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2004 Australia Thoughts

RACE: Presentation is everything, and this race was probably the worse presented race in TV history. Was it an exciting race? The production was so bad, we have no clue.

TRACK: It didn't rain! It didn't rain! It didn't rain!

CHICANES: The use of tires to prevent short cutting was a start, but now they should place a line of tires across the whole curbing in order to prevent going straight through.

JUNQUEIRA: Say what you want about Bruno (and that was pretty darn stupid to let the top two pull ahead so far on a restart), but he never gives up, and for that we'll see the title chase go down to the last race.

BOURDAIS: Except for one bold move to pass Tracy early on (and even then he gave himself an out), Sebastien played it cool to maintain his healthy points lead.

DOMINGUEZ: Clearly outran his teammate this weekend.

TRACY: Only a gearbox stood in the way of Paul winning this race.

ALLMENDINGER: His Rookie of the Year crown is all due to constant improvement throughout the year to the point where he is to be reckoned with at every track especially in qualifying.

BESNARD: Sorry, Aussies (and I do love you folks from Down Under), but David's seventh place finish was nothing more than a matter of lucky pit strategy. The fact is, he qualified 17th out of 19 cars, and only posted the 16th fastest race lap.

WILSON: Seemed to have faded a bit in the last few races, but Justin is too talented to allow Allmendinger to steal all the rookie headlines.

SMITH: Still hasn't shown anything (as for his race position, see Besnard), and is actually making Philippe look good.

PHILIPPE: "I've earned my spot in the Champ Car World Series." For the second race in a row, Nelson held his own especially on such a fast, difficult street circuit he never saw before.

VASSER: Probably looking forward to having Jim McGee join the team next year.

SERVIA: He deserved better.

CARPENTIER: This is why there are officials, because teams, and especially drivers, cannot be expected to make logical decisions in the heat of the battle. Thankfully, Patrick is okay.

JANIS: The Jeopardy! answer to "How do you say Gaston Mazzacane in Czech?"

TAGLIANI: When situations like this occur, where a driver hardly losses time after so much aerodynamics and/or downforce is lost, it always makes us wonder why bother spending so much money on refining these areas.

WORD OF THE WEEKEND: Chicanes.

STAT OF THE WEEKEND: Here's a completely, totally useless stat. The first yellow flag period (the aborted start) lasted one lap, the second two laps, the third three laps, the fourth four laps, and the fifth five laps. Yeah, okay, we're desperate.

HISTORICAL STAT OF THE WEEKEND: Yeah, we know it's been said numerous times throughout the weekend, but we still find it amazing that this race has been held for 14 years, and there has never been a repeat winner. One would think that the options for this to continue would simply run out, mathematically.

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: Derek Daly on being amazed with Alex Tagliani's speed after losing major downforce when his side bodywork blew off said after Alex tagged the wall, "He'll be just as quick on three wheels."

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: Oriol Servia on his new shave head look, "Think of how much money teams spend to trim a pound of weight from their car ... and it's weight that was up high."

SCHEDULE: From one mega-attended event to another. A nice way to close out a season that nearly wasn't.

Copyright © 2004 by Deep Throttle. All Rights Reserved.


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RACE RESULTS
  Driver Laps
1. Junqueira 57
2. Bourdais 57
3. Dominguez 57
4. Tracy 57
5. Hunter-Reay 57
6. Allmendinger(R) 57
7. Besnard(R) 57
8. Wilson(R) 57
9. Smith(R) 57
10. Philippe(R) 57
11. Gonzalez(R) 57
12. Vasser 57
13. Servia 57
14. Haberfeld 56
15. Lavin 54
16. Carpentier 52
17. Jourdain 31
18. Janis(R) 28
18. Tagliani 19

Time of Race
1:46:45.941

Winner's Speed
89.532 mph

Margin of Victory
1.199 sec.

