2007 Bavaria Champ Car Grand Prix

The 2007 Bavaria Champ Car Grand Prix was the twelfth round of the 2007 Champ Car World Series Season. It was held on September 2 at TT Circuit Assen in Assen, Netherlands. The race was won by Justin Wilson.

2007 Dutch Champ Car Grand Prix
Race details
Race 12 of 14 in the 2007 Champ Car season
TT Circuit Assen Layout
DateSeptember 2, 2007
Official nameBavaria Champ Car Grand Prix Presented by Audi, Gant, Hertz, Pioneer and Jumbo
LocationTT Circuit Assen, Assen, Netherlands
CoursePermanent Road Course
2.830 mi / 4.554 km
Distance69 laps
195.270 mi / 314.226 km
WeatherMostly Cloudy
Pole position
DriverSébastien Bourdais (N/H/L Racing)
Time1:18.765
Fastest lap
DriverDan Clarke (Minardi Team USA)
Time1:20.727 (on lap 66 of 69)
Podium
FirstJustin Wilson (RuSPORT)
SecondJan Heylen (Conquest Racing)
ThirdBruno Junqueira (Dale Coyne Racing)

Background

On January 16, 2007 the Champ Car World Series announced a multi-year agreement that briefly saw the return of Champ Cars to Europe for the first time since 2003 with inaugural races in the Netherlands and Belgium. These events added to the Champ Car calendar took place August 26 at the Zolder circuit in Belgium and September 2 at the TT Circuit in Assen, Netherlands. This marked the first time that Champ Car has raced in either of the two European nations.

Title sponsor

On July 12, 2007, at a press conference held in Lieshout, Netherlands, Bart Rietbergen of the Dutch Champ Car Grand Prix, Jos Vaessen, Chairman of TT Circuit Assen, and Peer Swinkels, chairman of the Bavaria Beer company, announced that Bavaria Brewery, the second largest brewer in the Netherlands, would be the title sponsor of the 2007 Grand Prix event. Officials also announced the signing of three associate sponsors of the event; those being Audi, Gant, and Hertz. Promotional events leading up to the Grand Prix included driver appearances and track performances of a Champ Car at the Bavaria City Racing held in Rotterdam and at the Rizla Racing Days weekend at the TT Circuit.

The official name of the event was the "Bavaria Champ Car Grand Prix Powered by Audi, Gant & Hertz."

Qualifying results
Pos Nat Name Team Qual 1 Qual 2 Best
1 Sébastien Bourdais N/H/L Racing 1:32.244 1:18.765 1:18.765
2 Justin Wilson RuSPORT 1:30.656 1:19.710 1:19.710
3 Tristan Gommendy PKV Racing 1:31.874 1:19.025 1:19.025
4 Neel Jani PKV Racing 1:33.043 1:19.302 1:19.302
5 Simon Pagenaud Team Australia 1:31.550 1:19.353 1:19.353
6 Graham Rahal N/H/L Racing 1:31.858 1:19.373 1:19.373
7 Jan Heylen Conquest Racing 1:33.769 1:19.412 1:19.412
8 Will Power Team Australia 1:32.473 1:19.415 1:19.415
9 Robert Doornbos Minardi Team USA 1:32.343 1:19.612 1:19.612
10 Dan Clarke Minardi Team USA 1:33.722 1:19.718 1:19.718
11 Bruno Junqueira Dale Coyne Racing 1:33.299 1:19.813 1:19.813
12 Alex Tagliani Rocketsports 1:32.607 1:19.934 1:19.934
13 Oriol Servià Forsythe Racing 1:31.900 1:20.033 1:20.033
14 Katherine Legge Dale Coyne Racing 1:36.110 1:20.548 1:20.548
15 Ryan Dalziel Pacific Coast Motorsports 1:34.136 1:20.744 1:20.744
16 Alex Figge Pacific Coast Motorsports 1:33.710 1:21.039 1:21.039
17 Paul Tracy Forsythe Racing 1:32.719 1:22.936 1:22.936

Sébastien Bourdais won his third consecutive pole position and came closer to clinching his fourth consecutive Champ Car title. Justin Wilson was fastest in the wet on Friday to secure the front row spot beside him. Dan Clarke was reinstated from his suspension by Champ Car race director Tony Cotman, meaning the usual 17 drivers would start the race on Sunday.

