The
Mazda Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland presented by Joe's.
Heart pounding non-stop racing action! Excitement will reign
for the 24th time as the Champ Cars return to Portland International
Raceway's scenic 1.96 mile road course June 8-10, 2007.
Mark your calendar now and get ready to share the heart-pounding excitement that comes to the Pacific Northwest only once a year. There's so much to see and do throughout the event weekend you won't have a dull moment.
The stars of the show - the Champ Cars - are joined throughout the weekend by the Cooper Tires Presents the Champ Car Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda.
Take a break from the track action and walk through the infield paddock area for a close look at the men and machines that make up the Champ Car World Series. You can't get much closer than this unless you're a tire changing team member! The Cooper Tires Presents the Champ Car Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda teams are located in the south area paddock; their paddock is open to all spectators with just a general admission ticket.
Explore the midway activities and souvenir booths and sample a wide variety of food and beverages from the concession stands. Experience the many choice spectator vantage points by taking the "fan-tram" to other parts of the track.
Save the date! Three big days -- June 8-9-10, 2007 -- in Portland, Oregon!
- Plan your trip at TriMet.org
Visit Portland/Vancouver area
Chevron stations to enter
to win a pace car ride with
Mario Andretti
Sweepstake forms available at Chevron stations
Click on "Ride with Mario!" picture to enlarge and
see more information.
Mazda Champ Car Grand Prix
of Portland presented by Joe's
Community Event Calendar 2007
Thursday, June 7, 2007
MOTORSPORTS BREAKFAST
Time: 7:30 am - 9:00 am
Location:
Red Lion Inn, Jantzen Beach, Portland
Description: The seventeenth annual fund-raiser for Cascade Pacific Council, Boy Scouts of America will feature a breakfast and award ceremony. Past award recipients include Mario Andretti. Champ Car drivers will be in attendance. Tickets available, call 503-225-5748.
PIT STOP DEMONSTRATION & BLOCK PARTY
Time: 4:30pm - 9:00pm
Location: S.W. 6th & Oak
Description: A live demonstration of a Champ Car pit stop in the streets of downtown Portland, followed by and on-site party.
MEDIA DAY
Time: 12:00pm - 2:00pm
Location: Portland International Raceway - Chalet Village
Description: Media and invited guests only. Question and answer session and one on one interviews with Champ Car drivers
SEASON PATRON FORUM
Time: 6:00pm - 7:30pm
Location: Champions Club at Portland International Raceway
Description: This gathering is an annual get-together that welcomes back our season ticket holders. This invitation only event will feature food, and beverage. A current driver will be on hand for a Q&A session.
Friday, June 8, 2007
DRIFTING, STAR MAZDA AUTOGRAPH SESSIONS
Times: TBA
Location: Support Paddock, Portland Int. Raceway
Description: Come and get the autographs of your favorite Drifting, Star Mazda, and Mazda MX-5 Championship drivers.
FAN APPRECIATION ACTIVITY-ALL CHAMP CAR DRIVER AUTOGRAPH SESSION
Time: 4:00pm - 5:00 pm
Location: Portland International Raceway- Infield Chalet East of the bridge.
Description: Come over and get the autographs of your favorite Champ Car drivers. Admission to the paddock area is free after 4:00pm
PIAZZA ITALIA PARTY IN THE PEARL
Time: 6:00pm
Location: Piazza Italia, 1129 N.W. Johnson St.
Description:
This invitation only gathering will serve as our sponsor appreciation night. Come to the Pearl District and celebrate our 24 th Champ Car weekend. There will be great food, beverages and music.
GUARANTY RV FRIDAY NIGHT TEXAS HOLD 'EM POKER TOURNEY
Time: 6:00pm-8:45pm
Location: Motorhome Community, Portland International Raceway
Description: The Champ Car Grand Prix Motorhome patrons will be able to kick start their race weekend with a friendly competitive game of poker with their new neighbors in Champ Car Town!
Saturday, June 9, 2007
FAN FORUM
Time: 12:15pm- 1:00pm
Location: Behind Chalet Village
Description: Come get an autograph from your favorite drivers. Don't miss your chance to hang out and talk with the best drivers in the world. Drivers and Champ Car officials TBA .
ATLANTIC CHAMPIONSHIP AUTOGRAPH SESSION
Time: TBA
Location: Atlantic Paddock, Portland Int. Raceway
Description: Come and get an autographs of your favorite Atlantic Championship drivers.
