2007 Champ Car season

2007 Champ Car season
Champ Car World Series
Season
Races	17 14
Start date	April 8
End date	November 11
Awards
Drivers' champion	Sébastien Bourdais
Rookie of the Year	Robert Doornbos
Chronology
Previous season	Next season
2006	2008 (CCWS) 2008 (ICS)

The 2007 Champ Car World Series season was the 29th and final season of the Champ Car World Series; however, only its fourth season under the Champ Car title. It began on April 8, 2007 and ended on November 11 after 14 races. Unbeknownst at the time, this would end up being the final contested season of Champ Car, as the following February, the series unified with IRL.

For 2007 Champ Car underwent some major changes. The opening race of the season was switched from the Grand Prix of Long Beach to Las Vegas for the first running of the Vegas Grand Prix. The Long Beach Grand Prix was the second race of the season, followed by the Grand Prix of Houston. Also, the entire schedule was held on road and street courses, and the events were timed races instead of races for a set number of laps. The full 2007 schedule was announced on Wednesday, September 27, 2006.

Champ Car officials confirmed that Panoz would be the sole chassis supplier for Champ Car for the three years beginning in 2007. The Panoz DP01 was built by sister company Élan Motorsport Technologies and was powered by a turbo-charged Cosworth engine. The new formula was reported to significantly lower the costs of competing in the series, which was in turn expected to increase car counts for the 2007 Champ Car season. However, 2007 entries did not exceeded those of 2006. Ford announced it would no longer badge the Cosworth engines. Mazda was confirmed as the new pace car and courtesy vehicle supplier.

ESPN announced a new, multiyear agreement that marked the return of the Champ Car World Series to the network in 2007.^[1]

On January 16, 2007, Champ Car announced their return to Europe, for the first time since 2003, with races scheduled for September 2, 2007 at the TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands, and September 9, 2007 at the historic Zolder circuit in Belgium.^[2]

On January 23, 2007, Champ Car unveiled its new logo for the Champ Car World Series and the Atlantic Series. According to its website, it is a sleeker design with the new Panoz DP01 chassis on the right with an emphasis on a chicane-style layout, representing the street track racing that dominates Champ Car. There were no oval tracks on the calendar, with Milwaukee removed after the 2006 race.

Drivers and Teams

The following teams and drivers competed in the 2007 Champ Car World Series season. All teams used a Cosworth 2.65-litre turbocharged V8 engine, a Panoz DP01 chassis, and Bridgestone tires.

Team	No.	Driver(s)	Rounds
Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing	1	Sébastien Bourdais	All
	2	Graham Rahal	All
Forsythe Racing	3	Paul Tracy	1, 4–14
		Oriol Servià	2–3
	7	Mario Domínguez	1–3
		Oriol Servià	4–12
		David Martinez	13–14
Minardi Team USA	4	Dan Clarke	1–10, 12–14
		Mario Domínguez	11
	14	Robert Doornbos	All
Team Australia	5	Will Power	All
	15	Simon Pagenaud	All
RSPORTS	8	Alex Tagliani	All
	9	Justin Wilson	All
Dale Coyne Racing	11	Katherine Legge	All
	19	Bruno Junqueira	All
PKV Racing	21	Neel Jani	All
	22	Tristan Gommendy	1–7, 9–12
		Mario Domínguez	8
		Oriol Servià	13–14
Pacific Coast Motorsports	28	Ryan Dalziel	1–8, 10–12
		Mario Domínguez	9, 13–14
	29	Alex Figge	1–2, 4–14
		Roberto Moreno	3
Conquest Racing	34	Jan Heylen	4–12
		Nelson Philippe	13–14
	42	Matt Halliday	1–3

Zsolt Baumgartner & Mario Domínguez were test drivers for Minardi Team USA.