Race
PosNatNameTeamLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
1 Justin Wilson RuSPORT 69 1:46:02.236 2 32
2 Jan Heylen Conquest Racing 69 +7.227 7 27
3 Bruno Junqueira Dale Coyne Racing 69 +8.419 11 26
4 Tristan Gommendy PKV Racing 69 +9.037 3 23
5 Neel Jani PKV Racing 69 +22.262 4 21
6 Simon Pagenaud Team Australia 69 +22.698 5 19
7 Sébastien Bourdais N/H/L Racing 69 +22.955 1 18
8 Oriol Servià Forsythe Racing 69 +23.406 13 15
9 Graham Rahal N/H/L Racing 69 +23.949 6 13
10 Ryan Dalziel Pacific Coast Motorsports 69 +29.554 15 11
11 Dan Clarke Minardi Team USA 69 +38.903 10 11
12 Katherine Legge Dale Coyne Racing 69 +44.860 14 9
13 Robert Doornbos Minardi Team USA 69 +1:00.638 9 8
14 Will Power Team Australia 69 +1:01.204 8 7
15 Alex Tagliani Rocketsports 68 + 1 Lap 12 6
16 Alex Figge Pacific Coast Motorsports 68 + 1 Lap 16 5
17 Paul Tracy Forsythe Racing 14 Mechanical 17 4

Starting on the front row beside pole sitter Sébastien Bourdais, Justin Wilson drove into the lead in the first corner. Bourdais then began to lose multiple positions when a software bug in his car's ECU engaged the pit speed limiter when he pressed the power to pass button. He was able to save losing further positions when a spin by Paul Tracy brought out a full course yellow.

Wilson settled into the lead followed by PKV teammates Neel Jani and Tristan Gommendy, Graham Rahal and then Bourdais. Almost unnoticed, Bruno Junqueira pitted under green on lap 8. When a caution came out for debris on lap 14 and the rest of the field pitted for the first time Junqueira took the lead, which he held until he pitted on lap 26.

By this point in the race it was determined that other cars were suffering the same power to pass glitch as Bourdais and Champ Car sent out an edict that all drivers must refrain from using "the button" for the remainder of the race.

A second debris caution brought the field save Junquiera into the pits on lap 31 and once again Junquiera came out of the caution in the lead. After providing Dale Coyne Racing with its best ever finish with a second place the previous week at Zolder, it began to look as if Bruno would follow up with Coyne's first victory as he extended his lead over Wilson.

Junquiera pitted for the final time on lap 49. With a clean pit stop he should have cycled back to the lead when Wilson came in for his final stop on lap 51. However, when the stops were finished he found himself in third behind Wilson and Jan Heylen. It was later determined that on his final stop, his pit lane limiter did not properly activate, causing him to spend eight extra seconds on pit lane. This glitch likely cost him the victory.

As it was, Justin Wilson led the final 20 laps in front of Heylen and Junquiera to take the win. It was Justin's first race win since the 2006 Edmonton Grand Prix. Heylen's second place was his best ever Champ Car result and tied the best ever result for Conquest Racing.

Bourdais' race never really got going after the trouble at the start. He was forced to battle back through the entire field after stalling his car during his second pit stop and dropping back to 16th place. His seventh-place finish wasn't good enough to seal his fourth consecutive Champ Car championship, extending the fading hopes of his competitors for at least one more race.

Caution flags
LapsCause
1-3Tracy (3) spin/stall
14-16Debris
30-33Debris

Notes
LapsLeader
1-15Justin Wilson
16-28Bruno Junqueira
29-31Justin Wilson
32-48Bruno Junqueira
49-69Justin Wilson
  
DriverLaps led
Justin Wilson39
Bruno Junqueira30
  • New Race Record Justin Wilson : 1:46:02.236
  • Average Speed 110.491 mph

[1][2]

Championship standings after the race
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gollark: They're better than yaw/pitch/roll angles in some situations.
gollark: This reminds me of the Monty Hall problem somewhat.
gollark: Oh, so "real numbers except that", I see. The backslash was missing mysteriously.
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