Junqueira Finishes Second At Belgium, Credits Dale Coyne Mechanics

BOLDERBURG, Belgium — A second-place finish in the Champ Car Belgian Grand Prix was old hat for Bruno Junqueira. But it was something special for Dale Coyne Racing.
Junqueira’s second-place finish behind Sebastien Bourdais matched the best result in the 24-year history of Dale Coyne Racing. It was a timely reminder that the 30 year old Brazilian is still a top-level open-wheel driver, and it demonstrated that on any given day, any team on the admittedly thin Champ Car grid can earn a trophy and a trip to the podium.
It was ironic that “Junky” shared the rostrum with Newman/Haas/ Lanigan Racing drivers Bourdais and third-place Graham Rahal because he was dropped by the iconic team in favor of 18-year-old Rahal this season.
Junqueira ended up in a marriage of  convenience with Coyne, who has faithfully helped fill the Champ Car field for more than two decades, generally running near the back.
As the winner of eight Champ Car races, Junqueira could have viewed going to work for Coyne after four years at Newman/Haas as sort of a penance. Instead, he grasped the opportunity to help the small team move up the grid, maximizing the fact that Champ Car’s move to a new Panoz-Cosworth spec package helped equalize the field this year.
Coyne’s podium finish at Zolder really represented a victory for the little guy and splitting the cars of his dominant former employer must have given Junqueira a great sense of pride. It certainly drew smiles up and down the pit lane.
“I’m very happy to get a podium for the Dale Coyne Racing team,” Junqueira remarked. “The team works very hard, especially the mechanics. I have three fulltime mechanics so they have to work three times as hard as any other team because there are just not enough people to do all the things. So, they deserve to get great results.”
The Junqueira/Coyne tandem started the season well with a series of top 10s but faded in June as a lack of road-course testing began to show. A July test session at Putnam Park near Indianapolis with new engineer Dave Morgan helped Junqueira improve his qualifying performances, but prior to Sunday, he hadn’t put together a finish better than fifth.
“It’s my first podium this year, and I usually get 10 of them,” he joked. “So, this podium is very sweet.”