INDYCAR SERIES Champ Car Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
Final
for this game
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Preview
Apr 18, 2008 - 10:28 AMApril 20, 2008
Long Beach Street Circuit
Long Beach, California
Champ Car World Series finale
(Will count towards 2008 IndyCar Series points standings)
Laps: 74
Track length: 1.968 miles
Race length: 147 miles
Qualifying record: Sebastien Bourdais, 105.924 mph, 2006
Race record: Paul Tracy, 91.785 mph, 2004
DRIVERS TO WATCH
----------------
Bruno Junqueira
Team: Dale Coyne Racing
2008 points: 24 (23rd)
Ran sixth at this race last season; finished the 2007 Champ Car
World Series seventh in points; opened the 2008 IndyCar season
slowly with a 23rd at Homestead and 24th at St. Petersburg;
enjoyed success competing in Champ Car for seven seasons; became
the first driver in 19 years to win races in each of his first
five years in Champ Car with his 2005 win at Monterrey; finished
runner-up in the Champ Car standings three times.
Will Power
Team: KV Racing Technology
2008 Points: 34 (T-16th)
Finished fourth in the Champ Car standings last year; ran third
in this event last season behind Sebastien Bourdais and Oriol
Servia; captured five poles and two wins - Las Vegas and Toronto
- in 2007; started 2008 IndyCar season with a 25th at Homestead
and eighth at St. Petersburg; was named Champ Car rookie of the
year after finishing sixth in standings for Team Australia;
accomplished a first by an Australian in Champ Car when he
started from the pole in 2006 at Surfers Paradise; also was the
first Aussie to earn a podium finish since Geoff Brabham in 1987.
Graham Rahal
Team: Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
2008 Points: 53 (T-4th)
The 19-year-old son of 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal
won at St. Petersburg in his very first IndyCar start; win made
him the youngest winner in major open-wheel racing history at 19
years 93 days; did not race in the season opener at Homestead;
best finish of 2007 season was second at Houston in the third
race of the season, which put him in the record books as the
youngest ever podium finisher in Champ Car history; finished
fifth in Champ Car standings last season; finished as runner-up
in 2006 Champ Car Formula Atlantic Championship series
standings; ran eighth here last year.
Oriol Servia
Team: KV Racing Technology
2008 points: 44 (9th)
Was the runner-up to Sebastien Bourdais in this race last year;
finished sixth in the 2007 Champ Car World Series standings;
posted a season-best second at Long Beach and fourth at Houston
filling in for an injured Paul Tracy; finished second in the
2005 Champ Car standings; started 2008 with a 12th at Homestead
and seventh at St. Petersburg; before joining Champ Car he was
the 1999 Daytona Indy Lights champion.
Justin Wilson
Team: Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
2008 Points: 37 (15th)
Was the two-time Champ Car runner-up to Sebastien Bourdais; won
poles at Portland and San Jose last season and recorded nine
top-five and 12 top-10 finishes; lone win of 2007 season came at
the Grand Prix of Holland; finished second in 2006 despite
missing Surfers Paradise race because of injury; finished third
in 2005, earning his first Champ Car victories in Toronto and
Mexico City; started the 2008 IndyCar season with a 15th at
Homestead and ninth at St. Petersburg; ran fourth here last
season.
2007 Top 10
-----------
1. Sebastien Bourdais
2. Oriol Servia
3. Will Power
4. Justin Wilson
5. Alex Tagliani
6. Bruno Junqueira
7. Neel Jani
8. Graham Rahal
9. Ryan Dalziel
10. Katherine Legge
Past Champions
--------------
2007 Sebastien Bourdais
2006 Sebastien Bourdais
2005 Sebastien Bourdais
2004 Paul Tracy
2003 Paul Tracy
2002 Michael Andretti
2001 Helio Castroneves
2000 Paul Tracy
1999 Juan Pablo Montoya
1998 Alex Zanardi
1997 Alex Zanardi
1996 Jimmy Vasser
1995 Al Unser Jr.
1994 Al Unser Jr.
1993 Paul Tracy
1992 Danny Sullivan
1991 Al Unser Jr.
1990 Al Unser Jr.
1989 Al Unser Jr.
1988 Al Unser Jr.
1987 Mario Andretti
1986 Michael Andretti
1985 Mario Andretti
1984 Mario Andretti
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