Bruno Junqueira took a deserved win in Monterrey, Mexico last night, avoiding the carnage of an incident packed 76-lap race on the 2.104-mile Fundidora Park road course. Leading nine laps in his Newman Haas Lola Champ Car, the Brazilian now leads the point standings by a single point from team mate Sebastien Bourdais who came home 5th after an earlier altercation with 2003 champion Paul Tracy.
“It’s really hard to be mistake-free on a hot day like today and I think you saw drivers making mistakes they normally wouldn’t make because of the heat,” said Junqueira, who notched up his 8th consecutive podium finish. Temperatures reached a scorching 112 degrees during the contest, which was slowed by nine caution flags for 32 laps. “My Lola was really good and I am very happy to get my first win of the season,” he said.
Rookie Andrew Ranger scored an incredible runners-up position in only his second ever Champ Car start, becoming the youngest ever driver to score a podium. The Conquest driver was delighted to step on to the podium after qualifying in just 14th place. “It was a very tough day and a very tough race,” the Canadian teenager admitted. “The Lola was fantastic and it is great for the team to have this performance today!”
Alex Tagliani scored a third-place finish in his Team Australia Lola and said that he was “just trying to get back to where I know I can be and where I have been in the past. We have to keep in mind this is our team’s first year with the Lola and I feel really good about what we’re doing.”
Justin Wilson was the undoubted star of qualifying when he put his Ru SPORT Lola on to the front row of the grid. However, fourth in the race was poor reward for the tall Yorkshireman who could have been in the running for the win had he not stalled at his second pit stop.
“Things were looking pretty positive until I stalled on my second pit-stop,” said Wilson. “Then we fell way back. Then I had my lucky break when Oriol (Servia) spun and I just passed several cars and got right back into it again. Both A.J. (Allmendinger) and I brought the cars home in the top-ten and gained some valuable points, but it was definitely a crazy day!”
Reigning champion Sebastien Bourdais was relieved to finish 5th in his Newman Haas Lola after a collision with 2003 champ Paul Tracy. Not unsurprisingly the two rivals disagreed on whom was to blame for the incident which put the Canadian veteran out of the race.
"We lost another race thanks to Tracy. He was goofing around in pit in and pit out,” said Bourdais, who went on to set a new track record at He doesn't give you any room when you are trying to pass him and things like that but that's usual PT.”
Tracy responded by saying. “"It was after the apex when he hit me. It was way after the corner. I was on the grass and he kept pushing over.”
In 6th place at Fundidora Park was 2002 champion – Criastiano Da Matta who happy with the race he had in the PKV Lola. “We had great pit stops. I had a lot of fun out there today and passed a bunch of cars. The last few laps were especially exciting. The PKV Racing team is getting better, but we still need to do some more work. We are not at 100% yet."
Oriol Servia had a fine weekend after qualifying 7th in his Dale Coyne Racing Lola. The Catalonian was also racing at the front of the field until a spin on lap 31 dropped him to the rear of the field. He eventually finished 9th just behind the only remaining HVM Lola of Bjorn Wirdheim. Wirdheim’s team mate Ronnie Bremer once again impressed in Mexico but retired from the race early with gearbox problems.
Ryan Hunter Reay scored more points with a 7th placed finish and AJ Allmendinger completed the finishers in 10th place after losing time negotiating the spinning Servia.
Today's attendance of 111,518 boosted the three-day event attendance to 190,319, an increase of more than 7,000 from last year's Monterrey race.
The Champ Car World Series reconvenes in two weeks time at the historic Milwaukee Mile oval.
RACE RESULTS
Pos / Driver / Team / Time 1. Bruno Junqueira Newman Haas 2:03:38.021 2. Andrew Ranger Mi-Jack Conquest + 1.375 3. Alex Tagliani Team Australia + 2.846 4. Justin Wilson RuSPORT + 8.233 5. Sebastien Bourdais Newman Haas + 9.161 6. Cristiano da Matta PKV + 9.817 7. Ryan Hunter-Reay Rocketsports + 11.557 8. Bjorn Wirdheim HVM, Inc. + 19.073 9. Oriol Servia Dale Coyne + 20.96610. A.J. Allmendinger RuSPORT + 1 Lap
