2008 Champ Car Grand Prix of Toronto Race

The 2008 Champ Car Grand Prix of Toronto was another Paul Tracy schooling. Taking off from the pole, he dominated, leading every lap to win by 17 seconds over Will Power, who ran second all race after starting 3rd.

Other stories from within the race where Franck Montagny, who after starting second, struggled with front end grip falling to 9th be the first pit stop, but they adjusted the wing and he scored his 7th podium of the season. The race saw a great performance by Alex Tagliani, who starting 5th, set the races fastest lap and finished 4th.

Rounding out the top 5 was Frenchman Nelson Philippe, who had a spin in the first corner. He fought from the back and had a few taps of the wall on the final corner.

The race saw it’s only caution only 37 minutes into the race, after an engine failure of Tomas Scheckter on the front straight, EJ Viso ran right into the back of Scheckter sending Viso into the car.

The race also saw only 20 cars take the grid, after the Conquest Racing car of Enrique Bernoldi was withdrawn following the teams decision to shut down the car until they can find sponsorships for the team. This is the second time this season a car has been withdrawn from the weekend competition, with Antonio Pizzonia’s Rocketsport car being withdrawn at Mont-Tremblant.

Official Results:

1. Tracy -- (94 laps) (94 led)
2. Power -- (-16.79s)
3. Montagny -- (-18.01s)
4. Tagliani -- (-20.12s)
5. Philippe -- (-21.24s)
6. Jani -- (-21.42s)
7. Doornbos -- (-22.12s)
8. Wilson -- (-23.92s)
9. Rahal -- (-31.23s)
10. Clarke -- (-39.02s)
11. Perera -- (-39.19s)
12. Servia -- (-51.03s)
13. Pagenaud -- (-1 lap)
14. Junquiera -- (-1lap)
15. Dalziel -- (-1 lap)
16. Martinez -- (-1 lap)
17. Matos -- (-4 laps)
18. Scheckter -- (Ret. Engine Failure Lap 38)
19. Viso -- (Ret. Accident Lap 38)
20. Dominguez -- (Ret. Accident Lap 3)

Fast Lap: Alex Tagliani (Lap 56 - 59.23s)
Hard Charger: Simon Pagenaud (7 positions)

CCWS Points Standing
1. Franck Montagny ® -- Forsythe Petitt Racing -- 181 pts.
2. Paul Tracy -- Forsythe Petitt Racing -- 179 pts.
3. Alex Tagliani -- Team Australia Walker Racing -- 177 pts.
4. Robert Doornbos -- Team Minardi USA -- 174 pts.
5. Nelson Philippe -- Team Minardi USA -- 170 pts.
6. Will Power -- Team Australia USA -- 160 pts.
7. Justin Wilson -- Newman Haas Lanigan Racing -- 159 pts.
8. Graham Rahal -- Newman Haas Lanigan Racing -- 120 pts.
9. Oriol Servia -- PKV Racing -- 112 pts.
10. Bruno Junquiera -- Dale Coyne Racing -- 103 pts.
11. Franck Perera ® -- Forsythe Petitt Racing -- 81 pts.
12. Simon Pagenaud -- Conquest Racing -- 78 pts.
13. Raphael Matos ® -- PKV Racing -- 72 pts.
14. David Martinez ® -- Forsythe Petitt Racing -- 62 pts.
15. Enrique Bernoldi ® -- Conquest Racing -- 43 pts.
16. Mario Dominguez -- Pacific Coast Motorsports -- 42 pts.
17. EJ Viso ® -- Rocketsport -- 37 pts.
18. Dan Clarke -- Pacific Coast Motorsports -- 36 pts.
19. Antonio Pizzonia ® -- 33 pts.
20. Tomas Scheckter ® -- Dale Coyne Racing -- 32 pts.
21. Neel Jani -- Rocketsport -- 19 pts.
22. Alex Figge -- 18 pts
23. Jos Verstappen ® -- 9 pts.
24. Ryan Dalziel -- Carlin Motorsports -- 6 pts.
25. Giorgio Pantano -- Carlin Motorsports -- 5 pts.
26. Mario Moraes ® -- 2 pts.

Notes from Toronto. Carlin Motorsports will be the Red Bull backed team in Champ Car next year. Rumors this weekend that were heard is that David Coulthard might be done with F1, but could move to America for that ride. Also rumored in the two car team is Neel Jani, Sebastian Buemi, Bruno Junquiera, and American Jonathon Bomarito.

Also heard were that Atlantics star and winner in Mont-Tremblant, Junior Strous could be moving to Champ Car next year as well, with an unspecified team.

Champ Car will take a week off and will be in Edmonton the 20th of July. FTG