Road Runner 225
by Dan Peters
Frenchmen dominated the Legendary Mile This weekend... Sebastien
Bourdais finally got the Milwaukee Mike monkey off
his back and fellow Frenchman Nelson Philippe brought home
his first podium third place finish for CTE Racing-HVM at The Milwaukee
Mile this afternoon. Teammate Dan Clarke also earned his best top Champ
Car finish, eighth, during today's Time Warner Cable Road Runner 225.
"It feels awesome. This car was a rocketship today. It really
looked like we were going to run away with it, and I guess on lap 15 or
something, the guy started to see a small leak on the right rear, then
I started to think different. At that point I was very confident we
were going to have a good result because the car
was really good and we didn't panic and everybody knew what he had to
do, and me first, and the most important thing was to finish this race,
not make any mistakes, and we were already really concentrated. Then I
started to hit traffic and go very quickly
and play catch‑up a little bit, and it all worked out. I think we just
ran down everybody one by one, and once we got in the lead, we just ran
with it. It was an awesome feeling. I think it feels very good to have
everybody change his opinion about Newman/Haas Racing and Sebastien
Bourdais on the short oval. It was one thing
I really felt that needed to be a little corrected, I think. We had
fairly decent cars in the past two years, not as good as the front
runners, but we were still making the race happen last year and
we got a sixth place out of it, which was really a disappointment. But
going into this year, the team really stepped up its game, and I can't
reward these guys enough for the job they've ‑‑ all the hard work
they've been doing because everybody knows it." said Bourdais
Nelson Philippe started ninth, charged through the field bringing
home his career best finish in his third season in the Champ Car World
Series. The crowd roared as Philippe challenged two-time Champ Car
Champion Sebastian Bourdais and Justin Wilson., especially during his
relentless battle for second place with Wilson. Philippe was the
youngest driver to start a Champ Car race in
2004 and still at only 19 years of age, proves that he has the
competition and drive to see more podium finishes throughout
the season.
Sebastien
Bourdais and fellow Frenchman Nelson Philippe chat
prior to driver introductions
© Oak
Park Journal photo
Philippe also proved to be a crowd favorite, sporting a "Cheese-head
hat during pre race and driver introductions. He
also posed with the famous sausages that always fine their way to the
Mile during the races here, albeit on small go carts and not on foot.
Nelson Philippe
has fun with the "Sausages" before they make a run around the track
© Oak Park Journal photo
"The season ended well for me last year and when I was able to join CTE
Racing I was thrilled because I felt very motivated and confident going
into the 2006 season. My relationship with the
team blossomed immediately and each time we roll the car out, I know I
have the tools to do a great job. We gained a lot of momentum with our
fourth place result in Houston and I have
been looking to this race because historically the team has an
exceptional car at The Mile. This year was no different, my engineer
Will (Phillips) presented me with the best oval car I have ever had.
The accident on Friday set us back a bit, as we had to
go to our spare car. The crew did a great job as always and we
rebounded well. I am just so happy to have this podium, I knew it was
coming and I couldn't be happier. We gave the fans a great performance
today, especially during my battles with Sebastian
and Justin, I had a blast."
Sebastien
Bourdais's crew services his car in the pits
© Oak Park Journal photo
Rookie
Dan Clarke had a fantastic run at The Mile. The rookie enjoyed an
incident free debut on the oval en route to his impressive eighth place
finish, his best Champ Car finish.
"I am disappointed that I was caught up by the pack by closing in on
the back marker at the beginning of the race, and had the air taken
away from me. It made the race really hard because when you get the air
taken away from you like that, and go into a spin,
it really destroys your confidence. What you need here is confidence to
race so close to the other cars because the turns aren't banked and the
track is so short that you're always going to be around a car. As soon
as you get five car lengths behind
another car, you start feeling the air going away and it can really
screw you up. It took me a while to get my confidence back up. Luckily
we had a few yellows and they reorganized the pack and
I was two laps down at that point, but was able to catch some
other cars and another rookie was on the same lap as me. With
12 laps to go I used most of my push-to-pass, and I managed to use my
last four seconds of extra throttle to pass Zwolsmen and finish eighth
and second best rookie. I am happy with my results, as the weekend
could have gone so much worse. An oval is new
to me and it is very hard to come here and go straight into a race like
this with so many other experienced drivers. I am also happy for Nelson
having his career best here and finishing third."
