Bourdais Wins 2004 Monterrey Grand Prix

MONTERREY, Mexico May 23, 2004; Will Weissert writing for the AP reported that France's Sebastien Bourdais fought off numerous challenges by Bruno Junqueira and made an early lead stand up Sunday to win the Monterrey Grand Prix.

The 25-year-old pole-sitter led 43 of 72 laps, falling behind only when stopping to pit. He set a course record for fastest lap in beating Brazil's Junqueira by 3.852 seconds on the tight, winding, 2.104-mile road course at Fundidora Park.

"I love this track," Bourdais said. "I think I just proved that I could go to a whole new level with my car."

With Bourdais comfortably ahead, the last 15 laps turned into a battle for the final two places on the podium. Mexico's Mario Dominguez eventually took third, crossing the finish line 5.209 seconds behind the leader and sending the crowd into a frenzy.

The course's 12 turns and close-confines yielded six yellow-flag cautions.

"With all the cautions, you couldn't lead the whole race," said Junqueira, who also drives for Newman Haas. "You were always chasing."

Canada's Patrick Carpentier finished fourth and countryman Alex Tagliani took fifth. Eleven drivers finished on the lead lap.

The weekend was a clean-sweep for Bourdais. The second-year driver for Newman Hass Racing set a course record in capturing the pole position Saturday and also won the provisional pole on the opening day of time trials at Monterrey, the Champ Car World Series' second race of the season.

He won the Monterrey pole last year and led the first 16 laps, but a radio malfunction caused him to miss a chance to pit and allowed eventual winner Paul Tracy to overtake him on the 17th lap.

"Last year, it was pretty unfair how we lost the race here," Bourdais said. "But we got our revenge."

Bourdais earned his 63rd point in the young season and moved atop the point standings. Junqueira has 57 points and Tracy, who won the season-opening race at Long Beach, Calif., last month, is third with 49.

More than 94,000 fans packed the bleachers ringing the track, braving the scorching afternoon sun and a thick haze to cheer Dominguez, a Mexico City native, and countryman Michel Jourdain, Rodolfo Lavin and Roberto Gonzalez, a Champ Car rookie from Monterrey.

Record-setting crowds of more than 400,000 turned out for races here and in Mexico City last year, when Champ Car was known as the CART series. This year's Monterrey attendance may have been hurt by the absence of Mexico's Adrian Fernandez, who moved to the rival Indy Racing League in March.

The crowd had little to cheer about early. Dominguez started in second place, but got too anxious his second time around the track, catching the infield grass with his back tires and spinning out to force the afternoon's first course-wide caution and fall 27 seconds out of the lead. Well-timed pitting allowed Dominguez to eventually climb back into competition in the race's later stages.

"I made a big error when I hit the grass and spun," Dominguez said. "And after that I didn't think I would be able to win a place on the podium."

Tracy, who won last year's points championship, started sixth Sunday and used a nifty move to pass Rookie Justin Wilson and move as high as fourth, but never seriously challenged for the lead. He finished seventh.