About the Streets of Denver circuit Track Length: 1.657-mile temporary street course Race Distance: 97 laps/160.729 miles Number of Turns: Nine Number of Champ Car Races Hosted: Four Fastest Lap: 100.370 mph set by Paul Tracy in 2005 2005 Polesitter: Paul Tracy 2005 Podium: Sebastien Bourdais (winner), Mario Dominguez (2nd), A.J. Allmendinger (3rd) Championship Standings:Click here
What happened in 2005? Sebastien Bourdais showed that he was more than prepared when opportunity knocked Sunday in Denver, taking advantage of a rare Paul Tracy miscue to take victory in the Centrix Financial Grand Prix of Denver.
For a complete recap of last year’s event, click here
Noteworthy Seven different members of the 2006 driver lineup have earned podium finishes in Denver over the four-year event history. Only six of them will compete this weekend however, as Cristiano da Matta will miss the event after his accident at Elkhart Lake. Da Matta finished third in Denver during in his Champ Car title winning campaign of 2002
What they are Saying "I’m sure the McDonald’s team will be competitive again in Denver but are we going to be able to win for the third time there? I can’t be sure. It’s about as good as it gets in racing; you can always try but you’ll never be sure of the result. In line with what we’ve been doing so far on street courses we should be good but who knows, we might struggle during the weekend. We had a great streak of wins to start the season with; four out of four. Everyone was saying we were going to run the table but I said ‘If you say that you don’t know racing.’ Sure enough I was right. We’ve been very competitive, we won four races and finished on the podium three other times before we won again. We only had one DNF but that was really enough to bring the other drivers back in the (title) race so it’s all about finishing and making sure you don’t make any mistakes. You win when you can and finish on the podium when you can. If it’s a top-five, it’s a top-five and it’s still pretty good." --Sebastien Bourdais, driver of the No. 1 McDonald’s Ford-Cosworth/Lola for Newman/Haas Racing
"Denver has been my home for the last few years so it’s always really exciting to be able to race through the streets here. I know that the Forsythe Team is going to give me a great car and we really need to get our momentum back so we can close the gap to Sebastien." --A.J. Allmendinger, driver of the No. 7 Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Lola for Forsythe Championship Racing
"The whole team is really anxious to get to Denver this year. The team has a good car from previous years and I enjoy the circuit so it should be a good weekend for us. We had another good test at Road America last week and it has given the team even more confidence as we continue to look for another podium finish this season. With only a handful of races left this year, we need to concentrate on the points battle. Earning all the points we can get will be of paramount importance." --Nelson Philippe, driver of the No. 4 Ford-Cosworth/Lola for CTE Racing-HVM
"I’ve seen the Denver circuit up close before because I was a spectator there last year and really enjoyed the event, so I’m even more excited that I get to be a part of it this year. It was a lot of fun and the promoters put on a really good show. The track is very similar to San Jose, it’s a normal street course, you have to have good braking and good power down and there’s not very fast corners. There are two really good passing opportunities. I’m really excited to get to race on it this year and learning more after my first session." --Will Power, driver of the No. 5 Aussie Vineyards Ford-Cosworth/Lola for Team Australia
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