Justin Wilson won his second career Champ Car World Series race in convincing fashion on Sunday at the 2.786-mile Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez road course in Mexico City, winning the 2005 Gran Premio Telmex/Tecate presented by Banamex season finale in fine style.
Wilson led 65 of 70 laps from pole position, turned the fastest tour of the contest and crossed the finish line with 3.936 seconds to spare over his RuSPORT teammate A.J. Allmendinger.
The British born driver in turn secured third place in the championship, racking up a total of 265 points after soaking up race long pressure from his teammate.
“It feels great,” he exulted. “We [he and Allmendinger] kind of evolved with each other and were able to work together all weekend.”
Second-placed Allmendinger, like squadmate Wilson a sophomore in the Champ Car World Series took fifth in the title chase with his fifth podium of the season, 19 points behind 2003 champ Paul Tracy who finished third on Sunday after an up and down day that included contact, a puncture and a black flag for blocking.
“Justin gave us a real boost when he got pole (after Allmendinger owned it provisionally),” said Allmendinger. “We had a lot of data to look at and he had a fantastic Lola car. Today we went with his set-up to take second. “We made each other better.”
Despite leading more laps than any driver this season, Tracy took fourth in the title race, cutting and slicing his way through the field after an early puncture and mid-race drive-through penalty for blocking Allmendinger. The Canadian “was able to make positions back so it was a good result” for his Forsythe Championship Racing team.
Oriol Servia overcame fuel pressure problems to earn fourth with his #2 Newman-Haas Racing PacifiCare Lola and secure second place in the championship behind teammate Sebastien Bourdais. The new champ suffered from electrical maladies early and retired after contact with Cristiano da Matta within ten laps of the chequered flag.
2005 Roshfrans Rookie of the Year Timo Glock finished fifth acknowledging, “We had a very good Lola car today, great pit stops and great strategy.” The German finished eighth in the championship chase.