MARIO ANDRETTI AUTOGRAPH SESSION
Time: 3:00pm - 3:30pm
Location:
Manufacturer's Midway, Portland Int. Raceway
Description:
Meet racing legend Mario Andretti, Champ Car and Formula One World Champion. Mario Andretti appears courtesy of Chevron.
GUARANTY RV BBQ COOK-OFF
Time: 7:30pm (judging)
Location: West End Motorhome community
Description: Don't miss your opportunity to display your best Bar-B-Q abilities. Have your favorite secret sauce recipe or your famous Bar-B-Q dish ready to be the talk of Champ Car Town!
GUARANTY RV LIVE MUSIC AT P.I.R.
Time: 6:30pm- 8:00pm
Location: West End Main Stage/Motorhome Area at Portland International Raceway
Description: Come join us for entertainment for the whole family with music and dancing.
FAST FACTS
WHAT: Mazda Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland Presented by Joe's Sports and Outdoors
WHERE: Portland , Oregon
WHEN: Friday-Sunday, June 8-10
SUPPORT EVENTS: Cooper Tires Presents The Champ Car Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda, Star Mazda Series, Mazda Mx-5 Cup and Formula Drift Championship Series.
CHAMP CAR SCHEDULE (All times local): FRIDAY, JUNE 8 - 8:45 - 9:30 a.m., Atlantic practice; 10:15 - 11:30 a.m., Champ Car practice; 12:35 - 1:10 p.m., Atlantic qualifying #1; 2:00 - 3:00 p.m., Champ Car qualifying. SATURDAY, JUNE 9 - 8:10 - 8:45 a.m., Atlantic practice; 10:15 - 11:30 a.m., Champ Car practice; 12:15 - 1:15 p.m., Atlantic race #1; 2:00 p.m., Champ Car qualifying; 4:30p.m. - 4:45 p.m. Atlantic Final Practice. SUNDAY, JUNE 10 - 10:00 - 10:30 a.m., Champ Car warmup; 11:00 a.m., Atlantic Race #2; 1:00 p.m. Champ Car Race.
2006 CHAMPION: A.J. Allmendinger
2006 POLESITTER: Bruno Junqueira
TRACK LAYOUT: 1.964 -Mile Permanent Road Course
RACE LENGTH: 1 hour, 45 minutes (1:45)
TRACK RECORDS: Qualifying (one lap) - 2005, Justin Wilson, 57.597 (122.756 mph). Race - 2006, A.J. Allmendinger, 1:45:32.853 (113.989 mph) based on 105 laps (206.220 miles)
RACE ROUND: 4 of 16 in the 2007 Champ Car World Series.
2007 CHAMP CAR WORLD SERIES POINTS LEADERS: 1-Sebastien Bourdais, 73; 2-Will Power, 70; 3- Robert Doornbos, 61; 4-Alex Tagliani, 57; 5-Bruno Junqueira, 53; 6-Oriol Servia, 51; 7-Graham Rahal, 46; 8-Justin Wilson, 41; 9-Tristan Gommendy, 39; 10-Simon Pagenaud, 38.
INSTANT REPLAY : A.J. Allmendinger led 100 of 105 laps in collecting his first Champ Car World Series victory in front of a race-day crowd of 44,065. The 24-year-old fought off a strong mid-race challenge from former teammate Justin Wilson (#9 CDW Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) to become the first U.S.-born driver to win a Champ Car race since Ryan Hunter-Reay won in Milwaukee in 2004. The race that was the second-fastest ever run at Portland , featured just one caution for a misaligned start, and saw every car running at the end of the race for the first time in Portland history. Wilson battled back from a seven-second deficit to pressure Allmendinger with 40 laps to go, but then had to focus on holding off series points leader Sebastien Bourdais (#1 McDonald's Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) before settling for second while two-time defending Champ Car titlist Bourdais rounded out the podium in third.
VITAL RACE STATISTICS
Time of Race: 1:48:32.853
Average Speed: 113.989 mph
Margin of Victory: 5.420 seconds
Caution Flags: One for 1 lap
Lap Leaders: Allmendinger, 100; Bourdais, 5.
