The garish yellow-and-green hued Team Australia DP01 was fastest out of the blocks, with Will Power taking a maiden win on the streets of Vegas, but the event proved to be something a false dawn as well as a new one.
Second on the streets was Robert Doornbos, and the Dutch rookie – running with Paul Stoddart's Minardi outfit – would prove to be the other man in contention with Bourdais at half-time, but neither he nor Power would go the distance as the Frenchman stretched his legs – and his lead - over the second half.
Power added a second win on the stroke of half-time with an accomplished performance on the rain-soaked streets of Toronto, but had been up-and-down in the intervening events and then fell away over the remaining seven rounds to end the season down in fourth overall.
Truth be told, there was little Power could do to prevent many of his poorer results, as he seemed to attract a lot of the mechanical misfortune on offer, costing him potential top three finishes in Cleveland and Edmonton amongst others, while human errors accounted for Houston and Surfers Paradise.
That allowed Doornbos to enhance his reputation as he took the battle to Bourdais on circuits he was unfamiliar with – and off them too. Although he ultimately had to give best to the French ace, four podium finishes in the opening five races – spoilt only by 13th in Long Beach – led to a first victory on one of the more challenging courses of the season.
Mont-Tremblant proved to be one of the more contentious outings of the season, with Bourdais clearly unhappy that his rival had been allowed, as he saw it, to get away with
F1 tactics in defence of his lead, but the reality was that Doornbos was a cut above in the changeable conditions and fully deserved the plaudits. Bourdais made vocal his complaints when interviewed for the benefit of the crowd and was roundly booed for what the majority saw as petulance. He then capped the ‘comedy' by refusing to acknowledge Doornbos' hand on the podium…
