The latest Champ Car World Series campaign gets off to a glittering start this weekend, with an array of all-new Panoz DP01 chassis taking to an equally virgin new circuit in the heart of downtown Las Vegas.
Fremont Street has witnessed a variety of firsts in the town's infamous history - including being the first street to be paved and the first to see a traffic light hung - but this weekend's activities will expand that list as Sebastien Bourdais begins the quest for an unprecedented fourth straight Champ Car title.
The Frenchman and his Newman/Haas - now Newman/Haas/Lanigan - team should that its advantage has been pegged back by the introduction of the DP01, which all teams have been putting through a rigorous development programme ahead of its debut this weekend. During the pre-season build-up, the new car took in seven days of testing, in both dry and wet conditions, at Sebring, MSR Houston and Laguna Seca, and completed over 6000 laps - or more than 13,000 miles - in the hands of this year's competitors. Although there were teething troubles, all are hoping that this weekend's debut passes off without a hitch.
The Vegas Grand Prix will mark the return of the Champ Car World Series to 'Sin City', as the series makes its first appearance in Nevada since leaving Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2005. On paper, a new event and a new chassis would appear to put the field on even footing, with no driver or team having the advantage of past data to pull from when setting up their cars, but a new course may be just what the defending champion needs to get his historic title hunt off on the right foot.
At each of the five inaugural events in the past four seasons, Bourdais has been the first to take the chequered flag, starting at Brands Hatch in 2003 and continued through LVMS in 2004, Edmonton and San Jose in 2005 and, last year, in Houston. A sixth straight victory on a new course is not beyond the realms of possibility given the Frenchman's testing form, and would be just what Bourdais needs to take the advantage in pursuit of that historical fourth title.
“Obviously, Las Vegas has been very good to the McDonald's crew, as we have two wins in two races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway," Bourdais reflected, "It was a heck of a show there, but I think that bringing the show to the city is going to make a huge difference - and probably be more appealing to the Champ Car fans. A street course should be better for them than a 1.5-mile oval where its pretty much flat out all around - very much IRL type racing.
"The new venue at Las Vegas is supposed to be really good. The promoter had a lot of support from the community and the layout seems to be pretty cool. They started to build new grandstands because they were sold out, so I expect that a very successful race. As far as we're concerned, we've got a few things to get figured out before then but, hopefully, we are ready.”
Bourdais may be strong at new events, but there are a few other veterans in the field that will pose a threat to his recent record. Returning to Forsythe Championship Racing for a fifth season, 2003 champion Paul Tracy is looking to bounce back from a tough 2006 campaign, which saw him fail to win either a race or a pole for the first time in five years.
“It's great being able to start out the season on a track that's only a few minutes from my house," the Vegas-domiciled Canadian smiled, "It's been a long off-season, with many changes, but I've been working very hard and so has the Forsythe team. Even though we had some problems during testing, we've shown that we have the speed and we are going to go out there and try to win the season-opener and start out on the right track for the championship.
