2007 Generac Grand Prix

  2007 Generac Grand Prix of Road America

Race details
Race 10 of 14 in the 2007 Champ Car season
Road America Track Layout
Date	August 12, 2007
Official name	Champ Car Generac Grand Prix at Road America
Location	Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, United States
Course	Permanent Road Course 4.048 mi / 6.515 km
Distance	53 laps, 214.544 mi / 345.276 km
Weather	Sunny, 86 F / 30 C
Pole position
Driver	Sébastien Bourdais	N/H/L Racing
Time	1:41.535
Fastest lap
Driver	Sebastien Bourdais	Newman Haas Lanigan Racing
Time	1:44.346 (on lap 53 of 53)
Podium
First	Sebastien Bourdais	Newman Haas Lanigan Racing
Second	Dan Clarke	Minardi Team USA
Third	Graham Rahal (R)	Newman Haas Lanigan Racing

The 2007 Champ Car Generac Grand Prix at Road America is the ninth round of the 2007 Champ Car World Series Season. It was held on August 12 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.

Qualifying results

Pos	Nat	Name	Team	Qual 1	Qual 2	Best
1		Sébastien Bourdais	N/H/L Racing	1:42.385	1:41.535	1:41.535
2		Will Power	Team Australia	1:43.116	1:43.595	1:43.116
3		Robert Doornbos	Minardi Team USA	1:43.619	1:43.134	1:43.134
4		Graham Rahal	N/H/L Racing	1:43.732	1:43.162	1:43.162
5		Bruno Junqueira	Dale Coyne Racing	1:44.326	1:43.201	1:43.201
6		Alex Tagliani	RSPORTS	1:43.689	1:43.374	1:43.374
7		Neel Jani	PKV Racing	1:43.417	1:44.296	1:43.417
8		Dan Clarke	Minardi Team USA	1:43.439	1:43.853	1:43.439
9		Jan Heylen	Conquest Racing	1:44.295	1:43.523	1:43.523
10		Justin Wilson	RSPORTS	1:43.525	1:44.050	1:43.525
11		Tristan Gommendy	PKV Racing	1:44.032	1:43.565	1:43.565
12		Simon Pagenaud	Team Australia	1:43.637	1:43.581	1:43.581
13		Ryan Dalziel	Pacific Coast Motorsports	1:43.611	1:43.795	1:43.611
14		Oriol Servià	Forsythe Racing	1:43.710	no time	1:43.710
15		Alex Figge	Pacific Coast Motorsports	1:45.432	1:44.027	1:44.027
16		Paul Tracy	Forsythe Racing	1:44.716	1:47.132	1:44.716
17		Katherine Legge	Dale Coyne Racing	1:46.901	1:47.271	1:46.901

Sébastien Bourdais, fresh off signing his name to a 2008 contract with Formula 1's Scuderia Toro Rosso, dominated both qualifying sessions, finishing Saturday with a best lap a second and a half clear of his closest competitor. Will Power was best of the rest to secure the other front row starting spot next to Bourdais on Sunday.

Race

Pos	Nat	Name	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1		Sébastien Bourdais	N/H/L Racing	53	1:40:58.596	1	34
2		Dan Clarke	Minardi Team USA	53	+9.8 secs	8	27
3		Graham Rahal	N/H/L Racing	53	+12.2 secs	4	25
4		Oriol Servià	Forsythe Racing	53	+20.9 secs	14	24
5		Alex Tagliani	RSPORTS	53	+50.7 secs	6	21
6		Jan Heylen	Conquest Racing	53	+1:00.1	9	19
7		Tristan Gommendy	PKV Racing	53	+1:02.3	11	17
8		Justin Wilson	RSPORTS	53	+1:03.0	10	15
9		Bruno Junqueira	Dale Coyne Racing	53	+1:04.5	5	13
10		Neel Jani	PKV Racing	53	+1:13.0	7	11
11		Simon Pagenaud	Team Australia	53	+1:28.9	12	10
12		Paul Tracy	Forsythe Racing	53	+1:35.1	16	9
13		Alex Figge	Pacific Coast Motorsports	52	+ 1 Lap	15	8
14		Robert Doornbos	Minardi Team USA	49	+ 4 Laps	3	7
15		Katherine Legge	Dale Coyne Racing	36	Mechanical	17	6
16		Will Power	Team Australia	25	Mechanical	2	5
17		Ryan Dalziel	Pacific Coast Motorsports	15	Collision	13	4

After dominating qualifying, Sébastien Bourdais led away from the starting grid. Will Power, the other front row starter, dropped back with bad handling while Robert Doornbos was able to provide Bourdais a certain amount of pressure after starting third on the grid, staying within two seconds of the Frenchman.

Unfortunately for Doornbos the set of tires he switched to after his first pit stop did not prove to his liking and he began losing large chunks of time as Bourdais continued in the lead.

Meanwhile Doornbos' teammate Dan Clarke was putting on a show. Slow away from the grid thanks to a bad clutch, Clarke took advantage of the yellow flag on the opening lap by pitting and setting off an alternate strategy. When the rest of the field pitted on lap 14, Clarke found himself in the lead and made the most of the open track in front of him and came out in second place in front of Doornbos and Graham Rahal after he emerged from his pit stop on lap 16.

With Doornbos struggling on his tires, Rahal got around Doornbos in turn 3 on lap 24. Doornbos' race then went completely wrong on the next lap as Clarke cut in front of him on the approach to turn 5. Doornbos' front wing was knocked off and his suspension was damaged. He was forced to limp back to the pits, his race ruined, though he was able to return to the fight albeit four laps down. Clarke was apologetic after the race, but Doornbos accused the Englishman of brake checking him.

Clarke got around Rahal after his second pit stop, gaining further benefit from his alternate pit stop strategy while Bourdais continued to easily lead the field. The race would finish up in that order. Surprisingly, the win was the first for Bourdais in four attempts at the scenic Wisconsin circuit. With Will Power ending up in 16th place with a broken gearbox, Doornbos' accident-marred 14th place finish and Justin Wilson, best amongst the rest of the point challengers managing only an eighth place, Bourdais took a stranglehold on the season championship.

This race marked the final race on US soil for the Champ Car Series as a separate entity from the IndyCar Series, before the merger of the two in early 2008.

Caution flags

Notes

• New Race Record Sébastien Bourdais : 1:40:58.596
• Average Speed 127.481 mph

Attendance

Attendance at the 2007 Generac Grand Prix was over 100,000 people during the 4 day race weekend. Race coordinators were pleased with this result as this was the highest attendance the race had garnered since the heyday of CART racing in the late 1980s and early 1990s.^[1]

References

1. ↑ http://www.sheboygan-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070813/SHE02/708130554/1882

External links

• Full Weekend Times & Results