Mid-season changes

• Oriol Servià replaced Paul Tracy at Forsythe Racing for Long Beach & Houston, after Tracy injured his back in a practice accident on Saturday morning of the race weekend at Long Beach. Servià was then signed as a permanent replacement for Mario Domínguez prior to the fourth round of the series.^[3]
• Alex Figge was unable to take part in Houston, citing back pain suffered in a crash at Long Beach. He was replaced by Champ Car veteran Roberto Moreno.
• Jan Heylen was signed initially to drove for Conquest Racing at the European rounds of the series; however, on June 1, the team confirmed that the Belgian was signed for the remainder of the season replacing Matt Halliday.^[4]
• Tristan Gommendy was unable to take part in Edmonton, suffering a couple of microscopic fractures in a practice accident on Friday of the race weekend. He was replaced by Mario Domínguez, who was on hand to drive the Minardi two-seater Formula One cars.
• Ryan Dalziel was unable to take part in San Jose after suffering a broken collarbone while training on his bicycle. He was replaced by Mario Domínguez.
• Dan Clarke was banned from the rest of the inaugural Belgian Champ Car Grand Prix weekend after causing a four car pile up in the first practice session at Zolder, which involved himself, Paul Tracy, Justin Wilson and hometown hero Jan Heylen. Clarke was replaced for the rest of the weekend at Minardi Team USA by Mario Domínguez.
• Champ Car Atlantic driver David Martínez replaced veteran Oriol Servià in the No. 7 Forsythe/Indeck car for the Surfers Paradise and Mexico City races.
• Mario Domínguez replaced Ryan Dalziel in the No. 28 Pacific Coast Motorsports car for the Surfers Paradise and Mexico City races.^[5]
• Nelson Philippe replaced Jan Heylen in the No. 34 Conquest Racing car for the Surfers Paradise and Mexico City races. Philippe will be able to defend his 2006 race win at Surfers.^[6]
• Oriol Servià found a ride with PKV Racing for the Surfers Paradise race after "an unresolved business situation" prevented Tristan Gommendy from taking part.^[7]

Races

Rnd	Race Name	Circuit	City/Location	TV	Date
1	Vegas Grand Prix[8]	Streets of Las Vegas	Las Vegas, Nevada	NBC	April 8
2	Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach[8]	Streets of Long Beach	Long Beach, California	NBC	April 15
3	Grand Prix of Houston[8]	JAGFlo Speedway at Reliant Park[9]	Houston, Texas	ESPN	April 22
4	Mazda Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland Presented by Joe's Sports and Outdoor[10]	Portland International Raceway	Portland, Oregon	ABC	June 10
5	Champ Car Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented by LaSalle Bank[11]	Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport	Cleveland, Ohio	CBS	June 24
6	Champ Car Mont-Tremblant[12]	Circuit Mont-Tremblant	Mont-Tremblant, Quebec	ESPN	July 1
7	Steelback Grand Prix of Toronto[9][12]	Exhibition Place	Toronto, Ontario	ESPN	July 8
8	Rexall Grand Prix of Edmonton[12]	Edmonton City Centre Airport	Edmonton, Alberta	ESPN	July 22
9	San José Grand Prix at Redback Raceway[13]	Streets of San Jose	San Jose, California	ESPN2	July 29
10	Generac Grand Prix	Road America	Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin	ABC	August 12
11	Belgian Champ Car Grand Prix[13][14][15][16]	Circuit Zolder	Heusden-Zolder, Belgium	ESPN Classic	August 26
12	Bavaria Champ Car Grand Prix Powered by Audi, Gant, Hertz, Jumbo & Pioneer[13][14][15][16]	TT Circuit Assen	Assen, Netherlands	ESPN Classic	September 2
13	Lexmark Indy 300	Surfers Paradise Street Circuit	Surfers Paradise, Australia	ESPN Classic	October 21
14	Gran Premio Tecate Presented by Banamex	Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez	Mexico City, Mexico	ESPN 2	November 11

• All 2007 Champ Car races were run on road courses and street circuits.
• The Grand Prix of Denver was cancelled by Champ Car on February 1.
• The Chinese Champ Car Grand Prix, after having its original May 20 date postponed, was cancelled on April 2 after the FIA rejected Champ Car's replacement date.
• The Grand Prix Arizona was cancelled on August 29.

Full Series results

Races

Rnd	Race Name	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver	Winning team	Report
1	Vegas Grand Prix	Will Power	Will Power	Will Power	Team Australia	Report
2	Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach	Sébastien Bourdais	Simon Pagenaud	Sébastien Bourdais	Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing	Report
3	Grand Prix of Houston	Will Power	Sébastien Bourdais	Sébastien Bourdais	Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing	Report
4	Mazda Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland Presented by Joe's Sports and Outdoor	Justin Wilson	Sébastien Bourdais	Sébastien Bourdais	Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing	Report
5	Champ Car Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented by LaSalle Bank	Sébastien Bourdais	Sébastien Bourdais	Paul Tracy	Forsythe Racing	Report
6	Champ Car Mont-Tremblant	Tristan Gommendy	Sébastien Bourdais	Robert Doornbos	Minardi Team USA	Report
7	Steelback Grand Prix of Toronto	Sébastien Bourdais	Sébastien Bourdais	Will Power	Team Australia	Report
8	Rexall Grand Prix of Edmonton	Will Power	Sébastien Bourdais	Sébastien Bourdais	Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing	Report
9	San José Grand Prix at Redback Raceway	Justin Wilson	Justin Wilson	Robert Doornbos	Minardi Team USA	Report
10	Generac Grand Prix	Sébastien Bourdais	Sébastien Bourdais	Sébastien Bourdais	Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing	Report
11	Belgian Champ Car Grand Prix	Sébastien Bourdais	Sébastien Bourdais	Sébastien Bourdais	Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing	Report
12	Bavaria Champ Car Grand Prix Powered by Audi, Gant, Hertz, Jumbo & Pioneer	Sébastien Bourdais	Dan Clarke	Justin Wilson	RSPORTS	Report
13	Lexmark Indy 300	Will Power	Graham Rahal	Sébastien Bourdais	Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing	Report
14	Gran Premio Tecate Presented by Banamex	Will Power	Robert Doornbos	Sébastien Bourdais	Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing	Report

