Remaining third as the race entered its closing stages, a technical infringement in practice which had cut his Power-to-Pass boost by 22 seconds would ultimately cost the teenager dear, as a late on-track incident brought out the yellow flags once more, and all of a sudden the driver of the #2 car was under pressure. Despite Rahal doing his best to keep his cool, Servia took advantage of his rival's lack of any remaining boosts to sneak past and steal the final rostrum placing with just three laps to go.
“We came here for the win really,” Rahal acknowledged afterwards, “but it's great for Sébastien (Bourdais) to take that in his final race in Champ Cars – he deserves his four titles and I hope he continues with his winning performances in
Formula 1 next year.
“As we couldn't take the win at least we had the performance to clinch fifth in the championship and second in the rookie race and that was our other goal, so I'm pleased with these achievements. It's a shame we didn't have enough Power-to-Pass for a podium spot, but the car was just a little too nervous to push more and the others had more boost left, so I think we have to be content with fourth.”
In the lead-up to the weekend, Rahal was announced as one of four nominees for the
Greg Moore Legacy Award. The accolade is presented to the driver deemed to most typify the late Canadian's distinctive combination of on-track talent and dynamic personality. Fans can vote for Graham at www.champcarworldseries.com
