THE CHAMP

The Champ Car World Series will have a new champion in 2008.
Sebastien Bourdais won his fourth-consecutive title this season but will leave the series to drive for the Toro Rosso Formula One team next season.
Bourdais won eight of the 14 events this season and handily won his fourth title in four years with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing.
The Frenchman has won 31 events during his five years in the series, tying him with Paul Tracy and Al Unser, Jr., on Champ Car’s all-time winners list.
“These have been the best racing years of my life,” Bourdais said. “We’ve had an awesome stretch of years here and I really enjoyed it. And 2007 is definitely a year to be remembered by me.”

MOMENTOUS OCCASIONS

TERRIFIC TYRO: Robert Doornbos finished second in his first Champ Car race at Las Vegas on April 8.
VIVA LAS VEGAS: Champ Car raced in the streets of Las Vegas for the first time, opening the season in Sin City in early April. Despite a crowd estimated at more than 40,000, the event will not return to the schedule in 2008.
CENTURY MARK: Sebastien Bourdais collected the 100th victory for Newman/Haas/ Lanigan Racing at Portland Int’l Raceway in June. The team ended the year with 105 triumphs.
DESERTING THE DESERT: Champ Car cancelled the event scheduled to conclude the season in the streets of Phoenix when proper sponsorship for the race did not materialize.
CALIFORNIA LOVE: The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach continues to be the signature event for the Champ Car World Series. This year’s race drew a race-day crowd of more than 90,000.
REAL BACK BREAKER: Paul Tracy fractured a vertebrae in a crash during a practoce session for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. He was out of competition until the event at Portland Int’l Raceway in June.
NEW CAR: The Panoz DP01, the spec car for the Champ Car World Series, debuted at the Vegas opener and performed admirably throughout the season.
GREEN, GREEN, GREEN: The Portland Int’l Raceway round was the first Champ Car race to go flag to flag without a yellow flag since the 2000 event at Road America.
ZOLDER SUCCESS: More than 60,000 attended the Champ Car event at Zolder, Belgium.

ON THE RECORD

“We’re supposed to be putting on a good advertisement for Champ Car here in Europe, and (Dan) Clarke made us look like idiots.” — Paul Tracy on Dan Clarke

“When I tell people that I raced Formula One, they look at me and say, ‘OK, whatever.’”— Robert Doornbos

“It is a completely dead issue.” — Kevin Kalkhoven regarding unification talks with the IRL

“When I arrived I didn’t expect to score so many wins or be so successful at Newman-Haas. At the beginning, I didn’t know what to expect, but I got much more than a team out of it — I got a second family.” — Sebastien Bourdais

“This series pays me to create some excitement. This was by no means a nice, easy, comfortable, pretty win. It was ugly. It is very satisfying because I had to really fight. I’m still in shock how the race went.” — Tracy after winning The Cleveland Grand Prix

“After Paul dropped back, I was pretty much alone out there.” — Will Power after first Champ Car triumph

“If you say things and don’t say why, you are a whiner.” — Bourdais referring to competitor Doornbos

“I’ve never concentrated so much, or driven so hard.” — Power at Toronto

LOOKING AHEAD

• Champ Car has announced a 14-race schedule for 2008, including a return to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and a first-time event in Spain.
• The San Jose and Las Vegas street races will not be part of the 2008 Champ Car schedule.
• Four-time series champion Sebastien Bourdais will trade in his Champ Car ride for a Formula One seat in 2008.

STAT PACK

8      Races won by Sebastien Bourdais in the 14-race season

5      Different drivers to claim victories during the 2007 season

0      Oval tracks on the Champ Car World Series schedule

4      Consecutive titles captured by Sebastien Bourdais

TOP 10

    Driver    Points    Wins    Top 5    Top 10    Poles
    1. Sebastien Bourdais    364    8    10    12    6   
    2. Justin Wilson    281    1    9    12    2
    3. Robert Doornbos    268    2    7    9    0
    4. Will Power    262    2    8    9    5
    5. Graham Rahal    243    0    5    11    0
    6. Oriol Servia    237    0    5    11    0
    7. Bruno Junqueira    233    0    7    12    0
    8. Simon Pagenaud    232    0    7    10    0
    9. Neel Jani    231    0    5    12    0
    10. Alex Tagliani    205    0    4    10    0

WHO, WHAT, WHEN AND WHERE

Date    Track        Driver    Winner    Laps
April 8    Las Vegas Grand Prix (Nev.)        Will Power    Panoz    68
April 15    Grand Prix of Long Beach (Calif.)        Sebastien Bourdais    Panoz    78
April 22    JAGFlo Speedway (Texas)        Sebastien Bourdais    Panoz    93
June 10     Portland Int’l Raceway (Ore.)        Sebastien Bourdais    Panoz    103
June 24    Burke Lakefront Airport (Ohio)        Paul Tracy    Panoz    89
July 1    Circuit Mont-Tremblant (Quebec)        Robert Doornbos    Panoz    62
July 8    Exhibition Place (Ontario)        Will Power    Panoz    73
July 22    Rexall Speedway (Alberta)        Sebastien Bourdais    Panoz    96
July 29    San Jose Grand Prix (Calif.)        Robert Doornbos    Panoz    107
Aug. 12    Road America (Wis.)        Sebastien Bourdais    Panoz    53
Aug. 26    Circuit Zolder (Belgium)        Sebastien Bourdais    Panoz    71
Sept. 2    Circuit Assen (Holland)        Justin Wilson    Panoz    69
Oct. 21    Surfers Paradise (Australia)        Sebastien Bourdais    Panoz    61
Nov. 11    Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez (Mexico)    Sebastien Bourdais    Panoz    64