Final driver standings

Pos Driver LAS LBH HOU POR CLE MTT TOR EDM SAN ROA ZOL ASS SUR MEX Pts 1 Sébastien Bourdais 13 1* 1* 1 12 2* 9 1* 5 1* 1* 7 1* 1* 364 2 Justin Wilson 14 4 10 2* 4 5 3 2 13 8 5 1* 2 10 281 3 Robert Doornbos (RY) 2 13 3 3 2 1 6 11 1 14 7 13 4 16 268 4 Will Power 1* 3 11 4 10* 3 1 15 4 16 4 14 16 2 262 5 Graham Rahal (R) 17 8 2 9 8 7 11 3 6 3 3 9 11 4 243 6 Oriol Servià 2 4 11 7 9 10* 6 3* 4 6 8 14 3 237 7 Bruno Junqueira 7 6 7 13 16 17 5 7 7 9 2 3 3 7 233 8 Simon Pagenaud (R) 12 14 5 8 5 4 4 4 10 11 12 6 5 6 232 9 Neel Jani (R) 10 7 15 12 3 6 2 9 2 10 8 5 8 9 231 10 Alex Tagliani 4 5 9 5 6 8 8 14 15 5 9 15 7 13 205 11 Paul Tracy 3 10 1 15 14 5 11 12 10 17 9 5 171 12 Tristan Gommendy (R) 5 11 13 7 13 12 15 8 7 16 4 140 13 Dan Clarke 15 12 17 6 11 14 12 8 17 2 11 17 17 129 14 Ryan Dalziel (R) 11 9 8 14 9 10 7 12 17 15 10 116 15 Katherine Legge 6 10 16 17 15 11 16 16 16 15 11 12 15 15 108 16 Jan Heylen 15 14 16 13 10 9 6 13 2 104 17 Alex Figge (R) 8 16 16 17 13 17 13 14 13 14 16 13 11 95 18 Mario Domínguez 9 17 6 17 12 17 12 8 78 19 Nelson Philippe 6 12 28 20 David Martínez (R) 10 14 18 Matt Halliday (R) 16 15 14 18 22 Roberto Moreno 12 9 Pos Driver LAS LBH HOU POR CLE MTT TOR EDM SAN ROA ZOL ASS SUR MEX Pts

Color Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green 4th & 5th place Light Blue 6th–10th place Dark Blue Finished (Outside Top 10) Purple Did not finish Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Brown Withdrawn (Wth) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did Not Start (DNS) Race abandoned (C) Blank Did not participate In-line notation Bold Pole position Italics Ran fastest race lap * Led most race laps (RY) Rookie of the Year (R) Rookie

Point Scoring System:

• Points are awarded based on each driver's resulting place (regardless of whether the car is running at the end of the race):

Position	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Points	31	27	25	23	21	19	17	15	13	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1

Bonus Points:

• 1 For Fastest Race Lap
• 1 For Fastest Friday Qualifying Lap
• 1 For Fastest Saturday Qualifying Lap
• 1 For Most Positions Gained From Starting Position (in the event of tie, the better-placed driver gets the point)

