EDMONTON, Alberta — Team Australia’s clinching of Champ Car’s first Canadian Triple Crown was a true team effort.
Will Power and Simon Pagenaud combined for an average finish of 5.2 in the July Champ Car races in Mont-Tremblant, Toronto and Edmonton. 
That was good enough to hold off a furious rally from Newman-Haas- Lanigan Racing, as Sebastien Bourdais and Graham Rahal’s 1-3 result improved their team’s average finish in Canada to 5.5.
Rookie Pagenaud was the model of consistency in Canada, finishing fourth in each race. Power added a win at Toronto to his third-place finish in Mont-Tremblant, but the Australian’s Panoz DP01 let him down at Edmonton with broken steering, and he was classified 15th.
“The Triple Crown is a great thing because it involves a little bit more the Canadian fans, and I think that’s a great move from Champ Car,” said Pagenaud, a 25-year-old Frenchman. “Will and I have been so far the strongest combination since the beginning of the year, so it’s great.”
Power was more concerned with the reason for his retirement from the Edmonton race than he was about the damage the DNF did to his championship hopes. He dropped 24 points behind Bourdais after starting the race level on points with the three-time series champion.
The steering rack seized on the pole-winning No. 5 Team Australia car, and Power believes the part that broke should be upgraded.
“It’s a bittersweet day for me, especially because I’ve obviously lost a lot of points to Sebastien,” Power observed. “You know, I had a major part break in the steering. So, in a way it was lucky I pulled in because now looking at it, it could have been a massive accident.”
Power acknowledged that the component in question could have been damaged the day before, when he took a wild ride across the grass after securing the pole position. He said the steering began to freeze when he turned right about halfway through the Edmonton race.
“It’s hard to say,” he noted. “Just looking at the part that broke, it's not as strong as it probably should be. Now I’m just seeing that it's actually hollow, and I think all the teams should check that part. It should be let known what it is and how it cracked and everything because it could cause a pretty big accident. Losing your steering at these speeds … you know, something bad could happen.”
Team Australia (nee Walker Racing) has been the surprise of the 2007 Champ Car season. Power has taken two wins and two more podium finishes, while Pagenaud ranks second behind Robert Doornbos in the rookie standings.