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2006 Long Beach Thoughts

RACE: The thriller on lap one ensured a non-thriller on laps 2-74.

TRACK: We didn't get a chance to see the effects of widening the first turn. Well, not the effect we were looking for.

START: They are supposed to better than the Atlantics. Perhaps, they should have watched that race for pointers.

FORSYTHE: Are we sure the drivers got into the right cars?

ROOKIES: They ran in a nice neat row from seventh to twelfth place for the latter part of the race, and they didn't do significantly worse than the veterans.

BOURDAIS: About that prediction that Sebastien can't possibly combine skill and luck at the level he has for a third straight year... Best wishes to you and Claire on your upcoming wedding in May.

WILSON: Fast, but still no match for the Flying Frenchman.

RuSPORT: They set the bar very high for themselves. Apparently, it needs to be set even higher.

TAGLIANI: An unexpected podium finish for a driver they didn't bother to announce until this week.

DOMINGUEZ: Whether the spark or not, Mario triggers the pileup, and then he goes on to finish fourth. Talk about having the racing gods on your side.

DA MATTA: Cristiano showed us something this race. Despite his hugely disappointing 2005 season, he may be a lot of fun to watch on this underdog team.

RANGER: Nice drive up the field.

HEYLEN: Well, Jan did lead some (bogus) laps...

LEGGE: Let's not get all gaga over Katherine's eighth place finish, the best for a woman in Champ Cars. Let's face it, if there was only normal attrition instead of the first lap elimination-fest, she never would have finished in the top ten. She qualified on the last row, spun three times during the weekend including once in the race, and her fastest race lap was near the back of those who ran the majority of the race. If she was a male rookie, nobody would be saying anything. And, we believe that's the way she would rather have it until she proves herself.

POWER: He ran up front for a good part of the day, but a better finish was ruined by that evil turn one tire barrier. Will will definitely make us forget about Marshall Marcus or Marcus Marshall or ... which one is it, Derek Daly?

PIZZONIA: He impressed many people by moving over for the leaders and pretty much stayed out of trouble. However, that's not the sort of impression an F3000 winner and former F1 driver is supposed to make.

CLARKE: We can't decide if Dan is going to be our whipping boy for 2006 or a surprise sensation (he had the third fastest race lap).

ZWOLSMAN: Like fellow 2005 Atlantic graduate Legge, nothing to shout home about.

PHILIPPE: A broken gearbox brought his day to a swift end.

VASSER: Out with mechanical problems. This is not the way to leave Long Beach, Jimmy.

JUNQUEIRA: He picked up where he left off last year -- in both speed and luck.

ALLMENDINGER: A completely innocent bystander. On to Houston, A.J.

SERVIA: A completely innocent bystander. On to Houston, Oriol.

TRACY: Victim of his own teammate who Tracy'ed Paul.

ATLANTICS: A crisp professional race won by polesitter Andreas Wirth of Germany. Standout performances by James Hinchcliffe and Graham Rahal. According to most of the drivers, there are at least ten guys capable of winning this year. It's going to be an awesome season for Atlantics.

WORD OF THE WEEKEND: Domination.

STAT OF THE WEEKEND: Sebastien Bourdais was running faster laps -- mid 1:08s -- than anybody else even when he was conserving fuel.

HISTORICAL STAT OF THE WEEKEND: There were many real road courses in the early days of Champ Car racing in Southern California. One was nearly an identical length to the current 1.968-mile Long Beach circuit. In 1915, a 1.906-mile circuit was used in Glendale. Eddie O'Donnell won the 53-lap race at an average speed of 47.68 mph.

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: We debated whether to use this one or not. However, stooping this low has never been a problem with Deep Throttle, so why worry about it now. When the in-car camera showed Katherine Legge breathing hard after she spun, Derek Daly, obviously not realizing the full connotation of his words, enthusiastically shouted out, "Look at her chest! Look at her chest!"

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: Oriol Servia on being the newest teammate to Jimmy Vasser, "Before I was friends with Jimmy, I wanted to be his teammate. I mean we all saw what happened when those wankers Zanardi and Montoya drove on the same team with him..."

SCHEDULE: Back to Houston and the uniqueness of a night street race.

Copyright © 2006 by Deep Throttle. All Rights Reserved.



Courtesy of the Champ Car World Series

RACE RESULTS
  Driver Laps
1. Bourdais 74
2. Wilson 74
3. Tagliani 74
4. Dominguez 74
5. da Matta 74
6. Ranger 74
7. Heylen(R) 74
8. Legge(R) 74
9. Power(R) 73
10. Pizzonia(R) 73
11. Clarke(R) 72
12. Zwolsman(R) 67
13. Philippe 46
14. Vasser 24
15. Junqueira 1
16. Allmendinger 0
17. Tracy 0
18. Servia 0

Time of Race
1:40:07.670

Winner's Speed
87.268 mph

Margin of Victory
14.096 sec.

Caution Flags
5 for 18 laps

Lead Changes
2 among 2 drivers

Lap Leaders
Sebastien Bourdais, Jan Heylen

Fastest Race Lap
Sebastien Bourdais

Most Positions Improved
Andrew Ranger

Friday Pole
Sebastien Bourdais

Saturday Pole
Sebastien Bourdais

CURRENT STANDINGS
  Driver Pts.
1. Bourdais 35
2. Wilson 27
3. Tagliani 25
4. Dominguez 23
5. da Matta 21
6. Ranger 20
7. Heylen(R) 18
8. Legge(R) 15
9. Power(R) 13
10. Pizzonia(R) 11
11. Clarke(R) 10
12. Zwolsman(R) 9
13. Philippe 8
14. Vasser 7
15. Junqueira 6
16. Allmendinger 5
17. Tracy 4
18. Servia 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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