English driver
Katherine Legge became the first female in Champ Car history to lead a
lap during a race
© Oak Park Journal photo
Defending race winner and heavy pre-race favorite Paul Tracy never
really got a chance to defend his race title as he became involved in a
three-car crash on the opening lap, damaging his
car severely enough to retire from the event. The incident began when
Tracy's teammate Mario Dominguez made contact with Bruno Junqueira in
turn four, which turned Junqueira’s car sideways and into the turn four
wall. As Junqueira spun, he
clipped Tracy's car which sent him also spinning down the track before
coming to rest against the retaining wall.
“Mario (Dominguez) just drove in way to hard and ran into the
side of Bruno (Junqueira),” a disappointed Tracy stated shortly after
storming back to the pit lane on foot. “It's frustrating because now
there are two good cars crashed out.”
More history was made here today... English driver Katherine Legge
became the first female in Champ Car history to lead a lap during a
race. She assumed the lead when race winner Bourdais pitted and Legge
stayed on the track. She finished 6th 2 laps down, but impressive
nonetheless.
Move over Danica, you have competition.
The Milwaukee Mile may be the oldest race track in The United States,
but continued improvements here not only make it enjoyable for the
fans, but much safer for the drivers. Last May, the Mile installed the
new "SAFER" barriers that are now standard at most ovals in this
country. The addition of these barriers increases the odds of wall
contact during a race by some forty percent, but on the flipside, the
seriousness of the accidents are reduced by a similar percentage. Just
ask the drivers who made contact with the new barriers this weekend..
and they will agree.
One huge disappointment from Sunday's race....The race was to
be 225 laps, but was ended on lap 197 at the 1 HR 45 minute mark due to
TV constraints with the broadcast company. This did not go over well
with the 28,357 sun-soaked fans in attendance, because most had no clue
that the race was ending. Maybe Champ Cars should reconsider this
rule.. Fans want a full race and not a time limited event. Who
knows how may laps would have been run if there was more cautions or
rain. Luckily today, the skies were
clear and the sun shined brightly.
MILWAUKEE
MILE STATEMENT ON RACE LENGTH
(attributed to Craig Stoehr, Milwaukee Mile
Chairman)
“We are very pleased by the support of our fans for the Time Warner
Cable Road Runner 225 today. We wanted to clarify the situation
surrounding the shortened race distance.
“Champ Car officials declared Sebastien Bourdais the winner on lap 197,
in accordance with Champ Car's time limit and agreement with their
television broadcast partner.“Although we share our race fans’
disappointment the event did not run the full distance, we have no
control over Champ Car's policies and we believe this was still the
most well-attended and exciting Champ Car event The
Mile has had in some time.”
Results from Sunday's Race
1. Sebastien Bourdais
2.
Justin Wilson
3.
Nelson Philippe
4.
A.J. Allmendinger
5.
Oriol Servia
6.
Katherine Legge
7.
Andrew Ranger
8.
Dan Clarke
9.
Charles Zwolsman
10.
Nicky Pastorelli
11.
Will Power
12.
Jan Heylen
13.
Cristiano da Matta
14.
Mario Dominguez
15.
Bruno Junqueira
16.
Paul Tracy
17.
Alex Tagliani
Michael Potekhen held off a fast-closing Daniel Herrington to win the
first-ever Star Mazda Series 100-lap event Saturday afternoon at The
Milwaukee Mile.
The Tempe, AZ driver started third and chased early-leader Adrian
Carrio for the first 27 laps before pulling off a daring inside pass
heading into turn three on lap 28 to take command of the race for good.
With Potekhen comfortably out front, Herrington methodically worked his
way forward from his seventh starting position, advancing to third
place by lap 40 behind Potekhen and Carrio. Herrington caught Carrio
for second place just before the halfway mark and began to set his
sights on the leader. As the front-runners worked lapped traffic,
Potekhen’s lead slowly began to evaporate and as the laps wound down,
Herrington closed the margin to under a second.
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