2007 Rexall Grand Prix of Edmonton

The 2007 Rexall Grand Prix of Edmonton was the eighth round of the 2007 Champ Car World Series Season, and was held on July 22, 2007 at Rexall Speedway in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The race was won by Sébastien Bourdais followed by Justin Wilson and Graham Rahal.

2007 Rexall Grand Prix of Edmonton
Race details
Race 8 of 14 in the 2007 Champ Car season
DateJuly 22, 2007
Official nameRexall Grand Prix of Edmonton
LocationRexall Speedway, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
CourseTemporary Airport Course
1.973 mi / 3.175 km
Distance96 laps
189.408 mi / 304.800 km
WeatherMostly cloudy with temperatures reaching up to 27.5 °C (81.5 °F)[1]
Pole position
DriverWill Power ( Team Australia)
Time58.403
Fastest lap
DriverSébastien Bourdais ( N/H/L Racing)
Time58.653 (on lap 93 of 96)
Podium
FirstSébastien Bourdais ( N/H/L Racing)
SecondJustin Wilson ( RSPORTS)
ThirdGraham Rahal ( N/H/L Racing)

Qualifying results
Pos Nat Name Team Qual 1 Qual 2 Best
1 Will Power Team Australia 59.155 58.403 58.403
2 Sébastien Bourdais N/H/L Racing 58.709 58.596 58.596
3 Justin Wilson RSPORTS 59.174 58.410 58.410
4 Graham Rahal N/H/L Racing 59.112 58.485 58.485
5 Neel Jani (R) PKV Racing 59.465 58.762 58.762
6 Bruno Junqueira Dale Coyne Racing 59.127 58.846 58.846
7 Simon Pagenaud (R) Team Australia 58.974 58.868 58.868
8 Ryan Dalziel Pacific Coast Motorsports 1:01.055 59.256 59.256
9 Alex Tagliani RSPORTS 59.483 59.549 59.483
10 Dan Clarke Minardi Team USA no time 59.503 59.503
11 Robert Doornbos (R) Minardi Team USA 59.941 59.553 59.553
12 Jan Heylen Conquest Racing 1:00.470 59.561 59.561
13 Oriol Servia Forsythe Racing 59.582 59.695 59.582
14 Paul Tracy Forsythe Racing 1:01.840 1:00.107 1:00.107
15 Katherine Legge Dale Coyne Racing 1:00.222 1:00.850 1:00.222
16 Alex Figge (R) Pacific Coast Motorsports 1:00.937 1:01.996 1:00.937

Will Power won his fourth career pole position by nipping Justin Wilson by .007 of a second. Power knocked the front wing off his car while going off course during his final lap, but Wilson was unable to better Power's earlier best lap. Sébastien Bourdais was only fourth fastest on Saturday but his top time from Friday secured him a front row beside his championship rival Power. Tristan Gommendy will not take part in the race after suffering a back injury when he contacted the wall in Friday's qualification session. He was replaced by Mario Dominguez, who is searching for a full-time ride in the series and was in Edmonton driving the Minardi two-seater.

Race
PosNoDriverTeamLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
1 1 Sébastien Bourdais N/H/L Racing 96 1:45:41.953 2 33
2 9 Justin Wilson RSPORTS 96 +3.9 secs 3 27
3 2 Graham Rahal N/H/L Racing 96 +6.6 secs 4 25
4 15 Simon Pagenaud (R) Team Australia 96 +24.8 secs 7 23
5 3 Paul Tracy Forsythe Racing 96 +28.1 secs 14 22
6 7 Oriol Servia Forsythe Racing 96 +30.0 secs 13 19
7 19 Bruno Junqueira Dale Coyne Racing 96 +30.7 secs 6 17
8 4 Dan Clarke Minardi Team USA 96 +35.3 secs 10 15
9 21 Neel Jani (R) PKV Racing 96 +37.8 secs 5 13
10 34 Jan Heylen Conquest Racing 96 +58.7 secs 12 11
11 14 Robert Doornbos (R) Minardi Team USA 95 + 1 Lap 11 10
12 28 Ryan Dalziel Pacific Coast Motorsports 95 + 1 Lap 8 9
13 29 Alex Figge (R) Pacific Coast Motorsports 95 + 1 Lap 16 8
14 8 Alex Tagliani RSPORTS 69 Contact 9 7
15 5 Will Power Team Australia 69 Mechanical 1 7
16 11 Katherine Legge Dale Coyne Racing 36 Mechanical 15 5
17 22 Mario Dominguez PKV Racing 32 Mechanical 17 4

Going into the race Sebastien Bourdais found himself in an unusual position: third place in the season points standings behind Robert Doornbos and Will Power. Starting from second on the grid next to Power, Bourdais swept around the pole-sitter on the outside through Edmonton's wide first turn. Bourdais led the race until his first pit stop on lap 21. Bourdais was forced to wait critical seconds for Katherine Legge to enter her pit stall and lost two positions.

Power now led the race in front of Justin Wilson and Bourdais. He led until his second pit stop on lap 49. Wilson stayed out an extra lap, coming in on lap 50, but Bourdais stayed out until lap 52, which proved to be the critical strategic move of the race. Bourdais came out in the lead after his stop. Bourdais now led in front of Wilson and Graham Rahal, with Power back in fourth place.

Disaster hit Power on lap 66 when the steering rack on his Panoz broke. Meanwhile, Robert Doornbos', who spent the early stages of the race stuck deep in the field unable to improve much on his 11th place grid position, tangled with the lapped car of Alex Tagliani on lap 69. Tagliani was knocked out of the race, while Doornbos was able to continue, but a lap down.

Bourdais cruised to his fourth victory of the year, followed by Justin Wilson and teammate Graham Rahal. Even more impressive was the turnaround in the season points championship. At the end of the race Bourdais led Doornbos by 20 and Will Power by 25 in his drive for an unprecedented fourth consecutive Champ Car title.

Caution flags
LapsCause
19-21Debris on track
69-73Doornbos (14)/Tagliani (8) crash

Notes
LapsLeader
1-20Sébastien Bourdais
21-48Will Power
49Justin Wilson
50-96Sébastien Bourdais
  
DriverLaps led
Sébastien Bourdais67
Will Power28
Justin Wilson1

Championship standings after the race
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