SURFERS PARADISE, Australia — With his record fourth-consecutive Champ Car World Series title all but decided before the race, Sebastien Bourdais decided to have a  little fun in the Lexmark Indy 300.
The result was the same as usual. The 28-year old Frenchman won for  the seventh time in 13 starts this year, clinching the 2007 season crown with one race remaining.
Bourdais became the first driver to win two Champ Car races on the 2.795-mile street course on Australia’s Gold Coast. He led 30 of 61 laps in his Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing entry to win by 6.775 seconds over Justin Wilson.
“I can’t thank the McDonald’s team enough,” Bourdais said. “They put me here once again. This one was really sweet and this is the greatest group of people I’ve worked with.”
A variety of problems in qualifying left Bourdais fourth on the grid. He gained a place at the first corner when Paul Tracy spun after light contact with Oriol Servia’s PKV Racing car.
Pole winner Will Power gave up the lead when he and most of the field pitted under caution on lap 10. Robert Doornbos and Tracy led laps by remaining on track, with Doornbos ultimately finishing fourth.
Power’s hopes of winning his home race were damaged during his lap-10 pit stop when he was waved out of his pit in front of the incoming car of rookie David Martinez. Power resumed at the back of the field but crashed while trying to pass Katherine Legge on the 19th lap,  bringing out the third and final full-course caution of the race.
Bourdais led laps 20-32 until making a green flag pit stop. On the 38th lap, he was passed by Wilson, who was running light after short-filling during the second round of pit stops.

Wilson made his final stop on lap 44, three laps before Bourdais. The Frenchman emerged with a 5.5-second lead that he easily maintained until the end of the one-hour, 45-minute contest.
“We had a great fight with Justin when he short-filled and got ahead of us,” Bourdais said. “Then we had to stay with him with a heavier car, and we pulled it off.
“Coming to that last corner, it’s just all the emotions flowing through your mind. You realize how much has come to you and how much you’ve achieved with these guys and you get the sense that it’s coming to an end very (soon) now.
“What a fun five years it’s been,” he added. “I’m surely not going to forget about it any time soon.”
Wilson, who has been linked to the Newman/Haas/Lanigan team as Bourdais’ successor, could not keep up with the McDonald’s car in the final third of the race.
“It was frustrating, but at the same time it was a lot of fun,” Wilson said. “The car was working well and I was able to put some quick times in. It just wasn’t enough. I’m just pleased to get another podium. It’s good for the championship.”
Power’s early retirement took away much of the Australian audience’s interest. Bruno Junqueira, winner of the Surfers Paradise race in 2004, provided most of the late action.
Junqueira’s Dale Coyne Racing car stalled at the start, leaving him nearly a minute behind the field. After playing the pit stop strategy game to perfection, Junqueira was pressuring Tracy for third place when the Canadian had to pit for fuel on the next-to-last lap, dropping him to ninth place.
The third-place finish earned Junqueira his third consecutive trip to the podium.