Canadian star Paul Tracy has won the inaugural St. Petersburg Grand Prix this weekend to take his 20th career victory. The Player's-Forsythe Racing driver took his Lola-Ford racer to the top step on the podium in the first race of the new Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford.
Tracy, who started second on the grid behind French sensation Sebastien Bourdais scorched away from the Newman-Haas rookie to lead 71 of the 105 laps round the 1.806 mile street circuit. A fierce battle between Bourdais and Tracy was however cut short when the Frenchman brushed a concrete wall and was forced into the pits for repairs that cost him 8 laps.
“After the first three or four corners, I knew that I wasn't going to get him,” Tracy said of Bourdais. “I just basically stayed behind him. I was about two or three seconds behind him, not trying to use too much fuel. Later they radioed me and told me that he had brushed the wall and did some damage or something. From there, I knew that we were kind of in control of the race. I just had to pace myself, not make any mistakes.”
Behind Tracy, a battle was hoting up as Michel Jourdain Jr. put himself in position to claim his best-ever Champ Car finish, moving up from his fifth-place starting spot to move into second with Bruno Junqueira and rookie Mario Haberfeld following behind. While battles were fought lower down the grid, Tracy controlled the race from the front..
“I slowed down a little bit because I felt I was going pretty hard in the beginning,” Tracy said. “I felt the tyres starting to go away. I started to slide around a little bit, slide around. The car was getting very over-steery. I just slowed down for three or four laps. I lost quite a bit of time. I got my tires under control, kind of got the grip back, then I was able to pull away at the end.”
Michel Jourdain held off Bruno Junqueira for second place while rookie Mario Haberfeld took fourth ahead of veteran Roberto Moreno and American Spirit Team Johansson racer Jimmy Vasser rounded out the top six.
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