2007 Vegas Grand Prix

United States   2007 Las Vegas Grand Prix
Race details
Race 1 of 14 in the 2007 Champ Car season
Date April 8, 2007
Official name XI Vegas Grand Prix
Location Vegas Grand Prix
Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Course Temporary street circuit
2.440 mi / 3.927 km
Distance 68 laps, 165.920 mi / 267.036 km
Weather Sunny with temperatures reaching up to 91 °F (33 °C); wind speeds approaching 17.1 miles per hour (27.5 km/h)[1]
Pole position
Driver Australia Will Power Team Australia
Time 1:17.629
Fastest lap
Driver Australia Will Power Team Australia
Time 1:19.934 (on lap 44 of 68)
Podium
First Australia Will Power Team Australia
Second Netherlands Robert Doornbos Minardi Team USA
Third Canada Paul Tracy Forsythe Racing

The 2007 Las Vegas Grand Prix was the first round of the 2007 Champ Car World Series Season, held on April 8 on the streets of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Qualifying results

Pos Nat Name Team Qual 1 Qual 2 Best
1 Australia Will Power Team Australia 1:21.007 1:17.629 1:17.629
2 Canada Paul Tracy Forsythe Racing 1:19.784 1:19.625 1:19.625*
3 Netherlands Robert Doornbos Minardi Team USA 1:20.991 1:18.515 1:18.515
4 Canada Alex Tagliani RSPORTS 1:20.437 1:18.850 1:18.850
5 France Simon Pagenaud Team Australia 1:19.998 1:18.961 1:18.961
6 Brazil Bruno Junqueira Dale Coyne Racing - 1:19.102 1:19.102
7 Mexico Mario Dominguez Forsythe Racing 1:22.384 1:19.156 1:19.156
8 United Kingdom Justin Wilson RSPORTS 1:20.310 1:19.269 1:19.269
9 Switzerland Neel Jani PKV Racing 1:21.618 1:19.360 1:19.360
10 United States Graham Rahal N/H/L Racing 1:23.307 1:19.710 1:19.710
11 France Tristan Gommendy PKV Racing 1:21.565 1:19.784 1:19.784
12 United Kingdom Dan Clarke Minardi Team USA 1:22.123 1:19.814 1:19.814
13 United Kingdom Katherine Legge Dale Coyne Racing 1:22.420 1:20.104 1:20.104
14 New Zealand Matt Halliday Conquest Racing 13:20.444 1:20.122 1:20.122
15 Scotland Ryan Dalziel Pacific Coast Motorsports 1:22.202 1:20.128 1:20.128
16 France Sébastien Bourdais N/H/L Racing 1:20.197 - 1:20.197
17 United States Alex Figge Pacific Coast Motorsports 1:22.788 1:20.313 1:20.313

Grid

Row Inside Outside
1 5 Australia Will Power 3 Canada Paul Tracy
2 14 Netherlands Robert Doornbos 8 Canada Alex Tagliani
3 15 France Simon Pagenaud 19 Brazil Bruno Junqueira
4 7 Mexico Mario Dominguez 9 United Kingdom Justin Wilson
5 21 Switzerland Neel Jani 2 United States Graham Rahal
6 22 France Tristan Gommendy 4 United Kingdom Dan Clarke
7 11 United Kingdom Katherine Legge 42 New Zealand Matt Halliday
8 28 Scotland Ryan Dalziel 1 France Sébastien Bourdais
9 29 United States Alex Figge

Race

The race was a fresh start for the Champ Car World Series. With a new car, the Panoz DP01, new rules, including timed races and staggered starts, new teams like Pacific Coast Motorsports, a different season opener on a new track, and a new television contract with ABC/ESPN, all were the big stories of the day. The race would be one of survival of the fittest as many drivers were taken out by either crashes or mechanical failures. Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing would not have a good day as 3-time champion Sébastien Bourdais was hampered by numerous tire problems and rookie Graham Rahal was taken out on the first lap. Will Power had the dominant car all day long, only being challenged consistently by Paul Tracy, who many saw as the man to unseat Bourdais as the face of Champ Car. In the end, the race would all come down to fuel milage. Tracy's car struggled with taking a full load of fuel preenting him from snapping his winless streak. Will Power would outlast the field to take his first career victory, which was also the first Champ Car victory by an Australian, in a dominant fashion.

Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 5 Australia Will Power Team Australia 68 1:45:13.637 1 34
2 14 Netherlands Robert Doornbos Minardi Team USA 68 +16.789 3 27
3 3 Canada Paul Tracy Forsythe Racing 68 +27.356 2 27
4 8 Canada Alex Tagliani RSPORTS 68 +48.981 4 24
5 22 France Tristan Gommendy PKV Racing 68 +1:10.396 11 21
6 11 United Kingdom Katherine Legge Dale Coyne Racing 68 +1:21.261 13 20
7 19 Brazil Bruno Junqueira Dale Coyne Racing 66 + 1 Lap 6 18
8 29 United States Alex Figge Pacific Coast Motorsports 63 + 5 Laps 17 15
9 7 Mexico Mario Dominguez Forsythe Racing 57 + 11 Laps 7 13
10 21 Switzerland Neel Jani PKV Racing 56 Mechanical 9 11
11 28 Scotland Ryan Dalziel Pacific Coast Motorsports 52 + 16 Laps 15 10
12 15 France Simon Pagenaud Team Australia 47 Engine 5 9
13 1 France Sébastien Bourdais N/H/L Racing 30 Accident 16 8
14 9 United Kingdom Justin Wilson RSPORTS 20 Input shaft 8 7
15 4 United Kingdom Dan Clarke Minardi Team USA 13 Accident 12 6
16 42 New Zealand Matt Halliday Conquest Racing 3 Accident 14 5
17 2 United States Graham Rahal N/H/L Racing 1 Accident 10 4

Caution flags

Laps Cause
1 Yellow Start
2-5 Rahal/Halliday crash
6-7 Figge stalled
14-17 Clarke crash

Notes

Laps Leader
1 Will Power
2-10 Paul Tracy
11-27 Will Power
28-38 Alex Tagliani
39-45 Will Power
46-48 Bruno Junqueira
49-55 Paul Tracy
56-68 Will Power
 
Driver Laps led
Will Power 38
Paul Tracy 16
Alex Tagliani 11
Bruno Junqueira 3

Attendance

Attendance at the inaugural 2007 event was estimated to be 40,000 fans on race day. This surpassed the amount of seats available on the course's temporary grandstands facilitating an expansion for the 2008 season.[2][3]

Future of the Race

This was the third race for Champ Car in Las Vegas, but the only one held on a downtown street course. Two oval grands prix had taken place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway: the 2004 Bridgestone 400 and the 2005 Hurricane Relief 400. The planned 2008 race was removed from the calendar due to Champ Car's merge with the Indy Racing League (IRL).

IRL returned to Las Vegas in 2011, however the return was at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, rather than to a downtown street course.

References

  1. "2007 Vegas Grand Prix". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2013-10-15.
  2. ESPN - Vegas gamble pays off for Champ Car World Series - Open-Wheel
  3. ReviewJournal.com - News - GRAND PRIX'S TWIN SPIN

External links

Previous race:
2006 Gran Premio de México
Previous Season
Champ Car World Series
2007 season
Next race:
2007 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

Previous race:
2005 Hurricane Relief 400
(Las Vegas Motor Speedway)
Champ Car in Las Vegas Next race:
2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship
(Las Vegas Motor Speedway; Post-reunification)
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