Total Victories Total Pole Positions
Michael Andretti 3 Emerson Fittipaldi 3
Al Unser Jr 3 Danny Sullivan 3
Mario Andretti 2 Mario Andretti 1
Emerson Fittipaldi 2 Roberto Guerrero 1
Alex Zanardi 2 Teo Fabi 1
Gil de Ferran 2 Nigel Mansell 1
Cristiano da Matta 2 Al Unser Jr. 1
Danny Sullivan 1 Jacques Villeneuve 1
Mark Blundell 1 Alex Zanardi 1
Adrian Fernandez 1 Scott Pruett 1
Max Papis 1 Bryan Herta 1
Bobby Rahal 1 Juan Montoya 1
Sebastien Bourdais 1 Helio Castroneves 1
Alex Zanardi 1 Max Papis 1
Scott Pruett 1 Sebastien Bourdais 1
Bryan Herta 1 Cristiano da Matta 1
A.J. Allmendinger 1 Paul Tracy 1
Justin Wilson 1
Bruno Junqueira 1
PRE-RACE DRIVER QUOTES
Sebastien Bourdais #1 McDonalds Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone - "We missed a chance to win five in a row last year in Portland for the McDonald's team. The start was really messed up last year. Basically Bruno, my teammate, thought he was in command and he should have been but the flagman just threw the green flag and the whole right side of the grid never went. It was a disaster and we ended up seventh after Turn 1. It was basically tough from there but we still had a good recovery and made it back to third. We have a very fast McDonald's car but a little better luck would have helped at the start. We tested well at Portland and hope to apply that experience to the race weekend and others after it. Testing is just that; you can't say if it's going to work for sure. I think it is going to be nice to race on the road courses. It's a different stretch during the season. We've had three back to back on the streets and after the Portland road course race it gets pretty crazy again but we'll get back in the groove after the six week break. The Portland track is a fun track. After a full day of testing, it feels good to stop because it's pretty demanding but it's a lot of fun. I like the track. Turn 1 is legendary for first turn incidents and we've been lucky so far so hopefully it will continue to be the case this year. "
Will Power #5 Aussie Vineyards Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone - "Well it's finally time to get back to racing. We're going back to the first track I've ever tested on in the U.S. and in Champ Car, so I always look forward and enjoy going back to Portland . It's been a nice break, we got some good testing in and now we are ready for the road course. Our goal for this race is to qualify up front and I believe we will be up there. I'm really looking forward to getting the new Aussie Vineyards DP01 out on the Portland circuit, it's a lot of fun to drive on a road course and it's good on the fast corners, it will be great around Portland and a good show for the spectators."
Robert Doornbos #14 Minardi Team USACosworth/DP01/Bridgestone - "I look forward to the race in Portland for several reasons because for the last couple of weeks I've been just watching too many races and I'm getting very hungry to go back behind the wheel! Also because we had a positive test last week (at Mont-Tremblant) where we improved the balance of our car and this is motivating. During our test in Portland we were unlucky with the weather and therefore I didn't get a complete picture of the circuit and the city but I'm sure when we arrive in town that will change."
Alex Tagliani #8 LXN2 Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone - "I am very excited to get back to racing. The RSPORTS team has really gelled together between the first three races and the tests we ran in May. We were able to learn lots on the car, so now we are ready to get back into racing mode. There is a big difference from when you go testing and when you go racing. When you are testing, the team is really working hard to follow the learning curve process, but when you go racing, we are just focusing on finding speed and going all out. I am feeling confident because we made some great progress during our test at Mont-Tremblant which will be applicable to the race in Portland . Portland International Raceway is a challenging and unique track for the drivers, so it will be rewarding to have a good finish here. We are sitting fourth in the championship standings right now, so that is not bad, but our goal is to get into the top three and fight to win the championship. I think that we have a shot, fair and square; we just have to be perfect on everything. We are getting there and we hope that Portland will be the start to a summer full of great results."
Oriol Servia #7 Indeck Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone - "It's another good opportunity for me, I want to thank Jerry Forsythe and the Forsythe Team for putting their trust in me and letting me get back behind the wheel of one of their cars. I'm also very glad that Paul ( Tracy ) is fully recovered; I hope that together we can give Sebastien (Bourdais) a good fight for the Victory at Portland . These last few weeks for me have been no different for me than any other year, I'm preparing mentally and physically as I always do, always ready to go out there and fight for the Championship."
