Three-Day Attendance Total Is Said To Have Exceeded 42,000

MONT-TREMBLANT, Quebec — The first Champ Car race at the legendary Mont-Tremblant circuit in nearly 40 years was deemed a success by race and series officials. A four-year contract extension has been agreed upon but not yet announced.
Attendance for the three days was announced as “in excess of 42,000,” and fans began lining the circuit for choice viewing spots before 7 a.m. on race day.
“All of the fans left satisfied and with a smile on their face,” said Francois Dumontier, event general manager. “This is our first event, and we built a very strong foundation.”
“Our expectations were exceeded,” added Champ Car President Steve Johnson. “I think we have a huge future here; this has to be one of our most exciting races. The track is spectacular, the city is breathtaking and Mont-Tremblant will be a home for us for many years.”

• Paul Stoddart’s Minardi team never won a Formula One race, but Robert Doornbos delivered the Australian air magnate a Champ Car victory in Minardi Team USA’s sixth race.
The basis of Minardi Team USA is the Bettenhausen Motorsports team, which also has been known in recent years as Herdez Competition, HVM Racing and CTE Racing-HVM.
“What a fabulous race!” Stoddart exclaimed. “Robert and the team did an absolutely superb job in the trickiest of conditions today. The team had the speed throughout the weekend, but obviously the highly changeable weather conditions added an extra element of uncertainty to the race.
“As ever, though, Robert drove with his head and put in a faultless performance today for the first of what I’m sure will be many more victories.”

• Champ Car drivers have been less than confident about the introduction of standing starts to the series this year. Mont-Tremblant was the third race using them, and it was the first that resulted in problems.
Pole-man Tristan Gommendy’s car refused to start for the warm-up lap, and during the start itself, three cars stalled, including outside-front-row-starter Will Power.
“I was just watching my mirrors and people were just missing me. I thought there was going to be a big accident,” Power said.
All three of the stalled runners got restarted and participated in the race.

• After running the first lap at the back of the pack, Power took advantage of the changing conditions to claim third place. The Las Vegas winner is third in the championship, 14 points behind Sebastien Bourdais and Doornbos.
“Champ Car is great like that, if you just never give up,” Power related. “I mean, you can almost go a lap down and then come back and finish on the podium. It’s just really, really good racing.”

• RSPORTS Racing’s Justin Wilson led the three laps immediately preceding Simon Pagenaud’s turn out front (45-47), but as heavier rain fell the Englishman’s car lost grip.
Wilson spun off and resumed in sixth place, but he gained a position at the expense of teammate Alex Tagliani to finish fifth.
Quebec native Tagliani was the local favorite, but he never contended and finished eighth.

• Pit strategy helped Graham Rahal lead seven laps, and when the American rookie pulled out a 12-second lead in heavy rain, it looked like the race was the 18 year old’s to lose.
Rahal’s Panoz DP01 lost the race for him. It refused to engage in gear during his final pit stop, and the long wait to get it going again relegated him to a seventh-place finish.
“We should have been up front at the end, but our problems in the pit stop ruined any chance of that happening,” Rahal stated. “It’s not like a manual car where you can just shove it into gear. It took us forever to get that situated. We just tried to stay calm and plugged away and passed three people.”

• Paul Tracy didn’t rile up the Quebecois fans like he did at Montreal a year ago. He also didn’t enjoy a podium finish like he did then. Tracy crashed his primary car in Sunday morning practice, blaming broken steering. However, a Forsythe Championship Racing source said data showed the Canadian entered the corner where he crashed with all four wheels locked, traveling 20 miles per hour faster than he had on any previous lap. PT retired from the race after 28 laps with a blown engine.
“I guess when it rains it pours,” Tracy stated. “Everything went wrong for us today, and we just have to put this weekend behind us and move on to my home race in Toronto.”