Driver breakdown

Pos	Driver	Team	Races	Wins	Top 3	Top 5	Top 10	Poles	Laps Led
1	Bourdais	N/H/L Racing	14	8	9	10	11	6	463
2	Wilson	RSPORTS	14	1	5	9	12	2	113
3	Doornbos (R)	Minardi Team USA	14	2	6	7	9	–	61
4	Power	Team Australia	14	2	5	8	9	5	153
5	Rahal (R)	N/H/L Racing	14	–	4	5	11	–	18
6	Servià	Forsythe Racing PKV Racing	13	–	3	5	10	–	85
7	Junqueira	DC Racing	14	–	3	4	11	–	33
8	Pagenaud (R)	Team Australia	14	–	–	6	10	–	19
9	Jani (R)	PKV Racing	14	–	3	4	12	–	30
10	Tagliani	RSPORTS	14	–	–	4	10	–	14
11	Tracy	Forsythe Racing	12	1	2	4	7	–	49
12	Gommendy (R)	PKV Racing	11	–	–	2	5	1	31
13	Clarke	Minardi Team USA	13	–	1	1	3	–	2
14	Dalziel (R)	PC Motorsports	11	–	–	–	6	–	16
15	Legge	DC Racing	14	–	–	–	2	–	–
16	Heylen	Conquest Racing	9	–	1	1	4	–	–
17	Figge (R)	PC Motorsports	13	–	–	–	1	–	–
18	Domínguez	Forsythe Racing PKV Racing PC Motorsports Minardi Team USA	8	–	–	–	3	–	–
19	Philippe	Conquest Racing	2	–	–	–	1	–	–
20	Martínez (R)	Forsythe Racing	2	–	–	–	1	–	–
21	Halliday (R)	Conquest Racing	3	–	–	–	–	–	–
22	Moreno	PC Motorsports	1	–	–	–	–	–	–

Rule changes

The new rules of the 2007 season included the implementation of standing starts at venues where they can be safely implemented. Additionally, all events were timed events instead of running a set number of laps. As the time limit approaches, the drivers will be notified that they are beginning the last lap. The leader will NOT be shown the white flag, which will now be employed in a similar manner to its use by the FIA. Teams will also be allowed unlimited access to their tires during all qualifying sessions. The requirement for each team to use at least one set of the alternate Bridgestone Potenzas during the race would remain in place.

From this season onwards drivers no longer receive a bonus point for leading a lap of the race.

Notes

1. Champ Car coming to ESPN beginning in 2007 – Racing – ESPN
2. http://www.champcarworldseries.com/News/Article.asp?ID=11193
3. "Servià keeps Forsythe drive". autosport.com. May 22, 2007. Archived from the original on 25 May 2007. Retrieved June 1, 2007.
4. "Heylen at Conquest for rest of year". autosport.com. June 1, 2007. Archived from the original on 3 June 2007. Retrieved June 1, 2007.
5. "Pacific Coast Motorsports signs Mexican Superstar Mario Domínguez". champcarworldseries.com. September 20, 2007. Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved September 21, 2007.
6. "He’s back! Nelson Philippe returns to Conquest Racing team". champcarworldseries.com. October 3, 2007. Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved October 6, 2007.
7. "Oriol Servià To Compete For PKV Racing At Lexmark Indy 300". champcarworldseries.com. October 16, 2007. Retrieved October 16, 2007.
8. "Vegas Grand Prix opens 2007 Champ Car season". reviewjournal.com. August 1, 2006. Retrieved September 2, 2006.
9. "Sponsor boost for Toronto, Houston". crash.net. March 13, 2007. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved March 13, 2007.
10. "Mazda New Title Sponsor for Portland Champ Car Grand Prix". whowon.com. May 10, 2007. Retrieved May 11, 2007.
11. "Cleveland 2007 date announced". motorsport.com. August 24, 2006. Retrieved September 5, 2006.
12. "Champ Car set to add Quebec pit stop". globeandmail.com. September 25, 2006. Retrieved September 26, 2006.
13. "2007 Champ Car Schedule Coming – China, Europe to be Added?". paddocktalk.com. September 17, 2006. Retrieved September 17, 2006.
14. "Champ Car in 2007 naar Assen?". telesport.nl. August 26, 2006. Retrieved September 1, 2006.
15. "Champ Car coming back to Europe". grandprix.com. September 25, 2006. Retrieved September 26, 2006.
16. "Champ Car adds 2 European races". indystar.com. January 15, 2007. Archived from the original on February 21, 2012. Retrieved January 16, 2007.

References

• Åberg, Andreas. "Champ Car World Series 2007". Driver Database. Archived from the original on May 28, 2009. Retrieved May 19, 2009.
• "2007 Champ Car World Series". Champ Car Stats. Archived from the original on May 28, 2009. Retrieved May 19, 2009.
• "Standings after Mexico City". Champ Car World Series. Archived from the original on May 28, 2009. Retrieved May 19, 2009.

See also

• 2007 Champ Car Atlantic season
• 2007 Indianapolis 500
• 2007 IndyCar Series season
• 2007 Indy Pro Series season