Graham Rahal #2 Medi | Zone Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone - "I ran and won here in Portland in 2005 in Star Mazda. It was a great race and this track has always been one of my favorites. Portland was also a great event for me last year. We were on pole in the Atlantic series and we ran the five fastest laps in qualifying so we had the field covered. Unfortunately as the race started my main competition, Simon Pagenaud, and I got together in the first corner and it took me out of the race. I think he continued but that was it for me so it was disappointing but I've always had a lot of success in Portland . My first ever national go karting victory came in Portland and my first ever Star Mazda victory, which was my first ever victory in cars, came in Portland . And then I was on pole in Portland last year so I hope the momentum will continue. Basically, all of my firsts that have ever happened in racing have come in Portland . I expect more out of myself here because I'm comfortable on the track. I really like this track. For us it was a great experience to test at Portland before the race to see how physical the place is in a Champ Car since I had never been there in a Champ Car. Although a lot of teams tested there I think it will give us a leg up once we come back for race weekend since we'll have a baseline for the car setup. Any time I can get in the car is good for me at this point. I had school for the six weeks we weren't racing and that was the biggest thing. We tested in Portland and Mont Tremblant during the break and I also did a media day in Edmonton in between it all but I had to graduate so I had to concentrate on that."
Justin Wilson #9 CDW Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone - "It is going to be good to get back to racing again, so I am looking forward to this next race in Portland . I am also looking forward to racing on a road course, after the first three races this season were on street courses. I enjoy the Portland venue, it has been a track that I have been quick at in the past, so I hope that I can continue to be strong there and get a win in the #9 CDW/RSPORTS car. It has been beneficial to have this break since our last race in Houston , as we have had the chance to get in some very valuable testing time to continue our learning process on the new Champ Car DP01. Overall, I have a positive feeling going into this race. I feel that we have made some good progress and I think that we are in a good position to achieve better results in the upcoming races."
Tristan Gommendy "The Pay By Touch MegaSpirea PKV Racing team tested twice in May, so I got some valuable time in the car which I really needed. I hadn't raced for about six month prior to signing with PKV Racing and I had very little testing time during the preseason, so the most important thing for me was to get as much track time as possible, work with the car and the team. I think Portland will be a good circuit for us. I am not used to the street circuits, which we ran on for the first three races. The street circuits are bumpy and having raced my entire career in Europe that was new for me. The Portland permanent road course is the type of track I am more familiar with, which should make a big difference."
Simon Pagenaud #15 Aussie Vineyards Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone - "We had a good batch of tests during our long break, so I feel very confident with the changes we have made and with getting back in the car. Portland is such a nice track and event and I'm so happy to get back to a road course. It's a good change of pace and at Portland we can use the car 100 percent. Our Aussie Vineyards car is great on the road course and the flowing, fast corners of the circuit will make it even more enjoyable to drive. I can't wait to get back to racing and to show everyone what we've got in Portland ."
Neel Jani "I am looking forward to getting back to racing after the long break. The Red Bull Gulfstream PKV Racing team made good progress with our setups during the first three races of the season, especially at Houston . We also had a good test in Portland early in May (Jani was fourth overall). We didn't get everything done we wanted to at the Portland test because of the rain, but the data we collected will definitely help. I am also looking forward to going to Portland because it is a type of track (permanent road course) that I am much more familiar with and during preseason testing the PKV Racing team had a good car on the permanent circuits, like Sebring."
Paul Tracy #3 INDECK Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone - "It feels good to be back in shape and ready to drive. It's been very frustrating, we started the year with a strong result in Vegas and we knew we were starting to build momentum but this injury completely interrupted our plans for the Championship. It's going to be tough obviously coming from behind in the points but all we can do is go out there, win races, collect as many points as we can and see what happens. The Forsythe Team has been working very hard on the development of the DP01 and we've proven that we can be up there fighting for the top spots, now we'll just have to pick up where we left off and start building our momentum again."
"Speedy" Dan Clarke #4 Minardi Team USA Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone - "It's good to finally get back to racing after the long break. I'm looking forward to Portland ; we've done our homework, and after the two tests, I feel confident that we will have a good showing. It will be nice to be on a permanent road course after the three consecutive street races, and I really enjoy the circuit at Portland . We had a strong race there last year, and I would like to improve on that result. As a team, I think we are as prepared as anyone, and I want to thank my entire crew for their hard work this past month."
Jan Heylen #34 Grand Prix of Belgium Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone - ""I have been working hard to get back into Champ Car, and I am very excited to be racing for a team like Conquest. The team gave me my first test in Champ Car and now I am looking forward to racing with them. It has been quite frustrating to be watching the first few races of the year from the pits, but now I have a good opportunity to compete with Conquest. I'm well aware that it will be difficult in Portland to just have one day of experience in the car before the weekend starts, but we will make the best of it. We will be testing after the Portland race weekend and I am confident we will catch up as quickly as we can."
