Bourdais drives to Mexico victory

MEXICO CITY -- Sebastien Bourdais went out a winner as well as a champion in his final Champ Car race, overcoming a penalty and a lead-trimming yellow flag to win the Mexican Grand Prix.

Bourdais, 28, held off pole-sitter Will Power for his 31st victory -- tied with Al Unser Jr. and Paul Tracy for sixth in series history.

And the Frenchman did it in only 73 starts over five years.

Bourdais said he’ll be in Europe by Tuesday, testing cars for the Toro Rosso team he’s joining for Formula One next season.

“I don’t really know what to expect,” he said.

Bourdais said he broke down in tears twice before the race as he “finally realized it was going to be the last time,” and it affected his crew as well.

“The boys were really freaking out,” he said.

Emotions were heightened by what Bourdais termed a “weird” yellow flag for a small amount of debris on the track that robbed him of most of his lead late in the race and a pre-race penalty for laying rubber in the pit box that cost him 22 seconds of push-to-pass power.

But at the end, it was a day of praise.

“He’s the best and most complete race driver I’ve ever raced against,” Power said.

Power led the first 23 laps before Bourdais shoved past with a burst of his now-scarce push-to-pass power, which gives Champ Car drivers a few, restricted seconds of horsepower boost to use as they choose.

Justin Wilson of Britain struggled, finishing 10th, but came second in the standings to Bourdais, just like last year.

He began the race eight points ahead of rookie of the year Robert Doornbos, who missed most of the early race because of mechanical problems.

Bourdais finished the series with 364 points, followed by Wilson (281), Doornbos (268) and Power (262).