Milwaukee Champ Car Advisory (05)
BOURDAIS HAS NEVER WON ON THE MILWAUKEE OVAL: CAN TRACY EARN A FIFTH VICTORY ON THE TRACK AND PUT THE BRAKES ON THE FRENCHMAN'S WINNING STREAK? MONTRÉAL (MAY 31, 2006) - Champ Car World Series drivers will race on the only oval track of their schedule this weekend when Round 4 of the season takes place Sunday in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Frenchman Sébastien Bourdais, who has dominated the first three races of the season with victories in Long Beach, Houston and Monterrey, Mexico must surpass himself on a type of circuit that he has yet to master. Even though Bourdais holds a 25-point lead on British driver Justin Wilson who sits in second place with 77 points, he cannot afford to make any mistakes if he wishes to conserve his comfortable lead in the standings. In three starts on the Milwaukee oval Bourdais has never finished better than sixth, a finish he earned last year. He qualified on the outside front row in 2004 but was involved in a racing incident that took him out of contention. He will need to proceed with caution. His most dangerous rival on this track is Toronto's Paul Tracy. The Forsythe Racing driver currently sits in sixth place in the standings (54 points), but this maddening position can almost certainly be attributed to his teammate Mario Dominguez who pushed him off the race track in the entrance of Turn 1 in Long Beach. Tracy has an impressive record on the Milwaukee track. With four victories over the course of his long career, he has led 723 race laps while Bourdais continues to seek his first. Over the last seven races in Milwaukee he has qualified in the top six each time. Last year Tracy led 192 of 221 laps en route to the 29th of his 30 victories in Champ Car. Two Quebec drivers also aspire to ascend the Milwaukee podium. Fourth in the standings Andrew Ranger of Roxton Pound finished the first three races of the season in the Top 7, each time avoiding the trap that frequently plagues the middle of the pack qualifyers. Despite his difficulties in qualifying, Ranger has managed to stand out during the race and has collected the point for the driver who earns the greatest number of places during the race in each of the first three events. The Milwaukee race will be an important test for this 19 year-old driver. Alexandre Tagliani is due for his first Milwaukee podium, if not his first victory of the season. Had he not been the victim of mechanical failure in Houston when running in sixth position, the Lachenaie native would be chasing Wilson for the third spot in the standings instead of sitting back in fifth place with 56 points. Tagliani has proven over the course of his brief career that he is capable of battling it out on an oval. However the Milwaukee Mile can present all kinds of traps for drivers to overcome and Tagliani is no exception to the rule. Pole winner in 2003, he has never finished better than fifth in six attempts. He sits a mere two points behind Ranger in the standings and two ahead of Tracy. Fans can follow all the action live when Round 4 of the Champ Car series from Milwaukee is presented on RDS in Montreal and on Speed Channel on Sunday at 2 :00 p.m. Information : Nicole Lascelle 514-396-9000- #209 Active Drivers' CHAMP CAR Records at Milwaukee following the 2005 race Year S/F Status Team Notes BOURDAIS, SÉBASTIEN (FRA) 1st in 2006 standings with 102 points #1 NEWMAN HAAS LOLA DRIVER IN 2006 This will be his 4th Milwaukee start 2006: - Newman/Haas o MILW 2006 will be his 49th Champ Car start 2005: 6/6 Running - Newman/Haas o Has yet to win a pole or a race at MILW or even finish on the podium 2004: 2/18 Contact - Newman/Haas o Scored his best MILW finish in 2005 with a 6th place 2003: 13/9 Running - Newman/Haas o Best Milwaukee finish: 6th in 2005 RANGER, ANDREW (CAN) 4th in 2006 standings with 58 points #27 MI-JACK CONQUEST LOLA DRIVER IN 2006 This will be his 2nd Milwaukee start 2006: - Mi-Jack Conquest o MILW 2006 will be his 17th Champ Car start 2005: 13/16 Crash - Mi-Jack Conquest o His MILW crash was his 2nd in 3 CCWS 2005 starts o Crashed into wall after going into marbles Tagliani, Alex (CDN) 5th in 2006 standings with 56 points #15 TEAM AUSTRALIA LOLA DRIVER IN 2006 This will be his 7th Milwaukee start 2006: - Team Australia o MILW 2006 will be his 107th Champ Car start 2005: 11/10 Running - Team Australia o Finished 3 laps down on the 2005 winner 2004: 7/13 Running - Rocketsports o 2nd Top-10 finish at MILW. 2003: #1/5 4th Pole & Running - Rocketsports o Best MILW finish: 5th place in 2003 - Best MILW start: Pole in 2003 2002: 11/19 Electrical - Team Player's o # Qualifying was rained out in 2003 Milwaukee and Tag was credited with the pole 2001: 25/12 Running** - Team Player's o Posted second best race lap in 2003 Milwaukee race 2000: 13/22 Mechanical - Team Player's o Led first 2 race laps in 2003 Milwaukee race o Led once for 1 lap in 2001 Milwaukee race o Gained 14 places in 2001 MILW race but penalized 1 position for blocking Zanardi # Qualifying rained out in 2003. Grid set by practice times. TAGLIANI credited with the pole, no point. ** Tag finished 11th in 2001, but was penalized 1 position. Tracy, Paul (CDN) 6th in 2006 standings with 54 points #3 Forsythe CHAMPIONSHIP Racing LOLA DRIVER IN 2006 This will be his 14th Milwaukee start 2006: - Forsythe Racing 2005: 5/1 29th CCWS Win - Forsythe Racing o MILW 2006 will be his 240th Champ Car start 2004: 5/17 Contact - Forsythe Racing o Won his 4th MILW race in 2005, career 29th win & career 64th podium 2003: 3/12 Running - Team Player's o Leads active drivers with 4 wins for 6 podiums and 2 poles in Milwaukee 2002: 2/1 19th CCWS Win - Team Green o Posted best race lap in 1997 & 2005 2001: 4/24 Contact - Team Green o Has qualified in Top-6 in the last 7 MILW races 2000: 6/15 Running - Team Green o Last driver to win two consecutive poles in Milwaukee (1996-1997) 1999: 6/1 14th CCWS Win - Team Green o Lost one lap in 2003 race when car had loose wheel on lap 214 1998: 14/7 Running - Team Green o Led three times for race high 192 laps in 2005 Milwaukee win 1997: 1/6 12th Pole & Running - Team Penske o Led twice for race high 184 in 2002 Milwaukee win 1996: #1/3 10th Pole & 25th Podium - Team Penske o Led twice for 53 laps in 1999 Milwaukee win 1995: 7/1 10th CCWS Win - Newman-Haas o Led once for 26 laps in 1998 Milwaukee race 1994: 2/3 12th Podium - Team Penske o Led three times for 96 laps in 1997 Milwaukee race 1993: 4/20 Contact - Team Penske o Led twice for 43 laps in 1996 Milwaukee race 1992: DNE Did Not Enter - Team Penske o Led three times for 52 laps in 1995 Milwaukee win 1991: DNE Did Not Enter - Team Penske o Led once for 22 laps in 1994 Milwaukee race o Led twice for 55 laps in 1993 Milwaukee race o Has led a total of 723 laps in Milwaukee o Of his 723 laps led at MILW, 481 of them were when he won his 4 races # Qualifying rained out in 1996. Grid set by practice times. TRACY credited with the pole, no point.