A Cool Hand Finally Prevails

For more than 20 years, Paul Newman and Carl Haas have been trying to win the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Mario Andretti won for them in 1984, but since then Newman-Haas has brought Michael Andretti, Nigel Mansell, Christian Fittipaldi, Paul Tracy and Cristiano da Matta to the beach in hopes of returning to the winner’s circle.

During that period, Michael Andretti, Mansell and Da Matta won series championships, but victory in front of the Queen Mary eluded them. When Haas wavered toward the Indy Racing League last year, Newman stood steadfast and insisted the team remain loyal to Champ Car.

Two years ago, faced with a need for new drivers after Da Matta left for Formula One and Fittipaldi for NASCAR, they brought in two little-known drivers from the European Formula 3000 series, Sebastien Bourdais from France and Bruno Junqueira from Brazil.

Between them, in two years, they won 14 races and Bourdais won the 2004 championship. Still, no win in Long Beach.

Sunday, in front of an enthusiastic crowd of an estimated 75,000 on a chilly, sunny day, it was Paul Newman’s turn to hold the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach trophy high over his head as Bourdais, the beaming race winner, stood by. Junqueira, his other driver, was third, and on the podium with the teammates was Tracy, the pole-sitter and four-time winner now driving for Forsythe Racing.

“Paul gets so excited he thinks he’s a second driver in the car,” Bourdais said. “It was wonderful to see him up there taking the cheers.”

The Frenchman had outfought Tracy and Junqueira in an 81-lap battle over the twisting 21 turns of a 1.97-mile course laid out around the Convention Center and Sports Arena. He led 37 laps, more than anyone else, and after Jimmy Vasser pitted on Lap 70, Bourdais moved in front to stay.

“I am very surprised to win, as I was not really expecting to be in the top three with the way the weekend went before [Sunday],” said Bourdais, a 26-year-old native of Le Mans, the famous French racing city. “I got real pumped up before the race. It was good for Newman-Haas racing. It has been a long time since [they won] in Long Beach. I was happy to be able to do that for them.”

If the race was the last one involving Champ Cars, as it may have been, the beleaguered organization, along the Grand Prix Assn., put on a memorable show. There were seven leaders, the lead changed 12 times and, quite unusual for a street circuit, several occurred on the racetrack and not just because of pit stops.

“Wasn’t that a wonderful race?” Newman said. “I sure hope we’re back here next year.”

Rumors raced around Long Beach all week that the IRL might become the sanctioning body for the race next year after Champ Car’s contract ended Sunday. Jim Michaelian, Grand Prix president, said he expected it would be at least 30 days before any decision was made.

“I’m just pleased with the way the day went,” Michaelian said. “The weather was perfect, and that always helps our race. I think everybody had a good time.”

Tracy, who ran a track-record 104.983 mph in qualifying Saturday, moved away at the start, but when he bobbled coming through the Turn 11 hairpin on the third lap, Junqueira took advantage of it and shot to the front.

Tracy got the lead back on a restart on Lap 11 and looked as if he was going to have a runaway win like last year. He relinquished the lead only when he pitted and then got it back after the field had stopped for fuel.

The first sign that Bourdais, who started fourth, was a challenger came when he suddenly charged to the inside of Tracy at the end of the long, sweeping Shoreline Drive going into Turn 1 on Lap 38.

“I got a tow from Paul very early in the straight,” Bourdais said. “Took me all the way to the braking point. He was very fair. He kept his line, as it’s written in the rule book, just gave me a clear shot to try and pass him.

“The McDonald’s crew was pretty surprised that I had that shot on PT. I was too. I came on the radio and said, ‘How about that?’ ”

Tracy snapped, “As you can imagine, my reaction was the opposite.”

From then on, Bourdais kept running faster and faster laps and kept himself in front until his final pit stop.

Vasser, who had pitted out of sequence, took the lead and for a while it appeared he might be trying to win a fuel-conservation race, but ultimately he had to stop for a splash of methanol. This time it was Bourdais back in front to stay.

“I think the whole day went great, Sebastien just had too much for me,” Tracy said. “For some reason we couldn’t get the car to change, it ran consistent all day, but each stint was the same.

“I was basically running the same pace. Sebastien came up on us hard, so there was not a whole lot I could do. I gave him room and played fair. I was trying hard to close ground before the last pit stops, but he maintained his distance.”

Junqueira finished third in the second Newman-Haas car after passing Mario Dominguez, Tracy’s Forsythe teammate, five laps from the end of the 1-hour 46-minute 29-second race.

Bourdais averaged 89.811 mph, slowed by four caution periods for 12 laps.

The race was relatively free of incidents. Only two drivers, 18-year-old Mi-Jack teammates Nelson Phillippe and Andrew Ranger, hit the wall in single-car accidents. Phillippe’s collision occurred on Lap 8, and Ranger’s on the leader’s Lap 72, but Ranger was two laps behind. Neither was injured.

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TOP FINISHERS

1. Sebastien Bourdais

2. Paul Tracy

3. Bruno Junqueira