Caution Flags
5 for 15 laps

Lead Changes
3 among 4 drivers

Lap Leaders
Paul Tracy, A.J. Allmendinger, Patrick Carpentier, Bruno Junqueira

Fastest Race Lap
Bruno Junqueira

Most Positions Improved
David Besnard

Friday Pole
Sebastien Bourdais

Saturday Pole
Paul Tracy

CURRENT STANDINGS
  Driver Pts.
1. Bourdais 335
2. Junqueira 313
3. Carpentier 247
4. Tracy 243
5. Dominguez 228
6. Tagliani 208
7. Allmendinger(R) 204
8. Hunter-Reay 197
9. Servia 182
10. Vasser 180
11. Jourdain 172
12. Wilson(R) 165
13. Haberfeld 151
14. Lavin 148
15. Gonzalez(R) 127
16. Philippe(R) 84
17. Mazzacane(R) 73
18. Smith(R) 49
19. Sperafico(R) 47
20. Besnard(R) 18
21. Gidley 15
22. Marques 6
23. Janis(R) 3
 
 
2008 Thoughts
Long Beach

2007 Thoughts
Preseason Las Vegas Long Beach Houston
Portland Cleveland Mont Tremblant Toronto
Edmonton San Jose Road America Belgium
Holland Surfers Paradise Mexico City Postseason

2006 Thoughts
Preseason Long Beach Houston Monterrey
Milwaukee Portland Cleveland Toronto
Edmonton San Jose Denver Montreal
Road America Surfer's Paradise Mexico City Postseason

2005 Thoughts
Preseason Long Beach Monterrey Milwaukee
Portland Cleveland Toronto Edmonton
San Jose Denver Montreal Las Vegas
Surfer's Paradise Mexico City Postseason

2004 Thoughts
Preseason Long Beach Monterrey Milwaukee
Portland Cleveland Toronto Vancouver
Road America Denver Montreal Laguna Seca
Las Vegas Surfer's Paradise Mexico City Postseason

2003 Thoughts
Preseason St. Petersburg Monterrey Long Beach
Brands Hatch Germany Milwaukee Laguna Seca
Portland Cleveland Toronto Vancouver
Road America Mid-Ohio Montreal Denver
Miami Mexico City Surfer's Paradise Postseason

2002 Thoughts
Preseason Monterrey Long Beach Japan
Milwaukee Laguna Seca Portland Chicago
Toronto Cleveland Vancouver Mid-Ohio
Road America Montreal Denver
England Miami Surfer's Paradise
Fontana Mexico City Postseason

2001 Thoughts
Preseason Mexico Long Beach Nazareth
Japan Milwaukee Detroit Portland
Cleveland Toronto Michigan Chicago
Mid-Ohio Road America Vancouver German
England Houston Laguna Seca
Surfer's Paradise Fontana Postseason

2000 Thoughts
Preseason Miami Long Beach Brazil
Japan Nazareth Milwaukee Detroit
Portland Cleveland Toronto Michigan
Chicago Mid-Ohio Road America Vancouver
Laguna Seca Gateway USGP Houston
Surfer's Paradise Fontana Postseason

1999 Thoughts
Preseason Miami Japan Long Beach
Nazareth Brazil Gateway Milwaukee
Portland Cleveland Road America Toronto
U.S. 500 Detroit Mid-Ohio Chicago
Vancouver Laguna Seca Houston
Surfer's Paradise Fontana Postseason

1998 Thoughts
Preseason Miami Japan Long Beach
Nazareth Brazil Gateway Milwaukee
Detroit Portland Cleveland Toronto
U.S. 500 Mid-Ohio Road America Vancouver
Laguna Seca Houston Surfer's Paradise Fontana

1997 Thoughts
Miami Surfer's Paradise Long Beach Nazareth
Brazil Gateway Milwaukee Detroit
Portland Cleveland Toronto
U.S. 500 Mid-Ohio Road America
Vancouver Laguna Seca Fontana
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