British ace Justin Wilson took his first Champ Car World Series victory of the year in Assen yesterday – taking the second leg of the championship's European tour and elevating himself into second place in this year's title race.
From the start of the Bavaria Beer Champ Car Grand Prix of Holland - Presented by Audi, Gant, Hertz, Pioneer and Jumbo, Wilson (#9 CDW Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone) made it known he would be the man to beat, taking the lead in the opening corner and holding off a variety of challengers to earn his fourth career win.
Wilson led 39 of the 69 laps, on his way to the winner’s circle, only losing the lead to Bruno Junqueira (#19 Sonny’s Bar-B-Q Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone) who was on a different pit strategy.
Joining Wilson on the podium were Conquest Racing’s Jan Heylen (#34 Grafiprint Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone) and Dale Coyne Racing’s Bruno Junqueira.
Neither driver had an easy trip to the podium. Heylen started seventh and picked his way through the field on the fast TT Circuit Assen. The Belgian’s charge through the field combined with quick pit work from his crew led to Conquest Racing’s first podium since Monterrey, Mexico in 2005.
While Heylen took one route to the podium, Junqueira and the Dale Coyne Racing team used a separate plan, pitting under the first yellow, having to pit again later with a flat tire and then using timely cautions to keep the Brazilian driver near the front of the field.
After finishing second last week at Zolder, it looked like Dale Coyne Racing could take its first ever win, but a problem with the pit lane speed limiter during Junqueira’s final pit stop cost him valuable time and allowed Wilson and Heylen to pass.
PKV Racing’s Tristan Gommendy (#22 Pay By Touch-MegaSpirea Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone) and Neel Jani (#21 Red Bull-Gulfstream Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone) finished fourth and fifth respectively.
The finish is a career best for the Frenchman Gommendy. For the Swiss driver Jani, perseverance paid off as he overcame a problem with his Power-to-Pass on lap 22 to earn his fourth top-five finish this season.
Jani wasn’t the only driver affected by a problem with Power-to-Pass as Sebastien Bourdais also dropped several positions on the first lap with a similar issue. Following Jani’s incident, Champ Car officials instructed all of the teams not to use their Power-to-Pass during the remainder of the event.
For Championship leader Bourdais, the race was a battle from start to finish. After losing the lead in Turn 1, and having his Power-to-Pass malfunction on the same lap, the three-time champion sat fifth in the running order.
Following his first pit stop during the second full course caution period, Bourdais dropped another two spots to seventh and then during the final full course yellow, Bourdais stalled on pit lane and rejoined the field in 16th position. Showing his true form as a Champion, he steadily drove through the field to salvage a seventh place result.
Coming home in the eighth spot was Oriol Servia (#7 Indeck Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone) just ahead of American rookie Graham Rahal (#2 Medi|Zone Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone). Rahal’s top-ten performance along with Bourdais’ seventh place result secured the Phanos Champ Car European Team Cup for Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing.
QUOTES FROM THE TOP THREE FINISHERS
Justin Wilson: “It’s a great result for the #9 CDW/RuSPORT team. I’ve got to thank the whole team – they’ve done brilliantly and they deserve this win so much. The pit-stops were good and my engineer Mike Talbott did a great job working out a set-up with no running in the warm-up.”
Jan Heylen: “We finally had everything work out for us after a rough start of the season. From the first session on Friday, we knew we had a fast car and we were really encouraged by all of our sessions leading up to the race because at each session we were getting better and learning more."
Bruno Junqueira: “My car was pretty good today. Could save fuel and still go pretty fast. I did a good pace throughout the whole race, almost the entire time I was leading and I felt very good. I think the team did a good job."
